Literary theory is the "toolbox" for analysing a literary work: kinds and genres, verse structure, poetic devices, composition. Exam questions include "Which genre does the passage belong to?", "Which device is used in these lines?", "Which couplet of the ghazal is the matla’?". Memorising a term is not enough — you must recognise it in a text.
§1. Literary kinds and genres
Literature is divided into three kinds (tur), each with its own genres (janr).
Epic (epik tur) — events are narrated by an author or narrator. Genres: novel (roman) — wide scope, many characters, a long period («O‘tkan kunlar»); novella (qissa) — medium length, several events («Shum bola»); short story (hikoya) — short, one event, few characters («O‘g‘ri»); also folk tale, fable, novelette, sketch.
Lyric (lirik tur) — the poet’s feelings and inner world: ghazal, rubai, tuyuq, mukhammas, qit’a, fard, free verse.
Dramatic (dramatik tur) — written for the stage; action is conveyed through dialogue and monologue: tragedy (tragediya, tragic ending — «Mirzo Ulug‘bek»), comedy (komediya, criticism through laughter — «Kelinlar qo‘zg‘oloni»), drama (a life conflict).
Lyric-epic works combine story and emotion: doston (epic poem), ballad, narrative poem.
A kind is the broadest group (epic, lyric, dramatic); a genre is a specific form within a kind (novel, ghazal, tragedy).
§2. Verse structure: metre, rhyme, radif
Barmoq (barmoq vazni) — syllabic metre: lines have the same number of syllables, grouped into segments (turoq). Typical of Turkic folklore; it spread widely in written poetry in the 20th century.
7 syllables (4+3), 8 syllables (4+4 or 5+3), 11 syllables (4+4+3 or 6+5).
Aruz (aruz vazni) — quantitative metre based on a regular pattern of long and short syllables (hijo). It came from Arabic into Persian and Turkic poetry. An open syllable with a short vowel is short, a closed syllable is long.
Main metres (bahr) and feet (rukn): hazaj (mafoiylun), ramal (foilotun), rajaz (mustaf’ilun), mutaqorib (fa’ulun).
Treatises on aruz: Navoi’s «Mezon ul-avzon», Babur’s «Aruz risolasi».
Sarbast (free verse) — no strict metre or rhyme; rhythm rests on intonation.
Rhyme (qofiya) — similar-sounding words at the end of lines. Radif — a word or words repeated exactly after the rhyme.
Worked example
Boychechagim boylandi, / Qozon to‘la ayrondi. — identify the metre.
Equal syllable count, divided into segments; length is ignored.
Answer: barmoq, 7 syllables (4+3).
§3. Classical verse forms
Ghazal (g‘azal) — made of couplets (bayt), usually more than five; rhyme scheme a-a, b-a, d-a .... The first couplet is the matla’ (both lines rhyme), the last is the maqta’ (contains the poet’s pen name, taxallus). The finest couplet is the bayt ul-g‘azal (shohbayt). The main theme is love and the lover’s feelings.
Rubai (ruboiy) — 4 lines rhyming a-a-b-a (sometimes a-a-a-a), in special variants of the hazaj metre; a philosophical conclusion about life.
Tuyuq — 4 lines, a-a-b-a, rhyming on homonyms (tajnis); found only in Turkic poetry (Lutfiy, Navoi, Babur).
Qit’a — no matla’; only even lines rhyme (a-b, d-b); often didactic.
Fard — a single couplet with a complete thought.
Masnaviy — the lines of each couplet rhyme with each other: a-a, b-b, d-d; epic poems are written in it («Xamsa»).
Musammat forms — by lines per stanza: murabba’ (4), mukhammas (5), musaddas (6), musamman (8). — turning another poet’s ghazal into a mukhammas by adding three lines to each couplet.
Worked example
Kecha kelgumdur debon ul sarvi gulro‘ kelmadi, / Ko‘zlarimg‘a kecha tong otquncha uyqu kelmadi. (Navoi; "She promised to come last night, that cypress-tall, rose-faced one did not come; / Sleep did not come to my eyes all night until dawn.") — identify the couplet’s place and elements.
Both lines end in the same kelmadi — this is the radif.
The rhyming words before it, gulro‘ — uyqu, are the rhyme.
Both lines rhyme → it is the matla’, the first couplet of the ghazal.
sarvi gulro‘ — the beloved is named not directly but through images: istiora (metaphor).
§4. Poetic devices
Tashbeh — simile: qoshi yoydek (brows like a bow).
