Perception of the Creation Myth in Yakut Epic Folklore

• Published in: Studia Litterarum
• Main Author: Aitalina A. Kuzmina
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; French; Russian
• Published: A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences 2022
• Subjects: perception of the creation myth; cosmogenesis; cosmogony; picture of the world; yakut epic folklore; Literature (General); PN1-6790; Sakha; Evenks; Yakut; Yakuts; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.22455/2500-4247-2022-7-2-248-263; https://doaj.org/article/6aec9b43efff4a71bf16be96834dae79

The article is devoted to the ideas about the Creation myth in the Yakut epic folklore. This topic is little-known in Yakut folklore studies, which indicates the relevance if the research. The author of the article identifies and examines traditional ideas about the creation of the world, using the folklore recordings. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that it reveals this issue with involvement of a wide range of materials on mythology and folklore, and also presents a comparison with the oral tradition of other peoples, for the first time. The author identifies motifs about the creation of the world, which are implemented in various ways (expansion, extraction, production, nomination), and shows diachronous coats in the traditional worldview of the Sakha people in the Yakut myths, folk songs and the epic poems, such as “The world has expanded from a small point” (“Expanding Universe”), “A diver pulls the Earth out of the sea,” “The Earth and its inhabitants appeared after the drying up of the primary sea,” “The world was created by God,” “The world was created by God and the devil,” “The world created by three brother-gods,” “The Universe is divided into three worlds as a result of the conflict of three creators,” “At the creation of the Universe, the Middle World was divided into eastern and western Siberia,” “Heavenly heroes create the Middle World.” The author founds close connections with the worldview of the Evenks, the Evens living in the neighborhood with the Yakuts, as well as the Altai, Mongolspeaking peoples.