The Concept of the Artistic Image in the Ghazal: Classical Poetics and Artistic Thought

Abstract

The article examines the theoretical nature of the artistic image (obraz) in the classical Uzbek ghazal, the genre's image-generating capacity and its principal types of imagery. It traces the concept of the image from ancient aesthetics (mimesis) to Eastern Sufi gnosis and clarifies its relation to the classical categories of surat (form), timsol (emblem), ramz (symbol) and manzara (scene). The analysis centres on the ghazals of Alisher Navoiy — "Kimki bir ko'ngli buzug'ning xotirin shod aylag'ay..." ("Whoever brings joy to a broken heart..."), "Ey sabo, holim borib sarvi xiromonimg'a ayt..." ("O morning breeze, go and tell my swaying cypress..."), "Ne navo soz aylagay bulbul gulistondin judo..." ("How can the nightingale sing, parted from the rose garden...") and "Ko'nglum ichra dard-u g'am avvalg'ilarg'a o'xshamas..." ("The pain and grief within my heart are unlike the former ones...") — in order to map the typology of the lover, the beloved, the rival, nature, Sufi, and object-detail images. Examples from Muhammad Rizo Ogahiy and Zahiriddin Muhammad Bobur strengthen the comparative dimension. The aesthetic, cognitive, communicative and educational functions of the image are identified, and practical recommendations for the analysis of the ghazal in literature classes are offered. The study concludes that the image is not an ornament added to the content of the ghazal but the aesthetic device that produces that content, while the radif and rhyme act as constructive forces that bind the system of images to a single semantic axis.