by Kurban Said
First published in 1937 in Germany, then in 1970 in England, « Ali
and Nino » is considered a national novel by Azerbaijanis.
The novel is set in Baku where
three great Caucasian peoples
live : Georgians, Mohammedans and Armenians, a place where East meets
West, a region « held betwen the two claws of a hot pair of tongs ».
The book was a mind-opener for us about this part of the world we knew
very little about. Nowadays, fights
in the region are still rooted in
religious hatreds between Christian Armenia and predominantly Muslim and
oil-rich Azerbaijan.
It is a topical book too as Armenia prepares to commemorate in April the
100th anniversary of the genocide against Armenians in Turkey.
We found that there was a powerful sense of place in « Ali and
Nino » and we all agreed that it was well documented in terms of history,
customs, religions, society, conflicts.
Places
were very well described and we admired the desert imagery.
But the aim of a novel is to invent LIFE . LOVE is part of life.
Exploring
the lives of the two main
characters , Kurban Saïd asks the
question :
« Is
love possible between :
-
Ali Khan , the Azerbaijani,
Muslim, a desert man, a member of a society where « the blood feud is the
most important basis of state order and good conduct, no matter what the Europeans say » . He himself
says : » I belong to the desert….my heart and my soul belong to the
East ».
-
She says : »
I am a tiny piece of this Europe you hate. I am afraid of you, your
love, your world ». Mine is
« a different world from yours. No bigoted fools, no women wearing the
veil. »
LOVE
in the book is dealt with in the context of a strong identity crisis.
We
generally agreed that the characterization of Ali and Nino was a bit weak and
not very plausible in the end . But, it is a novel….
Let
Nachararyan, another character conclude :
« There
is no bridge between East and West, not even the bridge of love. Ali Khan is a
barbarian, forever a prisoner of the desert. »
Anne Van Calster
I don't agree that it was well documented in terms of religions and customs. I found it rather caricatural. Ali is not well represented an easterner , the same as Nino as a westerner, all very cliché. No doubt that Kurban Said is more fiction himself than Ali and Nino.
ReplyDeleteSusan Op de Beeck