Features of the Mythological Chronotope in Yakut and Shor Epos

Abstract

The relevance of this topic is conditioned by the need for a systematic study of the nature of mythological consciousness caused by the growing trend of recognising myth as a powerful spiritual tool possessing humanistic value. This article studies the features of the spatial and temporal organisation of the epic worlds of Yakut and Shor tales. Space and time serve as fundamental categories that model the world of nations. The subject of this article is mythological chronotope, i. e. world modeling in the epic traditions of the Yakuts and Shors. The author identifies and analyses elements of mythopoetic views expressed in plot motifs, which are deep layers of folklore texts related to the archaic sensory perception of ancient people. The author aims to demonstrate similarities and differences in the mythological world-modeling of the Yakut and Shor epics. The paper employs a comparative typological approach, using methods of description, hermeneutics, modeling, and structural and semantic analysis. The author concludes that in the Yakut and Shor epic traditions, there is a single principle in the world modeling of epic spaces and a common logic of mythological geography. At the same time, the comparison of texts in question demonstrates that while there exists a fairly harmonious mythological system of Yakut epos, the Shor system bears signs of reflection of certain features of the archaic myth, containing very early elements indicating an earlier stage in the tradition, and characterised by a greater transparency of meanings. As a result, new editions of Shor epos are going to be even more interesting for further comparative studies.