Identity in Kyrgyz women's poetry

This paper reflects our experience teaching contemporary American women’s poetry and translating Kyrgyz women’s poetry into English. This paper mainly intends to explore essential questions and issues that lie at the very heart of what it means to be a woman in today’s world - questions such as “What is a woman?”, “What does it mean to write as a woman and to read as a woman?”, “How is the concept of being female described in Kyrgyz poetry?”, “What kinds of challenges, women’s strengths and weaknesses do poets see in themselves?”, “What do women value or believe in?”, “How can poets express themselves through poetry?”. In the attempt to address these questions, we investigate some of the ways that Kyrgyz and American poets handle nature of female poets, women’s experiences in contemporary society, and the effects of prejudices and stereotypes described in women’s poetry. Examples are taken from the works of contemporary American women poets (Maya Angelou and Amy Smith) and from the collection of translations of Kyrgyz women’s poetry into English (“ Girls you... / Kyrgyz Women Poetry ”, translator Kalieva K., editors Simone P. Bures and Daniel Kittle).