INTERLITERARY DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE TATAR AND CHUVASH PEOPLES (SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY – EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY)
Vitaly Grigorievich Rodionov,
Chuvash State University named after I.N.Ulyanov,
15 Moscow Avenue, Cheboksary, 428015, Russia,
vitrod1@yandex.ru.
The author believes that we can use all kinds of comparisons to identify dialogic relations between literatures, as a comparative analysis is not the only means to reveal their national identity, and suggests a typological dialogue as a type of dialogic relations. Based on the ideas of enlightenment and national liberation in the Ural-Volga region, the author proves that common external factors, which in most cases had the same impact on Tatar and Chuvash literature, caused more dissimilarities and differences than similarities and analogies in the field of their poetics. The author also identifies the following chronologically sequential types of dialogic relations between the literatures of the two kindred peoples: a contrasting dialogue and a typological dialogue. Against the general background, the Chuvash lyrics and lyrical epic poetry of the early twentieth century appear to be more radical than the Tatar poetry of the same period. The latter distinguished itself by its ethnocentricity. Starting from 1908, meditative trends and a certain pessimism enhanced both of the literatures. In the field of poetics, Tatar and Chuvash prose developed in different directions: the former aspired to European traditions, while the latter gravitated towards the synthesis of Eastern and Western traditions. Thus, the influence of common external (typological) factors brought about the unique literary systems of the Tatar and Chuvash peoples.
Key words: Tatar and Chuvash literatures, types of dialogic relations, typological dialogue, identity, religious and educational activities, ethno-cultural consciousness, folk traditions.
