Character System and Poetics in Uzbek and Turkish Folk Fairy Tales: a Comperative Analysis

Fairy tales are a key history genre that both demonstrates how folklore serves as a vehicle for cultural values, social norms and moral lessons. They are an important vehicle for reflecting the collective imagination of a community. Drawing on conceptual frameworks developed by Vladimir Propp, E.M. Meletinsky, and other leading folklorists, this study analyses the character systems and poetic features of Uzbek and Turkish folk fairy tales. The study examines the character in such stories in terms of how they are used symbolically and narratively. Though motifs and archetypes in single traditions have been the focus of previous research, studies that comparatively link Uzbek and Turkish folk tales with a single Turkic focus are scarce. The goal of the paper is to find the types of characters, their functions in the narrative structure and poetic characteristics of these stories. It also aims to identify commonalties and differences in the culture exhibited between fairy tales of the two traditions. The study found that while the traditions have common archetypes of heroes, villains, and helpers, significant differences emerge shaped by cultural, historical, and religious influence. Gender roles and symbols like mountains and rivers feature deeper cultural significances. This aspect of the comparative study helps to gain knowledge on the universal features of fairytales within the cultural context. The actualities reflects on the persistent importance of folk fairy tales as instruments in developing cultural identity and provide meaningful indirect evidence of the ways myth is integrated with modern cultural narratives.