Azerbaijani literature
Encyclopedia
Azerbaijani literature refers to the literature written in Azerbaijani
, which currently is the official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan and is widely spoken in northwestern Iran
and eastern Turkey
. Azerbaijani is a dialect of Oghuz
branch of Turkic languages
, and as such, is mutually intelligible with other Oghuz dialects spoken in Turkey
, Iran
, Turkmenistan
, Georgia
, Uzbekistan
, Afghanistan
, Russia
, Balkans
and Middle East
.
consisting of Persian
and Turkic ghazal
s. In Persian ghazals he used his pen-name, while his Turkic ghazals were composed under his own name of Hasanoghlu.
In 14th century, Azerbaijan was under the control of Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu Turkic
tribal confederacies. Among the poets of this period were Gazi Burhanaddin, Haqiqi
(pen-name of Jahan-shah Qara Qoyunlu
), and Habibi. The end of 14th century was also the period of starting literary activity of Imadaddin Nesimi
, one of the greatest Turkic Hurufi mystical poets of the late 14th and early 15th centuries and one of the most prominent early Divan
masters in Turkic literary history, who also composed poetry in Persian
and Arabic
.
The Divan
and Ghazal
styles, introduced by Nesimi in Azerbaijani poetry in 15th century, were further developed by poets Qasim al-Anvar, Fuzuli
and Khatai (pen-name of Safavid
Shah Ismail I).
The book Dede Qorqud
which consists of two manuscripts copied in the 16th century, was not written earlier than the 15th century. It is a collection of twelve stories reflecting the oral tradition of Oghuz nomads. Since the author is buttering up both the Aq Qoyunlu and Ottoman rulers, it has been suggested that the composition belongs to someone living between the Aq Qoyunlu and Ottoman Empire
. Geoffery Lewis believes an older substratum of these oral traditions dates to conflicts between the ancient Oghuz and their Turkish rivals in Central Asia (the Pechenegs and the Kipchaks
), however this substratum has been clothed in references to the 14th-century campaigns of the Aq Qoyunlu Confederation of Turkic tribes against the Georgians
, the Abkhaz
, and the Greeks
in Trabzon
.
The 16th century poet, Muhammed Fuzuli produced his timeless philosophical and lyrical Qazals in Arabic
, Persian
, and Azerbaijani
. Benefiting immensely from the fine literary traditions of his environment, and building upon the legacy of his predecessors, Fizuli was destined to become the leading literary figure of his society. His major works include The Divan of Ghazals and The Qasidas.
In the 16th century, Azerbaijani literature further flourished with the development of Ashik
poetic genre of bards. During the same period, under the pen-name of Khatāī ( for sinner) Shah Ismail I wrote about 1400 verses in Azerbaijani, which were later published as his Divan. A unique literary style known as qoshma ( for improvisation) was introduced in this period, and developed by Shah Ismail and later by his son and successor, Shah Tahmasp
.
In the span of the 17th century and 18th century, Fizuli's unique genres as well Ashik
poetry were taken up by prominent poets and writers such as Qovsi of Tabriz, Shah Abbas Sani
, Agha Mesih Shirvani, Nishat, Molla Vali Vidadi
, Molla Panah Vagif
, Amani, Zafar and others.
Along with Anatolian Turks
, Turkmens and Uzbeks
, Azerbaijanis also celebrate the epic of Koroglu
(from for blind man's son), a legendary hero or a noble bandit of the Robin Hood
type. Several documented versions of Koroglu epic remain at the Institute for Manuscripts of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.
conquest of the territory of present-day Republic of Azerbaijan, as a result of Russo-Persian Wars
.
's reign, Azerbaijani writers who did not conform to the party line were persecuted. Bolshevik
s sought to destroy the nationalist intellectual elite established during the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
, and in 1930s, many writers and intellectuals were essentially turned into mouthpieces of Soviet propaganda.
