THE IMAGE OF SHAMIL IN TURKISH LITERATURE

The article considers the problem of artistic interpretation of the image of Shamil in the Turkish literature. Many peoples have names that eventually become the property of world civilization. One of these is Imam Shamil, whose name has become the property of the history and artistic culture of many peoples, including the Turks. From the nineteenth century to the present day, the interest of Turkish society in the personality of Shamil, primarily representatives of the humanities: historians, writers, artists, cinema and theater figures, has not dried up. A considerable number of works dedicated to Imam Shamil have been created in various genres of Turkish literature – poetry, prose, drama, journalism. Over time, it has developed its own traditions of artistic solutions of Shamil's themes. As examples, the article examines works created both in the Ottoman era and in modern Turkey. In them, each author considers the image of Shamil in his own way, from different angles. But in this process they are united by one thing – in all the works, the reader is presented as an outstanding com-mander, an adept of Islam, a defender and guardian of his native land.