American Journal Of Philological Sciences
202
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue04 2025
PAGE NO.
202-205
10.37547/ajps/Volume05Issue04-50
Symbol of Deep Thinking
Ayimkhan Eshniyazova
Doctoral student of the Institute of Uzbek Language, Literature and Folklore of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Received:
23 February 2025;
Accepted:
19 March 2025;
Published:
22 April 2025
Abstract:
The article examines Nazar Eshankul's creative concept, his profound intellect, and his status as one of
the leading figures in contemporary Uzbek prose, based on the analysis and interpretation of his works.
Keywords:
Symbol, metaphor, thought, image, character, short story, novella, novel.
Introduction:
Nazar Eshankul was named "Writer of
the year" by Mundus Artium Press, a world literature
publishing house affiliated with the University of Texas.
This prestigious recognition is a worthy assessment of
the writer's significant contribution to the field of
literature and his creative achievements. Mundus
Artium Press, founded in 1967, is a publishing house
that recognizes undiscovered creators worldwide.
Nazar Eshankul is an enlightened jadid creator of
modern uzbek literature. His work is nourished by two
wings
–
uzbek and world literature. Modernism
became the writer's style. In uzbek literature, there was
no creator who could match him. In his later works,
along with western innovations, a return to classical
literature and folklore was evident. The writer explains
this by saying, "I must be returning to myself" (from a
conversation with the writer).
Nazar Eshankul is considered one of the great creators
who enriched modern Uzbek prose with a new tone,
theme, and mastery of imagery. Throughout his work,
driven by the need for renewal through artistry and
emotions, he attempted to break literary stereotypes.
The writer says the following about his creative
concept: "I only wanted to write differently from those
who wrote before me. The forms and traditions of
world literature, the ways of expressing oneself, gave
me freedom and opportunities to realize this intention.
This is my only imitation of the “western” or “modern”.
If the desire to write unlike othe
rs is “modern”, then let
them say so [3. 412]. Writer Ahmad A'zam
reflects: "It's true that a person's birthplace has a
lifelong impact on their psyche, thinking, and character,
but no matter how high the mountains or how vast the
fields and steppes, these places lack the conditions for
a child to freely acquire knowledge and enjoy the
benefits of cultural institutions. There is an exemplary
wisdom in how a child from a remote area, who only
finds time at night to prepare lessons and read books,
eventually grows into a great writer who has deeply
mastered world literature and created works worthy of
competing with its finest examples"[1].
METHODS
In the books “From me to me”, “Philosophy of
creativity”, and “Man of books” N.Eshankul interprets
the problem of today's level of thinking and human
personality in the unity of literature, art, society, and
humanity. In a conversation with the writer, he
expressed thoughts that encourage reflection on
today's literary ta
ste: “Literary taste determines a lot.
It's a barometer that indicates the level of cultural
consciousness and thinking of a nation. You can judge a
nation based on what they're reading. A people who
constantly read fairy tales are noble and just, but with
a child's mindset. A nation that reads philosophy will be
a nation with elevated thinking that ponders questions
like how the world was created and how we are living”.
In the writer's work, the concept of self-awareness is at
the forefront. His works and literary-critical views
explore a person's understanding of their status as a
human being, the philosophy of life, the essence of
existence - whether material or spiritual - and the
fluctuations occurring between these aspects. When
we asked Nazar Eshankul about his learning to read, he
said that he had conducted scientific research on the
translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The idiot" had
written a dissertation, and that his mentor was
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
Gaybulla Salomov, with Tilak Jura and Najmiddin
Komilov as his opponents. At that time, dissertations
were translated into russian and evaluated in Russia.
He stopped working on it because he didn't want to go
through this process (From the conversation with the
Writer).
In a particular work, certain spiritual, religious, and
human aspects of the author's personality are more
prominently manifested. That is, the artistic creation
reflects a system of the author's aspects that have
become the concept of the work. In "Sibizg'a volasi",
any unutterable truth can be expressed through art. In
"Dead season", it's about the idea as the power
governing society - a person can die, but an idea
doesn't. The story's protagonist says, "the dead have
taught us a lesson". In "Coffin", it's about a state
doomed to decline.... Every work of the writer invites
reflection. Read any work carefully, and you'll see the
creator himself, his image, and the inner self he hides
from others. A literary work is a document that exposes
not only others but also the person who brought it into
the world. In the writer's works, intellect takes
precedence. When the power of thought controls
emotions and your mind grasps the essence, you
experience pleasure and wonder. When the power of
thought is insufficient to understand the essence,
dissatisfaction with oneself arises. In this sense, it is
justified to call the writer a profound thinker of today,
a modern jadid creator.
