The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag Erin H. Davis (bio) the blue sky Galsan Tschinag Milkweed https://milkweed.org/book/the-blue-sky 224 pages; Print, $16.00 "Love is the key to life, and the cause of suffering." -Katharina Rout on Galsan Tschinag Bareboned yet graceful, Galsan Tschinag's The Blue Sky, initially published in 2007 by Milkweed Editions, is now republished and revamped by Milkweed's imprint, Seedbank. Tschinag's novel, in keeping with the goals of Seedbank, strives to understand the cross-cultural understanding of human instinct and emotion. Seedbank states that the series "gathers works of literature from around the world that foster conversation and reflection on the human relationship to place and the natural world—exposing readers to new, endangered, and forgotten ways of seeing the world." The preservation of culture and place within the vastness of the High Altai mountains is central to Tschinag's work. It is through the emotional and physical maze of sheep herding and familial bonds that Tschinag navigates, told through the eyes of a young Tuvan boy, Dshurukawaa. Originally published in German and translated by Katharina Rout, the novel transcends borders and date lines. [End Page 75] Politics and environment clash in The Blue Sky, for although Tschinag depicts a culture traditionally "isolated," the novel's twentieth century setting brings with it the influence of hard-fisted Russian socialism and the takeover of Kazakh culture. Tschinag knows the struggles of the Tuvan peoples firsthand. He is a man both indigenous to the High Altai mountains and a global traveler. He is currently chieftain of his native tribe, as well as tribal healer. Translator Katharina Rout, upon visiting Tschinag at his home, reflects on her experiences: "As a shaman, [Tschinag] mediates between his community and the spirit world; as a chieftain, he connects Tuvans with each other; as a writer, he forges links between the oral tradition and epics of his people and the literate world outside; as a politician, he negotiates a future for his minority Tuvans among a sometimes hostile majority of Kazakhs and Mongolians; as a translator and teacher, he crosses, and enables other to cross, the linguistic borders of Tuvan, Kazakh, Mongolian, Russian, and German." Tschinag has experienced a wide range of this world and writes with an unmistakable authority. The author was taught under the traumatic rigor of re-education schools where he was forced to assimilate to dominant culture—a common mode of deculturalization utilized by the strongest powers around the globe. As a young adult, Tschinag traveled west to pursue higher education. In his words, he "alternate[s] between living in the indigenous culture of the post-Socialist Tuvans, the rising tribal capitalism of Mongolia, and the enlightened state monopoly of Western Europe." He currently divides his time between Ulaan-Bataar where he writes, the High Altai where he lives and serves as chieftain and shaman, and Germany where he works and tours. The Blue Sky is, at its core, Tschinag's first volume of a three-part autobiographical journey, followed by The Gray Earth and The White Mountain, each of which delve into a different phase of Tschinag's life. His first novel begins at the author's birth and progresses through his fraught childhood. Surrounded by those whom he loves most—his grandmother, his dog, Arsylang, and his siblings—Tschinag explores the universality of trauma and loss, of changing political tides that so easily and carelessly sweep entire cultures from the map. Tschinag, putting the customs and beliefs of his people into words, solidifies Tuvan culture in history. He writes of religion, of Gök-Deeri, the [End Page 76] father in the great blue sky. It is this relation to the blue sky that influences the entire novel. He explores the way that the beneficence of Gök-Deeri dictates abundance and poverty. A blessing of father sky, Dshurukawaa's intimate relationship with the hendshe (baby lambs herded by children) gives his life purpose, a desire to wake up in the mornings after all has been taken from him. Tschinag's prose plays with the idea of Gök-Deeri's relationship to the political. No longer does...