CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGICAL SCIENCES (ISSN: 2767-3758)
https://masterjournals.com/index.php/crjps
54
VOLUME:
Vol.06 Issue02 2025
10.37547/philological-crjps-06-02-10
Page: - 54-58
RESEARCH ARTICLE
On the Translations of Oybek's Works into World Languages
Rasulova Kamola
Doctoral student of the Department of Translation Studies and International Journalism, TDSHU , Uzbekistan
Received:
24 December 2024
Accepted:
26 January 2025
Published:
28 February 2025
INTRODUCTION
“In the process of literary translation, not only two
languages, but also two national literatures collide and are
compared (contrasted). As a result of such a collision,
active interaction occurs. Literary translation, which is
considered a cultural bridge between peoples, has been
contributing to the further strengthening of friendship
between the Uzbek and Turkish peoples, who belong to the
same language family and whose customs and national
traditions are very close to each other” .
Musa Toshmuhammad ogli Oybek, a great writer, poet,
scholar, and public figure who made a significant
contribution to the development of Uzbek literature of the
20th century, was not only a skilled poet but also an
accomplished novelist. His epic works, such as "Kutlug'
qon", "Navoiy", "Ulug' yol", "Altin vodiydan shabadalar",
and "Quyosh qor'ymas", constitute an important period in
the development of Uzbek realistic novels . Dozens of the
writer's major works have been translated into different
languages and presented to literature lovers. For example,
the novel "Kutlug' qon", written by the writer and
completed in 1938, was translated and published in Uzbek
in 1940, Russian in 1943, Uyghur and Czech in 1949,
Slovak in 1950, and Kyrgyz and Azerbaijani in 1959. Only
in 2023 was this novel translated into Turkish by our
compatriot Zamira Hamidova (Öztürk).
Oybek's novel "Kutlug' qon" [1] is a novel that tells the
story of the tragic past, in which the oppression of the
Uzbek people by Russian invaders and local officials in the
recent past, and the 1916 uprising played an important role
in the people's struggle for national liberation. In the novel,
the heroes of the work are divided into rich and poor,
negative and positive characters. We can see many
characters in the novel (Yulchi, Gulnor, Mirzakarimboy,
Khusro'ybibi, Nuri, Tantiboyvachcha, Hakimboyvachcha,
Yormat, Shokir ota, etc.). This novel is one of the highest
works in Uzbek literature in terms of artistic and aesthetic
qualities that have ever seen the world.
ABSTRACT
This article tells about the works of the famous Uzbek writer Oybek and their translations. It tells about the translators who
translated the works, as well as the achievements and shortcomings in the translation process.
The peculiarity of the works of the Uzbek writer Oybek is that they show the recent past, the way of life of the Uzbek people ,
that this is a people capable of showing their will even in difficult times, the unique qualities of a hard -working people. The fact
that these works have been translated into several languages of the world shows that there is great interest in the works of Oybek
in other countries. Among other things, these works, revealing our nationality, give foreign readers the opportunity to g et
acquainted with the Uzbek people, customs and mentality.
In the writer's novel "Kutlug Kon" (1940), the realistic spirit was manifested with great skill, and in the novel "Navoi" (19 44), he
was the first in Uzbek literature to create the image of the great poet and thinker Alisher Navoi.
Keywords:
Novel, artistic translation, image, nationality, translation, indirect, direct.
CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGICAL SCIENCES (ISSN: 2767-3758)
https://masterjournals.com/index.php/crjps
55
N. Karimov noted that in his "Biography" written for the
collection "Poems" published in 1963, Oybek gave the
following information about the history of the birth of this
novel: "In 1937, I began to write the novel "Kutlug' qon".
I did not collect material to write this novel, perhaps
because I loved to observe life since childhood, the novel
"Kutlug' qon" kept pouring from my heart and memory. I
wrote and finished the novel in a short time."
