Literature
Classical literature in Azerbaijani was formed in 14th century based on the various Early Middle Ages dialects of Tabriz and Shirvan (these dialects were used by classical Azerbaijani writers Nasimi, Fuzuli, and Khatai). Modern literature in Azerbaijan is based on the Shirvani dialect mainly, while in Iran it is based on the Tabrizi one. The first newspaper in Azerbaijani, Əkinçi was published in 1875.
In mid-19th century it was taught in the schools of Baku, Ganja, Shaki, Tbilisi, and Yerevan. Since 1845, it has also been taught in the University of St. Petersburg in Russia.
Notable folklore and literary works in Azerbaijani are the Book of Dada Gorgud, Asli and Kerem, the Epic of Köroğlu, and others. Important poets and writers of Azerbaijani include
- Imadaddin Nasimi
- Muhammed Fuzuli
- Jahan Shah
- Khatai
- Molla Panah Vagif
- Khurshidbanu Natavan
- Mirza Fatali Akhundov
- Jalil Mammadguluzadeh
- Mirza Alakbar Sabir
- Huseyn Javid
- Jafar Jabbarly
- Samad Vurghun
- Mikayil Mushfig
- Mammed Said Ordubadi
- Mohammad Hossein Shahriar
- Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli
Read more about this topic: Azerbaijani Language
Famous quotes containing the word literature:
“It is the nature of the artist to mind excessively what is said about him. Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“Scholarship cannot do without literature.... It needs literature to float it, to set it current, to authenticate it to all the race, to get it out of closets and into the brains of men who stir abroad.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“Life’s so ordinary that literature has to deal with the exceptional. Exceptional talent, power, social position, wealth.... Drama begins where there’s freedom of choice. And freedom of choice begins when social or psychological conditions are exceptional. That’s why the inhabitants of imaginative literature have always been recruited from the pages of Who’s Who.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)