The importance of Tofig Mahmud's children's dramas in the formation of national self-awareness

Abstract

Drama, which is a common point of literature and theater, has a great role in the spiritual development of children and the formation of national self-consciousness. Towards the middle of the 20th century, attention to children's drama is increasing. One of the authors who regularly writes dramas for children and young people in Azerbaijani children's literature is Tofig Mahmud, whose first writing experience happened in the middle of the last century. Most of Tofig Mahmud's creativity is related to children. Most of the plays written on modern topics are remembered for their various plots, events, and scenes about children's life. The poet tried to arouse pleasant and noble feelings in children. The author chose themes and heroes relevant for his time. Struggle, heroism, patriotism, hard work are the main themes in his drama creations. In addition, the school theme is fully expressed in Tofiq Mahmud's children's plays. He stuck to this theme until the end of his literary drama. Thus, he raised the issues of school, pedagogical environment, and teacher's reputation in various plays. Tofig Mahmud wrote a number of plays suitable for the psychology and outlook of young children. He skilfully used fairy-tale images and folklore poetics belonging to Azerbaijani and world literature, and tried to enrich children's drama with various artistic examples. A total of 35 plays and 10 screen works of Tofig Mahmud are stored in the State Archive of Literature and Art of the Republic of Azerbaijan named after Salman Mumtaz (Fund No. 538, List No. 5. 1.5. Drama works. Documents included in this document). The list covers the years 1954-1997) In his plays for minors, the playwright paid attention to the simplicity and fluency of the language, as well as the appropriateness of the depicted topics and events. In addition to anticipating the language and style features of the genre, he tried to awaken a romantic mood in children.