The novel-memoirs in Azerbaijani literature of the independence period: genre features and typology

Abstract

Since the 1980s, the number of artistic and documentary works in Azerbaijani literature has increased. Many authors disagreeing with the existing classifications determined the genre of their novels: novel-cardiogram (“Golfstream” by Natik Rasulzade), true-novel (“Secret” by Vidadi Babanli), novel-biography (Sabir Azeri “Memories of a student prisoner”), etc. The increase in the number of novels-memoirs, the publication of the diaries of Soviet writers written in the past years, the study of the literature created in emigration made the study of artistic and documentary prose relevant in modern literary studies.
These novels can be grouped as follows: the description of the difficulties and pressures faced by the creative man during the years of Soviet rule in the novels (“The Secret” by Vidadi Babanli, “Memoirs of a Student Prisoner” by Sabir Azeri, “Unwritten Manuscript” by Sabir Ahmedov, “Pages of Life” by Balash Azeroglu, etc.); “Camp” literature about the life of the repressed poets (“If there was no hope” by Jafar Bagirov); the depiction of the social and political events of the era – the era of Stalinism (fictional and documentary prose of Anar), the events of bloody January (“Snowy Bloody Carnations” by F.Godge, “In the Lefortovo Prison”); replacement of social themes with confessionality ( “What did I leave in Aghdam?” by Ali Amirli, “Golfstream” by Natik Rasulzadeh); biographical works in which revealing the falsity of the myths about the life of Soviet political leaders (“My Life hurts” by Anar, “As if Kerem”, etc.), novels about the national heroes of Azerbaijan (“Fred Asif”, “Mubariz” by Mustafa Chemenli).
Keywords: Azerbaijani literature, the period of independence,