Cultural code as a key to understanding Fatih Amirkhan's work ‘Hayat’

The article considers the role of the cultural code as a tool for interpreting an artistic text on the example of Fatih Amirkhan's story ‘Hayat’ (1911), one of the key works of Tatar literature of the early 20th century. The cultural code is understood as a system of signs, symbols, norms and values reflecting the specificity of a certain culture and allowing to reveal the deep meanings of the work. The relevance of the work is conditioned by the need to study Tatar literature through the prism of cultural semiotics, which contributes to a deeper understanding of its role in the dialogue between tradition and modernity. The subject of the study is the four main components of the cultural code in the story: religious, family, gender and social. Special attention is paid to the conflict between the traditional values of the Tatar society of the early 20th century and the character's aspiration for self-realisation in the conditions of intercultural interaction. The research methodology is based on contextual analysis (P. Bourdieu) and linguocultural approach, which allow to reveal cultural codes through religious, family, gender and social aspects of the text in the historical and cultural context of the epoch. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the complex analysis of cultural codes of Fatih Amirkhan's story ‘Hayat’ through the prism of religious, family, gender and social aspects. In our study, the framework of Tatar literary studies uses an interdisciplinary approach combining the methods of semiotics (Y.M. Lotman), sociology of culture (P. Bourdieu) and linguocultural studies. The study confirms that the cultural codes in the analyzed work serve not only as a reflection of the epoch, but also as an instrument of criticism of patriarchal foundations. The religious code defines the moral boundaries of the characters, manifested in rituals (namaz, repentance) and fear of ‘kafir’, which reflects the crisis of identity in the conditions of intercultural interaction. The family code reveals the contradiction between patriarchal control (marriage at the will of parents) and Hayat's desire for freedom, actualising the problem of female self-determination. The gender code reinforces stereotypical roles (woman is the keeper of traditions, man is the head of the family), emphasizing the character's limited social opportunities. The social code demonstrates the hierarchical nature of Tatar society and the influence of Russian culture, which complicates the heroine's integration into the new reality. Thus, there is an understanding of Tatar literature as a space of dialogue between tradition and modernity.