Formation of the National İdeals in the Social and Cultural Thought of the Azerbaijani People and the “Mollanasreddinists” (Based on the Journalistic Prose Works by J. Mammadkuluzade and O. F. Nemanzade)

Abstract

The national ideal is an important and leading factor in the existence of each nation and in the process of its national identity; it contains wide and varied national realities. The national ideal is a compass on the way of asserting the people's national identity, as well as on the way to freedom, independence, happiness and progress. It is the spiritual and ideological basis of national existence. The article examines the history of formation of the national ideal concept in Azerbaijani literature and reveals the characteristics of the issue of national ideal in Azerbaijani socio-political thought of the middle of 19th - early 20th centuries. Under the leadership of the great writer Jalil Mammadguluzade, editor and publisher of Molla Nasraddin magazine, who made an important contribution to the formation of the national identity consciousness of the Azerbaijani people in the 20th century, the Mollanasraddinists played an unprecedented role in the emergence of the national ideal in the social, literary and cultural environment of Azerbaijan. Their activity in this direction is the subject of our article. Since this is a wide range of issues, we mainly examined the journalistic work of the Mollanasraddinists. Among the staff of Molla Nasraddin, the journalism of J. Mammadkuluzade and O. F. Nemanzade differs even more. Therefore, when studying the problem, the publicistic works of these two literary figures were in the center of attention. The main directions of their national ideals were commented. As many generalizations as possible were made. The article examines the impact of these ideas on literary, cultural and public opinion, as well as on national awakening. The study provides information on the differences and similarities between the national ideals of the Mollanasraddinists and the employees of Fuyuzat. The important scientific principle - the construction of opinions and analysis on specific examples - is observed in the course of research. The subjects of our research are the magazine Molla Nasreddin, which occupies an exclusive place in the development of literary criticism, the scientific research works that studied the development of the national idea in the works of Jalil Mammadguluzade and Omar Faik Nemanzade, and the works, published in Turkey on this topic.