An Exclusive Interview with Guzel Yakhina: Will Armenian readers be interested in “Zuleikha”? (video in Armenia)
Newmag Publishing House has presented the international bestseller “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes” novel. The author of the book is Guzel Yakhina. She wrote her first novel 5 years ago, when she was 40 years old. Yakhina realized her dream when she changed her
While re-reading Zuleikha, the author moves again to the Tatar village, where her grandmother lived. She was exiled to Siberia in 1930, when she was only 7-year-old. She has been exiled for 16 years and was freed in 1946. Guzel Yakhina, the author with Tatar roots, decided to choose this story as a basis for her novel. Writing the novel helped her to understand the strict character of her grandmother and the hardships she went through. “I feel guilty that I did not have time to ask my grandmother more questions about the exile years. Maybe I should have been more persistent. Many interesting details were gone with the loss of my grandmother.”
Guzel Yakhina describes her grandmother's house at the beginning of the novel, she goes through her exile path, walking through the same hellish route: Kazan-Krasnoyarsk-Yenisey-Angara. “I am not talking about a Tatar woman who was exiled to Siberia in the 1930s, but about a universal character of a woman, who escapes from the clutches of a patriarchal place and spreads her wings like a butterfly.”
This is a story about how Zuleikha opens her eyes, transforms, passes through different stages and rediscovers herself. The story also presents how Zuleikha gives freedom to the people dear to her. The author tries to show this personal line and add up historical facts, cases of oppression and persecution. “For me, the main theme in the story is the woman and the events unfolding around her. I tried to accurately describe the facts, numbers and details, while filling them with dramaturgical patterns.”
The author has gone through two waves of criticism. One after the novel, the other after the movie. Guzel calls it a contrast hot and cold shower. “People say how she dared to show the Tatar woman in that way, I was also called a traitor of the nation. There have been allegations that the novel is a bomb placed under the national self-consciousness, there were even opinions that I have justified the repressions. I have clearly stated my point of view on the Stalinist regime, I present everything in a very delicate way, so I am not ashamed of the text. I'm glad that there is a debate, therefore there is interest around the book.”
According to the author, the story of Zuleikha is relevant for all those people, who lived in the Soviet Union. The book was translated into more than 23 languages. Newmag translated and published it in Armenian. Guzel Yakhina hopes that the Armenian “Zuleikha” will result in more interest in Tatarstan and their culture. “I hope that the protagonist will be understandable and perceptible for the Armenian reader. I hope that the book will help Armenian women to answer a few questions: what to do when your husband doesn't love you, when your child dies or you fall in love with your enemy.”
Guzel Yakhina's wonderful Russian was passed from her grandmother, who spent 16 years in exile. After returning from Siberia, she forgot the Tatar language and became a teacher of the Russian language.
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