HUMOUR AS A PRAGMATIC AND STYLISTIC DEVICE IN MARK TWAIN’S “THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER” AND GʻAFUR GʻULOM’S “SHUM BOLA”

Abstract

This study examines humour as a pragmatic and stylistic device in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Gʻafur Gʻulom’s Shum Bola. The research focuses on how humour functions in communication, characterization, and narrative organization. A comparative literary approach is used to identify similarities and differences in the representation of humour in the two works. The findings show that in both texts humour performs not only an entertaining function, but also communicative, social, and artistic ones. In Twain’s novel, humour is often based on irony, exaggeration, and satire, while in Gʻafur Gʻulom’s work it is more closely linked with colloquial speech, realism, and national-cultural context. The study concludes that humour in both novels serves as an important means of artistic representation and social critique.