Bulletin of the Bishkek State University

In the context of the rapid digitalisation and globalisation of higher education, there arises an acute need to rethink classical humanistic ideals and the role of the teacher as a moral compass capable of resisting the threats of “digital mankurtism”. This article aimed to identify the specific ways in which the linguocultural concepts of “freedom” and “dignity” are represented within the fictional world of Ch. Aitmatov, drawing on his early prose. The study employed methods of comparative and typological analysis of literary texts, a hermeneutic approach to the interpretation of literary characters, as well as an axiological method to identify value dominants in the writer’s pedagogical legacy. The work established that, within Aitmatov’s fictional universe, the phenomenon of education extends beyond the mere transmission of knowledge, becoming an act of existential salvation for the individual. An analysis of the teacher Dyuishen’s character in the story “The First Teacher” revealed that pedagogical activity is regarded by the author as a moral feat aimed at overcoming spiritual unfreedom and age-old ignorance. It was found that the “rural school” in the writer’s works functions as a sacred space where a person’s agency – their capacity for conscious choice and responsibility – is formed. Particular attention was paid to the “enlightenment – mankurtism” antithesis: it was demonstrated that the loss of access to cultural and intellectual values leads to the degradation of the human within the human, making Aitmatov’s ideas highly relevant to the contemporary educational paradigm. The authors argued that personal dignity, as interpreted by Aitmatov, is inextricably linked to intellectual autonomy, which is instilled through the figure of the “ideal teacher” – one who combines self-sacrifice with fidelity to humanistic principles. The findings of the study can be integrated into university courses on pedagogy, philology, and the philosophy of education, and may also be used in developing strategies for educational work in higher education institutions to foster value-based competencies in students

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