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LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ENGLISH AND
UZBEK FAIRY TALES
Khojabekova Sarbinaz Jomurzayevna
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13923398
This part of the thesis analyzes the texts of Uzbek and English fairy tales,
which make it possible to determine in the world's linguistic landscape how the
language units of different ethnic groups associated with the perception and
verbalization of fairy tales are formed in the human mind. A comparative
analysis of the texts of Uzbek and English fairy tales makes it possible to
determine in the linguistic landscape of the universe how the language units of
different ethnic groups associated with the perception and verbalization of fairy
tales are formed in the human mind.
Due to the fact that the content of the concept sphere "Mother" is a
characteristic human phenomenon, a conceptual analysis of the content of this
concept sphere in a comparative way using fiction, texts within the framework
of Cultural Studies and cognitive linguistics is effective in identifying
intercultural differences and similarities. In English, the concept of "mother"
expresses, first of all, the concept of "motherhood" [1. p.47]. All linguistic units of
culture to be studied have preemies that represent the love of the mother to her
child. There are concepts of person, daughter (daughter child), queen, part of the
world, world (universe) that represent mother. Analysis of the data obtained in
the process of working with the texts of Uzbek folk tales showed that in the
descriptions of some characters there are positive and negative features, which
indicates some ambiguity of the images obtained. [2.86]
Personal qualities are significant for the following features: hard working,
truthfulness, patriotism, courage, etc. An analysis of the texts of English folk tales
showed that in general the characters of the King, old man, old woman and
stepdaughter are positive; negative include stepmother and stepdaughter. The
ambiguity of the characteristics is manifested in the depiction of such heroes as
the Queen, The Witch. In the description of the appearance, such signs as the
beauty of the Queen, the hard work of the stepdaughter, the evil of the Dragon
dominate. According to experimental studies, Uzbek speakers more accurately
classify characters as positive and negative, dividing heroes into positive and
negative, or "good" and "bad". Similarities in the texts of Uzbek and English are
observed mainly in the line of personal qualities, and not external signs. In
English, similarities occur equally between external and internal features.
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When describing the signs of Old man and stepdaughter, the number of
external and internal signs is the same. No similar characters were found
between the characters Witch and widow. In the minds of Uzbek speakers,
positive images of Uzbek folk tales are equated, first of all, with youth, beauty
and intelligence, and negative - with old age and external unattractiveness.
However, when this idea is used in relation to the characters of English folk
tales, the partial is true: negative characters are interconnected with a repulsive
appearance; in terms of personal qualities, characters whose appearance is
described as attractive are characterized ambiguously, which, accordingly, does
not allow us to distinguish between nuclear internal characteristics, this
situation proves the idea: a positive hero is characterized by physical
attractiveness (Queen), a negative hero (Dragon, witch) – by a repulsive
appearance; at the same time, a negative character (stepmother) is
characterized from the outside as beautiful. [3.75]
In both language cultures, there are characters such as stepdaughter,
stepmother and witch. When comparing the internal and external characteristics
of the features of a stepdaughter, stepmother, witch, there are also similarities
and differences in the perception of the characters of folk tales by
representatives of different linguistic cultures. Common to the culture of two
languages in character description, the stepdaughter is a feature that shows the
external attractiveness of the heroine; in Uzbek and English, this feature belongs
to the core of the concept. In character description, stepmother corresponds to
the character - wicked and evil - who characterizes the universal personality
inherent in the hero in both languages; representatives of both languages
perceive the stepmother character in the fairy tale as negative. The similarities
of external characteristics are abstract; the most common in the description of
the appearance corresponds to the stepmother character.
Referring to the masterpieces of world literature, it’s seen that the Russian
writer S.Ya. Marshak calls the stepmother as an "old woman" in the fairy tale
"Twelve months", with which he is convinced that his hero is not only of old age,
but also of the fact that, among other things, a woman is a mischievous
character. This stepmother gets to know the reader for the first time at her
house, when she is talking to her daughter while baking pies. When the Queen
told the one who brought a basket of snowdrops to New Year's Eve that she
would fill that basket with gold, the old woman, who was trying to explain to her
daughter that in winter snowdrops would not grow, as soon as she heard the
award, was imbued with her stupidity and greed. In the fact that her stone-heart
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ness is shown in her sending his stepdaughter into the forest in a severe
snowstorm, while her greed lists the "good things" she did: and only seven years
later when she presented the headscarves that covered the basin with and gives
it to her stepdaughter put out her life wearing, especially is clearly visible. [4.62]
When a stepdaughter with a thousand and one pains brings snowdrops,
not even saying Thank you, calmly watching her own daughter steal her
stepdaughter's ring, shows how uneducated the stepmother is. A comparative
analysis of the characters of stepdaughter, stepmother, and witch in the texts of
fairy tales helps to identify differences in a number of similarities and features
that have traditionally formed between different ethnic groups. When describing
the character, the stepmother is embodied only in English as a beautiful woman,
which indicates the physical attractiveness of the heroine. At the same time, in
the texts of Uzbek and English folk tales, the description of the character's
external attractiveness does not include additional details, but rather abstract
and generalized. However, despite the fact that this definition is typical for the
culture of two languages, in the texts of Uzbek and English folk tales it cannot be
considered universal.
The image of a stepmother is closely related to the image of a
stepdaughter, in two languages one acts as an antagonist of the other.
