The Archetype of a Cultural Hero in the Works of A. De Saint-Exupery (Based on “Southern Mail”, “Night Flight” and “Wind, Sand and Stars”)

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of a pilot's character in the works of A. de Saint-Exupery in the context of mythopoetics and the archetype of a cultural hero. The theme of aviation and the character of a pilot are the main elements of Saint-Exupery's poetics. Being a professional pilot he described true events and created a heroic and mainly mythologized character of a pilot. In his works there are such functions of a cultural hero as fighting with nature or mythical beasts, breaking new ways, formation of human society. There are also motifs of initiation, magic transition to another world, death and rebirth. Such archetypic spaces as desert, night, sky/earth are connected with the character of a pilot.