Thursday, December 9, 2010

Book Presentation at University of Arizona, December 8th, 2010








This was another excellent opportunity to meet with students and faculty University of Arizona, who are so kindly invited me to present my new book "Mother's Will" in Russian ("Завещание Матери").
I am so grateful to meet my readers and share my Uighur culture with people, who live thousands miles away. We listened to the music played by Dervishi, ate Uighur samsa and talked about literature. Special thanks for Dr. Zura Dotton and other faculty members for organizing such an event. In one the picture, you see a vase made of gourd by an Uighur artist from Kazakhstan, Hashim Kurban, whose wonderful paintings illustrated my book.

3 comments:

zura said...

It was a distinct privilege to have Durnyam Mashurova visit with the Russian and Slavic Studies Department and the students who enrolled in the course “The Other Kazakhstan “ which I teach at the University of Arizona. The students have known Durnyam Mashurova through the chapters of her book "A Life Lived Not in Vain" ( "Не Зря Прожитая Жизнь" ) as a part of course readings.
The students met with Durnyam Mashurova in person on the last day of the semester. I couldn’t even think of a better way of finalizing the semester.
The ordinary classroom where we usually hold the lecture was prearranged with stunning artifacts of the Uyghur culture. In addition, there was a table set with golden baked Togach, Samsa and Nan which attracted students as they walked in.
Soon , we were captured by Durnyam Apa’s soft voice and amazed by the gentle smile on her face throughout a well prepared presentation on her latest book, “Mother’s Will” ( Завещание Матери").
When I first read the title of the book, I expected the book would be telling, mostly, the stories based on universal phenomena - mother’s love, care, and interaction with her family members which, of course, was central in the text.
It didn’t take me long to arrive to the point to understand that this book is a truly gripping and dramatic account of extraordinary human suffering during the Soviet Era and the role that women played in those days.
I was startled reading heart wrenching stories about the horrible manmade disasters and tragedies of Stalin’s regimes of which my own family was a victim (the entire Chechen people were accused of the alliance with Hitler’s Army and deported to Central Asia and Siberia in 1944) and had tears running down my cheeks throughout the chapters.
On the other hand, my heart was filled with the warmth of the cozy, loving relationships that Uyghur women were capable of building between the people of the community. Their struggle and efforts made to survive were based on the enormous strength.
The author portrayals stunningly the spiritual and emotional power , and hope of such fragile women to create warm, cozy homes by finding inner resources in the worst days of their lives.
Their beloved husbands were taken away by the government, never to be seen again.
Not only were these women subject to poverty, famine, and political accusation, they also had to face with dignity rape and violence. The Uyghur cultural and traditional values they cherished served them the rights to receive loving hands from the society. Further events describe the heroism they carried out during the II World War and their contribution to rebuilding and developing their society.
Finally, I was amazed with the way the author describes warmth and purity of human love, and harmony of life and nature, and the Uyghur culture, humor and music that played an important role in nurturing people’s lives in grief and happiness.
I read the extraordinary and deeply effecting personal stories of extraordinary Uygur people, one of the largest ethnic people of multicultural Kazakhstan with great concern and interest.
Zura Dotton

Anonymous said...

Дорогая Дурням,

Я читала Вашу книгу и плакала, но не могла оторваться, мне очень хотелось дочитать ее до конца. Ваш рассказ - очень трогательная история женщин уйгурского народа – позволяет поближе взглянуть и познакомиться с традициями и культурой вашего народа. В этом ценность Вашего повествования. Спасибо Вам за то что вы поделились с читателями. Я сама выросла в Алматинской области, в городе Талгар, и названия мест из вашей книги звучали для меня знакомо и от этого щемило сердце. Я сейчас тоже живу в США, уже много лет не была в Казахстане. Но когда я там жила, я конечно встречалась с уйгурами, и моя семья очень любит уйгурскую кухню, и я продолжаю готовить замечетельное уйгурское блюдо манты уже живя здесь, и когда угощаю им моих друзей американцев, всегда рассказываю им откуда это блюдо. Меня всегда впачатлали в уйгурском народе их близкие семейные связи, например, то как члены семьи часто идут на самопожертвование чтобы помочь друг другу в трудное время, и делают это легко, в порядке вещей, - такая поразительная доброта, простота, и отзывчивость ваших людей. История уйгурских женщин во многом перекликается с историями всех женщин советского периода. Когда я читала часть, где вы описывали военное время, я вспоминала рассказы моей мамы... Я верю в то, что у каждой женщины есть свою уникальная и в чем-то похожая на Вашу история, которую стоит рассказать, но не все могут это сделать. Вы так хорошо, так просто и изящно рассказали свою историю, которая наверняка найдет отзыв во многих сердцах, и в которой вы расскали и часть моей истории, и часть истории моей мамы, и моей семьи, и за это вам – сердечное спасибо. Успеха Вам в Вашем творчестве и всего самого наилучшего в жизни. С уважением, - Татьяна Константинова

J.D Wagner said...

Mrs. Mashurova -
First off, allow me to say that it was a great honour to have you to visit the University of Arizona and share with us your writings and stories about Uyghur culture in Kazakhstan. By reading your novel in the original Russian, I have become inspired to learn more about the Uyghur people in Kazakhstan and their own unique culture throughout the former Soviet Union and the province of Xinjiang, China. I've found that your own stories reflect those of my own mother and grandmother, whose immigration out of communist Hungary as an ethnic German after the Second World War mirrored many of the hardships described in your book. Therefore, I feel as if by understanding your own memoirs, I feel closer even to not just Uyghur women, but also to my own grandmother. I felt as someone, who was so lucky to have a much easier childhood than her, I could connect to her past through this novel. As a student of Russian-Slavic studies, I was happy to have the opportunity in to read your book, however, I feel that many people in America could benefit from reading 'A Mother's Will (Завещание Матери)' and 'A Life not lived in vain (Не Зря Прожитая Жизнь)'; in that too often we see a disconnect between the younger generation and their elders. I would love to one day see both novels translated into English, such that everyone would be able to enjoy the heart-warming stories about loving relationships that female elders were capable of building between the people in their communities. Thank you once again for your visit and I wish you and yours all the success in the world!

- John Doyle Wagner
student for Linguistics, Russo-Slavic Studies and German Studies
Honors College
University of Arizona; class 2012