THE IMAGE OF THE CHILD AS A UNIVERSAL IMAGE IN FICTION
Abstract
This article analyzes the formation of the image of a child in fiction, its historical and aesthetic development, and its place as a universal image. The image of a child as a symbol of purity, goodness, and innocence is highlighted on the example of sacred sources, folk oral literature, and epics and epics. Also, the relatively limited interpretation of the image of a child in medieval literature and the change in its position in literature under the influence of humanistic views starting from the 17th century are considered on a scientific basis. The article reveals the functional tasks of the image of a child in the novel genre, in particular, its importance as a narrator and mediator image. On the example of Abdulla Qodiriy's novels “Bygone Days” and “Scorpion from the Altar”, interpretations of the image of a child based on episodic and biographical methods are analyzed, and its role in strengthening artistic psychologism is substantiated