Jamila

In the novella “Jamila,” whose narrator-protagonist was a 15-year-old teenager, one of Aitmatov’s key prose features became evident: a combination of tense dramatic intensity in descriptions of characters and situations with a lyrical tone in descriptions of nature and the people’s customs. The novella tells of a young Kyrgyz woman who, against long-outdated patriarchal customs and age-old traditions, bravely goes toward love. In the way she behaved in her husband’s house—whom she did not love—there was something that distinguished her, despite her modesty, from her peers and relatives. In the modest, hardworking Danyar, who returned from the front with an invalid disability, Jamila found a friend who could understand her—a person worthy of great love. In 1968, at the Mosfilm studio, this novella was adapted into an eponymous feature film starring Natalia Aribasarova in the lead role!