“Although I was still a small child when the events of the
novel took place, I saw the life of the people. I saw the dark
and gloomy houses of the poor, the luxurious mansions of
the rich surrounded by high walls, their gardens with icy
ponds. I had already eagerly observed and understood
many aspects of life and social relations that were later
described in my novel,” Oybek wrote.
Oybek’s novel “Blood of the Blessed” was translated from
Uzbek into Russian by N. Ye. Ivashev under the title
“Sacred Blood” [5] was published in 1975 by the
publishing house in a print run of 300,000 copies.
In 2023, Oybek’s novel “Blood of the Blessed” (“Kutlu
kan”) [10] was translated into Turkish by Z. Hamidova
(O’zturk) and published by the Turkish “Bengu”
publishing house. The novel "Blood of Remembrance" has
been translated into Arabic, Persian, and the languages of
the CIS countries to this day. This translation, published in
Ankara under the leadership of the head of the Eurasian
Writers' Union, Professor Yaqub Umar ogli, consists of
430 pages. A team of qualified specialists, editors, and
designers was involved in the publishing process of the
work. The book was edited by the well-known Turkish
journalist and editor, currently the press secretary of the
Turkish Minister of Environmental Protection, Urban
Planning and Climate, Ms. Leylo Güneş. Academician of
the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan Naim Karimov, as
a scientific and literary advisor, wrote a foreword entitled
"About Oybek and his work "Blood of Remembrance",
further enhancing the artistic significance of the book's
translation. At the same time, he shared valuable
information with Turkish readers about the writer's life and
work and various events related to the history of writing
this novel.
Another major work of the writer, "Oltin vodiydan
shabadalar" [2], was written in 1949 and was first
published in the form of excerpts from the novel in the
newspaper "Kizil O'zbekiston". The novel was published
in its entirety in 1959, along with Oybek's four-volume
Selected Works. The novel was published in 1971 by the
"Gafur Ghulom Publishing House for Literature and Art"
in a 528-page hardcover, and in 1976 by the "Fan
Publishing House" in a 544-page hardcover, in an edition
of 5,000 copies. It was last published in Latin in 2019 by
the "Yangi Asr Avlodi Publishing House".
The novel was also published in "braille" in 1954 by the
Publishing House of the Blind Society of Uzbekistan.
The famous writer of his time, Maqsud Shaykhzoda,
described this work as follows: “Oybek, who was a gifted
creative worker, loves working people, whether in lyrics,
epics, novels or dramatic works. Oybek’s favorite hero
sings of hardworking workers and craftsmen. He describes
the immortal qualities of hardworking people with
extremely strong colors, which is Oybek’s greatest
contribution to Uzbek literature.”
Although the work itself was written in a short period of
time, that is, in six months, in 1958, the work was revised
and new chapters, new episodes and scenes were added to
it. The changes made by Oybek, who was seriously ill at
that time, were recorded by his wife, Zarifa Saidnosirova.
The novel “Winds from the Golden Valley” was translated
by S. Borodin (“Ветер золотой долины”) [6] in 1951 in
Tashkent and published in Russian in 1960 in Moscow.
The novel “Winds from the Golden Valley” (“Altın
Vadiden Esintiler”) [11] was translated into Turkish by Z.
Hamidova in 2023 and published by the Turkish publishing
house “Nobel Kültür”.
“Zamira Hamidova, who has been living in Turkey for 20
years, has been doing her best to introduce and promote our
homeland, language, literature, and traditions to the
Turkish people. “At least cooking Uzbek pilaf and serving
it to people who have never tasted it before is one of my
favorite things to do. In (2023) I observed myself from the
sidelines at book presentations held in various cities of
Uzbekistan in August-September. I summarized the work
I have done for 20 years, because until now I have not had
the opportunity to think about it. One of the things that
impressed me the most, gave me new strength and energy
during the events I held was the young people saying, “We
are looking forward to you, teacher.” So, my 20 years of
life, the suffering I have endured, were not in vain…” –
says the scientist.”
CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGICAL SCIENCES (ISSN: 2767-3758)
https://masterjournals.com/index.php/crjps
56
The novel “Breaths from the Golden Valley” was
published in Uyghur in 1952. In 1954, Chinese Uyghurs
also had the opportunity to read the novel “Navoi” in their
own language. Ne’matulla Haji and To’khta Qosim
translated the novel into Uyghur and published it in several
issues of the magazine “Two Lives”. By 2003, the
translation was published in book form by the Xinjiang
People’s Publishing House under the editorship of
Muhammadturdi Mirzaahmadi.
After the novel was translated into Uyghur, it was later
translated into Chinese. The work was also available to
Chinese readers in their native language. It was also
translated and published in Hanzhucha. (Hanzhucha is a
Chinese language. Here we are talking about the translation
from Uyghur into Chinese by Hao Guang Zhong).
The novel “Breaths from the Golden Valley” was
published in Ukrainian in Kiev in 1956, translated by V.
Gnatovsky.
Another example of the author’s work, the novel “Navoi”
[3], was completed in the harsh winter of 1942 and
published in 1944. Over the past 75 years, the work has
been translated into dozens of languages, including
Russian
(1945),
French
(1948),
Latvian
(1947),
Lithuanian, Estonian, Czech, Kazakh (1949), Ukrainian
(1950), Uyghur (1952), Turkmen (1955), Chinese (2002),
and English (2016).
Oybek's novel "Navoi" (Наваи) [7] was first published in
1946 by Russian translator M. Sal'e under the editorship of
P. Slyotov [8], and republished in 1984. The poetic verses
in the Russian translation were Russified by translator V.A.
Lipko (Lipkin) (1912-1980). The annotation to the novel,
translated into Russian by the renowned orientalist Mikhail
Aleksandrovich Sale, states that the novel "Navoi" is
Oybek's greatest work, telling the story of the great poet,
thinker, and humanist Alisher Navoi, for which Oybek
received the State Prize in 1946.
The novel “Navoiy” [12] was first translated into Turkish
by Ahsen Batur during the years of the Independence of the
Republic of Uzbekistan (1995). However, in recent years,
the novel was retranslated into Turkish by the famous
Turkish scholar and talented translator Shuayip Karakosh
and published by the “O’tukan” publishing house, making
it a gift to lovers of Uzbek literature in Turkey. Shuayip
Karakosh himself explains the reason for the retranslation
of the work as follows: “Navoiy” was translated into
Turkish by D. Ahsen Batur in 1995 and published by the
“O’tukan” publishing house. However, when this
translation was compared with the original, it was found
that serious errors were made in some places. In addition,
the lack of a serious publication in Turkey about such a
great figure as Oybek, a great representative of Uzbek
literature, is one of the main reasons for this. Translator Sh.
The following words of Karakosh are also noteworthy:
“During the translation of this book, its spelling and forms
of expression were checked by Turkish scholars: Doctor of
Science, Prof. Belkis Gursoy and Doctor of Science,
Assoc. Prof. Vali Savash Yeloq, and the spelling and
Turkish translation of some Persian verses in the novel
were checked by Doctor of Science, Prof. Metin Akar and
Doctor of Science, Assoc. Prof. Ozan Yilmaz.
The novel “Navoi” was translated into French by Alice
Oran in 1948 (indirectly) based on the Russian translation
by P. Slyotov and published in Moscow. There is very little
information about the translator and the book on the
Internet in Uzbek, Russian, French, and English. Alice
Oran is her pseudonym, her real name is Alexandra
Petrovna Oranovskaya (her friends called her Shuretta).
She was originally born in Russia, moved to France at a
very young age, and lived in Paris until the age of 15. In
1914, Alice returned to Russia with her family, married a
military engineer, and after the war, she got a job at the
Moscow publishing house "Foreign Worker" (now called
"Progress"), where she opened a French language club.
