CREATIVITY OF SPIRIDON MIKHAILOV (YANDUSH) AND THE WORLDVIEW OF THE CHUVASH ETHNOS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE XIX CENTURY

Abstract

The worldview of the Chuvash ethnos is a person’s idea of the world formed on the basis of ethnic constants and cultural-value dominants. Being specific to each culture, it created the illusion of objectivity in its bearers. The Chuvash worldview is different in different periods of the ethnos’ life, but thanks to ethnic constants, their structure remains the same at its base. In the Chuvash mythological pantheon of the XVIII century, the main images of the patronizing forces were the God who dwells in heaven and the king who dwells on earth, and the images of the opposing forces were earthly evil spirits and churchmen who moved to the Chuvash villages. In the XIX century, this image changes: a mythological character Pulekhse approached the God, who transformed into the image that has the ability to harm a person, and not bring God-appointed good to him. Such transformations in the mythological pantheon occurred due to a change in the image of the enemy in the socio-cultural space of the Chuvash world. All these processes are well reflected in the scientific works and works of Spiridon Mikhailov (Yandush).