The Concept of War in Uzbek Classical Literature: Its Meaning and Artistic Interpretation
Abstract
The concept of war occupies a significant place in Uzbek classical literature, where it is not merely portrayed as a historical or military phenomenon but as a complex moral, philosophical, and aesthetic category. Classical authors interpreted war through symbolic imagery, ethical reflections, and didactic narratives, emphasizing its destructive consequences as well as its role in testing human virtues such as courage, loyalty, and justice. This article examines the semantic scope of the concept of war in Uzbek classical literature and analyzes its artistic interpretation in poetic and prose works. The study reveals that war is often depicted not as an end in itself, but as a means to convey broader ideas related to morality, power, fate, and human responsibility.
Keywords
Uzbek classical literature, concept of war, artistic interpretation, symbolism, ethical discourse.
References
- Ahmed S. Justice, power, and war in medieval Islamic thought. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 2006;26(2):230–244.
- Babur ZM. Baburnama. Tashkent: Fan; 1990.
- Bertels EE. History of Uzbek Literature. Moscow: Nauka; 1968.
- Bertels EE. Navoi and Jami. Moscow: Oriental Literature Publishing House; 1965.
- DeWeese D. Narrative traditions in Central Asian Islam. Oriente Moderno. 2001;20(1):75–97.
- Frye RN. The Heritage of Central Asia. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers; 1996.
- Hodgson MGS. The Venture of Islam. Vol. 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1974.
- Kadirova D. War motifs in Turkic classical poetry. Central Asian Literary Studies. 2010;4(2):45–58.
- Karimov N. Uzbek Classical Literature and Its Poetics. Tashkent: University Press; 2001.
- Khalid A. The Politics of Muslim Cultural Reform. Berkeley: University of California Press; 1998.
- Lapidus IM. A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2014.
- Lewis FD. Rumi: Past and Present, East and West. Oxford: Oneworld Publications; 2000.
- Meisami JS. Persian Historiography to the End of the Twelfth Century. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press; 1999.
- Metcalf BD. Moral authority and violence in Islamic literature. Journal of Islamic Studies. 2003;14(3):257–276.
- Navoi A. Khamsa. Tashkent: Fan Publishing House; 1983.
- Navoi A. Mahbub ul-qulub. Tashkent: Gafur Gulyam Publishing House; 1984.
- Rasulov A. Problems of Artistic Thinking in Uzbek Classical Poetry. Tashkent: Fan; 1998.
- Reichmuth S. Literary representations of conflict in premodern Muslim societies. Der Islam. 2012;89(1):120–142.
- Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Spirituality and ethics in classical Islamic literature. Islamic Quarterly. 1995;39(1):5–21.
- Subtelny M. Timurids in Transition: Turko-Persian Politics and Acculturation. Leiden: Brill; 2007.