ON TRANSLATION OF THE EPIC NOVEL THE PATH OF ABAY [PUT’ ABAYA] INTO RUSSIAN. FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN M. AUEZOV AND L. SOBOLEV

The article reveals little-known facts from the lives of M. Auezov and L. Sobolev, two important writers of Kazakhstan and Russia, respectively, and cites their reflections on life, literature, and time. A large share of the archived material from the manuscripts department of the Almaty-based Research and Cultural Centre ‘Auezov House’ is examined and published for the first time. L. Sobolev’s letters speak of an artist’s fate: we become witnesses of his very personal anxieties as well as events on a national scale. The letters also provide a valuable insight into the Russo-Kazakh literary connections from the early 1930s. M. Auezov epistles focus on the problems of interconnectedness and interaction of national literatures, particularly in terms of the artistic appropriation of Russian literary experiences by Kazakh writers. Another point of interest is the two writers’ exchanges about the artistic translation of M. Auezov’s major opus, the epic novel The Path of Abay [ Put’ Abaya ], into Russian.