History of Adyghe Literature

About the Book

This book is a translation of the History of Adyghe Literature, which was published in three volumes (1999, 2002, and 2006, respectively) by the Institute of Humanitarian Studies of the Republic of Adygea by the decision of its scientific council. It covers the history of Adyghe literature from folklore up to the 1990s, which passed through difficult and complicated trials in order to survive and reach its present stage of development. This material was prepared and written by a group of literary experts of the Republic of Adygea, and this book shows that (1) Adyghe folklore is, perhaps, the richest and oldest in the world because, according to the experts, the embryo of the Nart saga of this folklore was formed in nearly Bronze Age or earlier; (2) Adyghe literature has dozens of specimens of epic genres—essays, short stories, stories, tales, novels, and epics—and analyzes the origin, formation, and development of the kinds, genres, and styles of literature closely combined with specific monographic studies of creative works of separate writers and furnishes major monographic and theoretical studies, critical articles, reviews, and literary portraits; (3) Adyghe literature portrays the dramatic fate, love of freedom, and high moral and spiritual values of the people for whom honor and freedom are dearer than life; and (4) Adyghe literature presents in vivid colors the awesome literary process in Russia, in connection with the theories associated with Prolitcults, Rappovians, class literature, and especially, the conflict-free theory, with rigid ideological settings and frames beyond the bounds of which writers and artists in the Soviet Union could not work in. This book, the first volume of the History of Adyghe Literature, is concluded by the article about the creative works of Tembot Kerashev, one of the prominent Adyghe writer during the Soviet period. Along with the history of Adyghe literature, this book shows the dangerous and difficult lives that people, especially creative people, had to live and work for in the Soviet Union, regardless of the loyalty and dedication with which they served the state or the merits they earned.

About the Author

Kadir I. Natho was born in 1927 in Hatramtook, Anapa region, Caucasus. He became a refugee in 1943, survived World War II, escaped the First and Second Forced Repatriations to the Soviet Union in 1945 and 1947 from Austria and Italy, respectively, lived in various European countries, and moved to Jordan in 1948. He emigrated from Amman to the United States in 1956, settled in New York City in 1959, graduated from the School of American Journalism and Henry George School (Science of Political Economy), studied English literature, and took writing courses. His short stories were translated in Turkish and published in Kuzey Kafkasya, one of which was included in the “Anthology of the Short Stories of the Caucasus” in Turkey. He published a collection of his short stories, Old and New Tales of the Caucasus, in 1969, and a novel, Nicholas and Nadiusha, in 1978, which was translated and published in Russian and Circassian, in Maikop in 1992 and 1993 under the titles of Otchuzhdionyie and Tsif Lyiekher (Outcasts). A part of this novel was also translated in Kabardian and published in series in the newspaper Adyghe Psale and in the literary magazine Oshhamakho (Elbrus) in 2007 and was included in the Selections of Literature for Reading for 11th graders in 2013. He wrote a three-act play, Medea, in Circassian, for the State Theater of the Republic of Adyghe, the premiere of which was held in Maikop on April 28–29, 2009, which was well received even by Russians. It was performed again and again in Maikop, Krasnodar, Nalchik, and Moscow and received first prize in the North Caucasian Drama Festival in Maikop. His Old and New Tales of the Caucasus was included in the student literature of the State University of Adyghey in 2007. He published Circassian History in 2009, which was translated in Turkish, Arabic and Russian and published in Maikop, Republic of Adyghey, Ankara, Turkey and in Amman Jordan, and was translated in Kabardian, in Cherkessk in 2014. He published Memoirs in 2010, which was published in Turkish in Turkey in May 2014 and is translated in Russian in Maikop. He translated and published Adighe Khabze, Custom and Traditions, by Prof. Seraby Mafedzev and published Grand Abduction, in 2017, based on the fact that Circassians had abducted the daughter of General Zass during the Russo-Caucassian War (1786-1864) and now has submitted for publishing the translation of the first volume of the History of Adyghe Literature. He acquired G. A. Press in New York City, In 1960s, published for years books and periodicals for Russian and Ukrainian authors and organizations, and his own bilingual magazine, The Circassian Star, in English and Circassian, in order to disseminate Circassian history, culture, and folklore and to revive the national consciousness of Circassian diaspora. He devoted his time and energy to helping the Circassian community in the United States, was chairman of the Permanent Council of the Circassian Benevolent Association in Wayne, New Jersey (1987–1991); president of the CBA (1991–1998); and delegate of the CBA in the Congress of the International Circassian Association in Nalchik (1991 and 2000), in Maikop (1993), in Cherkessk (1996), and in Krasnodar (1998). He organized the Institute of Circassian Studies as a branch of the CBA for the study of Circassian history, culture, and folklore and translated the books Heroic Epos, NARTS and Its Genesis, by Asker Gadagatla.