Introduction to the Work of Uygur Poet Bakhtiya

Abstract

In their article "Introduction to the Work of Uygur Poet Bakhtiya" Dilfuza Rozieva and Anna Oldfield introduce Ilya Bakhtiya's (1932-1987) work. For writers like Bakhtiya, the task was to create a Kazakh Uygur print culture that combined their ethnic heritage with their new reality in the Soviet Union. Bakhtiya published in a variety of genres including lyric, satire, and children's literature in vernacular Uygur. Importantly, Bakhtiya's texts merge and bridge identities in both graceful and appealing ways overcoming the required Soviet context and continuing to inspire Uygurs today.