E-mail: rector@university.kg Tel.: +996 (312) 32-33-94
547, Frunze str., Bishkek, 720033, Kyrgyz Republic
PhD in Philology, Assistant Professor, Rector, Zhusup Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University
This article analyzes the motifs of the “Manas” epic that occur in various versions of the tale that are connected with the hero’s miraculous birth and heroic amusements. Well known motifs in Kyrgyz heroic narratives have undergone modifi cations typical to traditional epic poetry but have still retained traces of the mythological tradition and archaic ritual practices. Analysis reveals connections between the motifs of Manas’s miraculous birth and mythological ideas about the cyclical relationship of old age, death and the renewal of the world, as well as with the mythologeme about creation as a transition from chaos to order.
The author interprets the ritual practice of childbirth in a yurt in which a pole (bakan) is erected in the center as a ritualized synonym for the mythological birth of the fi rst ancestor near the world tree. Taking into account the mythological basis of this ritual, the logic of the appearance of the image of the dragon and the goddess of fertility Umai in the episode of miraculous birth becomes clear. Analysis of the motif of the young hero’s violent games reveals a possible connection with the archaic ritual of searching for a twin brother. The author ascribes the epic motifs of the hero’s upbringing by a shepherd and his meeting with spirit-werewolves to the rite of initiation.
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