The French translation of a historical work that describes
the life, customs and nature of the Uzbek people of the 15th
century on national soil is an important stage in the
development of Uzbek-French translation. In particular,
this translation of the work is of great historical and
practical importance in the series of translations of
historical works within the Uzbek-Russian-French
languages.
The novel "Navoiy" has been translated into Chinese twice.
In 1999, the work was translated into Chinese by Hao
Guang Zhong, and in 2001, by Wang Zheng Zhong. Hao
Guang Zhong's 1999 translation of the novel "Navoiy" was
based on the Uyghur translation mentioned above.
Regarding the Chinese translation of the work, J.
Ziyamuhamedov writes: “It should be noted that in the
translation of the work, an attempt was made to use the
terms typical of Turkic languages in their proper place in
Chinese. In the dialogues and monologues typical of the
courtiers, Uzbek customs and traditions, and the depiction
CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGICAL SCIENCES (ISSN: 2767-3758)
https://masterjournals.com/index.php/crjps
57
of images, the translator used appropriate expressions,
synonyms, and phrases, which give the translation a special
splendor and charm” .
70 years after the novel “Navoiy” was written, it was
translated into English by Omon Muminov and Ilhom
Tokhtasinov in 2016 and published by the “Yangi Asr
Avlody” publishing house. The translation of the work was
prepared in collaboration with foreign experts (the English
text of the novel was edited by American Christine Smart).
In an interview with “UzReport” TV channel, the
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the
United Kingdom to the Republic of Uzbekistan,
Christopher Allan, spoke about the English translation and
noted that as a reader he felt like he had fallen into the age
of Navoiy. This shows how close to the original the English
translation of the novel “Navoiy” is.
Oybek’s novel “Navoiy” was translated into Czech by
Czech translator Vojtech Gaya. The novel was published
in Prague in 1958 in a hardcover edition under the title
"The Quran and the Sword". The book consists of 321
pages. Another translator of the novel, Erzsebet Brodsky
(Elizabeth Brodskaya), translated the novel "Navoi" into
Hungarian. The book was published in 1978 in a hardcover
edition under the title "Song about the Flowerbed" by the
"Yevropa" publishing house in Budapest, with 494 pages.
The novel “Navoiy” was translated into Latvian by Verte
L. Starevikyute (it is not known which edition the
translation was based on - G.N.).
The novel “Navoiy” was translated into Estonian by
Evgeny Rumet. The Estonian translation of the work is also
based on Russian translations. The translation of the work
includes a summary of the historical characterization of
Alisher Navoiy by the orientalist Boris Zakhoder (1890-
1960).
The author’s autobiographical story “Childhood” [4] was
written in 1963, and the main character of the story is
Musa, i.e. Oybek himself. Lyrical pathos prevails in the
story. The poetic perception of the existing reality in the
work is preserved until the end of the work. The story
depicts the adventures and experiences of the boy
throughout his life, the colorful emotions that flashed in the
boy's tender heart.
The story "Childhood. Memories" ("Детство. Из
прошлого") [9] was translated from Uzbek into Russian
by N. Ivashov in 1964 and published in 75,000 copies by
the "Yosh gvardiya" publishing house. The story was
republished in Russian in 1986 by the "Gafur Ghulom
nomi adabiya va san'at" publishing house under the
translation of two translators N.Ye. Ivashev and N.I.
Tatarinov.
The story "Childhood. Memories" ("Чocukluk. Anılarım")
[13] was translated into Turkish in August 2023 by the
translator Kh. Hamidov. The story is from the book
“Selected Works from Uzbek Literature: Stories – Poems
(Anthology)”, published by the “Innovative Development
Publishing House”.
After all, Ibrohim Gafurov did not say for nothing that
“Creating a translated text in all periods is the main issue.