The writer considers "literature as divine suffering, the
highest sorrow for man". The essence of the writer's
works is the anguish of understanding and being
understood, the highest sorrow. The coffin engulfing
the city, the old woman who lived her whole life
conversing with her memory, the young man who takes
on various forms at night and judges himself, the
teacher who comes out of the cemetery to give lessons
about life, the scholar who realized that the book he
had believed in and considered sacred all his life was
actually the book of Satan. The writer's characters are
taciturn, mysterious, closed people, like the writer
himself, who are awake in today's world, expecting
novelty from life, unable to compromise with society,
suffering from the anguish of being understood. The
writer does not distract his characters with petty
concerns. They are people striving for nation,
spirituality, human personality, will, the logic of life,
freedom of the heart, and their identity. These
protagonists sometimes carry a symbolic burden and
serve as a key or opener. "A writer's talent is
determined not by their age or how many stories and
novels they have created, but by what changes they
bring to artistic thinking and how they influence the
literary process" [1]. In this sense, we can say that
Nazar Eshankul is a creative leader who has elevated
modern uzbek prose to a new level.
The story "Unopened door" portrays the unrecognized
suffering and tragedy of a woman. In "Endless sky,"
Oytuldi's life becomes a symbol of both suffering and
loyalty. "You can't catch the wind" features Bayna
momo as a symbol of the nation. "People of war"
depicts Biydi momo, while in "Chained" Odamboy only
converses with Bayna momo. "Angel" presents
Sancho's compassionate wife, and "Qultoy" portrays
Arzihol, who endured a lifetime of suffering and
humiliation. The portrayal of women in the writer's
works invites reflection. There are images of
protectors, sufferers, victims, and mothers who have
become symbols of the nation.
The writer's stories have symbolic-metaphorical titles:
"Man led by a monkey", "Unopened door," "Coffin,"
"Dead season", "You can't catch the wind", "Qultoy",
"Endless sky", "Free birds", "The pleasure of pain",
"The hand", "Angel". The epigraphs chosen for the
stories demonstrate the writer's extensive reading:
F.M. Dostoevsky for "Unopened door", the epic
"Alpomish" for "Qultoy", "Mantiq ut-tayr" for
"Bahovuddin's dog", and "Kul Tegin's inscription" for
"Bitik".
Key symbols in his works include: angel - childhood,
coffin - decline, hand - desire, Qultoy - protective hero,
wind - rebellion and freedom, dead season - the period
of despotic regime, chained - a person condemned by
their environment, black book - a great life, night bars -
mirror of life, momoqo'shiq - a woman unbroken from
her roots, people of war - those who have internalized
war in their hearts.
"It is not for nothing that the soul of a writer is called a
soul illuminated by divine light' in the language of
Greek orators. This divine soul trembles at the slightest
impurity, betrayal, injustice, or deception, and begins
to purify the corrupted, deceived world with its words,
which are symbols of suffering" [3.22]. As the writer
himself said, in each of his works we read the anguish
of understanding, the trembling of the heart, rebellion
against injustice and violations of life's laws, and the
desire for purification. This desire belongs to the writer,
and he hopes that the reader who understands it will
make it their own and society's.
The story "Dust of the heart" is about a person who is
not treated as a human being, about the destruction of
personality
through
crushing,
breaking,
and
oppression. The writer intended to make this story an
introduction to the novel "Son of the grave or water of
life". The work describes how a person can be
destroyed and sacrificed. The protagonist of the story
shares the same fate as the hero of the story "Night
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
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2771-2273)
fences"; they are thinkers who cannot compromise
with society, who rebel against the system and
stereotypes, who suffer from their awakened souls,
and who seek solace. Both are inactive in social life, and
both are creative individuals. Perhaps the writer
created this story to convey the subsequent fate of the
inactive, contemplative hero from the earlier story. The
novella was written in 1988, and the short story in
1992. The novella ends with hope for the future, as
"every night the chariot of hope comes to the hero's
window". In the short story, the thinking hero is
crushed, his mind becomes prey to a monster, and he
joins the crowd. The protagonist of the novella writes
fairy tales called "Night tales", which are a longing for
brighter days. In the stories written by the protagonist
of "Night fences", he symbolically depicts the life of
people who have lost their way, whose hopes have
been trampled, and who have turned into a faceless
crowd. In particular, "His stories were about an
unbreakable chain with strong links, death howling in
the streets searching for prey, the road leading to
graves, headless people rushing somewhere, blind
children searching for a white palace following their
blind grandfathers, a woman who only gives birth to
lambs, abandoned and neglected horses, a mad
craftsman who spent his whole life making a dagger
that no one would buy, and a crowd kicking a wise
man's head like a ball. All his stories evoked bitter sighs
in one's heart" [5]. All the symbols in the story - the
unbreakable chain, howling death, the road to oblivion,
headless people, blind children, the birth of only lambs,
ownerless horses, the crowd - are images reflecting a
country in decline, where individuals are broken and
become victims of the regime. The writer suggests that
these stories of the hero represent our past, our
present, and potentially our future if people are not
educated and if minds continue to be fodder for
monsters.