Yet, there existed a group of Romantic Azerbaijani
intellectuals who resisted the Soviet purge. Among them were Mahammad Hadi, Abbas Sahhat
, Huseyn Javid
, Abdulla Shaig
, Jafar Jabbarly
, and Mikayil Mushfig
, who in their search for a means of resistance, turned to the clandestine methodologies of Sufism
, which taught spiritual discipline as a way to combat temptation.
When Nikita Khrushchev
came to power in 1953 following Stalin's death, the harsh focus on propaganda began to fade, and writers began to branch off in new directions, primarily focused on uplifting prose that would be a source of hope to Azerbaijanis living under a totalitarian regime.
ian poet Mohammad Hossein Shahriar
who had already established himself as a notable. This poem, published in Tabriz
in 1954 and written in colloquial Azerbaijani, became popular among Iranians and the people of Azerbaijan
. In Heydar Babaya Salam, Shahriar expressed his identity as an Iranian Azerbaijani attached to his homeland, language, and culture. Heydar Baba is a hill near Khoshknab, the native village of the poet.
and Arabic literature
have greatly influenced Azerbaijani literature, especially in its classical phase. Amongst poets who have written in Persian and have influenced Azerbaijani literature, one can mention Ferdowsi
, Sanai
, Hafiz, Saadi
, Attar, and Rumi. Arabic literature, especially the Quran and Prophetic sayings
, has also played a major role in influencing Azerbaijani literature. Amongst poets who have written in Arabic and have influenced Azerbaijani literature, one can mention Mansūr al-Hallāj who has had a wide ranging influence in the Sufic
literature of the Islamic world.
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
, which currently is the official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan and is widely spoken in northwestern Iran
Azerbaijan (Iran)
Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan , also Iranian Azerbaijan, Persian Azarbaijan is a region in northwestern Iran. It is also historically known as Atropatene and Aturpatakan....
and eastern Turkey
Eastern Anatolia Region
The Eastern Anatolia Region is one of seven non-administrative subdivisions of Turkey and encompasses its eastern provinces.The region and the name "Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi" were first defined at the First Geography Congress in 1941. It has the highest average altitude, largest geographical area, and...
. Azerbaijani is a dialect of Oghuz
Oghuz languages
The Oghuz languages, a major branch of the Turkic language family, are spoken by more than 110 million people in an area spanning from the Balkans to China.-Linguistic features:...
branch of Turkic languages
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
, and as such, is mutually intelligible with other Oghuz dialects spoken in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Classical era
The earliest known figure in Azerbaijani literature was Hasanoghlu or Pur Hasan Asfaraini, who composed a divanDiwan (poetry)
-Etymology:The English usage of the phrase Diwan Poetry comes from the Arabic word diwan , which is loaned from Persian means designated a list or register. The Persian word derived from the Persian dibir meaning writer or scribe...
consisting of Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and Turkic ghazal
Ghazal
The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...
s. In Persian ghazals he used his pen-name, while his Turkic ghazals were composed under his own name of Hasanoghlu.
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
tribal confederacies. Among the poets of this period were Gazi Burhanaddin, Haqiqi
Jahan Shah
Muzaffar al-Din Jahan Shah ibn Yusuf was the leader of the Kara Koyunlu Turkmen tribal federation in Azerbaijan and Arran who reigned c.1438-1467. During his reign he managed to expand the Kara Koyunlu’s territory to its largest extent, including Western Anatolia, most of present day Iraq,...
(pen-name of Jahan-shah Qara Qoyunlu
Jahan Shah
Muzaffar al-Din Jahan Shah ibn Yusuf was the leader of the Kara Koyunlu Turkmen tribal federation in Azerbaijan and Arran who reigned c.1438-1467. During his reign he managed to expand the Kara Koyunlu’s territory to its largest extent, including Western Anatolia, most of present day Iraq,...
