MADNESS AND GENIUS AS VEHICLES OF SOCIAL CRITIQUE IN THE CRITICAL REALIST DRAMATURGY OF JALIL MAMMADGULUZADEH AND ANTON CHEKHOV

Abstract

This article explores the aesthetic and philosophical functions of madness within the frame- work of critical realist dramaturgy, focusing on the works The Mad Gathering by Jalil Mammadgu- luzadeh and Ward No. 6 by Anton Chekhov. Through a comparative approach, the study analyzes how the marginalized figures of the “little man” and the “surplus person” are constructed in early 20th-century Azerbaijani literature, emphasizing their symbolic roles in exposing social contradic- tions, ideological stagnation, and moral collapse. Madness is interpreted not as clinical deviance, but as a metaphor for resistance, ethical consciousness, and epistemological rupture. The article also provides a stylistic and semantic analysis of both authors’ dramaturgical techniques, revealing how madness functions as a critical tool for deconstructing normative behavior and institutional power. Ultimately, the study highlights the intellectual and emotional depth of critical realism and its ongoing relevance as a mode of social and artistic critique.