The banned novel Akbilek by Zhusipbek Aimauytov: historical evidence of Soviet colonization

The aim of this article is to examine the novel Akbilek by Aimauytov as a distinct type of historical testimony and a form of cultural memory. The authors examine how the novel reflects processes indicating the continuation in Kazakhstan of the tsarist colonial policy under Soviet rule. Since the analysed novel was banned, and Aimauytov was repressed and executed in 1931, the authors consider this work an important source of information about a turning point in history, the transformation of the patriarchal way of life, and the identity of the Kazakhs. The authors conducted a comprehensive analysis, integrating as research methods the tools of ‘new’ historicism and cultural materialism. The article concludes that the analysed novel is an important testimony of its era in the context of the tendentious portrayal of historical facts by Soviet historical scholarship and the destruction of literary works created by repressed Kazakhs in the 1920s–1930s.