Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of the problems of artistic understanding of the Caucasian war and mahajirism (eviction of people) in Adyghe poetry. A chronology of the artistic (in particular, poetic) interpretation of this problem in the works of Adyghe authors, including poets of the Circassian foreign countries, is built. The study reveals that the first attempts to reflect the theme of the Caucasian war and the mass eviction of Circassians in folklore and literature on chronology date back earlier than historical sources devoted to the study of the subject under consideration. The main conclusion of the study is the gradually growing and deepening process of updating and expanding the theme of historicism in national poetry.
The Caucasian war and its tragic consequences – innumerable victims and mass exodus within the Ottoman Empire – left an indelible mark not only in history, but also in the culture and literature of the Adyghe people.
For a long time – more than a century after the end of these events – the theme of the Caucasian War and Mahadjirism (emigration) was taboo by ideological restrictions and remained oblivious both in historiography and in literature.
The events of the Caucasian war and Mahajirism were forever imprinted in the ethnic memory of the Circassians and became an important element of their ethnic consciousness. At the level of spiritual national self-awareness, these events were comprehended in different genres of Adyghe folklore and literature. The first attempts at an artistic interpretation of the theme of the Caucasian War and the mass eviction of Circassians in folklore and literature on chronology date back earlier than historical sources devoted to the study of this subject. In support of this, it is possible to refer not only to folklore materials (many of which, for example, historical and heroic songs, were created during the war), but also to literary sources, the earliest of which date back to the beginning of the twentieth century. An example is the work “Exodus (Campaign, Relocation) to Istanbul” by B. Pachev, written in 1901–1902, during his trip to Turkey. At present, national literature has extensive artistic material reflecting the tragic events of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The scale and drama of the Caucasian war and Mahadjirism received the most widespread coverage in major prosaic genres: “The Last of the Departed” by B. Shinkuba, “Caucasus”, “Circassians. Balkan history” by M. Kandur, “Millstone”, “Scout”, “White Bird” by I. Mashbash, “Black Mountain” by N. Kuek, “A Handful of the Earth” by B. Tkhaytsuhova, “Thunder Buzz”, “Search for the Gods”, “Unknown” by M. (A.-G.) Lokhvitsky, “On the banks of my sorrow”, “Unconquered” by M. Adzinov and others. According to the testimony of researchers L.A. Bekizova, K.G. Shazzo, A.Kh. Musukaeva, Yu.M. Thagazitov, H.T. Timizhev et al., The theme of the Caucasian War and Mahajirism greatly contributed to the establishment of the historical novel genre in Adyghe literature.
In national poetry, like prose, the theme of historical memory has received wide and deep moral and philosophical coverage. Lyrical and lyric-epic works about the tragic past of the people are found in the works of almost all (with rare exceptions) Adyghe (Adyghe, Kabardian, Circassian) poets. Among them, there are those whose work as a whole is focused on comprehending the national historiosophy, ethnical self-awareness of the people. Such, for example, are M. Bemurzov, M. Nakhushev, H. Beshtokov and others. Even the names of the collections of these authors are nationally marked, saturated with historical and philosophical and ethnospecific symbols: “It’s not easy to be Adyghe”, “Tears of the Adygs”, “Land of the Fathers”, etc.
In the period of the 50–80s the theme of the historical memory of the people becomes fundamental in the work of a number of poets: K. Jane, I. Mashbash, H. Beshtokov, M. Bemurzov, K. Duguzhev, M. Nakhushev, A. Cherkesov and others. The names of their collections testify to this: “The Circassians have such a custom” by K. Janet, “The Land of the Fathers” by H. Beshtokov, “It’s not easy to be an Adyge” by M. Bemurzov, “Tears of the Adygs” by M. Nakhushev, “Legends about my land” by A. Cherkesov and others.
In Adyghe poetry, beginning in the mid-twentieth century, the theme of the Caucasian war and mahajirism became the subject of lyro-epic coverage. The tragic history of the Adyghe ethnic group is covered in a number of poems by Adyghe authors: “Oshhamaho” and “One Story of Amman” by S. Kubov, “Yew Tree” by A. Keshokov, “Rainy Day of Bziyuk” and “The Tale of the Aul” by H. Beretar, “Crying of Shikapshins” by M. Keshtov, “Sea” by I. Mashbash, “Temple of Hagia Sophia” by A. Akov, “Roots” by H. Abitov, “Mukhadzhirstvo” by S. Zhiletezhev, “Lion of Circassia” T. Derbe and others.
The theme of Mahajirism was also reflected in the poetry of the Circassian Diaspora. In the verses of Isam Ujuhu (“Echo of the paths of history”), Kundet Shurdum (“Alien”, “Wait this winter”), Nadiy Hedg (“The soul strives where the heart is”), Yashar Khatko (“Alien”), Muharam Churey (“Silent ship ”), Duriye Kardan (“I don’t know if I’ll return to the Adyghe lands ”), Metin Meretuk (“My Homeland ”) and other authors of the Circassian foreign countries pass the problems with the leitmotif Mahajirism – homesickness, the dream of returning to the land of their fathers, a description of the bitter life in a foreign land, etc.
Thus, a study of the theme of the Caucasian war and Mahajirism against a broad background of Adyghe poetry provides an opportunity to conclude that at present one of the urgent problems of national literatures is the moral, artistic and philosophical understanding of the historical experience of an ethnos and the elimination of existing gaps in covering the themes of the Caucasian war and Mahajirism. In connection with the evolving actualization of this problem in Adyghe poetry (and literature in general), there is a process of deepening and expanding the historicism of ethno-mental artistic consciousness.