The story closely resembles the events depicted in N.'s
dreams in the novel "Son of the grave or water of life",
where a creature feeds on brains and devours human
brains with appetite. The father and grandfather of the
novel's protagonist N. are tortured to death as sinners
in front of a crowd and children. The aim was to instill
fear in the hearts of the younger generation,
demonstrate the severity of the regime's policies, and
govern society through fear. N.'s grandfather's and
father's skulls were cracked open and snakes were
inserted. The snakes were meant to eat the brain and
destroy the condemned. The grandfather and father
endured the torment until the last moment because
the next generation was watching: to avoid showing
weakness, the father didn't look at his son, and the
grandfather, as always before saying something
mysterious, raised his eyebrows at his grandson as if to
say, "Don't tell anyone our secret"[4. 161]. The
grandfather and father perished before the child's
eyes. The boy then felt as if his heart had shrunk, as
though a snake had devoured half of it. It is difficult for
a generation that has witnessed the regime's brutal
policies to develop individual identity. Perhaps that's
why the writer doesn't give him a full name, calling him
only N. N.'s rebellion against society was an attempt to
prove his existence. Society did not accept him as an
individual. His grandfather and father were physically
killed. The "self" of the subsequent generation was
broken and merged with the crowd. This mirrors what
befell our ancestors. Our forebears who emerged at the
beginning of the century were physically killed, and
their descendants were spiritually broken. This is like
the day that befell our ancestors.
In the works of N. Eshankul, the formation of an
individual's personality is portrayed as a process
intertwined with society, family, and ancestors,
running like a red thread throughout his narratives. In
the story "You can't catch the wind", the inner integrity
of Bayna momo is connected to her family and the
environment that nurtured her. Her husband was
Rayim the wrestler, who upheld the honor and
reputation of the entire mountain people, and her
father-in-law was Shukur, the village elder. Her inner
strength was shaped within the family; rebellion ran in
the blood of her ancestors, and she had witnessed
much in her life. During Rayim the wrestler's lifetime,
the grandmother was the people's advisor, and her
house was always bustling with guests and young
wrestlers. The villagers couldn't comprehend the
reason for Bayna momo's rebellion, nor could they
offer her solace. The frail old woman exacted revenge
for her husband and son from a stout man. The story's
conclusion prompts the reader to ponder: was Bayna
momo truly capable of killing Zaman the stableman?
Can one really catch the wind? Readers who believe in
Bayna momo's revenge live with faith in the triumph of
good over evil in life. Those who doubt the revenge are
hinted to harbor doubts about the victory of goodness
in their hearts. We wouldn't be mistaken to say that the
author, through depictions of darkness, foul odors,
stench, soul-torturing experiences, and nauseating
remarks, aims to more vividly expose, imprint, and
evoke the pain and wounds of today. In his works,
alongside fatigue, depression, and death, we see light
at the end. This light represents the agony of
awakening understanding, awareness, and thought.
CONCLUSION
The writer's following reflections on the realm of
human thought and inner vision substantiate the
essence of his entire div of work. "We are both the
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observer and the observed. For the Creator has placed
within us a tiny soul - an eye, and when we look inward
through this soul, we see worlds vaster than the
universe, sense a greater power, and feel a more
immense being. This world inside us is a reflection of
the great world, our spirit is a reflection of the great
spirit". Through his characters who contemplate,
examine themselves, and suffer from the pains of
today, Nazar Eshankul calls upon society and humanity
to awaken and engage in reflection.
REFERENCES
Ahmad A'zam. The writer who created new realities/
http://ahmadazam.uz/maqola-va-taqrizlar/
Eshonqul N. Chained / Sharq Yulduzi. 2024. No. 8.
Eshonqul N. Man of books. - T.: Akademnashr, 2022.
Eshonqul N. Son of the grave or water of life. - T.: Gafur
Gulom Publishing and Printing Creative House, 2018.
Eshniyazova A. The Issue of Literary Influence in the
Writer’s
Artistic–
Aesthetic
Conception.
Eshniyazova A. Typological analysis and interpretation.
Anglisticum, Vol. 8 (2019), Issue 8, P. 33-39.
https://anglisticum.org.mk/index.php/IJLLIS/article/vi
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