2023-07-09 08:33:20
THE BOOK OF THE SELF-CRITICAL SPIRIT
Head of the Institute of Economic Analysis, Mohammad Talibli
Writing memoirs has also become very popular in the West. It is understandable that we are not interested in it. I see 2 reasons for this.
First, in the false literary environment of the Soviet Union, such a tradition was created that you do not write anything about yourself, you give hints to others to write something about you. You create conditions and opportunities for him. It’s like they create an image of your identity.
Secondly, people did not dare to bring to light the scenes of their past, which were shrouded in mystery.
From this point of view, creating memoir literature is not only a creative activity, but also a brave work. You evaluate your life in a retrospective context. You give the community a chance to get to know you. You create an opportunity for others to criticize you.
You dare to challenge your personality. In parallel, you express yourself in it. You hold a mirror to your past. How many problems you create…
Fortunately, I would like to divide the books I read in the autobiographical genre into two groups. I see these against the background of memoirs written by national and foreign authors. The work I like more than the national authors is the work of Alisa Nicat (“Memory: those who moved with the past”), the author of more than 70 books. It is a book that creates a rich impression about the author with very accurate facts and deep impressions. I enjoyed reading this book. The book “Twilight in the Dark” by writer Rasim Garajan was also very well received. I remember that the article I wrote about this book was one of the most read articles.
Compared to national authors, I have read more autobiographical works by foreign authors. Especially the works of politicians and public figures stand out from this point of view. From US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Israeli President Shimon Peres (“My Ben-Grio”), from historian Ilber Ortayli (“Time is not lost”) to philosopher Ionna Kuchuradi, from Steve Jobs, a brilliant man of the business world, to economist Oktay Yenal (“Rumble from the loud curtain” ) …
First of all, when you get to know the volume of research carried out by teacher Jamil, the number of works he wrote, and the products of his thoughts in ashes, you can see how productive he is. It is surprising that a 70-year-old historian-scientist flexibly keeps pace with the speed of time when it comes to writing an autobiographical work on these works in such a narrow space. As you read the book in this context, you can’t help but see how strong the author’s moral of responsibility is.
You can’t help but envy his ability to write in a single breath and without facing memory problems, finding a narrow path in the midst of such intensive studies in Great Britain. In his detailed diary writing of the past half a century as if it were yesterday, you cannot exclude 2 inevitable situations; either he was able to write a systematic autobiographical book based on the diaries written in this book or he was able to bring the past to the present with the help of a phenomenal memory. It is truly an extraordinary advantage that a historian who instills a sense of history in the society has such a deep consciousness.
“Time is lost” by Ilber Ortayli and “In the test of time” by Jamil Hasanli
Since Jamil Hasanli is a historian, his work can be compared with Ilber Ortayli’s “Time is not lost”. His autobiographical novel Zaman kayolmaz is full of valuable lessons. Ilbber Ortaylin’s previous “How does one build the future?” and “How to live a life” I read your works. His deep thoughts and instructive texts were very great. However, his last autobiographical work is completely different in its artistic style and historical context.
It would not be correct to evaluate Jamil teacher’s work “The Test of Time” only from a retrospective point of view. It also gives the reader rich materials for thinking about the characteristics of political systems and the nature of regimes (Soviet Union, Independent Azerbaijan).
For me, Jamil Hasanli’s book does not feel the need to boast of oneself, to revive one’s strengths before the eyes of the reader. On every page of the book, you can see the author’s “glow effect” very pale. It revives the events before the eyes of the reader. Readers will see exactly that.
One of my favorite episodes in the book is when the author takes a critical look at himself. Those who have such rich historical knowledge can make such colorful excuses for their actions that you won’t be able to tell the difference between “dog tracks” and “horse tracks”. But teacher Jamil interprets this difference with clear explanations to the reader. However, there are dwarfs who do not “dust” on themselves with their limited knowledge and big claims, but teacher Jamil blames himself for some episodes. “This can be considered my mistake,” he says, turning another page. I will quote a lot about it.
Another example of self-criticism is not related to what is written in the book. Even Mr. Jamil shares critical articles about the book on his profile account. He reads it to those who don’t read it. With this, the professor actually doubles his criticism. This is not only based on the principle of academic honesty, but it is a matter of understanding the product of criticism for science. It is a manifestation of the author’s own critical spirit.
#TEST #TIME #Freedom