National Values as an Object of Colonial and Postcolonial Criticism in Literature: A Case Study of Mashhur Jusup

Authors

  • Bayangali Galymzhanov

    Department of Philology, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
  • Aliya Zhetkizgenova

    Department of Kazakh Philology, Faculty of Tourism and Languages, Sh. Yessenov Caspian University of Technologies and Engineering, Aktau 130000 , Kazakhstan
  • Marzhan Zhylkybayeva

    Department of Kazakh Philology, Faculty of Tourism and Languages, Sh. Yessenov Caspian University of Technologies and Engineering, Aktau 130000 , Kazakhstan
  • Aru Korganbayeva

    Department of Kazakh Philology, Faculty of Tourism and Languages, Sh. Yessenov Caspian University of Technologies and Engineering, Aktau 130000 , Kazakhstan
  • Zhomazhan Bektassova

    Department of Philology, KazNU Art, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i10.11564
Received: 9 August 2025 | Revised: 1 September 2025 | Accepted: 16 September 2025 | Published Online: 14 October 2025

Abstract

Kazakh literature has undergone significant transformations under colonial and postcolonial influences, with authors negotiating the tensions between oral heritage and written literary forms. This study investigates how Mashhur Jusup Kopeev integrates oral traditions—such as genealogies, proverbs, heroic tales, and oral verse—into his written works, and how these strategies articulate national values, cultural identity, and subaltern voices. The research employs a discourse oriented and literary-linguistic analysis of selected poems, short stories, and narrative fragments, drawing on concepts from postcolonial theory, hybridity, and textual semiotics, with comparative insights from global authors like Tagore and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. Findings indicate that Kopeev's textualization of oral forms creates a hybrid literary style that foregrounds spiritual poetics, narrative memory, and cultural resilience, simultaneously negotiating local traditions and broader literary frameworks. His works demonstrate the strategic preservation and recontextualization of Kazakh oral knowledge, reflecting both cultural reverence and innovative literary transformation. The discussion emphasizes how Kopeev's poetics functions as a medium of resistance, identity formation, and postcolonial articulation, situating Kazakh literature within global discourses of hybridity and memory. The study concludes that Kopeev's approach offers a model for integrating oral and written modalities while reinforcing national and cultural continuity. Limitations include the selective textual focus, suggesting the need for further research encompassing a broader corpus and reception studies to fully capture the range of his literary strategies.

Keywords:

Mashhur Jusup Kopeev; Kazakh Literature; Oral Tradition; Cultural Identity; Postcolonial Hybridity; Literary Memory

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How to Cite

Galymzhanov, B., Zhetkizgenova , A., Zhylkybayeva, M., Korganbayeva, A., & Bektassova , Z. (2025). National Values as an Object of Colonial and Postcolonial Criticism in Literature: A Case Study of Mashhur Jusup. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(10), 1083–1099. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i10.11564

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 10 (October 2025)

Article Type

Review

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Copyright © 2025 Bayangali Galymzhanov, Aliya Zhetkizgenova , Marzhan Zhylkybayeva, Aru Korganbayeva, Zhomazhan Bektassova

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.