Lessons 2–3 · 2 lessons · S. Ahmedov, R. Qo‘chqorov, Sh. Rizayev. Adabiyot (Literature), Grade 6, Parts 1–2. Ma’naviyat Publishing House, 2017 (4th edition)
2
G‘afur G‘ulom: life and work
Textbook: Part 1, pp. 11–15
GoalTell the story of G‘afur G‘ulom’s life, the hardships of his time and his main works.
New words
biography · tarjimayi holorphan · yetimforced labour (men taken for hard work behind the front) · mardikorliknovella; medium-length story · qissa
Explanation
G‘afur G‘ulom was a well-known Uzbek writer born in Tashkent in 1903 who died in 1966. He lost his father at nine and his mother before he was fifteen and was left an orphan with his younger brothers and sisters. His childhood fell in the years of the First World War (1914–1918): prices soared, famine spread, towns and villages filled with hungry people, and the tsarist colonisers took men away for forced labour. These hardships stayed in the writer’s memory and later came alive in the famous novella “Shum bola”. The first and second parts of the novella were written in 1936, the third part was finished at the end of the 1940s, and in the 1960s the author reworked it, so he laboured on it for almost twenty-five years. The writer’s student Said Ahmad described his teacher’s writing habits in an entertaining way in his memoir. In Grade 5 you met his story “Mening o‘g‘rigina bolam”.
Worked examples
Timeline: 1903 — born; around 1912 — lost his father; 1914–1918 — years of the First World War; 1936 — first parts of “Shum bola” ready; 1966 — death.
Example: a qissa is bigger than a story and smaller than a novel. “Shum bola” is a qissa, while “Mening o‘g‘rigina bolam” is a story (hikoya).
Class activity
“Childhood map”: the class splits in two. One group lists the hardships of G‘afur G‘ulom’s childhood, the other the comforts of childhood today; then the two lists are compared.
Practice
1
When and where was G‘afur G‘ulom born?
In 1903 in the city of Tashkent.
2
Which historical period did his childhood fall in?
The years of the First World War (1914–1918).
3
About how many years did writing “Shum bola” take and why do you think it took so long?
About twenty-five years: the author wrote it in three stages, edited it again and again, and added new chapters and details.
4
What link is there between the writer’s own childhood and his novella?
Both contain orphanhood, poverty and the hardships of wartime; the writer created the work from what he lived through, enriched with artistic invention.