Two Printing Presses of Kadir Natkho, or A Writer of the Transcultural Borderland

Based on the aphoristic expression of S. Kellman “Every translingual writer is translingual in his own way”, the author of this article examines the distinctive features of the linguistic biography of the Adyghe-American prose writer Kadir Natkho (1927-2021). It was revealed that the writer spoke four languages - Adyghe, Russian, Arabic, English. It is shown that the main catalyst for K. Natkho᾿s multilingualism was a series of dramatic and tragic events associated with the Second World War, forced emigration, a seven-year stay in Jordan and final resettlement to the United States of America in the mid-twentieth century. Knowledge of many languages predetermined the density of the intertextual space of K. Natkho᾿s works (“Nicholas and Nadyusha”, “Old and New Tales of the Caucasus”, “In Search of Oneself”, “The Legend of the Great Abduction»), the presence of a large number of references to other ethnic cultures. It has been established that, despite the globality of the artistic thinking of the international writer, the priority role is given to the native language: Circassian realities, integrated into the flesh of his artistic texts, demonstrate the Cosmo-Psycho-Logos of the Caucasian peoples, the specific features of their mentality, material and spiritual culture.