METAPHORICALITY IN CONTEMPORARY UZBEKISTAN STORIES

Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (AJMDR) Vol. 2 Issue 9, December 2025 www.ajmdr.com IF: 9.2 6 Hamrayev Komiljon Olmasovich, Doctor of Philosophy in Philology, Associate Professor (TashDO'TAU, Uzbekistan) [email protected] METAPHORICALITY IN CONTEMPORARY UZBEKISTAN STORIES Abstract.The article comprehensively studies the metaphorical way of expression on the example of modern Uzbek stories. In this, the concept of metaphor and metaphorical image, its poetic development, forms and types are studied on the example of examples of the story genre. Also, the metaphorical expression in the story and its features, syncretic basis are considered. Keywords:Story, image, story image, story plot, metaphor,metaphorical image. In literary studies, the concept of metaphor has its own unique characteristics. For example,"Based on the Greek preposition "meta", "after", "behind", "change". Literally, a metaphor (from the Greek pherein - "I carry") transfers the meaning of a word to another place, takes it from its original meaning to a new one." 1 In literary studies, the concepts of metamorphosis, metaphor, metonymy, and reincarnation are used. For example, Nazar Eshonkul's story "Bakhovuddin's Dog" was analyzed by literary scholars such as Uzok Juraqulov, Marhabo Kuchkarova, and Feruza Burkhanova based on the above. In his article "Osoyish Ayomi", U. Juraqulov studies N. Eshonkul's stories "Bakhovuddin's Dog" and Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhan's "Etakdagi Kulba" based on the metaphorical model. "This subtle process seen in the artistic formation of reality ensured that artistic expression was reflected in the form of a single metaphorical model. As a result, the artistic relations of creators to concrete reality and time, and in particular to themselves, also acquired a metaphorical nature." 2 .In her dissertation “Artistic Conventionality in Contemporary Uzbek Prose,” M. Kuchkarova interprets unusual episodes in a number of stories, such as Isajon Sultan’s “Qismat,” N. Eshonkul’s “Bakhovuddin’s Dog,” Nodir Normatov’s “Once Upon a Time as an Ant,” and Khurshid Dostmukhammad’s 1 The Concept of Metamorphosis and its Metaphors. Science&Education.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11191-018-9959-x 2 Dzhorakulov U. Issues of theoretical poetics. The author. Genre. Chronotope. - T.: Publishing house named after Gafur Ghulam, 2015. - B. 219. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (AJMDR) Vol. 2 Issue 9, December 2025 www.ajmdr.com IF: 9.2 7 “House in the Eyeball,” through the phenomenon of metamorphosis. “N. Eshonkul transformed a man into a dog in the story, using the motif of metamorphosis, which has existed in Uzbek folk oral literature since ancient times, and created a modernist story model that would shock such a person.” 3 , –writes M. Kuchkarova. Another literary critic, F. Burkhanova, looks for an event of reincarnation in this story, while Nilufar Chulieva speaks about the chronotope of artistic metamorphosis in Franz Kafka's stories "The Metamorphosis" and N. Eshonkul's "Bakhovuddin's Dog". In modern Uzbek prose, the stories “The House in the Eye of the Beholder” by Khurshid Dostmuhammad and “The White Flame” by Nazar Eshankul are built on a metaphorical basis. In “The House in the Eye of the Beholder,” the detail of the letter appears as an important poetic device in the stories, demonstrating the metaphorical nature of this literary and aesthetic phenomenon. In both stories, the human soul, their inner spiritual wholeness, acquires metaphorical meaning through the house and the room. In "The House in the Pupil of the Eye," the transition of the house into the pupil is described as follows: "When you come across a pupil in the pitch darkness, the white of your eye glitters like a drop of mercury, attracting your attention. However, you cannot stare at it for long; your attention immediately shifts to the pupils. You cannot easily get rid of the pupils that have "caught" your gaze, you become thermal, thermal... then your pupils, larger than a peach, grow larger and larger, covering the surface of the pupil, rising above the surface of the pupil and occupying the wall, becoming larger and larger, and then you feel that the pupils are not growing by themselves, but because you are gradually entering them. The pupils of your two eyes become two dark rooms." 