Consequently, this feature is also common for the ethnic groups under study. In
addition, two linguacultural also noted the desire of the stepmother to get rid of
her stepdaughter. Thus, the definition of wanting to get rid of the stepdaughter
can be called a universal characteristic of the stepmother's character. In order to
get rid of stepchildren, it is seen that it is without warm clothes on a hard cold
day and to expel them from the house in a hungry state – to send them to death,
because in the winter in the forest hungry wolves, barbaric animals are chased,
in which a savage stepmother is ejecting a stepchildren for them as sucking. In
the 15th century, when famine took over many countries of the world, the death
of young children became mass as a result of fodder for wild animals in the
severe winter weather. [5.46]
At the time of this fact, another character was born, the role of a wild
animal in the Forest went to the mint old woman, it is she who welcomes the
heroes of fairy tales in the thickest place of the forest, where trees grow densely,
and the stepmother actively helps in this. The sign of evil refers to the main
meaning of this concept in Uzbek and English; the character of the stepmother is
also described as negative in the culture of two languages. Based on the author's
own observations on the texts of Uzbek and English folk tales, it can be
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concluded that in Uzbek linguistic culture there is less negative view of the
image, but the character of the stepmother is more visible in the text: she is
always cruel towards to her stepdaughter. Nevertheless, the sign of evil can be
distinguished as a universal personal feature of the stepmother's character. In
addition, a common feature of the two linguacultural is an old feature that
indicates the age of the character; in both cases, it belongs to the core of the
concept, and therefore witchcraft is a universal property of the stepmother's
character.
The transfer of the plot of fairy tales about the stepmother from the
primitive text view to the feminine texts of the nobility led to the appearance in
these texts of such black forces as witchcraft, black majesty. Under the spell
always lies the motive of envy of the youth and beauty of the stepdaughter. And
the next motive is the instinct to protect the personal interests of his daughter.
The "order" of the death of the stepdaughter belongs more too medieval
European stepmother, which can be found in the variant of the Brothers Grimm
of the tale "Cinderella". Works about the evils of the stepmother, who knows no
boundaries, have such an ancient history that even in the texts of classical
literature one can find notes about this: "the mother, knowing that her death
was imminent, begged her husband not to marry again, she was worried that the
stepmother would treat her children badly. (author Alcestis Alcestis, 438 BC,
Greek classical literature). [6.86]
From the second half of the 17th century, the basis for the formation of the
genre of classical tragedy began to be created in England; the main feature of
English literature of that time was marked by special attention to national
literary traditions, The Art of the Renaissance. Most often, drama works in the
spirit of heroism were created, and later written dramas gradually began to feel
the influence of the classical poetry genre. On the border of the XVII – XVIII
centuries the play "Ambitious Stepmother", written by N.Rowe, is a vivid
example of a work composed of the Union of two traditions. Written in 1699 and
seeing a stage face in 1700, this work is significant not only in the history of
English literature as a play that initiated the drama of the new XVIII century, but
also in the presence of sentimental drama characters in it.
Following Oriental examples of heroic tragedies, N.Rowe chooses the
Persian country as the place where events take place. The death of King Arsasi is
near. Artakserks, the son of the King, exiled by his stepmother Artemiza, is
returning home accompanied by retired general Memnon, because according to
the laws, after the death of his father, he must ascend the throne. But the
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stepmother, who wants her son Artaban to take the throne, does such evil that
as a result, the heir to the throne, Artakserks, his wife Amestria and Memnon,
are imprisoned. In one view, everything is simple, but the events do not continue
according to the plan of the stepmother, the son Artaban refuses to take the
throne not by the "path of honor and glory", but in exchange for such meanness:
The conscious virtue That witnesses within my head for glory Points me to
greatness by the paths of honor, and urges me to do as a king ought, that would
not wear his purple as the gift Of impious treachery. The work "Gretel and
Darkness", written by Elayza Grenville, based on the fairy tale "Genzel and
Gretel", created by The Grimm Brothers, was published in England in 2014.
[7.60]
The plots are almost the same. So still, stepmother and stepdaughter
concepts are one of the topics that are interesting and in high demand for
literary works. In addition, the psycholinguistic experiment carried out clearly
demonstrates the tradition of expanding the content of peripheral properties of
these concepts, which indicates a change in the ideas of native speakers about
fairy-tale characters to tell fairy tales. Grenville created a new modern fairy tale
with his work, in this fairy tale ancient traditions are interpreted in a new way,
this work brought humanity from "childhood" to "maturity", knowledge of the
past, preserved through the Grenville Tale, became important in reaching us,
that is, the generation of the XXI century.
Psychologist L.Suleymanova gives such an idea: "there are practically no
examples of good stepmom in fairy tales. This is a difficult topic at all." But
nowadays, good stepmother images are created in world literature. An example
of this is "Good Stepmother" by Mardjurita Rudolf, "My Magical Stepmother"
belonging to the pen of Marnie and Prince Jason, "My Bonus Mother" by Tami
Bucher, "Memory Row" written by Eva Banting, "Not So Evil Stepmother" by Lizi
Boyd, "Stepmother" by Akhmad Lutfi Kazanchi. "Why did nineteen-year-old
Fatima, whose beauty and knowledge were impeccable in manners, marry the
father of two orphaned children? Was the lesson of the neighboring stepmother
stronger than the explanations of her mother and aunts?" begins Akhmad Lutfi
Kazanchi's novel about stepmother. The course of events is described so
beautifully that you will not notice how the image of an evil stepmother existing
in our minds has given way to a gloomy, kind good stepmother. [8.71]
"It is natural for a mother to hurt her child who gave birth, but it is ignorance to
hurt her stepson," the author's opinion, presented in the preface to the work,
should remain a slogan for all stepmothers on Earth. In general, no matter how
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ancient or how modern the topic of stepmother and stepdaughter is in fiction,
these two images, behind these two concepts, always lie the concepts of evil and
good, in the entire history of mankind, these two concepts have been a lifelong
problem, have always interested, are making interested and remain interesting
to people. And we believe that, just like in every fairy tale we analyze, good
always triumphs over evil.
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