), and Habibi. The end of 14th century was also the period of starting literary activity of Imadaddin Nesimi
Nesîmî
‘Alī ‘Imādu d-Dīn Nasīmī , often known as Nesimi, –1417 skinned alive in Aleppo) was a 14th-century Azerbaijani or Turkmen Ḥurūfī poet. Known mostly by his pen name of Nesîmî, he composed one divan in Azerbaijani, one in Persian, and a number of poems in Arabic...
, one of the greatest Turkic Hurufi mystical poets of the late 14th and early 15th centuries and one of the most prominent early Divan
Diwan (poetry)
-Etymology:The English usage of the phrase Diwan Poetry comes from the Arabic word diwan , which is loaned from Persian means designated a list or register. The Persian word derived from the Persian dibir meaning writer or scribe...
masters in Turkic literary history, who also composed poetry in Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
.
The Divan
Diwan (poetry)
-Etymology:The English usage of the phrase Diwan Poetry comes from the Arabic word diwan , which is loaned from Persian means designated a list or register. The Persian word derived from the Persian dibir meaning writer or scribe...
and Ghazal
Ghazal
The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...
styles, introduced by Nesimi in Azerbaijani poetry in 15th century, were further developed by poets Qasim al-Anvar, Fuzuli
Fuzûlî
Fużūlī was the pen name of the Azerbaijani or the Bayat branch of Oghuz Turkish and Ottoman poet, writer and thinker Muhammad bin Suleyman...
and Khatai (pen-name of Safavid
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning...
Shah Ismail I).
The book Dede Qorqud
Book of Dede Korkut
The Book of Dede Korkut, also spelled as Dada Gorgud, Dede Qorqut or Korkut-ata , is the most famous epic stories of the Oghuz Turks The stories carry morals and values significant to the social lifestyle of the nomadic Turks and their pre-Islamic beliefs...
which consists of two manuscripts copied in the 16th century, was not written earlier than the 15th century. It is a collection of twelve stories reflecting the oral tradition of Oghuz nomads. Since the author is buttering up both the Aq Qoyunlu and Ottoman rulers, it has been suggested that the composition belongs to someone living between the Aq Qoyunlu and Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. Geoffery Lewis believes an older substratum of these oral traditions dates to conflicts between the ancient Oghuz and their Turkish rivals in Central Asia (the Pechenegs and the Kipchaks
Kipchaks
Kipchaks were a Turkic tribal confederation...
), however this substratum has been clothed in references to the 14th-century campaigns of the Aq Qoyunlu Confederation of Turkic tribes against the Georgians
Georgian people
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
, the Abkhaz
Abkhaz people
The Abkhaz or Abkhazians are a Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. A large Abkhazian diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the emigration from the Caucasus in the late 19th century known as Muhajirism...
, and the Greeks
Pontic Greeks
The Pontians are an ethnic group traditionally living in the Pontus region, the shores of Turkey's Black Sea...
in Trabzon
Trabzon
Trabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
.
The 16th century poet, Muhammed Fuzuli produced his timeless philosophical and lyrical Qazals in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, and Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
. Benefiting immensely from the fine literary traditions of his environment, and building upon the legacy of his predecessors, Fizuli was destined to become the leading literary figure of his society. His major works include The Divan of Ghazals and The Qasidas.
In the 16th century, Azerbaijani literature further flourished with the development of Ashik
Ashik
An Ashik is a mystic troubadour or traveling bard, in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, and Iran who sings and plays the saz, a form of lute. Ashiks' songs are semi-improvised around common bases....
poetic genre of bards. During the same period, under the pen-name of Khatāī ( for sinner) Shah Ismail I wrote about 1400 verses in Azerbaijani, which were later published as his Divan. A unique literary style known as qoshma ( for improvisation) was introduced in this period, and developed by Shah Ismail and later by his son and successor, Shah Tahmasp
Tahmasp
Tahmasp is the name of two Safavid shahs of Persia:*Tahmasp I *Tahmasp II...
.
