Reconstruction of the medieval history of Central Asia through literary imagination: historical writing in Andrey Volos's novel "Return to Pandzhrud."

The subject of the study is the specificity of historical writing in Andrei Volos's novel "Return to Panjrud," examined through the lens of new historicism theory. The focus is on how the author reconstructs the medieval history of Central Asia through artistic means, connecting the biography of the poet Jafar Rudaki with the broader historical and cultural context of the Samanid era. Special attention is given to the relationship between documentary knowledge and literary imagination, as well as the interaction between macrohistory and micro-narratives in the structure of the novel. The research aims to identify the ways in which the artistic text fills gaps in historical knowledge, gives voice to marginalized characters, and forms a multidimensional image of the past. Thus, the novel is considered not only as a work about a distant era but also as a form of contemporary reflection on history, memory, and cultural identity. The methodology of the study is based on the principles of new historicism and includes textual, comparative, and interpretive analysis of the novel's narrative strategies, imagery system, chronotope, and methods of artistic reconstruction of historical reality. The scientific novelty of the research lies in analyzing Andrei Volos's novel as an example of contemporary historical writing, in which artistic imagination is not opposed to historical accuracy but becomes a means of supplementing lost or fragmentary information about the past. The work demonstrates that the author consistently deconstructs the traditional macro-historical narrative, prioritizing the personal fate of Rudaki, the everyday experiences of ordinary people, and the complex connections between power, religion, and violence. It concludes that "Return to Panjrud" is not a historical biography in the strict sense, but represents a multi-voiced artistic space where the past is interpreted in connection with the spiritual and cultural issues of contemporary times. The novel dismantles orientalist stereotypes, reveals the polyphony of historical experience, and affirms that literature can serve as an essential form of cultural memory and historical knowledge.