 Kazakhstan's
Didar Amantay (b. 1969) has been a news reporter, produced television
documentaries, worked in the theatre, translated, and lectured on philosophy
at Kazakhstan University. He writes articles about the history, geopolitics
and culture of Kazakhstan for numerous newspapers and periodicals, including
a webzine published in Prague (www.tol.cz). In 1996, Amantay published
a collection of short stories entitled Post scriptum, which won
the Soros-Kazakhstan debut award. Last year, he published an extensive
compilation volume, Bless me (2000), made up of three mini-novels, short
stories and philosophical essays. The book also includes the work "Read
me", which caused a stir in Kazakhstan with its postmodernism.
It describes the generation of in-betweens, who went straight from Soviet
schools to plundering capitalism and was crushed in the process. The novel
"The poet and Satan" examines Dostoyevksy's idea that
beauty will save the world. Nowadays, however, we live in an age that
exploits beauty. The collection of short stories "Leaders and
generations" is based on the recollections of an uncle of Amantay's.
The stories are about the people whose lives collapsed when the Soviet
Union broke up. Amantay's prose has a powerful rhythm, challenging metaphors
and numerous literary references. The various fragments are woven into
a fascinating mosaic. Amantay feels closest to existentialism, Nietzsche
and Camus, and he is also interested in the postmodernists. They believe
that philosophers are no longer visionaries, but like fleas in clothes
- at best interesting people to talk to. |