Uygurlar doğu Türkistan'da yaşayan köklü ve zengin kültüre sahip eski Türk boylarından biridir. Türkistan kültür tarihinden elbette ilk akla gelen Uygur Türklerinin ortaya koymuş oldukları maddi ve manevi değerlerdir. Onların mimari, heykel, yazı, resim, müzik sanatları bir yana, şehirleşme, ziraat, matbaacılık, tüccarlık, çeşitli el sanat meslekleri vs. alanlarda gösterdikleri ilerlemeler hem Türk kültürü, hem de dünya medeniyeti açısından son derece önemlidir. Modern Uygur Türkçesiyle yazılan hikâyeler, 19. yüzyılın sonu ve 20. yüzyılın başında günümüzdeki Kuzeybatı Çin'de dolaysıyla Uygur Türklerinin yurdu Doğu Türkistan'da ortaya çıktı. Tarihte Dîvânü Lugati't-Türk, Kutadgu Bilig gibi şahane eserler yaratan zengin bir klasik şiir geleneğinin mirasçısı olarak büyük bir gelişme gösterdi. Bu gelişeme sayesinde Uygur aydınları arasında etkili edebi yazarlar ortaya çıkmıştır. Ancak yeni Uygur edebiyatının bünyesinde meydana gelen pek çok eserler çevirmenin eksikliği ve uluslararası ilişkileri gibi nedenlerin etkisiyle çoğu Türk dünyasında pek yansımadı. Bu makalemizi yazarak yirminci yüzyıl Uygur edebiyatının en etkili yazarlarından biri olan Zordun Sabir'in eserlerini tanıtarak Türkiye'deki Uygur edebiyatı çalışmaların boşluğa değinmeye çalışacağız. Yazarın tarihi romanları gibi birçok eserler Uygur tarihi romancılığın gelişmesi ve olgunlaşmasına derin etkisi olmuştu. Bu makalemizde Zordun Sabir'in Yeni Uygur edebiyatındaki önemli bir şahsiyet olarak okuyuculara kendi tarihi ve kendi değerlerini hissettiren eserleri tanıtacağız dolaysıyla yazarın Uygur edebiyatındaki yerini anlatmaya çalışacağız

The genre of modernist Uyghur Turkic language fiction first emerged in Northwest China (East Turkistan) at the turn of the twentieth century. Since that time it has undergone a great deal of development as an heir to a rich classical poetry tradition. Through this expansion, a number of influential literary writers have emerged among Uyghur intellectuals. Yet despite the growing depth of this body of literary expression, much of this work is gone unnoticed in the Turkish world. In large part this absence of recognition is due to problems of translation and transnational politics. In this essay, we set out to begin to address this gap in Turkish Studies scholarship by introducing the work of Zordun Sabir, one of the most influential fiction writers in twentieth century Uyghur literature. Many of his works of historical fiction have had a deep affect in shaping the reception of fiction writing in Uyghur popular culture. In this essay, we argue that Zordun Sabir’s role as a literary figure, as well as his work itself, have been central in promoting fiction as a literary genre that provides Uyghurs with a sense of their own history and values The genre of modernist Uyghur Turkic language fiction first emerged in Northwest China (East Turkistan) at the turn of the twentieth century. Since that time it has undergone a great deal of development as an heir to a rich classical poetry tradition. Through this expansion, a number of influential literary writers have emerged among Uyghur intellectuals. Zordun Sabir was born in April, 1937, as the second child in poor farming household in the village of Yenitam in Ghulja Township, a midsized town in Ili Prefecture in contemporary Xinjiang. Although his father,Sabir, was an uneducated farmer, he nevertheless loved science and like the majority of Uyghurs of his time, had a tremendous respect for intellectuals. Zordun’s mother, Anarhan, died when Zordun was only five years old, and so the responsibility of raising Zordun fell to his father. Since his father did not have the money he needed to buy Zordun books and other school supplies when it was time to send him to the nearby school, Sabir worked for three months for a wealthy farmer in the village to ensure that his son could go to school. Having successfully completed primary school, Zordun needed to travel to the town of Ghulja proper for secondary school. Despite many obstacles and the extreme poverty of his family, a teacher named Zamanidin thought that Zordun was a very bright student. The teacher took him under his wing and helped him continue to study and successfully finish secondary school. Zordun Sabir’s literary career began under difficult circumstances in 1961 when his poem “White Apricot” (Ak Erik) was published in the journal Tarim. Shortly after its publication he was arrested and accused of being an ethno-nationalist and counter-revolutionary. As a result, he was sent to the Tibetan region of Garmu near the border of Gansu and Qinghai for reeducation. Due to these circumstances Zordun was unable to engage in any form of literary production until 1972 at the age of thirtyfive.One short story in particular, titled Dolan Youths (Dolan Gençleri), proved to be his major breakthrough. Published in the October issue of Tarim in 1979 the piece tells the story of a young man from the Dolan area of Southern Xinjiang in Kashgar Prefecture. Despite coming from a place rich in Uyghur traditions, the protagonist of the story disdains the forms of cultural thought and expression for which Dolan Uyghurs are most renowned: the song and dance traditions of meshrep and muqam. By taking this up the story grapples with larger social concerns regarding the forms of cultural erasure that occurred during the Cultural Revolution. Zordun demonstrates that the experience of political trauma could have the