STATUS OF AN UZBEK LANGUAGE. NATIONAL LITERATURE OF UZBEKISTAN AND ITS REPRESENTATIVES
Keywords:
Uzbek language, Uzbek literature, Alisher Navoi, Abdulla Qodiriy, language policy; state language; constitution of Uzbekistan; Ethnologue; modern Uzbek poetry; 20th-century Uzbek prose; national identity; literary canon; literary modernization; bilingualism; language planning; orthography; language vitality; contemporary Uzbek writers; translation movement.Abstract
This paper examines the current status of the Uzbek language and the development of national literature in the territory of modern Uzbekistan. It traces Uzbek’s historical roots (from Chagatai to modern Northern Uzbek), outlines the language’s official and sociolinguistic status since independence, summarizes the script reforms and present orthographic situation, and surveys major stages and representatives of Uzbek literature from Alisher Navoi (Chagatai tradition) to 20th–21st century authors (Abdulla Qodiriy, Choʻlpon, Hamid Olimjon, Erkin Vohidov, Abdulla Oripov, and others). The article combines findings from legal documents, linguistic surveys, academic studies and literary histories to offer an integrated view of language policy, literary continuity, and contemporary challenges (script transition, digraphia, media and education). Key problems and prospects for Uzbek as a national language are discussed and substantiated with referenced sources.
