Paratextuality in the Novel "Yaldo Kechasi": The Intertextual Function of the Title, Epigraph, and Chapter Titles

This article analyzes Khayriddin Sulton’s novel Yaldo Kechasi (2025) based on Gérard Genette’s theory of paratextuality. It examines the symbolic and mythopoetic layers of the novel’s title, the architextual and hypertextual functions of the subtitle “An Appendix to O‘tkan kunlar,” and the role of the cover illustration and in-text document headings in shaping readers’ expectations. Particular attention is given to substantiating how the work emerges from the afterword “Yozg‘uchidan” (“From the Author”) in Qodiriy’s novel, that is, from the paratext of the hypotext.