Mukhtar Magauin. Sary Qazaq.

Mukhtar Magauin’s novel «Sary Qazaq» is the very last work of Kazakh literature from the Soviet era. It was published and distributed to the general public in August 1991. At the same time, «Sary Qazaq» can be considered the first model of the newly independent Kazakh voice. These two points are not merely chronological milestones. This novel, by creating a unique example of free speech, became the first work to comprehensively depict the immense suffering that the Soviet-Communist regime brought upon the Kazakh people. The post-revolutionary disasters and violence, persecution and massacres, mass famine, and the suppression of the national spirit and national identity are portrayed with ultimate realism. The insights and lessons that the novel «Sary Qazaq» offers to the general reading public, and particularly to the new, younger generation, are of exceptional significance.