Parallel Mythological Elements as a Basis for Cultural Dialogue (Based on the Peoples of Africa and Siberia)
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2026-2-124-133
This work examines mythological parallels between the distant cultures of Africa and Siberia to demonstrate common cultural phenomena and use them in cultural dialogue to counter stereotypes. Kenyan peoples were selected based on the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation's assignment to prepare educational materials and teach Russian as a foreign language in the Republic of Kenya. Siberian peoples from the Russian Federation were chosen to represent the region, with teachers from Tomsk State Pedagogical University teaching students in Kenya. As a primary example, the mythological demiurge Ngai among the Kikuyu, Kamba, and Maasai peoples in Kenya, and the functionally similar character Ngo among the Nganasan, Nenets, and Selkups in Siberia, are considered. In both cultures, this deity belongs to the upper world (in Kenya, located at the top of the mountain of the same name; in Siberia, in the sky). Despite beliefs in his involvement in the creation of the world, this masculine figure distances himself from people and does not participate in everyday affairs, unlike magical characters such as old women or demiurge mothers, who maintain traditions and have access to the world tree. The trickster appears as a spider who was once human in some African cultures, and as Idya, the Selkup, in the Selkup epic. Drawing parallels in mythology illustrates the universality of the psychological concept of humanity and substantiates cultural connections between distant peoples. The use of shared worldviews aligns with the educational trend of cultural dialogue, where a common understanding of human values fosters friendly interaction while preserving the individuality of each culture without ethnocentric judgments. Cultural dialogue is viewed as a process of mutual enrichment among participants. Russia has a long history of fostering interethnic relations and promoting ethnic equality within the country. National programs support the scientific and cultural activities of Russia's minority ethnic groups. By engaging with other peoples worldwide, Russians transfer feelings of tolerance, mutual respect, and understanding to international relations. This work uses an interdisciplinary approach and the method of linguistic and cultural commentary on mythological elements.
Keywords: folklore, dialogue of cultures, mythological parallel motifs and characters, interdisciplinary approach, linguistic and cultural studies
References:
1. Berezkin Yu.E. Mify glubokoy drevnosti [Myths of deep antiquity]. Priroda, 2005, no. 4, pp. 55–61 (in Russian).
2. Kim A.A. Perspektiva interpretatsii kul’turnykh tsennostey po dannym fol’klora (na primere etnosov Kenii i sopredel’nykh regionov) [Perspective of interpretation of cultural values according to folklore data (on the example of ethnic groups of Kenya and adjacent regions)]. Tomskiy zhurnal lingvisticheskikh i antropologicheskikh issledovaniy – Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology, 2023, no. 3 (41), pp. 110–118 (in Russian).
3. Lemskaya V.M., Kur’yanovich A.V., Zyubanov V.Yu., Ageeva A.V. Analiz resursa mezhkul’turnoy modeli kak instrumenta proektirovaniya obrazovatel’noy deyatel’nosti na russkom yazyke v Respublike Keniya [Analysis of the resource of the intercultural model as a tool for designing educational activities in Russian in the Republic of Kenya]. Integratsiya obrazovaniya – Integration of Education, 2025, vol. 29, no. 1 (118), pp. 28–48. DOI: 10.15507/1991-9468.029.202501.028-048. EDN: UBZOOY (in Russian).
4. Sevach A.V. Dialog kul’tur v kontekste mezhkul’turnykh kommunikatsiy [Dialogue of cultures in the context of intercultural communications]. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta kul’tury i iskusstv – Bulletin of Moscow State University of Culture and Arts, 2010, no. 4 (36), pp. 106–109. EDN: MVVXXT (in Russian).
5. Labov W. Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972. 412 p.
6. Scollon R., Scollon S. Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach. Cambridge, MA, Basil Blackwell, 1995. 271 p.
7. Birlayn Dzh.F. Parallel’naya mifologiya [Parallel mythology]. Moscow, Kron-Press Publ., 1997. 336 p. (in Russian).
8. Haviland W., Prins H., Walrath D., McBride B. The Essence of Anthropology. Wadsworth, United States, 2010. 379 p.
9. Skazki narodov Afriki [Tales of the peoples of Africa]. Moscow; Leningrad, Gos. izd-vo khudozhestvennoy literatury Publ., 1959. 318 p. (in Russian).
10. Munyaya E.J. Kigiryama Folklore and Its Impact on Teaching Language in Lower Primary. IAR Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, 2020, no. 1 (2), pp. 86–94.
11. Napol’skikh V.V. (ed.) Mifologiya sel’kupov [Selkup mythology]. Tomsk, Tomskiy gosudarstvennyy pedagogicheskiy universitet; Tomskiy oblastnoy kraevedcheskiy muzey; Moskovskiy gosudarstvennyy universitet; Institut yazykoznaniya RAN Publ., 2004. 380 p. (in Russian).
