THE ISSUE OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE NOVELS OF ABDULLA QODIRIY

Abstract

This scholarly article analyzes the issue of national identity in the novels of Abdulla Qodiriy, who is recognized as the founder of Uzbek novelism, within aesthetic, socio-philosophical, and historical contexts. Using his novels O‘tkan kunlar and Mehrobdan chayon as primary examples, the study examines national self-consciousness, historical memory, traditions, language, spirituality, state–society relations, and the problem of national character. Historical-analytical, comparative-typological, textual, and discursive analysis methods were applied. The findings demonstrate that in Qodiriy’s novels, the concept of national identity is not merely presented as ethnographic description or historical background, but as a central category of national consciousness, social reform, and the transition toward modernity. The writer portrays national identity not through historical romanticism or idealization, but through critical realism, revealing internal social contradictions.