Istiora — metaphor, a hidden comparison with the compared object omitted: sarv (cypress) — the beloved’s figure.
Tashxis — personification: gul kuldi (the flower laughed).
Intoq — making an object or animal speak.
Mubolag‘a — hyperbole: ko‘z yoshim daryo bo‘ldi (my tears became a river).
Tazod — antithesis: kecha — kunduz, shod — g‘amgin.
Talmeh — allusion to a famous event, person or work: Farhod, Majnun, Yusuf.
Tajnis — rhyme on homonyms (in the tuyuq).
Iyhom — deliberate double meaning.
Tanosub — grouping words related in meaning: gul, bulbul, bog‘ (rose, nightingale, garden).
Husni ta’lil — giving a beautiful imaginary cause for a phenomenon.
Ruju’ — the poet "corrects" what was said to strengthen it.
§5. Structure of a work
Plot — the system of events: exposition → complication (tugun) → rising action → climax → resolution (yechim). Sometimes a prologue and epilogue.
Composition — the arrangement of the parts.
Conflict — a clash of characters or ideas; inner conflict — a struggle within a character.
Image/character (obraz); prototype — the real person behind a character; symbol (timsol).
Theme — what the work is about; idea (g‘oya) — what the author wants to say.
§6. How to analyse a poem
In class and in the exam a poem is analysed in the same order every time. With a fixed order, no element gets overlooked.
Form: the number of lines and couplets (bayts), the rhyme scheme (a-a-b-a, a-a, b-a ...), and whether there is a radif. The genre is identified from these features.
Metre: if every line has the same number of syllables, it is barmoq; if long and short syllables recur in a regular pattern, it is aruz; if there is no strict measure, it is sarbast (free verse).
Theme and idea: what the poem is about (love, homeland, exile, nature) and what conclusion the poet reaches.
Lyric hero — the "I" whose feelings the poem expresses. It is not always identical to the poet: a poet may also write in someone else’s voice.
Poetic devices: back up each device with a word from the text (sarv — istiora, kecha — kunduz — tazod).
Conclusion: how form, language and devices help reveal the idea.
Identify the genre by its features, not by a definition: number of lines + rhyme scheme + the kind of rhyming words.
The third feature is decisive when telling a ruboiy from a tuyuq: both have 4 lines rhymed a-a-b-a, but a tuyuq rhymes homonyms (tajnis), while a ruboiy rhymes ordinary similar-sounding words.
Worked example
Analyse this ruboiy by Babur: Yod etmas emish kishini g‘urbatda kishi, / Shod etmas emish ko‘ngulni mehnatda kishi, / Ko‘nglum bu g‘aribliqda shod o‘lmadi hech, / G‘urbatda sevunmas emish, albatta, kishi.
Form: 4 lines; lines 1, 2 and 4 rhyme, line 3 (hech) is free → scheme a-a-b-a.
The word kishi (a person) repeated at the end of the lines is the radif; the similar-sounding words before it, g‘urbatda — mehnatda — albatta, are the rhyme.
The rhyming words are not homonyms, just similar in sound → so it is not a tuyuq.
The theme is the pain of exile (living far from home); the idea is that in a foreign land a person cannot be truly happy.
Style: the repeated etmas emish strengthens the thought; the conclusion comes in the last line, which is typical of a ruboiy.
Answer: it is a ruboiy, scheme a-a-b-a, radif kishi, theme exile.
Check yourself
What is the last couplet of a ghazal, containing the pen name, called?
A four-line poem rhyming on homonyms?
The form rhymed a-a, b-b, d-d used for epic poems?
Tong otdi, quyosh bizga jilmaydi (Dawn broke, the sun smiled at us) — which device?
What is the most intense point of the plot called?
What is the main difference between barmoq and aruz?
What is the finest couplet of a ghazal called?
Which device places opposite ideas side by side, such as kecha — kunduz, shod — g‘amgin?
Common mistakes
Confusing tuyuq and rubai: the tuyuq rhymes on homonyms.
Identifying barmoq by syllable length (that is aruz).
Confusing radif and rhyme: the radif is repeated exactly; the rhyme is the similar-sounding word before it.
Confusing tashbeh and istiora: in istiora the compared object is not named.
Calling a genre a kind: the novel is a genre of the epic kind, not a kind.
Always equating the lyric hero with the poet: a poet may speak in another person’s voice.
Identifying the genre by line count alone: a 4-line poem may be a ruboiy, a tuyuq or a stanza of a murabba’.