Please join us for an international conference about the literary, diplomatic, and cultural legacy of renowned Soviet and Kyrgyz writer, Chinghiz Aitmatov. Leading international scholars will discuss complex topics relating to Aitmatov and issues of feminism, colonialism, and national identity. The importance of Aitmatov of Soviet film and music will be considered by a number of prominent figures who knew or collaborated with Aitmatov.
This event is part of the three-day series Celebrating Chinghiz Aitmatov at 90 organized by the Harriman Institute, the Kyrgyz American Foundation, and the American University of Central Asia. This event series also includes a photography exhibit, a book talk, and film screenings.
Chinghiz Aitmatov (1928-2008) was one of the leading writers of the post-Stalin thaw and probably the best-known “ethnic” (non-Russian) writer in the USSR. He wrote in both Kyrgyz and Russian but was much more widely read in the latter. Aitmatov was a major figure in Soviet literary and cultural life; his fiction was published in leading Soviet journals and translated into many languages. Along with Andrei Voznesensky, Aitmatov was one of the very few Soviet authors who managed to hold onto an independent yet public position over almost the entire post-Stalinist period, straddling the uncomfortable line between what was controversial and what was officially acceptable. Many of Aitmatov’s novellas were turned into successful films, and his influence on music and the other arts in the USSR was also considerable. After Kyrgyz independence, Aitmatov became a diplomat and a symbol of the Kyrgyz nation.