4 This incident is the basis for the realization of the conflicts between the owner and the mistress of the house, who are afraid of the noise of the city, and the hero who is surrounded by silence. In the story, I, as the character of the narrator, acts in the plot line. His thoughts in the fantasy world take shape as a product of an associative plot. In this case, the two-room house 3 Kuchkarova M. Artistic convention in contemporary Uzbek prose. Philology. Science. Doctoral thesis. – T., 2020. – 4 Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (AJMDR) Vol. 2 Issue 9, December 2025 www.ajmdr.com IF: 9.2 8 is twisted into an eyeball by means of a mirror, it helps to express the opposition of noise and silence. That is, the house that was once abandoned by the master and mistress due to the noise of the city appears in the eyes of the hero as a place where silence reigns. In fact, I prefer to adapt to such noise and compromise. "- Here's an analogy from myself. It's noisy, for example, I can take the shape of a jar and live on. There's a peanut, a peanut! Let them fit it inside, a scoundrel who doesn't get used to taking the shape of a peanut and living comfortably!" 5 In this way, the views of two people are reflected in the story, and from the point of view of the owner and the owner, noise is expressed as an element that disturbs the peace of a person and steals one's happiness, but from the perspective of the narrator, this concept changes towards the end of the story. At first, he sees the noise as a sign of life, then he comes to the conclusion that it is the past, the past of the people. In N. Eshankul's "White Flame", the theme of love is taken up. In "The House in the Eyeball", metaphoricality is observed in the introduction of the story, while in "White Flame" it occurs at the end of the story. In "White Flame", the passionate love in the heart of a lover is metaphorically expressed in the image of a room covered with white paper flowers on which a heartfelt statement is written. In "The House in the Eyeball", we see the metaphorical transformation of the eyeball into a house and the house into the eyeball. In "White Flame", the pain in the heart of a young man in love moves through words to white paper, and from white paper to the room. "When the young man placed the last bouquet on the threshold, he looked around the room with a sigh. The tulips in the bouquet were hanging quietly, the light from the lamp was like red rain on the flowers, and the flowers in the vase were shining in a reddish color. The flowers were slowly opening. The young man left the room and looked at the room's window. 6 .It seems that in both stories, pain, suffering, anxiety, will and lack of will are expressed as the main themes within the metaphoricalization of images. For example, in the stories we are going to analyze, “Once Upon a Time as 5 6 Eshankul N. Peach Flower. – T.: Uzbekistan, 2011. – P. 67. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (AJMDR) Vol. 2 Issue 9, December 2025 www.ajmdr.com IF: 9.2 9 an Ant” by Nodir Normatov and “Padarkush” by Eshqabil Shukur, this situation is clearly visible. In the story “Once Upon a Time as an Ant”, as a result of eating the herb of paradise, the hero understands the language of ants and has the opportunity to communicate with them. Whoever enjoys this herb becomes an ants and gets the opportunity to get to know their lives closely, share their innermost thoughts and heartaches with them. The most interesting thing is that the hardworking ants, who are constantly sweating, are also human, which increases the hero’s surprise. "— O human being! You did not believe me when I said that we would be your people. Now listen! The thing is that we have turned into ants from the unused brains of the dead lying in this cemetery. When we walked in human form, even though we had equal human rights, we abused them, that is, we lived by putting straw in each other's eyes." 7 At this point, it becomes clear that metamorphosis and reincarnation are intertwined in the story. The fact that ants are created from the unused brains of people buried in the cemetery, the mistakes and deeds of deceased people during their lives are cleansed in the body of an ant, the ability of an ant to listen to a person's heart, listen to his feelings, look at the shortcomings of the social era and the most painful points of society, etc., are all products of the metamorphosed reincarnation phenomenon. In E. Shukur's story "Padarkush", the metamorphosed reincarnation phenomenon characteristic of the hero is also seen in his transformation into a tiger after his untimely death. In the story, it is considered a shameless act among the people for those who are full, hungry, and slaves to their own desires. The horse is a giant, a constant companion of man, and therefore is revered as a sacred animal. A group of people who abuse their position and are enslaved by their own selfish desires, besiege the naive Bekdavlat, who has recently been married, “still drunk with the lust of the scoundrel.” Thus, seven days later, a large donkey is given at a wedding in the village. Bekdavlat, who is riding this donkey, dies under the feet of a herd of horses, as a man who still has time to die, and who has not yet died. “… In his last moments, when Bekdavlat no longer feels pain, he thinks about tigers for 7 Normatov N. Bisot. - T.: Sharq, 2012. - B. 350-363. