Contemporary Kazakh Literature: Prose

by Ciarán Devane (Foreword), Sherkhan Murtaza (Contributor), Akim Tarazi (Contributor)

From lyrical realism to mythical storytelling, from comedy to tragedy, this exceptional anthology of prose takes you into the heart of Kazakh culture and outlook. Each author brings to life characters, beliefs, and locations that embody Kazakh identity - vast landscapes, noble wildlife, deep family traditions, musicality, kindness, and a restless history, including the struggles under Soviet rule. Yet beyond such borders, there are profound views on universal themes of existence.

Featuring a diverse range of voices and available in English for the first time, these delightful and thought-provoking texts reveal the heart of a nation forging its identity afresh from the traditions of the past and its hopes for the future.

Genres: Kazakhstan, Short Stories, Asia

614 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contemporary Kazak Literature refers to a pair of anthologies - one poetry, one prose - published by the Modern Kazakh Culture in the Global World project, part of President Nursultan Nazarbayev's Rỳhani Jańģyrý (Spiritual Rebirth/Modernization) initiatve. They were translated into six UN languages (English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish), and disseminated to some 60,000 universities, libraries, and research centers in 93 countries.

Prose consists of short stories and novellas by thirty Kazakh authors born between 1932 and 1975. Only two are women, and the birth date arrangement means Roza Mukanova and Aigul Kemelbayeva are both stuck in the way back. Which is quite unfortunate because their stories were among the best. Mukanova's "The Image of the Eternal Child" is a haunting elegy to the rural communities decimated by nuclear weapons testing (a theme also dealt with in Hamid Ismailov's excellent The Dead Lake ). "Kôkenaj and Ķalķaman" by Kemelbayeva is an expansive tale of star-crossed lovers and tragic Kazakh history written with the aura of epic myth.

Other favorites included Akim Tarazi's "Retribution," about the slow disintegration of a war veteran and his family, and "The Battlefield of Sanity" by Tolen Ardik, a philosophical exchange on the nature of good and evil. "The Mirror Shrine" by Tursynzhan Shapay, a mystical allegory for Kazakhstan at the dawn of its independence, opened with an otherwordly Dunsany feel. Didar Amantai's "Your Cherished Eyes" is a meditation on the tension between humanity's innate connection to nature and the city as a dead, artificial environment, and was also somewhat experimental.

In general, however, I found most of the book consisted of realist tales with male protagonists from auyl (farming) backgrounds, which were rather boring and almost interchangeable at times. But this started to change with the more recent pieces which made me wonder if Kazakh literature underwent a shift as the twentieth century drew to a close. I think a sequel volume featuring Millennial and Gen Z authors would be a great idea. Maybe we can fit more women in too.

[Nannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe our library has both the Contemporary Kazakh Literature: Prose and Poetry volumes! There is so little translated literature out there from Central Asia. It's actually why these two collections were published in the first place: the note at the beginning by Kazakhstan's president reads, "We need the world to know about us not only because of oil resources and major foreign policy initiatives, but because of our cultural achievements as well. (...) For the first time our culture will be known in all continents and in all main languages."

Content warnings:
- fatphobia ("Retribution," "A Quiet Autumn," "Grandmothers's Samovar," "Heavenly White Butterflies," "Art")
- g Roma slur ("Retribution")
- rape ("Retribution," "The Battlefield of Sanity")
- sexism & misogyny ("By the Wayside," "Death of a Borzoi," "Death of a Soul," "Kerbugy")
- suicide ("By the Wayside," "The Battlefield of Sanity," "Your Cherished Eyes")
- psychiatric institutions ("The Battlefield of Sanity")
- h intersex slur ("The Battlefield of Sanity")
- homophobia ("The Battlefield of Sanity")
- cheating ("Waking Dream")
- substance abuse ("The Nest of White Cranes")
- gore—like, grossly and heartbreakingly descriptive gore ("Kôkenaj and Ķalķaman")
- incest ("Kôkenaj and Ķalķaman")

I have probably missed some content warnings; I tended to get distracted and sucked into the stories themselves.

This collection gathers together thirty short works by Kazakhstan's writers (mostly men; there were only two women, sadly) that—and I'll have to borrow the quote from the official summary here, because it's so well written—"reveal the heart of a nation forging its identity afresh from the traditions of the past and its hopes for the future." There were historical fiction stories from the time of the great khans to when Kazakhstan was under the shadow of the Soviet Union to the present time. I'd say most settled around that middle section.

It's frustrating to fall in love with some of these authors works or styles, look them up, and not be able to find any of their books or stories (in English, or at all). Hopefully someday more of these authors works will be more available. Or, who knows, maybe this collection will get more people interested in the beautiful Kazakh language. Including me…

It's difficult to try to summarize what these stories are about, because there are very serious tragedies, almost absurd comedies, and everything in between. There are some I absolutely hated and some that are now among my favorite short stories ("The Mirror Shrine" by Tursynzhan Shapay and "The Old Kùjši" by Talasbek Asemkulov). The collection is so varied that it's difficult to rate it as a whole. But all of these stories gave me a much better understanding of Kazakhstan and its people. I hope to see more from these writers in the future someday!

[Andrew Weitzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent collection of short stories from Khazak authors. Lots of depections of rural life as well as life in grimy, industrialist Soviet and post-Soviet cities. The story-telling kid with the lame leg and the mental patient exchanging letters with himself were the two standouts for me.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are good and bad stories in this collection but overall I gave it four stars because most are pretty good and some are excellent. It also provides a point of view that we don't normally find in America and allows us to learn about a culture of which most of us know nothing.

[Bryan Lunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is a work in progress as I have not read the book in its entirety.

This is a great introduction to Kazakh literature, including a broad sample of important literary authors. I wish it included more work by women authors, but it includes some.

In particular I was very moved by the story "Grandmother's Samovar" (originally "Yellow Samovar") by Didakhmet Ashimkhanuly ( https://didahmet.kz/ ) and since the text and audio are available on the author's website, it makes good study material.
The story reminds me very tangentially of the novel "Snow Country" by Kawabata Yasunari. Specifically it speaks of the alienation between "modern" city life and rural traditions and how that parallels the deeper alienation from one's cultural origins and oneself.

[Mills College Library]

894.345 C7615r 2019