O‘tkir Hoshimov

O‘tkir Hoshimov (1941-2013) was a People's Writer of Uzbekistan and a public figure. For nearly forty years, he contributed worthily to the development of our literature with his wonderful journalistic articles, short stories, novellas, and novels. In 1991, O‘tkir Hoshimov was awarded the honorary title of «People's Writer of Uzbekistan» for his productive creative work.

Biography

Possessing unique talent, O‘tkir Hoshimov entered literature alongside a number of his peers such as Abdulla Oripov, Omon Mukhtorov, and Shukur Kholmirzaev. At that time, great writers of our literature such as Oybek, G‘afur G‘ulom, Abdulla Qahhor, and Maqsud Shayhzoda were alive, and catching their attention was not something everyone could achieve. O‘tkir Hoshimov was one of the young people who attracted the attention of a famous artist like Abdulla Qahhor.

O‘tkir Hoshimov was born on August 5, 1941, in the Do‘mbirobod area of the Zangiota district of the Tashkent region. His childhood passed during the difficulties and hardships of the war.

After finishing secondary school in 1958, he studied at the journalism department of Tashkent State University, first in the correspondence department and then in the full-time department, graduating in 1964. He worked as an editor for «Temir Yo‘lchi» in 1959-1960, for the current «O‘zbekiston Ovozi» in 1960, for «Toshkent Haqiqati» and «Toshkent Oqshomi» from 1960 to 1982, for the G‘afur G‘ulom Literature and Art Publishing House from 1982 to 1983, as editor-in-chief of the magazine «Sharq Yulduzi» from 1985 to 1995, and as Chairman of the Press and Information Committee of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 1995 to 2004. Later, he served as an editor at the «Teatr» magazine.

Career

O‘tkir Hoshimov began his career by writing poems and essays. In 1962, his collection of essays «Po‘lat Chavandozlar» was published. After that, his short stories, novellas, and novels reached the hands of readers one after another. His first novella, «Cho‘l Havosi» (1964), was warmly received by the literary community. The renowned writer Abdulla Qahhor expressed very good opinions about this novella at that time.

In the encouragement he wrote for this novella by O‘tkir Hoshimov, he predicted, «The future of a creative work that suddenly begins with such a blaze will be bright.» From that work began the writer's period of exploration and practice. Even in his earliest steps in creative work, the writer appeared as an explorer of human spirituality, mentality, emotion, and the truth of the heart.

In his novels, novellas, and short stories, there was the eternal main problem of the art of words - the artistic analysis of human fate and the heart. Along with the interpretation of relevant social problems, the author often artistically expressed extremely subtle processes in the psychology of his characters. Stories and novellas such as «Cho‘l Havosi», «Muhabbat», «Nigora», and «Shamol Esaveradi» are evidence of this.

Later, showing more of a tendency toward the interpretation of current social problems, he worked on works dedicated directly to the analysis of spirituality and psychology at the same time. The novellas «Qalbingga Quloq Sol» (1973), and especially «Bahor Qaytmaydi» (1970) and «Dunyoning Ishlari» (1982), brought him great fame.

In the novella «Bahor Qaytmaydi» (1970), the writer artistically analyzed the history of the decline and the spiritual and moral crisis of a talented yet selfish young man who did not appreciate his value and was deprived of noble goals. From this, we see that the writer had entered his true creative path.

O‘tkir Hoshimov grew from work to work. He has an extremely strong sense of aesthetics. Even in the depiction of the spiritual crisis, tragedy, and ruin of a deceived person, he maintains this sense. He feels exceptionally free, especially in the analysis of the hearts of good, noble, and spiritually perfect people. Most of his positive characters are as innocent as children, rich in the sense of aesthetics, emotional, and highly sensitive people.

The lyro-romantic tune characteristic of the writer's work rang at its highest pitch in his novella «Dunyoning Ishlari». This work is a unique ode about a mother, about the infinite generosity of a mother's heart. The Mother in the work is ready to give her life and her world for her child, for his peace, and for his happiness. She became a symbol of thousands of Uzbek mothers. Every Uzbek reader seems to find some virtue of their own mother in her.

In novellas such as «Alla» and «Oq Marmar, Qora Marmar» in the book, the longings left by a mother in the heart of her child are written poignantly. As one reads these, one's heart feels a certain way due to the imagery.

O‘tkir Hoshimov's collection «Oq Kamalak» also discusses life problems, or rather, the anxieties of daily life.

The writer's first novel, «Nur Bori, Soya Bor», was published in 1977. The release of the novel immediately caused various opinions and discussions. Many important life-related problems were raised in the work. These are illuminated against the background of the struggle and conflict between «light» and «shadow», which has been the philosophy of human society since time immemorial.

At the time, the work was received warmly by literary criticism, and it was evaluated appropriately, though it was noted that the novel lacked sharp conflicts and collisions. Besides this, O‘tkir Hoshimov is the author of plays such as «To‘ylar Muborak», «Sizdan Ugina, Bizdan Bugina», «Inson Sadoqati», and «Qatag‘on», which have been staged in a number of theaters in Central Asian republics.

