Paper long abstract:

The national and ethnic identity of Chingiz Aitmatov's works has been widely debated in literary science and critic field with scholars such K. Asanaliev, A. Akmataliev, M.Apyshev arguing that Kyrgyz identity of Chingiz Aitmatov is present and clear in his novellas, which are written in Russian. The Western scholars such R. Mozur, R. Porter, and K. Clark represent Chingiz Aitmatov as Russian writer. The Russian scholars such V. Bondarenko and M. Butov are critical regarding Aitmatov's Russian culture background and language abilities as a writer.

However, these arguments have not adequately addressed the issue of binary nature of writer's personality and works, which is a result of his Russian- Kyrgyz upbringing and Soviet location of his oeuvre. The one of core characteristics of that location is a principle of superiority of Russian culture among other cultures of Soviet republics.

My paper addresses the issue of the cultural hybridity of Aitmatov's writings with special attention on the manifestations of the being in a "third place".

Specifically, in my project, I will be looking at new information about Aitmatov's cultural background and the specifics of perception of writer's works by Kyrgyz speaking segment of national population of Kyrgyzstan, in order to reveal previously misunderstood connections between Aitmatov and these readers.

I argue that Chingiz Aitmatov is a complex figure of difference and identity, past and present, inside and outside, inclusion and exclusion (H.K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture (London and New York: Routledge Classics,2004) p.2) I dispute the assumptions that the writer's alienation has been caused only by the conservative circles of Kyrgyz culture. I assume that Aitmatov is an active side in cultural conflict.

In conclusion, this project, by closely examining the cultural hybridity of Aitmatov, sheds new light on rarely acknowledged issue of antagonistic and affiliative perception of his works by different readers groups.

Paper long abstract:

The paper discusses the peculiarities of sacral symbols that are depicted in the Kyrgyz epic "Manas". The national epic consists of three layers as mythological, historical and the latest enrichments. The most ancient mythological layer of "Manas" is rich with symbolic sacral values.

Based on the Kyrgyz folkloric text this paper primarily focuses on the genealogical and numerical symbols (sanjyra, tamga, and sacral numbers) as well as the attributes and armour of the hero Manas that depict the specific nomadic worldview and coexistence with nature. Another unique sacral symbolic concerns the epic archetype - the main hero Manas. Especially two episodes - the birth of the hero and naming the hero that is perceived as sacral creation of the world and of the man.

The main argument of the article is that the peculiarity of the epic tradition of the Kyrgyz people is reflected not only in the form of an oral transmission of knowledge that has been passed from generation to generation, but also a comprehensive sign-symbolic system which embodies a special purpose to preserve its origin and culture.

This paper is based on primary sources as the manuscripts of the epic texts from the Kyrgyz National Academy of Science and the National Archive as well as published materials, including a four-volume book of "Manas" published in 1958-1960 by the Institute of Language and Literature of the Academy of Science of the Kyrgyz SSR and various articles.

Paper long abstract:

This article is devoted to one of the most tragic pages in the history of the Kyrgyz people - the uprising of 1916 and its reflection in the works of Kyrgyz writers. The drama of the events, numerous human losses, humiliations, hunger, torments that fell to the share of the Kyrgyz people in 1916 will never be forgotten. All this is reflected in the art form in the works of K. Bayalinov "Adjar" (1927), , A. Tokombayev, T. Sydykbekov. The uprising, dubbed Urkun, was the culmination of the protest mood and anti-Czar feelings of the Kyrgyz people. Urkun, as a people's tragedy, as a milestone on the way to freedom and national independence, deeply entered into consciousness, namely historical and cultural, and to recover from its deep humanitarian, demographic, moral consequences, it took many years. This event left its deep mark in the Kyrgyz literature. The first and shrill response to flight to China and long walks on torments, on paths of the national tragedy became "Kairan El" (the Unfortunate people) S. Shaybekova. A. Tokombayev later wrote the first Kyrgyz novel in verse about the events of 1916 "Bloody years. T. Sydykbekov shared his thoughts about this in the novel "the Way".

When writing the article, the author used cultural-historical and hermeneutic methods of research

Paper short abstract:

Being presented by Gultas Kurmanbay

Paper long abstract:

Chingiz Aitmatov became one of the most popular writers of the 20th century. In the mid-'80s his works have already translated into 150 languages. Aitmatov's literary talent and the relevance of the problems raised in his works raised increased interest of people all over the world, including English-speaking readers.

Many studies have been carried out on the works of bilingual and bicultural writer Chingiz Aitmatov. In his works, he makes extensive use of realities reflecting the lifestyle, religion, culture and history not only Kyrgyz, but also many peoples of Central Asia. For instance, the first difficult years of Soviet power, the first steps of the Cultural Revolution are reflected in his "First teacher". Aitmatov managed to create an image of "Duishen", a rural teacher, who himself can barely read and write, trying as hard as he could to tear off the dark children of his fellow villagers from their ignorance and unwillingness to be educated. At the same time, he used the bright example of a small village to show darkness, illiteracy of people, unwillingness to teach their children (Abytov, 2013). From this work, it is possible to understand the difficulties of educational processes in the young Soviet countries at that period.

The hard time of Great Patriotic War is also appears in the works of author. In his works, he raises the heroism and courage of women, the social and political issues, and the problem of desertion. For instance, in the novel "Face to Face" Aitmatov realistically shows the hard life of people in the rear and reveals the topic of desertion, which until then could not be portrayed due to the ideological situation in the country, and for the first time in the story, the writer poses ethical problems. A complete historical drama, where the author was one of the first in the former Soviet Union who raised the problem of desertion during the period of war (Arystanbekova, 2014). This is one of the historical facts in the life all the peoples of the Soviet Union.

According to Schneidman (1989), the reason of Aitmatov's success in the Soviet Union was revealing universal global problems in his works and Soviet truth, which is relevant to many Soviet nations. Based on this, this paper attempts to analyses the social and ethnographic issues of the people of Soviet era in the works of Aitmatov.

Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses how the demise of socialist realism influenced on the literary culture in Kyrgyzstan in the years of Gorbachev's perestroika (restructuring)

Paper long abstract:

The paper discusses how the demise of Socialist Realism influenced on the literary culture in Kyrgyzstan in the years of Gorbachev's Perestroika (restructuring). The paper will have two parts, where the first examines literary context of perestroika, based on the analysis of the problems of Kyrgyz Soviet literature, debated in the newspaper 'Asaba', one of the freest at that time. The split in The Union of Writers, new trends in the genres, themes, styles of the literary works of Kyrgyz writers and poets will be discussed. The second part will be focused on the essays and prose of K. Jusubalev, one of founders of Postmodernism in Kyrgyz literature, whose novels and short stories were not allowed for publication by soviet censorship. His novel "The Cold Walls" (written in 1969 and first published in 1991) and his essays about the problems of Literature, published in "Asaba' will be analyzed to show changes in the development of Kyrgyz Literature in Pere

stroika. Postcolonial theory, Bakhtin's theory on "polyphony" will be applied for the discussion of the topic.