EPIC NOVEL «THE PATH OF ABAI» BY MUKHTAR AUEZOV AND EUROPEAN LITERATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF COMPARATIVE LITERARY STUDIES

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23670/IRJ.2022.120.6.074

РОМАН-ЭПОПЕЯ «ПУТЬ АБАЯ» МУХТАРА АУЭЗОВА И ЕВРОПЕЙСКАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА В КОНТЕКСТЕ СРАВНИТЕЛЬНОГО ЛИТЕРАТУРОВЕДЕНИЯ

Научная статья

Машакова А.К.*

ORCID: 0000-0001-5700-457X,

Институт литературы и искусства им. М.О.Ауэзова,Алматы, Казахстан

*Корреспондирующий автор (a_mashakova[at]mail.ru)

Аннотация

В статье рассмотрено обращение представителя одной национальной литературы к значительным явлениям литературы другого народа в момент решения творческих задач, в частности, обращение М.Ауэзова к традициям европейской литературы. Актуальность темы состоит в расширении границ изучения отечественной литературы, процесс написания романа-эпопеи «Путь Абая» рассмотрен с точки зрения сравнительного литературоведения, определено типологическое сходство романов казахского прозаика М.Ауэзова и классиков европейской литературы О.Бальзака, А.Моруа, Р.Роллана. Их художественный опыт обогатил не только индивидуальный творческий арсенал Ауэзова-романиста. Через его литературные шедевры европейские художественные традиции нашли свое отражение во всей современной казахской литературе.

Ключевые слова: роман, казахская литература, европейские прозаики.

EPIC NOVEL «THE PATH OF ABAI» BY MUKHTAR AUEZOV AND EUROPEAN LITERATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF COMPARATIVE LITERARY STUDIES

Research article

Mashakova A.K.*

ORCID: 0000-0001-5700-457X,

M.O. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art,Almaty, Kazakhstan

*Corresponding author (a_mashakova[at]mail.ru)

Abstract

The article considers the appeal of a representative of one national literature to significant phenomena of the literature of another nation at the time of solving creative problems, in particular, M.Auezov's appeal to the traditions of European literature. The relevance of the topic lies in expanding the limits of studying domestic literature, the process of writing the epic novel «The Path of Abai» is considered in view of comparative literary criticism, the typological similarity of the novels of the Kazakh prose writer M.Auezov and the classics of European literature O.Balzac, A.Maurois, R.Rolland is determined. Their artistic experience enriched not only the individual creative arsenal of Auezov-novelist. Through his literary masterpieces, European artistic traditions are reflected in the whole modern Kazakh literature.

Keywords: novel, Kazakh literature, European prose writers.

Introduction

The creativity of the famous Kazakh prose writer Mukhtar Auezov plays a significant role in the development of literature in Kazakhstan. His novels, stories and short stories are widely known in the country and abroad due to the translations into the languages of many countries of the world. The epic novel «The Path of Abai» occupies a special place in the prose of M. Auezov. The central character of the epic novel – is the great Kazakh poet AbaiKunanbayev.

According to M. Madanova, «Mukhtar Auezov's epic novel demonstrated a high level of artistic and aesthetic excellence, a wealth of poetic images, perfection of novel composition, a synthesis of Eastern and Western artistic traditions» [6, P. 62].

It is natural that the genesis of creativity of bright and major literary talents includes the appeal of a representative of one national literature to significant phenomena of the literature of another nation at the time of solving creative objectives. M.Auezov's appeal to the traditions of European literature, in particular, French literature, can be mentioned as an example.

Results

The appeal of any modern writer-novelist to the classic of French literature – Honore de Balzac, is quite natural. In the creative heritage of M. Auezov there are repeated references to Balzac. In particular, there is a well-known statement: «Balzac is a whole State. In his State there are many lands and many people. Balzac has a complex narration, and often his thoughts did not fit within it, and they overflowed the banks, filling up, overflowing ...» [7, P. 198].

Appealing to the works of O.Balzac and analyzing his creative style of writing, M.Auezov singled out the epic power of the artistic conception and the specific means of its expression. It is generally recognized that «Balzac is a great master of words. He writes extensively. His writing needs space, and he uses this space, giving whole pages to the speeches of his characters...» [1, P. 600]. M.Auezov explored with great interest the issues of composition, architectonics, typification techniques, conflict issues, descriptions of everyday life details in O. Balzac's novels.

In the XIX century, when the novelists began to closely focus on human psychology, they first referred to the image of the most typical people. O. Balzac noted that «in a novel a great person can appear only in passing» [4, P. 121]. The writers have not yet focus on the great personality, fully revealing his spiritual potential. In the XX century, the role of the individual becomes extraordinarily active; accordingly, a search for a new character is underway in literature and an adequate reflection of this process appears in the genre of the novel. The positive development of the Balzac traditions leads to the enrichment and complication of the novel due to the development of documentary and biographical material. The XXth century was marked by the emergence of new types within the novel genre, among which the historical and biographical genres were outlined. Starting to create the novels «Abai» and «The Path of Abai», M.Auezov referred to the development and synthesis of the best samples and achievements, particularly within the framework of these two types of novels. He creates a monumental panorama of the life of the entire nation around a brilliant personality.

In the article “How I worked on the novels «Abai» and «The Path of Abai» M.Auezov reveals his creative laboratory to the readers. He wrote that his historical novels about Abai – they are the works about a creative person. The writer emphasizes: «The experience of foreign writers has served me a lot. In some cases, I simply learned how to write, in others I critically perceived other people's works, tried to avoid the mistakes and shortcomings of their authors» [2, P. 439].

