Tajik literature and its history is bound up with the standardisation of the

Tajik language Tajik (Tajik: , , ), also called Tajiki Persian (Tajik: , , ) or Tajiki, is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by Tajiks. It is closely related to neighbouring Dari with which it forms a continuum of mutually intelligi ...

. Tajik literary centres include the cities of

Bukhara Bukhara ( Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and the city ...

and

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

, currently in present-day

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

but with a majority Tajik population and

Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

and

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

in Afghanistan. During the

Soviet era The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

, the principal literary output was

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

in nature. Three writers dominated the first generation of Soviet Tajik literature.

Sadriddin Aini Sadriddin Ayni ( tg, Садриддин Айнӣ, fa, صدرالدين عينى, russian: Садриддин Саидмуродович Саидмуродов; 15 April 1878 – 15 July 1954) was a Tajik intellectual who wrote poetry, fiction, ...

(1878-1954), a

Jadidist The Jadids were Muslim modernist reformers within the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. They normally referred to themselves by the Turkic terms ''Taraqqiparvarlar'' ('progressives'), ''Ziyalilar'' ('intellectuals') or simpl ...

writer and educator who turned communist, began as a poet but wrote primarily prose in the Soviet era. His works include three major novels dealing with social issues in the region and memoirs that depict life in the Bukhoro Khanate. Aini became the first president of Tajikistan's Academy of Sciences. Abu'l-Qasem Lahuti (1887-1957; in Tajik, Abdulqosim Lohuti) was an Iranian poet who emigrated to the Soviet Union for political reasons and eventually settled in Tajikistan. He wrote both lyric poetry and "socialist realist" verse. Another poet, Mirzo Tursunzoda (1911-77), collected Tajik oral literature, wrote poetry of his own about social change in Tajikistan, and turned out various works on popular political themes of the moment. Since the generation that included those three writers, Tajikistan has produced numerous poets, novelists, short story writers, and playwrights. Other writers of note during the Soviet period include Satim Ulugzade (1911-1997), Karim Hakim (1905-1942), Pairov Sulaimoni (1899-1933), Rozia Ozod (1893-1957), Aminjan Shokuhi (1923-??), Mohammad Jan Rahimi (1901-??), Bobo Yunas ((1885-1945)), Habibulo Nazarov (1907-??), Abdul Salem Dehati (1911-??), Baki Rahim Zadeh (1910-??), Rahim Jalil (1909-??), Jalal Ekrami (1909-??), Aminzadeh Mohiedin (1904-??), Juhari Zadeh Sohayli (1900-??), Faizollah Ansari (1931-??), Mirzo Ghafar (1929-??), Mir Shakar (1912-??), Mohiadin Farhat (1924-??) and Ahmad Danesh.

Notable writers

* Mirzo Abdulvohid Munzim * Pairav Sulaimoni * Abulqosim Lohuti * Sadri Ziyo * Sotym Ulughzoda * Mirzo Tursunzoda * Laiq Sher-Ali *

Bozor Sobir Bozor Sobir (20 November 1938 – 1 May 2018) was a preeminent Tajik poet and politician, known as the national poet of Tajikistan and 'the conscience of the nation'. Sobir established his reputation during the Soviet era. His poems, books, an ...

* Muhammadjon Shukurov * Sattor Tursun * Бободжон Гафуров

References

* Perry, J. R. (1996) "Tajik literature: Seventy years is longer than the millennium" in ''World Literature Today'', Vol. 70 Issue 3, p. 571 * Library of Congress - Country Studies - Tajikistan {{Tajikistan-stub Iranic literature Tajik language

Notable writers

See also

References