This article explores the emergence and transformation of the "New Woman" archetype in literature through a comparative analysis of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie and Zulfiyakhanim Qurolboy Qizi’s Oyimtilla. Both novels portray female protagonists—Caroline Meeber and Nilufar—who challenge traditional gender roles and strive for independence, self-realization, and agency within their respective societies. While Sister Carrie reflects the socio-economic dynamics of early 20th-century America, Oyimtilla engages with the evolving identity of women in a post-Soviet Uzbek context. By examining the cultural, historical, and ideological frameworks shaping these characters, the study highlights how the figure of the New Woman functions as a symbol of change, resistance, and empowerment across different literary traditions.

New Woman, female archetypes, gender roles

Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1900.

Qurolboy Qizi, Zulfiyakhanim. Oyimtilla. Tashkent: Shark, 2010.

Showalter, Elaine. A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx. New York: Vintage Books, 2009.

Tursunova, Zulfiya. Gender Roles and Identity in Post-Soviet Uzbek Literature. Tashkent: Academic Press, 2008.

Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. London: Hogarth Press, 1929.

Zhuravlev, Andrei. The Evolution of Gender in Central Asian Literature: From Soviet to Post-Soviet Narratives. Almaty: Kazakh University Press, 2014.

Qizi, H. Z. M. (2024). WOMEN’S ROLES AND GENDER PORTRAYAL IN THOMAS HARDY’S WORKS. Talqin va tadqiqotlar ilmiy-uslubiy jurnali, 2(57), 344-347.

Хамзаева, З. (2025). Толкование женского образа в романе «Бону» с точки зрения декадентства: социальный кризис и противоречие ценностей. Зарубежная лингвистика и лингводидактика, 3(2), 17-22