Let's return to the question of writers-diplomats. Many of them, including the poets and writers mentioned in the previous post, put the word "diplomats" first in the phrase. In the case of Aitmatov, the term "writer" comes first. In 2007, Mikhail Buzukashvili, the American Russian language online magazine correspondent, asked the question: "Did the writer Aitmatov become a victim of Aitmatov-diplomat?" Aitmatov described this conflict: "Perhaps, to some extent, you can say so. I usually introduce myself as an active diplomat and take part in international forums. Naturally, they know me more as a writer. Many people know that I am a writer in the diplomatic environment, especially in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. I have a lot of books published in European countries, they are read. In recent years, more than a million copies have been produced in German alone. This is a considerable circulation for Europe. They publish me in Japan, China. Of course, in Russia too. (https://www.chayka.org/node/1680)
Awesome! Aitmatov' s short stories, novels present a little-known Central Asian country to readers of Europe and Asia. What about ambassadorial duties? Work with investors, international organizations, organization of cultural events, and so on and so forth? In my opinion, Aitmatov, a diplomat, became a victim of Aitmatov, the writer. In the second half of the 90s of the twentieth century, Chingiz Aitmatov signed a contract with the Swiss publishing house Unionsverlag, which actively printed his works in German and even more actively sold these books in German-speaking countries of Europe. For promotional purposes, this publishing house organized long tours of Europe every month for Chingiz Aitmatov and his German translator Friedrich Hitzer. Meetings with the writer took place in bookstores, churches, and book clubs and usually began with Aitmatov reading an excerpt from the work, then answers to readers' questions, and the writer told stories from his life, about books, then answering readers' questions , advertised books and signed autographs. The writer spoke Russian, Hitzer translated into German. There were always a lot of fans, and once Aitmatov and Hitzer had to flee from a crowd of enthusiastic readers. So the writer and translator traveled all over Germany and German-speaking countries.
I do not know about others, but I, despite the feeling of pride in world fame and the reader's love for our great Aitmatov, still want to ask: "What about ambassadorial duties?" Zealous apologists of him will throw rotten eggs and rotten tomatoes targeting me, lamenting: "Yes, Aitmatov glorified tiny, backwater Kyrgyzstan to the whole world!" I agree, but with all this, I still believe that it would be pretty nice if the diplomatic activity of the writer was at least a quarter as compelling as his own writer's marketing.
As for the influence of diplomatic activity on artistic creativity, there are two pieces of news – one good, the other bad. Although, there is still more good and bad news. First, the departure abroad saved Aitmatov from such catastrophic consequences of the collapse of the Soviet literary space as the lack of a printing base in the formed independent states, the loss of the Soviet state program of material support for literary figures, the inability to earn a living by writing, etc.
Secondly, the move to Europe was the beginning of a new stage in the life and work of Aitmatov. Speaking about the novel Tavro Cassandry, published in 1995, the writer emphasized: "This narrative is made by me in a new style, it is entirely different from my inherent style as if it has nothing to do with it. I worked on it in Europe and sought to express my understanding of the new world, which came to replace the old one after perestroika." https://rus.azattyk.org/a/28918533.html
This new world is new heroes, new artistic circumstances, new conflicts, and new ideas. As the works created by Aitmatov during this most foreign European period show, our native, Kyrgyz, our national writer, became a global, international citizen of the world and, as he has often called, a cosmopolitan.
As mentioned at the beginning of the essay, I focus only on some problems between the writing and diplomatic activities of Chingiz Torekulovich Aitmatov. Reflecting on this interaction, I discovered a conflict situation – a contradiction between Aitmatov' s new understanding of the world as a writer and ambassadorial duties. In numerous interviews, Aitmatov was often asked why there is no Kyrgyz theme in the content of his works, what his relations with Kyrgyzstan are, why he no longer writes in Kyrgyz why his books are published in Kyrgyzstan in the last place. Here's what Aitmatov answered: "We are now looking at the world from the height of the international point of view. Well, to live in the current complex world only with their national issues and problems, it means - to get into a corner. "In other words, the great Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov, without thinking twice, dusted off the ashes of his small, dusty Homeland from polished Italian shoes and enjoyed a title of worldwide famed writer-internationalist.