Myth in the Works of Chingiz Aitmatov

Abstract

In the late 1970s and early 1980s Soviet critics argued extensively about the role of folklore and mythology in contemporary Soviet literature, particularly in the national literatures of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Far East.’ Addressing the question of correlation between myth and Socialist Realism, some critics questioned the appropriateness of blending the archaic and highly conventional forms of mythology with the realistic method of depiction based on verisimili-tude and probability. Lev Anninskii in his polemical article ‘Zhazhdu belletrizma’ (I Crave Fiction) criticised mythological literature for creating some kind of ‘superreality’ or ‘superphilology’, by imposing allegorical meaning on simple realistic details, for the stylistic ‘oversat-uration’ of mythological prose with allegories and symbols and for its pretentious ornamental style. ²