of writers – representatives of indigenous peoples
of the North and Siberia
“River” is regarded as one of the most archaic mythologemes. Although inspired by
mythological sources, the literature is not limited to them. The river concepts characteristic of
folklore and tradition receive new meanings and interpretations. Moreover, motifs and plots
related to rivers grow in number because new ones are created by writers. This study aims to
examine the river motifs and plots and to analyze their semantics in the works of writers who
are the representatives of the indigenous peoples of Siberia. Motif analysis is used to identify
recurrent motifs and plots in the works of various authors. Semiotic analysis reveals their
meanings and discovers not only their genetic relation to mythology and folklore but also new
writers’ interpretations. On the one hand, all writers refer to the river as a poetic topos of the
homeland. On the other hand, following the mythological tradition, the authors continue to
consider the river as a boundary or a way-crossing to the other world, taking into account that
in literature, it is the human who is responsible for the way “downstream” or for the will-
movement to death after violating the moral laws. Even though the writers come from
different national cultures of Siberia, their literary works share a common semantics of the
river mythologeme because of its rich mythopoetic potential and due to equally pessimistic
reflections of the authors on the fate of their peoples.
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of writers – representatives of indigenous peoples
of the North and Siberia // Сибирский филологический журнал. 2023. № 1. Pp. 204–218. DOI: 10.17223/18137083/82/15.