Amanat: Kazakh Women's Writing

Genre: Short Stories, Fiction

Authors: Zhumagul Solty, Nadezhda Chernova, Ayagul Mantay, Aigul Kemelbayeva, Raushan Baiguzhayeva, Zira Naurzbayeva, Oral Arukenova, Lilya Kalaus, Asel Omar, Aya Ömirtai, Madina Omarova, Zaure Batayeva, Olga Mark

Year Published: 2022

TWs: SA, Death, Substances, Violence

Rating: 3.5/5

I visited Kazakhstan last December and was pleasantly surprised by its incredible ski slopes, friendly people, and striking Soviet architecture. However, I realised I knew very little about its rich history and culture. When I stumbled across ‘Amanat: Women’s Writing from Kazakhstan’, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to delve deeper into this fascinating country through the eyes of its contemporary female writers.

“My soul was whining like a wolf cub, crying like a camel calf who had been fooling around carelessly and finally stepped into the fire.”

Synopsis (spoiler-free, always)

The collection consists of 24 stories with lengths ranging from a few pages to entire excerpts from books. You can find a one-line summary of each of the stories in the collection below:

Romeo and Juliet: A group of elderly Kazakh villagers, motivated by unpaid pensions, stages a humorous and unexpected production of the play for foreign visitors in independent Kazakhstan.

An Awkward Conversation: A single brief conversation between two friends encapsulates an entire family’s history in a poignant and tragic narrative.

Aslan’s Bride: Milochka relocates to a village where Tomiko, whose son is presumed missing in war, plans for Milochka to marry him upon his return.

Orphan: A group of children recalls the kindness of Urseit-ata, an elderly man who played with them and protected them amidst village conflicts.

Hunger: A student in Moscow is left struggling to survive when her money order from Kazakhstan is rejected due to new restrictions, leaving her focused solely on finding food.

Propiska: A girl staying with her uncle develops feelings for a married man visiting with his wife, while she helps her aunt host the guests and grapples with her own anxieties about the future.

The Beskempir: Elderly women in the city express their deep sense of loss and disconnection from their traditional lives through vivid accounts.

The Rival: The wife of a talented musician manages the household while sharing insightful stories about traditional Kazakh music.

Amanat: As she nears the end of her life, a mother’s final wish is for her eldest son to find a good Kazakh girl for his younger brother to marry.

Precedent: A cook, insists on taking legal action against her boss for insulting her, leading to a long legal battle.

Procedures Within: At the airport, Clara runs into an old acquaintance, who is then called away for a murder case, prompting her to explore Shymkent while waiting.

A Woman Over Fifty: The unnamed narrator reflects on the obsolescence of typewriters and the struggles of aging.

How Men Think: The narrator illustrates her husband’s struggle to find sugar in the kitchen despite its obvious presence.

The Stairwell: This story reflects on the changing rhythm and types of footsteps over time, from playful childhood to weary adulthood.

Operatic Drama: A man and his business guest bond over drinks after an awkward visit to an elderly relative, where they argue about their families’ troubled histories.

Black Snow of December: The grandfather, who survived the Bolsheviks by changing his last name, adapted to multiple alphabets and languages while enduring the loss of his family and their unknown fates.

The French Beret: A district newspaper supervisor is imprisoned for a typo that mistakenly called Stalin “venomous” instead of “great.”

18+: A job seeker endures a humiliating interview with a corrupt official who belittles him and makes unwanted advances.

Poet: In autumn Almaty, an older man reunites with an old acquaintance, sharing his loneliness and existential weariness over tea and cognac.

Once Upon an Autumn Evening: A lonely woman befriends a mysterious girl, Zhanna, who claims to love a baby and then disappears.

Excerpt from School: Shynar, struggling with unpaid wages and administrative conflicts during a harsh winter, faces mounting challenges and conflicts at work.

Excerpt from the Anthropologists: Renée, an American anthropologist, hires the narrator as a translator, leading to cultural encounters and reflections on American and Kazakh life.

The Lighter: A homeless teenager earns money through various schemes, including swindling and blackmail.

My Eleusinian Mysteries: A woman driving at night cradles her child while she contemplates the lives of her female ancestors.

“I thought about how my daughter would take the cup of life from me, the one our grandmothers had carried through the darkness of millennia, through war and hunger, through victory and defeat.”

My Thoughts

‘Amanat’ is the first short story collection I have ever read and I am so happy it is. Every story in this collection was beautifully written, allowing me to have a deeper glimpse into Kazakhstan. From vivid descriptions of the country’s landscape to the hopes and dreams of Kazakh women, it had it all. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I will definitely be reading more short story collections in the future. While I’d love to write a lengthy review for each story (trust me, I could go on and on about them), I’ll focus on a few of my favourites.

First, we have ‘Aslan’s Bride’ by Nadezhda Chernova. In this story, Milochka, a modern city woman unlucky in love, finds a sense of worth and belonging in a remote village through a “ghost marriage” to a lost son. I absolutely adored the description of the landscapes in this story. For example, the sand was described as ‘glowing a gentle blue under the crescent moon.’ The nature imagery added depth to the narrative which made it even more enjoyable.

Next, we have “Black Snow of December” by Asel Omar, which documents a silenced period of student protests and violent repression in the 1980s. Like many stories in this collection, it was infused with politics and gives a look into life under the Soviet Union. I could almost imagine the Russian troops marching and tamping down the protests. As someone who loves history, this story was the perfect way for me to delve into Soviet-era Kazakhstan.

Lastly, ‘The Lighter’ by Olga Mark was one of my absolute favourites because of the resilient and rebellious main character. Despite being orphaned and forced to live on the streets, she continued to navigate various trials with an almost child-like wonder. Her defiance in the face of mistreatment and brutal winter conditions was admirable and I would definitely befriend her in real life.

If you’re looking for bite-sized stories written by a diverse cast of women, I would definitely recommend this book!

A special mention to Zaure Batayeva and Shelly Fairweather-Vega for their amazing job translating this collection from both Kazakh and Russian.