12. Vajda E.D., Kim-Maloney A.A., Kim Ant.A. Lingvokul’turnaya interpretatsiya metamorfozy v fol’klore narodov obsko-eniseyskogo areala [Linguocultural interpretation of metamorphosis in the folklore of the peoples of the Ob-Yenisei area]. Tomskiy zhurnal lingvisticheskikh i antropologicheskikh issledovaniy – Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology, 2016, no. 2 (12), pp. 73–80 (in Russian).
13. Gulyants A.B., Gulyants S.B., Semina V.V. Problema sozdaniya lingvokul’turnogo kommentariya kak sredstva mezhkul’turnoy kommunikatsii [The problem of creating a linguocultural commentary as a means of intercultural communication]. Vestnik Moskovskogo gorodskogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: Filologiya. Teoriya yazyka. Yazykovoe obrazovanie, 2020, pp. 133–140 (in Russian).
14. Smolyakova N.S. Prostranstvennye leksicheskie edinitsy v lingvokul’turologicheskom aspekte (na materiale govorov Srednego Priob’ya): avtoref. dis. … kand. filol. nauk [Spatial lexical units in the linguocultural aspect (based on the dialects of the Middle Ob region): abstract of thesis cand. of philol. sci.]. Tomsk, 2006. 30 p. (in Russian).
15. Olya B. Bogi tropicheskoy Afriki [Gods of tropical Africa]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1976. 286 p. (in Russian).
16. Skazki narodov Afriki: perevod s afrikanskikh i zapadnoevropeyskikh yazykov [Tales of the peoples of Africa: translation from African and Western European languages]. Moscow, Nauka, Glavnaya redaktsiya vostochnoy literatury Publ., 1976. 685 p. (in Russian).
17. Mify narodov mira [Myths of the peoples of the world]. Moscow, Bol’shaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya; Olimp Publ., 1998. Vol. 2. 719 p. (in Russian).
18. Volshebnyy tsvetok. Skazki Vostochnoy Afriki [The magic flower. Tales of Eastern Africa]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura Publ., 1987. 414 p. (in Russian).
19. Gracheva G.N. Traditsionnoe mirovozzrenie okhotnikov Taymyra [Traditional worldview of the hunters of Taimyr]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1983. 172 p. (in Russian).
20. Kim-Maloney A. Comparison of a Pair of Ket and Diné (Navajo) Myth Motifs. Dene-Yeniseic Connection. Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska, New Series, 2010, vol. 5 (1–2), pp. 279–284.
21. Khomich L.V. Predstavleniya nentsev o prirode i cheloveke [Ideas of the Nenets about nature and man]. Priroda i chelovek v religioznykh predstavleniyakh narodov Sibiri i Severa [Nature and man in the religious ideas of the peoples of Siberia and the North]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1976. Pp. 16–30 (in Russian).
22. Kim A.A. Leksika verovaniy sel’kupov kak etnolingvisticheskiy istochnik dlya rekonstruktsii kartiny mira [Lexicon of Selkup beliefs as an ethnolinguistic source for the reconstruction of the worldview]. Tomsk, Izd-vo TGPU Publ., 2018. 188 p. (in Russian).
23. Skazki narymskikh sel’kupov [Tales of the Narym Selkups]. Tomsk, Ven-Mer Publ., 1996. 191 p. (in Russian).
24. Gracheva G.N. Chelovek, smert’ i zemlya mertvykh u nganasan [Man, death and the land of the dead among the Nganasans]. Priroda i chelovek v religioznykh predstavleniyakh narodov Sibiri i Severa [Nature and man in the religious ideas of the peoples of Siberia and the North]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1976. Pp. 44–66 (in Russian).
25. Prokof’eva E.D. Predstavleniya sel’kupskikh shamanov o mire (po risunkam i akvarelyam sel’kupov) [Ideas of Selkup shamans about the world (based on Selkup drawings and watercolors)]. Sbornik Muzeya antropologii i etnografii. Vol. XX. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1961. Pp. 54–74 (in Russian).
26. Prokof’eva E.D. Starye predstavleniya sel’kupov o mire [Old ideas of the Selkups about the world]. Priroda i chelovek v religioznykh predstavleniyakh narodov Sibiri i Severa [Nature and man in the religious ideas of the peoples of Siberia and the North]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1976. Pp. 106–129 (in Russian).
27. Tuchkova N.A., Vagner-Nad’ B. “Semi bogov mudrost’yu obladayushchiy Itte…”. Teksty s geroem Itya v sel’kupskom fol’klore [“Itte, possessing the wisdom of seven gods…”. Texts with the hero Itya in Selkup folklore]. Tomsk, Izd-vo TGPU Publ., 2015. 335 p. (in Russian).
( 834.71 kB ) 
( 820.13 kB )
Issue: 2, 2026
Series of issue: Issue 2
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 124 — 133
Downloads: 333