Abstract
Language and literature are interconnected. Adyghe literature was born with the advent of writing. The authors of the first literary works were Tembot Kerashev and Akhmed Khatkov. The first novel by Tembot Kerashev, the founder of Adyghe prose, was called “The Road to Happiness.” This is a novel about cardinal changes in the life of the Circassians related to social changes in the country. The main theme disclosed by the author is the theme of the Circassians’ transition to a new life path: towards equality, to education, and to the emancipation of women.
Ahmed Khatkov laid the foundations of Adyghe poetry, which glorified the new socialist reality: “I am the son of October, I serve the Fatherland, and joy is like the sun in me …”, he wrote. This is how Adyghe literature continues its happy journey.
Next – the Great Patriotic War, which lasted four long years, and claimed many lives, including young talented writers and poets of the Soviet Union, Adygea, which was part of this large country. Many did not return from the war. Twenty-year-old novice Adyghe poet Husen Andrukhaev dies in the first year of the war. He was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union title.
Within the post-war literature, Kirimize Janet, Dmitry Kostanov, Ishaq Mashbash convey the tragedy of the war. Ishak Mashbash, starting from the 50s to the present day, is a recognized poet and prose writer not only in Adygea, but throughout Russia and abroad.
Nalbiy Kueko represents Adyghe literature of the 70s as the poet of a new generation. He worries about the fate of all mankind. “The globe passes through my heart,” he writes. His novels, “Black Mountain” and “Wine of the Death” are about the past Caucasian war and possible consequences awaiting us.
At present, it can be said that Adyghe literature has no special achievements. What is the reason for this? Apparently not one reason. Let us dwell on the state of the native language. Native language is in decline. L. Tolstoy noted that with the help of his native language, the state of a person’s soul is better transmitted. States should be concerned about the state of their native languages. Loss of tongue is a linguocide, the same as genocide.
The state of the language is reflected in the state of literature. The Adyghe diaspora scattered all over the world needs a single written language and a single literary language which was the conviction of our great scientists Kerasheva Zeynab and Kumakhov Mukhadin.
