ANTHROPOMORPHISM IN THE WORKS OF KHUDOYBERDI TUKHTABAEV AND LEWIS CARROLL: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TALKING CHARACTERS

Abstract

This paper offers a comparative study of anthropomorphism - the attribution of human speech and consciousness to inanimate objects and animals - in the writing of Khudoyberdi Tukhtabaev and Lewis Carroll. In Tukhtabaev, the talking magic cap serves as a magical helper whose very presence holds the plot together; in Carroll, by contrast, the talking creatures unsettle both the fictional world and the heroine’s sense of who she is. On this basis, two distinct functions of anthropomorphism are identified: an instrumental (stabilising) one and a subversive (destabilising) one.