Forms of comedy in the works of Z. Zokaev and M. Attoev

R.A. Kerimova

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Abstract: The article for the first time explores the category of comedy and the features of the poetics in the short prose works of Z. Zokaev and M. Attoev. The relevance of the study is due to the insufficient coverage of the specific features of the comedy genre in Balkarian literary criticism. The focus is on identifying the originality of the ideological content (hypocrisy, greed, bribery, and reverence for rank) and the artistic features of the works.
Aim. This study aims to analyze the use of “words of humor” in the works of Z. Zokaev and M. Attoev. In this regard, the research provides an objective representation of the creative output of these authors and contributes to a more complete understanding of the development of the comedy genre in Karachay-Balkar literature.
Materials and methods. The study focuses on stories, comedies, interludes, and jokes by Z. Zokayev and M. Attoyev. Typological, structural-semantic, and comparative-historical methods are used.
Results. The specific functioning of the “comic word” in comedy is explored, revealing that it defines one of the most significant features of these writers’ creative style. We analyze the role of various literary devices, such as puns, comic metaphors, sarcasm, wit, mockery, hyperbole, and dialectal inclusions, as well as the literal interpretation of phraseological units, successfully implemented in comedies, interludes, and jokes.

Keywords: comedy, genre, prose, poetics, Z. Zokaev, M. Attoev, humor, Balkar literature

For citation. Kerimova R.A. Forms of comedy in the works of Z. Zokaev and M. Attoev. News of the Kabardino-Balkarian Scientific Center of RAS. 2025. Vol. 27. No. 5. Pp. 316–324. DOI: 10.35330/1991-6639-2025-27-5-316-324

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Information about the author

Rauzat A. Kerimova, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Senior Researcher of the Sector of Karachay-Balkar Literature, Institute of Humanitarian Researches – branch of the Kabardino-Balkarian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
18 Pushkin street, Nalchik, 360000, Russia;
K.roza07@mail.ru, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1964-4511, SPIN-code: 1548-5430