Abstract
AZERBAİJANİ LİTERATURE FROM AN EXİSTENTİALİST PERSPECTİVE (THE 1960S)
The 1960s marked a decisive turning point in Azerbaijani literature, both aesthetically and philosophically. Following Stalin’s death, a new socio-political climate emerged, enabling literature to move away from ideological dogmas and towards existential concerns of the individual. In this period, György Lukács’s theory of social realism and Mikhail Bakhtin’s concepts of dialogue and polyphony significantly influenced literary discourse. Existentialist philosophy-from Kierkegaard to Sartre and Camus-broadened the literary horizon by emphasizing themes of freedom, alienation, solitude, and identity. In Azerbaijani literature, writers such as Rasul Rza, Anar, Elchin, Sabir Ahmadov, and Isa Huseynov reflected these influences in their works, focusing on the inner world of the modern individual, ethical choices, and the dramatic tension between personality and society. Thus, literature shifted from collective social concerns to the exploration of personal identity and psychology, replacing the figure of the “homo sovieticus” with a new model of the “thinking individual.” The creative quests of the 1960s revived the values of classical realism, accelerated the liberation from socialist realist clichés, and enriched the aesthetic depth of modern national literature. Moreover, the notion of time acquired new philosophical and artistic meanings, with existentialist motifs functioning as a profound substratum within the literary fabric.
Keywords
Existentialism, Azerbaijani Literature, 1960s, Identity and Individual, Modern Realism