Biblical Plots in the Siberian Text

Abstract

The article describes and systematizes biblical plots characteristic of the Siberian text in Russian culture. The colonization of Siberia was accompanied by the Christianization of its autochthons. The influence of the church on the formation of the local literary tradition was very strong. The regional specifics of Siberia (nature, history, ethnos) influenced the selection of biblical motifs and plots in the works about this space. The comparative approach made it possible to identify and chronologically organize the following biblical themes paradigmatic for the Siberian text: apostolic / missionary. Christological initiation, exodus, the prodigal son. Biblical stories related to Siberia were inverted over time, and religious semantics were supplanted by other topics. The single core that allows to amalgamate these plots and motives is the idea of transformation (of oneself, another person, space). Hypothetically, each plot has its own period of maximum productivity, followed by a recession. The missionary plot and the plot of Christological initiation were revised in the 17th century and remained productive until the end of the 19th century. The narrative of the search for Belovodye, isomorphic to the exodus of Jews from Egypt, arose at the end of the 18th century. It was active until the end of the 20th century. The motive of the prodigal son was relevant in the middle of the 19th century in the work of the regionalists and, later, their heirs. Globalization and informatization processes and the blurring of spatial and cultural boundaries gradually make this plot irrelevant. It is possible to expand the “canonical” spectrum of biblical images, motifs, and plots for the Siberian text by engaging new material.