- Fazil Iskander
Fazil Abdulovich Iskander ( _ru. Фазиль Абдулович Искандер; born
6 March 1929 inSukhumi ) is arguably the most famousAbkhaz writer, renowned in the formerSoviet Union for his vivid descriptions of Caucasian life, mostly written in Russian. He has written various stories (including "Zashita Chika") starring "Chik" a crafty and likeable young boy.The most famous intellectual of
Abkhazia , he distanced himself from the Abkhaz secessionist strivings in the late 1980s and criticised both Georgian and Abkhaz communities ofAbkhazia for their ethnic prejudices. He warned that Abkhazia could become a newNagorno-Karabakh . However, Iskander was not taken seriously by either side in the conflict and was subjected to heavy criticism even by his Abkhaz compatriots.Fact|date=October 2008He is probably best known in the English speaking world for "Sandro of Chegem", a picaresque novel that recounts life in a fictional Abkhaz village from the early years of the 20th century until the 1970s. This rambling, amusing and ironic work has been considered as an example of
magic realism , although Iskander himself said he "did not care for Latin American magic realism in general".cite book |title= The Myth of the Non-Russian|last= Haber|first= Erika|year= 2003|publisher= Lexington Books|isbn= 0739105310|url= http://books.google.ru/books?id=JBuQRtfmFxAC&pg=PA69&dq=Abkhazia&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=k2vjSO3jFpTQMPSV4Sg&sig=ACfU3U3OwGv9xfOncchEjnXntdZTwshI7w#PPA71,M1]He was awarded the Pushkin Prize (1993) and "Triumph" Prize (1999). Iskander currently resides in
Moscow .References
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