In the span of the 17th century and 18th century, Fizuli's unique genres as well Ashik
Ashik
An Ashik is a mystic troubadour or traveling bard, in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, and Iran who sings and plays the saz, a form of lute. Ashiks' songs are semi-improvised around common bases....
poetry were taken up by prominent poets and writers such as Qovsi of Tabriz, Shah Abbas Sani
Abbas II of Persia
Shah Abbas II was Shah of Iran from 1642 to 1666. He was the seventh Shah of the Safavid Dynasty. He was the son of Shah Safi I and a Circassian, Anna Khanum, and originally bore the name Sultan Muhammed Mirza before his coronation on May 15, 1642...
, Agha Mesih Shirvani, Nishat, Molla Vali Vidadi
Molla Vali Vidadi
Molla Vali Vidadi was an Azerbaijani poet.Little is known about Vidadi. He spent most of his life in his native town of Shamkir where he taught at a religious school he had established himself. According to some sources, Vidadi spent some years in Tiflis, Georgia, where we served as a court poet...
, Molla Panah Vagif
Molla Panah Vagif
Molla Panah Vagif was an 18th-century poet, the founder of the realism genre in the Azerbaijani poetry and also a prominent statesman and diplomat, vizier – the minister of foreign affairs in the Karabakh khanate.- Life :...
, Amani, Zafar and others.
Along with Anatolian Turks
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
, Turkmens and Uzbeks
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
, Azerbaijanis also celebrate the epic of Koroglu
Epic of Köroglu
The Epic of Köroğlu is a heroic legend prominent in the oral traditions of the Turkic peoples. The legend typically describes a hero who seeks to avenge a wrong. It was often put to music and played at sporting events as an inspiration to the competing athletes.The legend first began to take shape...
(from for blind man's son), a legendary hero or a noble bandit of the Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
type. Several documented versions of Koroglu epic remain at the Institute for Manuscripts of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.
The ninteenth century onward
Azerbaijani literature of the ninteenth century was profoundly influenced by the RussianRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
conquest of the territory of present-day Republic of Azerbaijan, as a result of Russo-Persian Wars
Russo-Persian Wars
The Russo-Persian Wars were a series of wars fought between the Russian Empire and Persia in the 18th and 19th centuries, the most important of which were:...
.
Soviet Azerbaijani literature
Under the Soviet rule, particularly during Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's reign, Azerbaijani writers who did not conform to the party line were persecuted. Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s sought to destroy the nationalist intellectual elite established during the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was the first successful attempt to establish a democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world . The ADR was founded on May 28, 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917 by Azerbaijani National Council in...
, and in 1930s, many writers and intellectuals were essentially turned into mouthpieces of Soviet propaganda.
Yet, there existed a group of Romantic Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani people
The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...
intellectuals who resisted the Soviet purge. Among them were Mahammad Hadi, Abbas Sahhat
Abbas Sahhat
Abbas Sahhat , born Abbasgulu Aliabbas oglu Mehdizadeh , was an Azerbaijani poet and dramatist.-Life and career:...
, Huseyn Javid
Huseyn Javid
Huseyn Javid , born Huseyn Abdulla oglu Rasizadeh , other spellings "," was a prominent Azerbaijani poet and playwright of the early 20th century...
, Abdulla Shaig
Abdulla Shaig
Abdulla Shaig , born Abdulla Mustafa oglu Talibzadeh, was an Azerbaijani writer.-Early life and education:Shaig was born to Marneuli-native Azeri parents, Mustafa Talibzadeh and Mehri Bayramli...
, Jafar Jabbarly
Jafar Jabbarly
Jafar Gafar oglu Jabbarly, often spelled Jabbarli was an Azerbaijani playwright, poet, director and screenwriter.-Literature and theatre:...
, and Mikayil Mushfig
Mikayil Mushfig
Mikayil Mushfig , born Mikayil Ismayilzadeh was an Azerbaijani poet of the 1930s. During the Stalinist purges in the USSR, Mikayil Mushfig was arrested and executed by the Soviet authorities at the age of 30.-Life and poetry:Mikayil Mushfig was born in the city of Baku of Baku Governorate in 1908...
