Analysis of Postcolonial Kazakh Poetry in the Context of Minor Literature

Abstract

In the article, the characteristics and manifestations of post-colonial Kazakh poetry
are analysed based on the concept of “minor literature” introduced by French philosophers Gilles
Deleuze and Felix Guattari to the field of social sciences and postmodern discourse. During the
period of the Soviet Union, that is, in the understanding of colonialism, the literature of the colonised peoples was always considered as someone else's literature, and the author himself was
excluded and considered as “another person”. Even after independence, these complexes continued
on literary/cultural/political basis. As a result, the image of the typical writer in literary texts, works,
language, style, political content and collective discourse has undergone significant changes. This
article analyses these and other changes in post-colonial Kazakh poetry in the context of minor
literature. Focusing on the works of Kazakh poets, including Turmanbay Moldagaliyev's poems
written after independence, and poets such as Yesengali Raushanov, Bakhytzhan Kanapiyanov,
Meirkhan Akdauletuly, Temirkhan Medetbek, Bakhyt Kenzheev, it draws attention to the deterritorialisation of the language and the transformation of the Kazakh language into a creole
language and the political and collective discourse of literary works. Within the framework of these
studies, the psychological impact of colonialism and emancipation tendencies in post-colonial
Kazakh society and political and social issues were evaluated through literary texts.