Ethnogender Picture of the World of the Balkars: Based on the Novels by M. Shavaeva “Murat” and “Northern lights”

Abstract

The article is based on the author’s hypothesis that the devalued “new time” Soviet novels of socialist realism actually contain valuable ethno-gender material. This position is theoretically substantiated and experimentally proved by the author as a result of the analysis of two historical and revolutionary novels “Murat” and “Northern Lights” by the Balkarian writer Minaldan Shavaeva. The main character Asiyat portrays the North Caucasian type of an emancipated woman who challenges patriarchal foundations and preaches the principle of “freedom of the heart”. Much attention is paid to related issues related to ethnocultural codes “kadar” (fate) “taukel” (soul is like a mountain), “cousin”, “leading woman”, “driven man”, “maiden braid”. In the context of gender transformation processes in the North Caucasus, the culture-forming role of the Russian language is also considered.