, who in their search for a means of resistance, turned to the clandestine methodologies of Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
, which taught spiritual discipline as a way to combat temptation.
When Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
came to power in 1953 following Stalin's death, the harsh focus on propaganda began to fade, and writers began to branch off in new directions, primarily focused on uplifting prose that would be a source of hope to Azerbaijanis living under a totalitarian regime.
Iranian Azerbaijani literature
An influential piece of post-World War II Azerbaijani poetry, Heydar Babaya Salam (Greetings to Heydar Baba) was written by IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian poet Mohammad Hossein Shahriar
Mohammad Hossein Shahriar
Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Behjat-Tabrizi , chiefly known by his pen name as Shahriar , was a legendary Iranian poet of Azeri origin, wrote in Persian languages and Azerbaijani language....
who had already established himself as a notable. This poem, published in Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
in 1954 and written in colloquial Azerbaijani, became popular among Iranians and the people of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. In Heydar Babaya Salam, Shahriar expressed his identity as an Iranian Azerbaijani attached to his homeland, language, and culture. Heydar Baba is a hill near Khoshknab, the native village of the poet.
Influences on Azerbaijani literature
PersianPersian literature
Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
and Arabic literature
Arabic literature
Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is adab which is derived from a meaning of etiquette, and implies politeness, culture and enrichment....
have greatly influenced Azerbaijani literature, especially in its classical phase. Amongst poets who have written in Persian and have influenced Azerbaijani literature, one can mention Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
, Sanai
Sanai
Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam Sanā'ī Ghaznavi was a Afghan Sufi poet who lived in Ghazna, in what is now Afghanistan between the 11th century and the 12th century. Some people spell his name as Sanayee. He died around 1131.-Life:...
, Hafiz, Saadi
Saadi (poet)
Abū-Muḥammad Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī better known by his pen-name as Saʿdī or, simply, Saadi, was one of the major Persian poets of the medieval period. He is not only famous in Persian-speaking countries, but he has also been quoted in western sources...
, Attar, and Rumi. Arabic literature, especially the Quran and Prophetic sayings
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
, has also played a major role in influencing Azerbaijani literature. Amongst poets who have written in Arabic and have influenced Azerbaijani literature, one can mention Mansūr al-Hallāj who has had a wide ranging influence in the Sufic
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
literature of the Islamic world.
See also
- Azerbaijani peopleAzerbaijani peopleThe Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...
- Azerbaijani languageAzerbaijani languageAzerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
- Nizami Museum of Azerbaijan LiteratureNizami Museum of Azerbaijan LiteratureThe Nizami Museum of Azerbaijani Literature - was established in 1939, in Baku. It is located in the centre of the capital of Azerbaijan, not far from the fountains square and near the entrance of Icheri Sheher...
External links
- The Book of Dede Korkut (English translation)
- "Literature" by Azeri.org
- Azeri Literature
- Azerbaijani Literature and Authors, part of Virginia Tech University Libraries Slavic, East European, and Former USSR Resources page
- Aesopian literary dimensions in Azerbaijani literature of the Soviet period, 1920--1990, by Maliheh Shams Tyrrell, Columbia University, Faculty Advisor: Edward Allworth, Date: 1999
- The Institute of Literature named after Nizami of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
- http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6779(196312)22%3A4%3C727%3ATUOSRI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4The Use of Spoken Russian in Azerbaijani Literature, by Andreas Tietze, Slavic ReviewSlavic ReviewSlavic Review is a leading international peer-reviewed academic journal publishing scholarly studies and book reviews in all disciplines concerned with Russia, Central Eurasia, and Eastern and Central Europe...
, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Dec., 1963), pp. 727–733] - Azeribooks project of the United States Public Affairs Section
- Azerbaijan National Bibliography (1987-1991)
- Hamlet Isaxanli (Isayev)