“DASMAN” - “MANKURT” - “IXROD”: CRISIS OF MODERNITY IN THE LATE PERIOD OF CHINGIZ AITMATOV’S ART

Abstract

The article is devoted to the historical and philosophical analysis of the work of the Kyrgyz humanist writer of the Soviet period, Chingiz Aitmatov, whose early work is characterised as a fascination with the “Soul of Faust.” (Spirit of Faust) The result of this was the writer’s earlier works, where he fervently perceives the ideas of progress, socialism, and enlightenment, in other words, the main ideas of the modern era. Later, under the huge influence of Russian classical literature, as well as active study of traditional Kyrgyz culture, he spoke on such fundamental metaphysical topics as people, personality, fate, morality, etc., thereby trying to get rid of the “Soul of Faust” (Spirit of Faust), more and more asserting himself as a traditional humanist. But despite these attempts, the writer still retained some ambivalence: on the one hand, he acted as a staunch critic of modernity, and on the other, he perceived the modernization process as an objective development of history that needs to be perceived and comprehended. The results of the writer's later ideas are new concepts such as “Mankurt” and “Ixrod” usually used to describe the consciousness of a person who became possible at the junction of modernity with tradition. To a certain extent, these concepts are identical to the idea of “DasMan” by M. Heidegger. This indicates that after the Second World War, a critical understanding of the ideals of modernity reigned among European intellectuals, to which Chingiz Aitmatov also adjoins.