O‘tkir Hoshimov translated the works of writers such as E. Hemingway, K. Simonov, A. Kuprin, and O. Berggolts into Uzbek. His works have been translated into the languages of fraternal nations and foreign languages.

The artist is one of the writers who made a significant contribution to the development of 80s Uzbek journalism. His essays and television programs, which boldly covered morality, the spiritual world, national values, and the injustices of the Soviet era, are the perfect fruits of this period.

The author is no longer interested in daily current social issues, but more in eternal spiritual problems, human fate, and the puzzles of the heart. This became especially clear in the novel «Ikki Eshik Orasi». With this, the maturity stage of the writer's creative path began.

The writer's novel «Ikki Eshik Orasi» was also warmly received by readers. The novel was recognized as one of the best works of 1986 and was awarded the State Prize of the Republic named after Hamza. In the novel «Ikki Eshik Orasi», the important problems of the time were addressed, and reactions were expressed regarding the events and happenings of those years. The main characters of the novel are people who shouldered the burdens of the Second World War and emerged from it victoriously and valiantly. In general, the dedication of the people of the entire society during the war period found its artistic expression in the novel. One of the novel's characters, Muzaffar, is presented as a symbol of the youth who went through certain difficulties during the war and achieved a prosperous life by the 70s. The author sought to load a serious philosophical meaning into almost the entire content, starting from the title of the novel.

In particular, by «between two doors», he means human life, that is, the path covered from birth until death. According to the author's ideological philosophy, this path is very complex and contradictory, and it requires great fortitude, willpower, knowledge, and courage from a person to walk it successfully. Most of the characters in the work, in particular, Oqsoqol, Qora Amma, Robiya, Shomurod, and Kimsan, are such courageous and spiritually rich people, and in many respects, they served to express the author's ideological goal impressively. According to the author's philosophy, the reason why great fortitude and courage are required from a person to walk his life with honor is that he is forced to pass through a whirlpool of difficult struggles and insurmountable obstacles during his life. In the work, figures such as Umar Zakonchi, Ra’no, and Zuhra were created as symbols of such obstacles and vices in human life, and they allowed for an increase in the sharpness and tension of the struggles, conflicts, and spiritual disputes in the novel.

The desire to fire relentlessly against the vices in life led O‘tkir Hoshimov to gradually turn to satire after the novel «Ikki Eshik Orasi». As a result, his novella «Ikki Karra Ikki - Besh» appeared. Satire would occasionally appear in the writer's previous works. The novella «Ikki Karra Ikki - Besh», however, differs from them in that it is written in a satirical style throughout. By directing the blade of satire toward high-ranking people in life, big leaders, in particular, chairmen, and by striving to expose their spiritual baseness openly, the writer managed to make many pages of the novella impressive and interesting. Only because of the lack of the art of argumentation and especially because the chairman's son entering into a sharp struggle against his own father was not well-founded, the novella did not rise to the level of a significant phenomenon in 80s Uzbek satire.

In his last two works mentioned above, it is clearly and distinctly felt that O‘tkir Hoshimov's skill in deeply analyzing the spiritual world and psychology of humans has increased significantly. In this, alongside various means, the writer effectively used the outpourings of the characters' hearts and internal monologues. The writer used the method started in the above works even more masterfully in the novel «Tushda Kechgan Umrlar» for using internal monologues. In the novel «Tushda Kechgan Umrlar», the scope of events is very broad: scenes of the ominous «repression» of the 30s, scenes of the Afghanistan War in the 80s, and the «Uzbek affair» scandals that occurred in those years. In connecting these three major, very large-scale events with each other and in finding the «connection point» between them, the author effectively uses the internal monologue.

The writer is now slowly relieving himself of the task that journalism should perform in creating an artistic work. He is giving the analysis of daily current issues to journalism and is concentrating his attention diligently on his eternal work - the investigation of the puzzles of the human heart.

The interpretation of the spiritual world of characters such as Rustam and Shahnoza in the novel allows for such a conclusion. It only seems that the imperfection of the novel's composition prevented it from rising to the level of a very great phenomenon in literature. The dispersion in the composition is clearly felt, especially in the fact that the events and details related to the life and activities of people sent from Russia are not organically linked to the main plot lines.

Nevertheless, the writer's last works testify that O‘tkir Hoshimov has risen to the level of one of the prolific creators in current Uzbek prose.

O‘. Hoshimov was awarded the honorary title of «People's Writer of Uzbekistan» in 1991 for his productive creative work. He was also awarded the «Buyuk Hizmatlari Uchun» (For Great Services) order.

Uzbek literature and art suffered a heavy loss. The renowned writer, People's Writer of Uzbekistan, O‘tkir Hoshimov, passed away on May 24, 2013, at the age of 72.