“Mirzo Ulug‘bek” (II) and tragedy

“Tragediya” comes from the Greek words “tragos” (goat) and “ode” (song) and means “goat song”. The name is linked to the festivals of Dionysus in ancient Greece, where entertainers dressed in goatskins performed. In time the term became the name for stage works with a sorrowful ending. Tragedy differs from other dramatic genres (comedy, drama, monodrama, intermedia) in that it is built on a strong, uncompromising conflict between heroes, the heroes’ fate ends in disaster, and the inner collision (opposition, clash) and conflict are extremely sharp. In it people’s fate is shown against a background of fierce political events and a struggle of different views. Although “Mirzo Ulug‘bek” ends with the hero’s death, the work awakens hope: Ali Qushchi trusts that the road the teacher opened will not be left without travellers. In Europe the tragedy developed in the Renaissance and afterwards: Lope de Vega, Calderon, Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller and Pushkin wrote in this field; “Othello”, “Hamlet”, “Romeo and Juliet” and “Boris Godunov” are still staged. Fine examples of the tragedy in Uzbek literature are Behbudiy’s “Padarkush” (1911), Fitrat’s “Abulfayzxon”, Shayxzoda’s “Jaloliddin Manguberdi” (1944) and “Mirzo Ulug‘bek” (1961).