SCIENTIFIC HYPOTHESIS AND NARRATIVE EXPERIMENT AS MECHANISMS OF FANTASTIC REALITY IN XOJAKBAR SHAYKHOV AND H. G. WELLS

The article analyzes the role of scientific hypothesis and narrative experiment in the construction of fantastic reality in the works of Xojakbar Shaykhov and H. G. Wells. The central argument is that both authors transform a scientific assumption into a narrative system, but they do so with different cultural and aesthetic accents. Wells typically radicalizes one speculative premise and follows its social, biological, or philosophical consequences. Shaykhov adapts the logic of scientific imagination to Uzbek literary discourse by connecting technological novelty with education, ethical responsibility, and a belief in the constructive potential of knowledge. The article demonstrates that the scientific hypothesis in fantastic literature functions not merely as a plot device but as a discourse-forming principle.