The greatest of the great
Alisher Navoi (1441-1501) greatly influenced classical literature, and is certainly Uzbekistan's greatest poet. Poet and philosopher, literary patron and statesman (he became vizier and emir), he established Chagatai as the country's literary language, replacing Persian and emphasizing its richness, precision and the malleability of Turkish vocabulary. His stories include Leïli et Medjnoun (1484) and the collection of Uzbek Gazhels. He wrote 30 works in 30 years! His name is frequently found on street names, schools and universities. Rediscovered in the 1930s, this author was born in Herat (now Afghanistan), ruled by the Timurid Empire, into a family of literate Turks. Strictly speaking, he was not of Uzbek birth. Be that as it may, Alisher Navoi became the symbol of this culture. After all, that's what counts!
The chroniclers of the court of the Khans of Khiva
It would be impossible to discuss Uzbek literature without mentioning the men of letters who were official court chroniclers. One example is Mounis Khorezmi, court poet to the Khans of Khiva. He wrote the poetry collection(dîwân) Mounis oul-Ouchchok and the historical chronicle Firdaous oul-iqbal; or hisnephew, Mohammed Rea Agakhi (1809-1974), who wrote The Gardens of Prosperity (Riyaz oud-davla), which recounts the reign of Alla Kouli Khan from 1825 to 1842; Annales abrégées (Zoubdat out-tavarih) for the period 1843 to 1846; Recueil des faits des sultans (Djami oul-vakiati sultani), which recounts the history of Khorezm from 1846 to 1855; Le Parterre du bonheur (Goulchani davlat) for the period 1855 to 1865, and Le Témoin du bonheur (Châhid oul-iqbal) for the period 1865 to 1872. The poet is also eloquent about human feelings in his poetic work Le Talisman des amoureux.
Vika Osadtchenko
Born in 1980, Vika Osadtchenko is one of the new Uzbek writers who are asserting their Russian-speaking status. Having studied journalism, Vika Osadtchenko soon began participating in poetry festivals. Since 2006, she has been a member of the Writers' Union of Uzbekistan, and since 2017, a member of a writers' collective. Having joined the Litera theater project, an experimental project bringing together poets, authors and actors, she has written collections of poetry as well as prose. One of her favorite themes is the relationship between humans and animals. Read her short story La Domestication.
To find out more, read the interview on this link: https://editions-jentayu.fr/numero-8/vika-osadtchenko-la-domestication/
