ETHNOLOGICAL TROPES AND MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES IN VEPS PROSE
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2022-4-143-150
The article analyzes the autobiographical short novels of Veps prose by V. Pulkin and A. Petukhov as valuable sources of historical-ethnographic material. The theoretical basis for the study is formed by the works of I. Vinokurova, N. Krinichnaya and I. Spiridonova. The study is guided by the need to bring new sources about the life of the Veps people into the scientific discourse. The methodology is based on a systematic approach using the methods of comparative historical, structural semiotic, and holistic textual analysis. The tasks for the study were: Identification and characterization of the main mythological figures in the Veps prose, description of the ethnographic elements (architecture, life routines, rites), and evaluation of the representativeness of the literary material. One of the contemporary problems is the integration of narrative forms and the transformation of the data obtained from them for use in various scientific fields. The literature of the Veps was studied by N. Zaitseva, A. Mishina, Z. Strogalshchikova, but the ethnographic elements, and mythological figures, which are part of the culture of this ethnic minority, remained in the periphery of theoretical conceptualization. The scientific novelty consists in the inclusion of ethnographic tropes in the analytical context of studies of ethnic minority literature. In analyzing the prose of Veps writers, the author identified and characterized mythological figures: Mecizand (the forest master spirit), Kodinizand (the house master spirit), Ičheine (one's own soul), Vedehiine (the water master spirit). The article briefly describes the ethnographic elements of the Veps culture found in the short novels: Home interiors, Rites, and Beliefs. It is stated that Veps' prose is based on the principles of topicality, historicism, autobiographism, and commemoration. The ethnographic elements and mythological characters in the short novels of V. Pulkin and A. Petukhov are authentic, confirmed by scientific findings from historical, geographical, and other sources. Fiction can provide science material but with deductions for the fantasy element.
Keywords: prose, Veps people, literature, mythology, masters
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Issue: 4, 2022
Series of issue: Issue 4
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 143 — 150
Downloads: 329