By Vestnik Kavkaza
The Russian Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus presented a project entitled "Caucasus Tales for Orphans." The collection of 120 fairy tales is divided into 24 sections based on national origins. There are Abkhaz, Circassian, Ingush, Karachai, Ossetian and other fairy tales in the 740 pages of the book.
Ali Totorkulov, the chairman of the Russian Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus, told Vestnik Kavkaza that fairy tales should be a step toward inter-ethnic peace in Russia. “All of us read fairytales when we were children. Everybody knows Shaharazada’s stories from 1001 Nights. And people who are not connected with the Arabic East, but who know these stories, have loved the fairytale East since their childhood. The same thing applies to our children in the Caucasus, they read Russian stories. These are common Russian tales which are common for Russians. And children learn Russian culture. Our goal is that children who are not from the Caucasus should know Caucasus stories, listen to them, read them, know them. We should know each other. The Koran says that Allah created people for them to know each other. Unfortunately, today we know only negative aspects about each other – something exploded, someone was killed. If we don’t try to change the situation, we won’t achieve anything,” the head of the Congress said.
“I understand that it is tiny contribution, but positive things come from such projects, we have to build up our mutual living. I hope neither we nor others will rest on our oars. In the end, our country should arrive at a normal situation, in which people live in peace and respect each other,” Totorkulov hopes.
“The Russian Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus as well as the Elbrusoid Foundation work very closely with each other and do a lot. In particular both these organizations work very closely with the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation; they hold round tables on issues of intercultural cooperation, on problems that arise in the multi-ethnic environment, on international relations,” Fatima Albakova, professor of Lomonosov Moscow State Universitym, says. “Fairy tales as a literary genre, as a genre of folklore accumulate the wisdom of humanity, accumulate human values, ethics and aesthetics that are recognizable, regardless of nationality, it is something universal, with its particularities, with its cultural facet that always shines through the language, and the worldview of a people. It seems to me that this work should definitely continue and it certainly requires some fairly serious government support, because much of what the Foundation and the Russian Congress of Peoples of the Caucasus are doing is done thanks to public efforts.”
“When we say the word "fairy tale," it is a caressing, gentle, nice word. We immediately associate it with warm affectionate mother's hands that pat us on the head, her leisurely, quiet, beautiful, warm voice that shrouds us, and we fall asleep listening to this voice,” Zulay Hamidova, PhD in philology, says. “We lay the brick, which will later grown into a beautiful palace. I think it is a very good project, a great undertaking. I think that it will have its continuation. Every nation in our beautiful multi-ethnic country has the right to take part in this project. The current project is about Caucasus fairy tales, but there can be a different one as well.”
