Dembeegiin Mjagmar

Dembeegiin Mjagmar ( Mongolian Дэмбээгийн Мягмар ; * 1933; † 1997) was a Mongolian writer .

Life and works

Mjagmar was the son of a family of cattle herders. He studied Mongolian language and literature from 1951 to 1955 at the State University in Ulan Bator and from 1969 to 1971 at the Maxim Gorki Literature Institute in Moscow. A teacher by profession , he later worked in the ministry of education, editor of the literary magazine "Zog", head of the drama and film department of the ministry of culture and secretary of the writers' association. He passed away in 1997.

Mjagmar made his debut in 1956 with a volume of poetry, which mainly contains nature and love poetry. It was followed by two poems in 1959 and 1960 that still have journalistic and didactic features. He then turned away from poetry and soon made a name for himself as an outstanding narrator whose particular strength lies in lyrical prose. Stories such as "The Story of a House" (1964), "Where the Paths Meet" (1964) and "The Earth and Me" (1965) - the latter is a parable for the deep connection of the Mongolian with the earth, which he travels through Work changed - received wide recognition from readers. Recurring themes in his prose are ethical questions and conflicts of simple people who, as lively characters, demonstrate moral greatness. An example of this is the very successful "long story" "Der Müller" (1965, German 1976), in which Mjagmar uses an individual fate to illustrate the noticeable effects of the Second World War in Mongolia . The sensitive character drawing of the figures is striking. The story was continued with "The Miller's Daughter" (1966).

In many prose texts, Mjagmar, who, alongside Sengiin Erdene, is considered a master of the “long story” in Mongolian literature, was able to combine the individual traits of his characters with social representation, national characteristics with general humanities. The relationship between humans and nature is addressed in “Flood” (1966), “The Hunter” (1968), “Gobisonne” (1969) and “Aufbruchende Buds” (1972), but also in his children's books “The Horse with the Glasses "(1975) and" The Wild Horse "(1977). The volumes of short stories "Beauty" (1982) and "Hundertlamm und das Mädchen" (1984) enriched Mongolian literature of the 1980s.

Under the influence of the “New Thought”, the great story “The Father” (1988) was created at a time of beginning social upheavals. In it, Mjagmar describes how nature perishes, how traditional values ​​lose their validity, families break up and young people grow up without illusions. Only the figure of the old father and the evocative image of spring give rise to hope. The resigned basic tone of the work was confirmed by the development after the Mongolian "turn". "The Father" is not only a high point in the author's narrative work, but also the realistic Mongolian prose to date.

Mjagmar has also set standards as a playwright since the 1970s. The author describes himself as a student of Donrowyn Namdag , whose psychological figure analysis he recognized as exemplary. He throws in pieces such as “Jewels” (1973), “Orolmaa” (1973), “What happened?” (1975), “Why me?”, “The precious treasure” and “The story of a warehouse keeper” (1980) repeats ethical questions. In the comedy “The Back of Mutton on the Festtag Table” (1981) it is the bourgeois approach to life of city dwellers that is exposed to the laughter of the audience. With his narrative and dramatic work, Mjagmar made an important contribution to the differentiated design of the image of man in modern Mongolian literature.

translation

• in: Explorations. 20 Mongolian stories, (East) Berlin 1976

literature

• Renate Bauwe , M., Der Vater, in: Kindler's new literature lexicon, supplementary volume 2, Munich 1998
• in: Klaus Oehmichen, Ten Mongolian Poets, Mongolian Notes, issue 17/2008

Mongolian name: As is customary in Mongolia, in this article the patronymic is in the genitive case before the proper name. Thus Dembee is the patronymic , Mjagmar the proper name. The person is addressed with their proper name.