This year in Kazakhstan was marked by the 175th anniversary of Abai Kunanbayev, the first classic of Kazakh literature, poet, enlightener, composer, thinker and public figure. On December 14, on the eve of Independence Day of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the “Enlightenment Movement among Turkic Peoples and Abai’s Works” international scientific conference was held at the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan Republic in Kazan. It was attended by not only researchers of Abai’s legacy, but also by those who studied the specifics of the enlightenment activities among Turkic peoples.
For reference: according to experts, the Kazakh poet’s major legacy is the “Words of Wisdom”, originally “Kara Soz”. It is part of the compulsory curriculum of schools and universities in Kazakhstan. They are forty-five short parables written in verse. They were written at the poet’s mature age. The author put together the ordinary rules of morality and the norms of behavior in society. Comprehensible to everybody due to the simple language, they were popular among ordinary Kazakhs and contributed to the high morality and enlightenment of the local population. “Kara Kos” has been translated into Russian several times. The books were published in large circulation in 1945, 1954 and 1979. There were attempts to publish the book in German. However, the “Words” lost their artistic value in the translation, so the work remained unfinished.
One of the main poet’s achievements is his desire to bring the culture of his native people and the Russian culture as close as possible to each other. He spent a lot of time translating classical and modern works into his native Kazakh language, making every effort to make them comprehensible for his compatriots. Years of study at school for Russians and communication with outstanding representatives of society were not for nothing. All this helped Abai to take a detached look at the life of his people, their customs and morals. He did not genuinely accept many traditions and this was reflected years later in his “Words of Wisdom”.
The poet was against the barbaric traditions held by the common people for centuries. Abai fought against greed, hypocrisy and worship of those in power. He was especially in favour of equal rights of women. The poet also condemned avarice.
As President of Tatarstan Academy of Science Myakzyum Salakhov noted, it is not surprising that such a conference is being held in Kazan, since Kazakhstan and Tatarstan are Turkic peoples with centuries-old historical ties. “We have not lost the tread of our friendship, and recent years have been marked by significant projects in the spheres of business, science, culture and literature. One of such projects is our meeting today that has brought together scholars and statesmen of the Turkic world. The occasion for such a productive meeting is the 175th anniversary of Abai Kunanbayev, whose spiritual legacy belongs not only to the Kazakh people but is the heritage of the whole Turkic world”, Myakzyum Salakhov highlighted.
Speaking about the joint work, Salakhov said that in 2019, Kazakh scholars discovered the original codex for ordinary Kazakhs in the KFU library repository. It was written in Arabic script 135 years ago. It is remarkable that Abai was also involved in the creation of this codex. The document was adopted in 1885.
“Abai’s work and activities closely overlap with the views of Shigabutdin Marjani, Kayum Nasyiri and Rizaeddin Fakhretdin. He was one of the first to stand up for women’s rights, spoke about the importance of education and wanted to achieve universal social welfare. The leitmotif of Abai’s activities was youth enlightenment and formation of national consciousness of the Kazakh people”, Myakzyum Salakhov summarized.
It is worth noting that such a conference is a landmark event for the whole Turkic world. This was also mentioned by Farid Mukhametshin, Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Council of the Assembly of Peoples of Tatarstan, in his video message.
“Holding the conference in Kazan is very symbolic and demonstrates the special friendly relations between the brotherly peoples. In addition to long-standing cultural ties, we are actively developing mutually beneficial business dialogue. Suffice it to say that for the last 5 years, Kazakhstan has been one of the key external trade partners of Tatarstan”, Mukhametshin highlighted. According to him, the conference agenda includes fundamental issues of analysis of the enlightenment paradigm of the culture of Turkic peoples, modern comprehension of the rich cultural and philosophical legacy of Abai, the founder of Kazakh written literature, reformer and enlightener, who significantly contributed to the civilizational dialogue between East and West. “Abai’s spiritual legacy is still in demand in the XXI century, since we can find answers to eternal questions of existence, the purpose of man and meaning of our lives in his works”, Mukhametshin concluded, wishing the participants of the conference fruitful work and new projects.
Counterparts from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan were also in touch online with Kazan. Thus, Yermek Kosherbayev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Russian Federation, noted that the conference in Kazan summarized the entire year in Kazakhstan and the brotherly republics under the name of Abai.
In his welcome speech, Krymbek Kusherbayev, State Secretary of the Republic of Kazakhstan, noted that Abai’s intellectual formation was due to Shigabutdin Marjani, a prominent scholar of the Turkic world and an expert on the history of Volga Bulgars. “Abai stood at the origins of the enlightenment epoch. His legacy is a moral compass for descendants. We believe that it is especially important to develop suggestions and propose solutions for today’s realities, while studying the centuries-old history of Kazakhstan and Tatarstan. We would like to assure that the scientific and cultural community of Kazakhstan is always ready to support research aimed at the preserving and developing our common culture”.
The close and centuries-old ties between Tatarstan and Kazakhstan are also confirmed by the fact that Abai’s legacy was translated into the Tatar language. Yerlan Sydykov, Rector of the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, reminded the audience of this. “Our main task is to deepen and develop this literary and cultural connection. For instance, the institute has been already opened, the main task of which is to bring Abai studies to a new level”, the Rector highlighted.
He also proposed to jointly implement the scientific project “Marjani – Abai: Unity of Wisdom and Succession”, prepare a new study “History of the Kazakh People in the Works of Marjani”, translate the scientific collection “Abai Studies: New Stage” into the Tatar language and train a generation of new scientific personnel on Kazakh-Tatar relations through master, graduate and doctoral programmes. “I hope that today’s conference will become the beginning of a new stage of Kazakh-Tatar cultural, scientific, educational and, in general, humanitarian relations”, Yerlan Sydykov summarized.
Magauiya Sarbasov, vice President of “Otandastr” Foundation, supported his colleague’s initiative, stressing that Abai’s legacy was an integral part of the cultural treasure, and his grandeur lay in the way of life the poet led and in the patriotism he called for.
It is worth noting that the conference was organized by the Ibrahimov Institute of Language and Literature, the Consulate General of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Kazan and the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University. The conference was attended by scholars and experts from Tatarstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bashkortostan, Mordovia, Udmurtia, Chuvashia, Moscow and other regions of Russia. The fruitful meeting addressed the following issues: the phenomenon of Abai in the enlightenment paradigm of Turkic peoples, his works in the context of Turkic literary relations and Turkic-language literary translations, the image of Abai in literature and criticism of Turkic peoples, the formation of enlightenment paradigm in the culture of Turkic peoples, enlightenment trends in the literature of Turkic peoples, the role of Kazan University and Tatar madrasas in the development of enlightenment among Turkic peoples, etc.
Summarizing the conference, the participants unanimously stressed that the scientific event was a kind of summing up of the year 2020, which was held in Kazakhstan and many related and friendly countries under the sign of the 175th anniversary of Abai, and also identified directions for further research work and defined the place and role of the great thinker in the history of the Kazakh people.