THE PROCESS OF IDEOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE IN ABDULLA KAHHAR'S STORY NAMED MAHALLE

Abstract

Literary texts are not only aesthetic representations of individual experiences but also structures in which social ideologies are reproduced, internalized, or rendered invisible. In this context, literature provides a space where the ideological relationship between the individual and society can be traced both in terms of content and form. This study aims to analyze Mahalla, a short story by Abdulla Kahhar—one of the leading realist writers of Soviet-era Uzbek literature—within the framework of L. Althusser's theory of ideology.
In the story, the transformation of Grandpa Hikmat, who becomes socially disengaged after the death of his wife, lies at the center. The narrative reveals how the individual becomes an ideological subject through collective needs and everyday practices. Grandpa Hikmat’s initial passivity, his interactions with the neighborhood community, his contact with official institutions, and finally his decision to relinquish the grave he had prepared for himself symbolize his evolution into an active subject contributing to the reproduction of socialist society.
The narrative also allows for an examination of the individual's relationship with the state's ideological apparatuses. Institutions such as the family, school, neighborhood, and the press are shown to direct individuals into specific social roles and behavioral patterns under the guise of voluntariness. In this regard, Mahalla stands as an exemplary narrative that makes visible the operation of ideology upon the individual at both the thematic and structural levels.