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (AJMDR) Vol. 2 Issue 9, December 2025 www.ajmdr.com IF: 9.2 10 some reason. His love for these cruel and evil predators has suddenly disappeared… This sad event was not death, like the incident with his strangled horse. Bekdavlat, like that young horse, could not reach his death. There was still time to die…” 8 In the story, Bekdavlat's time until death comes to an end in the form of a tiger within him. On a passionate night that occurs once in a hundred years in the world of creatures, Bekdavlat, who is forced to live the rest of his life in the form of a tiger, is reunited with his partner, Oybarchin. Oybarchin, who has become infamous in the eyes of the people, has a child. As the years pass, Bekdavlat and Oybarchin's son, Yodgor, grows up to be a tiger. One day, the bitter fate of life brings the father and son together in a hostile state. "Unfortunately, there was an infamous boundary called existence between father and son. The tiger crossed this boundary seventeen years ago. And the monument... ... When Oybarchin, who was hoping for Visol, arrived at the execution ground of destiny, the head of the tiger - Bekdavlat, who had died standing upright, was lying at the feet of the saffron reeds, split in two... "…We did not know when the strangled horse died, but Bekdavlat died that very day in the reeds by the river. Otherwise, the tiger, whose head was cut in two with an axe, had no image left in its eyes." 9 According to some folk legends, the fact that a tiger lives inside a person, that this creature embodies two concepts, that the tiger moves among animals with its companion, its messenger, that it is a creature belonging to the saints, that in ancient times it was called Nurmat, that it comes as a symbol of light and enlightenment, was the basis for the occurrence of a metamorphosed reincarnation. In addition, in the story, the fact that Oybarchin is pregnant, that her son Yodgor is born, that the son has the eyes of a tiger, and that he kills his father and becomes a parricide also indicates that metamorphosed reincarnation. In "Once Upon a Time as an Ant", the herbal paradise detail and the cemetery chronotope, the image in the eyes of "Father Killer" and the reedbed chronotope, appear as important poetic components in the stories. The fact that the 8 Century. – T.: Gafur Ghulam Publishing and Printing House. 2021. – P.58. 9 Eshqobil Sh. Legends of the Century. – T.: Gafur Ghulam Publishing and Printing House. 2021. – P.58. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (AJMDR) Vol. 2 Issue 9, December 2025 www.ajmdr.com IF: 9.2 11 metamorphosing image creates a unique and appropriate chronotope in its field of action, the transformation of heroes into another creature due to a small everyday reason, in many cases the reflection of the human soul in appearance, the loneliness of the hero who undergoes transformation before his fate and destiny are the leading features of this literary and aesthetic phenomenon. It seems that the various forms of metamorphosis characteristic of the above stories appear as a product of the literary and historical process. It is no coincidence that the dog, tiger, ant, etc. have been living in religious, mythological, folklore and classical literature as their various symbols from time immemorial. In addition, the role of the story in the transfer of such historical and traditional poetic symbols from era to era, from work to work is important. In these stories, the types of metamorphosis such as metaphorical, metaphorical, perspective, metonymic, spiritual, and reincarnation are expressed according to the writer's artistic style, image direction, and ideologicalartistic intention. In many places, the era and human tragedy, as well as social, household and spiritual-psychological defects are depicted in the shell of metamorphosis. And this is useful in comprehensively expressing the poetic boundaries of the human inner world, its pains and sufferings, and the state of spiritual and spiritual purification. First, the story, being a genre with a variable character in the epic system of thought, embodies the acquisition of metaphorical meaning by images. In the history of literature, metaphorical expression has paved the way for the story to reflect the most important moments in the history of mankind as an object of depiction. References 1. Eshqobil Sh. Asr afsonalari. – Т.: G‘afur G‘ulom nomidagi nashriyot-matbaa ijodiy uyi. 2021. – B.240. 2. The Concept of Metamorphosis and its Metaphors. Science&Education.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11191-0189959-x 3. Дўстмуҳаммад Х. Беозор қушнинг қарғиши. – Т.: Шарқ НМАКБТ, 2006. – Б. 316. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (AJMDR) Vol. 2 Issue 9, December 2025 www.ajmdr.com IF: 9.2 12 4. Жўрақулов У. Назарий поэтика масалалари. Муаллиф. Жанр. Хронотоп. – Т.: Ғафур Ғулом номидаги нашриёт матбаа ижодий уйи, 2015. – Б. 5. Қўчқарова М. Ҳозирги ўзбек насрида бадиий шартлилик. Филол. Фан. Д-ри...дисс. – Т., 2020. – Б. 168. 6. Норматов Н. Бисот. – Т.: Шарқ, 2012. – Б. 350-363. 7. Э ш о н қ у л Н . Ш а ф т о л и г у л и . – Т . : Ў з б е к и с т о н ,