THE ARRISTIC FUNCTION OF FOLKLORE ELEMENTS IN THE STORIES OF TOGAY MURAD

Abstract

This article provides a systematic examination of the artistic functions of folkloric elements in Togay Murod’s novellas. The study aims to identify how motifs, archetypal images, ritual beliefs, proverbs, and legend-based narrative material rooted in oral tradition operate semantically and poetically within the author’s prose. Methodologically, the research combines hermeneutic close reading, intertextual analysis, motif typology, and narratological tools; the data set is represented by a corpus of the writer’s novellas. The scholarly novelty lies in demonstrating that folkloric elements in these texts are not merely decorative or ethnographic details. Instead, they function as core poetic mechanisms that shape character psychology, naturalize narrative conflict, regulate rhythm and intonation, and encode a normative ethical horizon. The findings contribute to a more precise understanding of how modern Uzbek prose integrates oral cultural memory into literary form.