Join us on Friday, May 10 to hear Dr Ainur Akhmetova: "The Central Asian Literature and Folklore" with the first ever Book Exhibition of Central Asian literature in Cambridge.
Talk: 13.00 till 13.30 followed by Q&A
Exhibition: 12.00-15.00, MMLL Faculty, Raised Faculty Building, The Lecturers' Common Room
All welcome, and tea will be served to discuss Kazakh culture, with some nibbles too.
Dr Ainur Akhmetova will present a collection of books on the Central Asian region's literature, folklore, art, and history, all catalogued in the UL and other libraries of the University of Cambridge. A blog post on the UL website will soon be available in English, Kazakh, and Russian, focusing on the crucial books on Central Asian literature of the 20th and 21st centuries, to be published online simultaneously with the book exhibition.
The literature of Central Asia dates back to the early times. Historical, political, cultural, and social factors and situations unite the region's people, who gained Independence from the USSR in 1991. The artistic literature reflects the commonalities of the past, distinctive geography and history, profound philosophy, and enriched culture of this immense steppe. The authors' literary production of this region is being translated into several languages, including Russian and English, from their native languages, effectively reaching wider readership worldwide with regard to the period of Independence of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Kyrgyz, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. It is only recently that other parts of the world are becoming interested in the region's current development in the Soviet and post-Soviet space and in its contemporary literature.
Dr Ainur Akhmetova has a Ph.D. in Literature Studies from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. She is currently leading a collaborative project that investigates Central Asian postcolonial literature and Kazakhstan's literature since the independence period. She is a Fellow at the Mukhtar Auezov Institute of Literature and Art of Kazakhstan and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge.
