Paper long abstract:

Professional Uzbek women Zarifa Saidnosirova(d.1986) and Kibriya Qahhorova (d. 1996) detail their early literacy practices and schooling experiences in their autobiographical writings. In this project, I analyze schooling experiences of girls and gender-specific literacy practices including gaming, schooling and language acquisition in early twentieth century Central Asia, specifically in Uzbekistan by concentrating on the autobiographies of Saidnosirova and Qahhorova. Their special attention to childhood games, reading habits and intellectual development in their writings indicate the importance of early literacy activities in their lives. I argue that gendered game settings, reading habits, and assigned activities informed their selfhood as they developed their sense of self in relation to their surroundings. Ruby Lal's (2013) three conceptual framework girl-child/women, becoming and playfulness informs this project.