Do you remember being 16? Do you remember all of the opportunities, growing pains, and uncertainties that came with the transition into adulthood? While every adult has navigated the challenges of their teenage years, it can be easy to forget how overwhelming and confusing that period of life is. In an elegant testimony to the complications of love, identity, and growing up in a changing world, Chinghiz Aitmatov’s novella, Jamila, draws the reader into a world of contrasts and impending change. Conflicts between tradition and modernity, childhood and adulthood, and duty and love, are central to the multifaceted journey of Jamila.
The author, Chinghiz Aitmatov, was a prominent Kyrgyz and Soviet author. Born in 1928 to a Kyrgyz father and Tatar mother, he lived through the majority of the Soviet time period. When he was only 10 years old, his father was executed by the Soviets under charges of “bourgeois nationalism.” Undoubtedly a defining moment in his life, his father’s death, along with his impressions of his Soviet homeland and his mixed heritage are clearly reflected in his writing. He began his career writing mainly in Kyrgyz, but after 1966 began writing primarily in Russian. Despite his family’s less than ideal relationship with the Soviets, he was recognized as a successful Soviet author and held multiple government positions throughout his lifetime. His writing is socialist realism, but incorporates elements of culture that are largely missing from other works in the genre. The themes of enduring nomadic traditions and customs that are present in Jamila, separate it from other contemporary socialist realism works.
The story of Jamila is set in Kyrgyzstan in 1943. World War II is raging on and the republic is still recovering from the major famines that were incited by collectivization. Our narrator, Seit, is a teenage boy who lives on a communal farm with other families who were part of his nomadic tribe (aul) before sedentarization.
An interesting deviation from pure socialist realism, is the fact that Seit’s family doesn’t conform with the Soviet nuclear family. His father has two wives, as tradition mandated that he marry the widow of his close relative, who had been head of the neighbor house. Seit’s closest friend is his sister-in-law, Jamila, who is married to Sadyk, the son of his father’s second wife.
Seit adores Jamila. She is confident and full of life. She stands out as an exceptional daughter-in-law, but is not afraid to stand up for herself. As the story begins, all of the older men are away at the front, including Seit’s older brothers and Jamila’s husband, Sadyk. The absence of these men, requires others to take up their physical labor. It is decided that Jamila, Seit, and a mysterious outsider, Daniyar, must work together to deliver grain. Daniyar is a quiet soul with an injured leg from serving at the front. Over the course of their time delivering grain across the steppe, Seit witnesses Daniyar and Jamila form a special bond.
This story proved to be heart warming and thought provoking. The way that Aitmatov paints the Kyrgyz steppe through his words is completely immersive and the utilization of Seit’s observations to convey the emotions of the story is masterfully done. His descriptions of body language, especially, enrich the story. Numerous small gestures are carefully described which leaves the reader feeling as though they are observing the interaction take place themselves. For example, as they are placing grain in the cart on their first day on the job, Seit observes that,
“Jamila grabbed Daniyar’s hand. When they hoisted a sack on bended arms the poor fellow blushed from embarrassment. And then, each time they carried up a sack, grasping each other’s wrists tightly, their heads nearly touching, I saw how terribly ill-at-ease he was, how nervously he bit his lips, how he tried not to look into Jamila’s face. (Aitmatov, 17)”
Even in a few short sentences, Aitmatov demonstrates Daniyar’s self consciousness around Jamila through his actions. There is no need to hear Daniyar’s point of view, because Seit’s skillful observations illustrate exactly how Daniyar is feeling. Seit’s perception of Jamila and Daniyar is influenced by his personal coming of age journey, which adds another dimension to the narration of the story. In fact, one of the strongest parts of this novella is its fleshed out character development. While the novel is only about 40 pages long, Aitmatov is able to create well rounded and complex characters, each with their own arc of development. Daniyar, Jamila, and Seit, all grow throughout the course of their journey on the steppe.
This short novel is definitely worth the read. Whether you are reading for the thrill of a beautiful love story or for insight into one boy’s journey into adulthood, Jamila offers a unique look at love and its many complexities.
