The Significance of O. Suleimenov’s Book “AZ i IA” for Modern Comparative Studies

This study examines O. Suleimenov’s book “AZ i IA” (Me and Myself) in the context of key categories of comparative literary studies, which explore the dialogical relationships between different languages, literatures and cultures. The focus is on such fundamental concepts as the ‘principle of complementarity’ and the ‘equality of literatures,’ which make it possible to overcome the Eurocentrism of traditional comparative studies and establish the equality of all participants in interliterary interaction. The methodological basis of the study consists of hermeneutic text analysis, conceptual analysis of the main categories of comparative literary studies, and the historical-genetic method used to reconstruct the formation of scientific ideas. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that it establishes for the first time points of resonance between the ideas of the Kazakh thinker and the developments of Tatar scholars. The article proves that, despite the controversial nature of a number of etymologies, “AZ i IA” actualises the deep connections between Turkic and Slavic languages and cultures, acting as an intellectual alternative to dichotomous typologies and opening up new perspectives for interdisciplinary research. It has been established that the hermeneutics of The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, proposed by O.O. Suleimenov, reveals the epistemological potential of the ‘principle of complementarity’ of meanings, which is in demand in the study of interliterary dialogues. In his speeches and articles, O. Suleimenov, without denying the influence of Russian literature on other literatures of the peoples of the USSR, emphasised their equality. This resonates with the idea of the equality of literatures, according to which they begin to project a joint creative-receptive meaning that reveals, on the one hand, the universals of verbal art, and on the other, the potential of their ethnocultural identity.