Night and Day, an unfinished dilogy by Uzbek author Cho'lpon, follows the terrible fate of a young Uzbek girl condemned to marry a sexual glutton. The novel raises questions about the nature of Russian colonialism, resistance to it, and the intentions of the author, whose life was lost to Stalinist terror.
Night and Day (1934), an unfinished dilogy by Uzbek author Abdulhamid Sulaymon o'g'li Cho'lpon, gives readers a glimpse into the everyday struggles of men and women in Russian imperial Turkestan.
More than just historical prose, Cho'lpon's magnum opus reads as poetic elegy and turns on dramatic irony. Though Night, the first and only extant book of the dilogy, depicts the terrible fate of a young girl condemned to marry a sexual glutton, nothing is what it seems. Readers find themselves questioning the nature of Russian colonialism, resistance to it, and even the intentions of the author, whose life and the second book of his dilogy, Day, were lost to Stalinist terror.
“"The book is well served by a detailed introduction describing the life of Cho'lpon and the literary and political context of the time, as well as a glossary of historical terms. Reader, rest assured: cultural glosses apart, you are in for compelling storytelling. Anguished love, cunning plots, witty jokes, and salivating recipes will make your journey memorable--which will all, hopefully, will make you read more Uzbek literature!" --Filip Noubel, Asymptote”
“The book is well served by a detailed introduction describing the life of Cho’lpon and the literary and political context of the time, as well as a glossary of historical terms. Reader, rest assured: cultural glosses apart, you are in for compelling storytelling. Anguished love, cunning plots, witty jokes, and salivating recipes will make your journey memorable—which will all, hopefully, will make you read more Uzbek literature!” —Filip Noubel, Asymptote
Abdulhamid Sulaymon o'g'li Cho'lpon (1897-1938) was the preeminent poet and litterateur of 1920s and 1930s Uzbekistan. His early 1920s associations with so-called "nationalist" circles, his pessimistic poetry, and his criticism of Soviet power made him the target of a barrage of denunciations in the latter half of the decade. After escaping to Moscow during the first round of purges in Central Asia, he returned to Uzbekistan in 1934 and entered the first half of the incomplete dilogy of novels, Night and Day, into a contest for Uzbek socialist prose works. The novel did not win any of the prizes, but the jury recommended for publication, and it was printed in 1936. The following year the book was the subject of yet further denunciations, and Cho'lpon was arrested. After a relatively acquiescent interrogationCho'lpon knew his death was imminenthe was convicted and executed on October 4, 1938.
Christopher Fort holds a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Michigan and an MA in Russian Area Studies from The Ohio State University. He is also the translator of Uzbek author Isajon Sulton's The Eternal Wanderer.
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