Caucasian days

Caucasian days (French: Jours caucasiens) is a novel by the French writer of Azeri origin Banine, published in Paris, in 1945.^[1][2][3] It describes the history of Azerbaijan in the 1910s and 1920s, its national culture, mores and customs, drawing on the author's reminiscences.

Plot

Descriptions recreate Banine’s biography, history of famous houses of Baku's millionaires, facts and epoch’s color, atmosphere of her childhood,^[4] customs and mores, national holidays and traditions. The novel describes young heroine’s relations with the surrounding world, frame of mind and opinions of contemporaries and their attitudes to events of crucial period.

By description of her house, Apsheron cottage with its households the attention of writer proceeded to the events, which had influence on her and her family's destiny. These include the Red Army’s arrival in Baku, establishment of the Soviet government: and further tragedies of the family which happened against that background. Particularly Banine tells that under her grandfather’s will she and her three elder sisters had become millionaires. But after a few days, with the arrival of the Bolsheviks, they lost their riches and felt they had to leave their country.

Banine describes the atmosphere in their house, her grandmother from father’s side, German governess Fräulein Anna, her father Mirza Asadullayev to the smallest details.^[5]

Banine describes celebration of different holidays as Novruz bayram and also the end of Ramadan month, how guests had got together in their house, their moods up to their clothes in every detail. Besides that it is possible to see interesting description of Ashura, which she describes in the novel in this way:

I liked other religious tradition-annual commemoration of tragic Kerbela events, where Hussein, the son of Ali and all members his family had cruelly been killed, in 680. It was the source of Shiism’s propagation, which was opposite to Sunnism and my grandmother never missed the opportunity to celebrate it at home.

Banine also mentions the ethnic clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, senseless victims of both nations.

The collapse of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and other dramatic events were also described in the novel.

An Azeri-language translation was published under the title Qafqaz günləri.

References

1. "The Child Of Emigration". Azerbaijan Gender Information Center.
2. "Банин (Асадуллаева Умм-Эль-Бану Мирза кызы) - писатель". Наш Баку.
3. "Рамиз Абуталыбов: "Банин всегда и везде гордо заявляла, что она азербайджанка"". Day.Az.
4. "Азербайджанцы во Франции". azeri.ru.
5. "Кавказские дни". Иные берега.