Authors
Svetlana Ananyeva1; 1 Auezov Institute of Literature and Art, Kazakhstan Discussion
This paper by Dr. Svetlana Ananyeva, Head of International Literary Relations at the Auezov Institute of Literature and Art (Kazakh Academy of Sciences), examines the interplay between authorial intentionality, mythopoetics, and decolonial readings of Kazakh literature. Building on her research into interpretive frameworks within Central Asian literary criticism, Ananyeva explores how writers construct symbolic and philosophical worlds that engage with questions of national identity, historical memory, and post-imperial consciousness. Focusing on the works of A. Zhaksylykov and other modern Kazakh authors, she analyses how narrative strategies, allegory, and myth serve as vehicles for articulating ethical and existential concerns beyond nationalist or Soviet paradigms. The paper situates Kazakh literature within broader transregional conversations on authorship, meaning, and cultural sovereignty, arguing that intentionality itself becomes a reparative act—restoring voice, continuity, and agency to writers negotiating the layered legacies of empire and modernity. 
