THE FORMATION AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF UZBEK LITERARY SCHOLARSHIP: FROM MYTHOPOETIC THOUGHT TO CONTEMPORARY LITERARY STUDIES

Abstract

This article examines the formation and historical development of Uzbek literary scholarship from early mythopoetic reflection to contemporary academic literary studies. Building on Uzbek scholarship and situating it within wider Arabic, Persian, Turkic, Russian, and European traditions, the study argues that Uzbek literary thought developed through continuity rather than abrupt disciplinary rupture. A historical-comparative and source-critical method is used to distinguish changing objects of analysis, conceptual vocabularies, institutions, and evaluative criteria across major periods. The analysis identifies four broad stages: mythopoetic thought; classical poetics and the formation of Turkic literary scholarship; twentieth-century transformation, including Jadid and Soviet-era reconfiguration; and the independence period. Particular attention is given to the classical system of aruz, qafiya, and badi'; the contribution of scholars and writers such as al-Farabi, Mahmud Kashgari, Alisher Navoi, and Babur; and the twentieth-century expansion from normative poetics toward literary history, criticism, textual scholarship, and theoretically differentiated approaches. The article further shows that modern Uzbek literary scholarship is best understood as a layered field in which Eastern poetics and Western theoretical models coexist, interact, and are repeatedly reinterpreted. This framework clarifies periodization and strengthens comparative understanding of Uzbek literary studies. It also proposes clearer criteria for future historiographic and comparative research.