Ethnic and Cultural Aspects in the Development of Kazakh Theatres during the Independence Period: The Problems of Human Existence
Ethnic and Cultural Aspects in the Development of Kazakh Theatres during the Independence Period: The Problems of Human Existence

Summary/Abstract: The article gives a detailed description of folklore motifs that became examples for performances in the Kazakh theatre. The interrelation of myth and reality, used as the nature of time, is represented by an existential communicational human existence in the ethno-cultural discourse. Here the conditions of existence for the heroes of both the reality and myth are the same. The comparison of the heroes’ lifestyle with Kazakh folklore gives a new interpretation quality to the director’s conception and dramaturgy. The heroes’ destinies under the totalitarian era of Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev are imbued with personification of folklore myths and legends. The examples given in the study are related to the cultural-philosophical paradigms of modernity and the values of current ethno-cultural transformations. Thus, the inclusion of folklore into the theatre becomes an influential art trend, in which art seeks to give a comprehensive and vivid real-life picture of a person who fights for his/her own destiny and justice. The Gabit Musrepov Kazakh Academic Theatre for Children and Youth solves these problems, using the comparative method of folk stories, encouraging the viewer to understand and appreciate the philosophical meaning of human life and existence. The study uses the ratio of diachronic and synchronic presentation of texts and artefacts as regards current events from the perspective of folklore studies, theatre studies, and art history, as well as from the cultural-philosophical viewpoint.

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