The «hero’s journey» concept and the transformation of the heroine in the novel «Poor Zhamal» by Myrzhakyp Dulatov

Abstract

This article analyzes the transformation of the heroine in Mirzhakyp Dulatov’s novel «Poor Jamal.» The work explores the stages of the heroine’s journey, from a peaceful existence in her father’s home to a protest against the existing norms of traditional society. The theoretical framework for this study is based on the concept of the «hero’s journey», developed by J. Campbell, M. Murdoch, S. Allison, G.R. Goethals, and others. Thus, the protagonist’s story is viewed as a monomyth, serving as a universal structural model for narrative, in which the hero, leaving the familiar world, undergoes trials, changes, and returns renewed. Sometimes a happy return does not occur, but the hero’s example inspires others and can contribute to social change, altering accepted norms. The concept of the «hero’s journey» allows us to trace the path, stages, causes, and con ditions of the heroine’s transformation and detail the external and internal changes that occur with her. The authors substantiate the applicability of this Western concept to the Kazakh material selected for analysis by citing Kazakh oral literature’s distinctive narrative tradition of the hero’s journey, reflected in heroic epics (zhyr) and lyric-epic poems (dastan). Importantly, Kazakh literature has created images of female heroines possessing spiritual strength and ready to independently determine their own destinies. These include the heroines of the lyric-epic poems «Kozy Korpesh-Bayan Sulu,» «Aiman, Sholpan,» «Bozzhіgіt,» «Qyz Zhibek,» the heroic epic «Er Targyn,» and others. These examples demonstrate that the Kazakh narrative tradition has developed its own models of female heroism. The purpose of this study is to identify the stages of transformation of the heroine of the novel «Poor Zhamal.» The work is updated using new approaches to interpreting M. Dulatov’s novel, and the scientific novelty of the study lies in its reinterpretation of the novel’s protagonist through the prism of universal structures (monomyth). The authors hypothesize that the protagonist’s journey is not simply a series of life’s failures, but a full-fledged spiritual initiation. The study results illustrate that the «hero’s journey,» including the character’s rebirth and acquisition of new experiences, does notalways end in a triumphant return, but nevertheless influences the transformation of society.