This article analyzes the artistic and semantic functions of thanatological motifs in contemporary Uzbek prose, drawing on Temirpo‘lat Tillayev’s novella The Abyss of Death as a case study. The analysis demonstrates that death in the text functions not merely as a plot device, but as a symbolic, aesthetic, and epistemological category. Relying on Roman Krasilnikov’s thanatological theory, the study shows that the primary archisemantic meaning of death (“the end of life”) is relegated to the background, while connotative meanings such as fear, existential crisis, psychological disintegration, and the impulse toward cognition come to the fore.

The article further elucidates the interconnections between the symbol of the “abyss” and a range of motifs – madness, oneirological (dream-related) imagery, incessant rain, and enigmatic numbers – by situating them within mythological, religious, and philosophical layers of meaning. These signs frame death not as an abstract phenomenon, but as an aesthetic experience and a mode of artistic expression. In conclusion, the study argues that thanatological motifs constitute a key factor in articulating the author’s creative stance and play a decisive role in shaping the work’s structure as well as guiding the reader’s emotional perception.

Thanatology, motif of death, thanatological signs, mysticism

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