Abstract
The Journey of Hero Resulting in Independence in Turkmen Novels of the Socialist Era
The first Turkmen novel of the socialist era was written in 1937. In Turkmenistan, there were many novels written from 1937 till the independence in 1991. It will be easy to understand Turkmen independence if the heroes of these novels are analysed respectively. If a work of literature is considered a reflection of society, then we can better understand heroes' adventures and their pursuit of freedom in the socialist era novel. From 1937 to the end of 1960 there are three main heroes in Turkmen novels. These are the positive type, negative type and the helper Russian. The positive type, who is the main hero, is loyal to the socialist regime. He harshly fıghts against the negative type (i.e. the bourgeoisie: men of religion, governors and the rich). The Russian helper, on the other hand, guides the main positive type in his understanding of socialism. With the emergence of limited freedom following the death of Stalin in 1953, we can fınd criticism of socialism in these novels. The Russian helper type disappears while the conflict between the positive type and the negative one continues. Between 1980 and 1991, the negative type disappears. The only one that remains is the positive type. However, this positive type is no longer the supporter of socialist regime. On the contrary, he draws attention to the negative sides of this regime, such as bribery. This study is intended to examine how the main hero serves independence in this 54-year process as exemplified by these novels.
Keywords
Turkmen Novel, Hero, Independence, Socialist realism