Among the European writers, whose creative experience was carefully worked out by M.Auezov during this period, the name of the French novelist Andre Maurois, who successfully worked in the biographical genre, is also mentioned. A.Maurois clearly formulated his credo when he stated: «For me, biography is one of the main forms of history, because I consider a person not only an object that is subject to the laws of history, but also its subject, a creator» [8, P. 43]. This recognition of the French writer is quite consonant with the thoughts of M.Auezov, who wrote: «I decided to refer to the image of Abai in order to depict half a century of the life of the Kazakh people in the pre-revolutionary past through his life» [2, P. 440].

The similarity of both novelists was manifested in the recognition of the high mission of a strong and creative personality. «By the time when the novel «Abai» was being created, one of the first novels by A.Maurois«Byron» was translated into Russian for the first time, which enriched the experience of the Kazakh writer and allowed him to determine fundamentally new ways of depicting a human-creator» [4, P. 140] – considers E.I. Lizunova.

Continuing the analysis of M.Auezov's appeal to French literature, another well-known name should be mentioned, which aroused admiration of the Kazakh writer. We are talking about Romain Rolland, whose creativity is most consonant with the literary talent of M.Auezov.

In the creative development of R. Rolland, music and the East were of great importance. Musical education and interest in the East determined the phenomenon of his creativity in European literature. Interest in the East was expressed in R. Rolland's passion for Indian philosophy. R.Rolland devoted many years to studying the life and activities of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore. In his spiritual quest, he looked to the East with hope and believed that «every nation makes its invaluable contribution to civilization, to the spiritual improvement of the human» [9, P. 11]. In the world history of cultures and civilizations, the Kazakh writer also assigned a special role to Indian culture. His essays «My India», «The Genius of Tagore» reflect deep thoughts on the significance of this ancient civilization in the history of mankind.

Another point which is common to both writers was their penchant for epicization. «In search of synthesis in French literature, the genre of the so-called novel-flow, that is, a large-scale single work, is being formulated. The first was «Jean-Christophe» by Romain Rolland» [3, P. 26], noted literary critics. The monumentality of the epic works, reflecting reality, fully corresponded to the spirit of the literary talent of M.Auezov and, undoubtedly, made him related to the creativity of R. Rolland.

The similarity of the writers manifested itself most strongly in their choice of the character; both novelists categorically insisted on the need for a truly great personality as the central character of a modern work. R.Rolland emphasized: «I call heroes not those who won with thought or force. I call heroes only those who are great in heart» [10, P. 11].

He was guided by this principle when creating the «Biographies of great people» – Beethoven, Tolstoy, Ramakrishna. It was Beethoven, as one of his favorite ideals, that became the prototype of Jean-Christophe, who had a strong influence on the creative writings of the young Auezov. «Just like music entered Rolland’s epic after his character, so poetry entered Auezov’s novels after Abai and created in it a peculiar world of poetic images and melodies, which is so consonant with the national Kazakh character» [5, P. 271].

Conclusion

So, the considered material indicates the creative connections and consonance between the Kazakh and French literatures based on the example of Mukhtar Auezov's appeal to the creativity of such classics as Honore de Balzac, Andre Maurois and Romain Rolland. Their artistic experience enriched not only the individual creative arsenal of Auezov-novelist. Through his literary masterpieces, European artistic traditions are reflected in all modern Kazakh literature.

Финансирование Статья подготовлена в рамках научного проекта OR11465467 «Формирование гуманитарного знания и проведение инновационных исследований в условиях модернизации общественного сознания в области литературоведения и искусствознания» ПЦФ МОН РК.

Funding The article was prepared in the framework of the scientific project OR11465467 "Formation of humanitarian knowledge and conducting innovative research in the context of modernization of public consciousness in the field of literary criticism and art history" of PTF of the MES RK.

Конфликтинтересов Неуказан.

Conflict of Interest None declared.

Список литературы / References

1. Артамонов О. Роман Бальзака «Утраченные иллюзии» / О. Артамонов // Бальзак О. Утраченные иллюзии. – Алматы, 1987. – 607 с.
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Список литературы на английском языке / References in English

1. Artamonov О. Roman Bal'zaka «Utrachennyeilljuzii» [Balzac's novel «Lost Illusions»] / О. Artamonov // Bal'zak O. Utrachennyeilljuzii[Balzac О. Lost Illusions]. – Almaty, 1987. – 607 p. [in Russian]
2. Auezov М. Sobraniesochinenij. V 5 t. [Collected Works. In 5 vol.] / М. Auezov. – Мoscow, 1975. – Vol. 5. – 568 p. [in Russian]
3. Golubev А. Vostok v tvorchestveRomenaRollana: avtoref. dis. … kand. filol. nauk[East in the works of Romain Rolland: autoabstract dis. for PhD in Philology] / А. Golubev. – Мoscow, 1989. – 28 p. [in Russian]
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5. Lizunova Е. Sovremennyjkazahskij roman [Modern Kazakh novel] / Е. Lizunova. – Almaty, 1964. – 361 p. [in Russian]
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7. Aujezov v vospominanijahsovremennikov[M.Auezov in the memoirs of contemporaries]. – Almaty, 1972. – 360 p. [in Russian]
8. Narkirier F. Andre Morua[André Maurois] / F. Narkirier. – Мoscow, 1974. – 224 p. [in Russian]
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