Unforgetting the Literary Histories of Azerbaijan: Identity, Power, and Imagination from Empire to Independence

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 11:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Education in an International Context

Abstract

This paper traces the evolution of Azerbaijani literature from the pre‑Soviet to post‑Soviet eras, revealing how language, narrative, and literary identity—central to education—have served as both sites of silencing and acts of reclamation. It explores the pre‑Soviet revival of vernacular and national consciousness, the Soviet imposition of socialist realism that both erased and codified identity, and the post‑Soviet literary resurgence marked by experimentation and reengagement with suppressed voices. Through literary analysis and attention to publication and translation patterns, this study offers a compelling case of “unforgetting histories” and “imagining futures.” It underscores literature’s role in shaping educational imaginaries and collective identity amid colonial, socialist, and postcolonial transitions.

Author

• Shafag Dadashova, ADA University