Choosing a sample of the original, understanding it,
entering into it, studying its history, the environment and
conditions that created it, thinking about how it will be
received in the new environment and having the most clear
idea about it, determining the translation method and
strategy are important circumstances for all translation
processes, and these ultimately serve to create a translated
text in accordance with the original. A professional
translator and translation researcher never looks at these
things
indifferently
or
without
disappointment.
Indifference here is tantamount to disregarding the
specialty.”
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it should be noted that the implementation
of the above translations further strengthens the bonds of
friendship between the two peoples. It is certainly
gratifying that Uzbek works are being translated into world
languages and are finding readers in countries around the
world. The artistic value of Oybek's works, his translations
into Russian, Arabic, Persian, Uyghur, Czech, Turkish and
several other languages, has shown the uniqueness of the
Uzbek people.
REFERENCES
Oybek. Qutlug‘ qon, – Toshkent: “G‘afur G‘ulom
nomidagi nashriyot-matbaa ijodiy uyi”, 2023. – 484 b.
Oybek, Muso Toshmuhammad o‘g‘li. Oltin vodiydan
shabadalar. Roman. Mukammal asarlar to‘plami. 19 tomlik
// Yettinchi tom. Tahrir hay’ati: Marat Nurmuhamedov,
Komil Yashin, Izzat Sulton, Homil Yoqubov v.b. –
CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGICAL SCIENCES (ISSN: 2767-3758)
https://masterjournals.com/index.php/crjps
58
O‘zbekiston SSR “Fan” nashriyoti, 1976, – 544 b.
Oybek, Navoiy, roman, / “Asr oshgan asarlar” turkumi//
Tahrir hay’ati: Bobir Alimov va b. –Tоshkent: “Sharq”,
2004, – 496 b.
Oybek. Bolalik
Айбек. “Священная кровь”. Роман. Перевод Н.Е.
Ивашев. – Ташкент.: Укитувчи, 1975.
Айбек. “Ветер золотой долины”. Перевод с узбекского
С. Бородин. – Ташкент, 1951. Айбек. “Ветер золотой
долины”. Перевод с узбекского С. Бородин. – Mocква,
1960.
Айбек. Навои. Роман. Перевод с узбекского М. А.
Салье, стихи в переводе В.А.Липко. Худож.
А.Гуламов. –Ташкент: Ёш гвардия, 1984. – 376 с.
Айбек. Навои. Роман. Перевод с узбекского под ред.
П.Слетова. –Л.: Советский писатель. 1946. – 376 с.
Айбек. “Детство. Из прошлого”. Пер., Н.Е. Ивашев. –
Ташкент.: Ёш гвардия, 1964.
Musa Aybek, Kutlu kan, Roman, Türkiye Türkçesine
aktarma ve İnceleme Zamira Öztürk (Hamidova). –
Ankara: Bengü Yayınevi, 2023. ¬ 429 s.
Aybek, Altın Vadiden Esintiler, Roman, Çev. Zamira
Öztürk. – Ankara: Nobel, 2023.
Aybek, M.T. Nevai, Çev. Ahsen Batur. – İstanbul: 1995.
Aybek. Nevâyi, Roman, Türkiye Türkçesine aktarma ve
İnceleme Prof. Dr. Şuayip Karakaş. –İstanbul: Ötüken
Yayınevi, 2019. ¬– 461 s.
Aybek. “Çocukluk. Anılarım”. Çev. H. Hamıidov. –
Taşkent.: Innovatsion rivojlanish nashriyot-matbaa uyi,
2023.
Ҳамидов Х. Ўзбек қисса ва романлари турк тилида.
Монография. – Тошкент: EFFECT-D нашриёти, 2022. –
Б. 26.
Зиямуҳаммедов Ж. “Навоий” романи хитой тилида. /
Жаҳон адабиёти. –Тошкент, 2006 й., №5. –Б. 143.
А.Отабоев. Таржима назарияси ва танқиди муаммолар
// Ўзбекистон адабиёти ва санъати. –Тошкент, 2014
йил. № 10.