effect of distancing younger generations of Uyghurs from the traditions that came before. The publication of the three volume novel, The Motherland further solidified Zordun’s position as one of the preeminent Uyghur authors of the twentieth century. The Motherland(Ana Yurt) presents a fictionalized chronicle of the struggle of the Uyghurs and other Turkic groups against the Chinese Republic as they established the Islamic Republic of East Turkestan in 1944. In the novel, the complexity of the precarious geopolitical position of East Turkestan is presented in intricate detail. The novel describes the way Uyghurs were pushed in opposing directions by the conflicting interests of great powers such as Russia and China. After its initial publication, the novel was republished in four different editions over the span of two years. To date, it remains one of the bestselling works of Uyghur fiction in the history of Uyghur language publishing. In summary, then, Zordun Sabir’s oeuvre consists of four novels, 13 novellas, 86 short stories, two dramas, one screenplay, and five essays of literary criticism. The characters he created have a distinct place in Uyghur popular culture. In his works, the ethno-national ethos of Uyghurs and their Turkic traditions has been explicated and evoked through moving prose. His works have inspired patriotism and account for historical traumas that have been widely shared within Uyghur society. Through his works, he developed a great deal of nuance and complexity in literary forms. In a 1992 reader poll conducted by the Tengritagh literary journal, Uyghur readers selected Zordun as one of their top three most highly regarded authors. Further shoring up his position in the Uyghur canon, Zordun was the first Uyghur writer to receive an international literary award. A number of his works such as Dolan Youths, The Reception and The Quest have received awards from the Chinese Writers Association. Yet Zordun’s legacy extends beyond these awards. He is also important for the way he influenced Uyghur literary form, inspired debate about Uyghur values and history among his readers and critics, and brought Uyghur realities into broader conversations about the nature of the human experience. Of course, many critics have noted that Zordun’s importance exceeded his fiction. In fact, in many ways his work was merely the starting point for discussions and debates about the role of tradition and history in Uyghur society. In addition to this, there is also a universal appeal to the human experience in Zordun’s work. Although he is most famous for his works of historical fiction, much of his work is focused on the present and the ordinary. This fine-tuned observational style is something he found through his reading of Russian authors such as Tolstoy and Gorky who he read in Chinese translation during his training in Lanzhou. It is also a product of the way Zordun was forced to become a student of his own life and understand himself in relation to a Socialist Realist framework. This approach to the subject of his writing is what allowed him to present such a nuanced picture of Uyghur experience both past and present. Zordun Sabir suffered a heart attack and passed away on 13 August 1998. Shortly after his death in 1998, a number of his most devoted readers began to organize a campaign to establish a staterecognized memorial museum in his honor. Yet although they applied for funding from the Chinese Culture Ministry on numerous occasions, their requests were not acknowledged. Finally, after ten years of petitioning, these private Uyghur citizens decided to build a memorial to the great author themselves. A core group of organizers along with Zordun Sabir’s family, a number of intellectuals and commercial sponsors banded together and in late 2009 they founded the Zordun Sabir Memorial House in the author’s hometown of Ghulja, near the Chinese border with Kazakhstan. The museum, housed in the secondary school that Zordun Sabir attended as a young man, consists of his work desk, his table lamp, glasses, a chess set, pencils and a clock in addition to number of personal effects, photographs of the author, and the original manuscripts of some of his works. Although the Zordun Sabir Memorial House is in fact little more than a small 70 square meter room, it is nevertheless the first memorial founded in honor of a modern Uyghur writer. In writing this essay, we hope to answer the question of why Zordun Sabir has been memorialized in this way. Leaving aside the question of why the state has refused to honor him, we ask, what is it about his work that has inspired such a devoted readership? What is his role in developing Uyghur fiction from a nascent genre to one of the most powerful mediums in contemporary Uyghur popular culture? In this essay, we argue that Zordun Sabir drew from his own experience of the tumultuous early history of the People’s Republic of China, as well as his own reading of world literature, to build a body of fiction that spoke to a common experience and history of Uyghur social life. By making Uyghur history relevant to a mass audience, he in fact helped Uyghurs themselves understand their own history and their position in the world. Literature for Zordun Sabir was thus more than simply an artistic representation of life; it was also a way of making meaning out of life and forcing his audience to remember where they came from and where they were going.