Features of representation of the national image of the world in the novel “A camel walked across the steppe” by Yana Boriz

   This article examines the representation of the national image of the world in the novel "A Camel Walked Across the Steppe" (2023) by Yana Boriz, a contemporary Russian-language writer from Kazakhstan.

   The novelty of this study stems from the need to examine the texts of translingual authors, in this case, a Russian-language Kazakh writer, and to introduce them into a broader scholarly context.

   This examination of the constants of the nomad's Cosmo-Psycho-Logos draws on the methodological developments of philosopher and literary scholar Georgy Gachev, dedicated to myth and national consciousness. The research material is Yana Boriz's novel "A Camel Walked Across the Steppe," which demonstrates the realization and embodiment of the constants of the nomad's worldview. This article examines the complex artistic structure of the novel, which gravitates toward a family saga (the narrative spans several generations of a family spanning the late 19^th and first half of the 20^th centuries). It utilizes both Western (linear structure) and Eastern (cyclization, repetition, and phrase rhythm) stylistic imagery at the macropoetic level. At the micropoetic level, it analyzes images significant for constructing the world of nomadic peoples (steppe, camel, mazar, koktal), as well as the leitmotif (caravan travel motif).

   It concludes that the author draws on mythological components, which expands the possibilities of a realistic narrative style.

   A number of techniques and means of artistic expression (subjectivization, correlating the novel's hero with a mythological or fairytale character) contribute to the characterization of both the continuum of macrohistory and the continuum of microhistory, as well as the inner world of the characters.

   The practical significance lies in the possibility of applying its results in the analysis of the poetics of national literatures, in the development of educational courses on the modern literary process.

1. Ovcherenko U.V. Modern Russian-language prose in Kazakhstan: main trends. Сandidate's dissertation (Philology). Moscow: 2021:148 (in Russian).

2. Ovcherenko U.V., Monisova I.V. Russian and Russian speaking prose in the situation of multiculturality: experience of Kazakhstan. RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism. 2020;25(2):234-246 (in Russian) doi: 10.22363/2312-9220-2020-25-2-234-246

3. Krivoshchapova T.V. Russian and Russian-language literature in Kazakhstan in the aspect of mentality. In: Russian literature in Russia and Kazakhstan: aspects of integration : materials of the Second International. conference. Barnaul: Altai State Pedagogical Academy; 2013:50-58 (in Russian).

4. Krivoshchapova T.V. Russian Literature of Kazakhstan in Recent Decades. In: Russian Language in the Global Scientific and Educational Space: Collection of Materials of the International Scientific Congress. Part III. Moscow: Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation; A.S. Pushkin State Institute of the Russian Language, 2021:217-220 (in Russian).

5. A New Name for Adventure Prose: Yana Boriz. Available at: https://stroki.mts.ru/articles/novoe-imya-priklyuchencheskoi-prozi--iana-boriz-1347 (accessed: January 10, 2026) (in Russian).

6. Gachev G. National images of the world. civilizations of Central Asia: (intellectual journeys). Moscow: Academicheskiy Proekt; 2020:784 (in Russian).

7. Boris J. A camel walked across the steppe. Moscow: Clever-Media-Group; 2023:542 (in Russian).

8. Bardamova E.A. Fragments of the Russian conceptual sphere. Ulan-Ude: Buryat University Publishing House; 2019:172 (in Russian).

9. Gachev G.D. Images of the deity in culture: National variants. Moscow: Academic Project; Culture: 2016:891 (in Russian).

10. Tao Tao Liu. Chinese Myths from the Monkey King and the Jade Emperor to Celestial Dragons and Elemental Spirits. Moscow: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber; 2024:224 (in Russian).

11. Sala R., Kartaeva T. The image and cult of a camel in the life of the Kazakhs. Journal of History. 2018;90(3):30-41 (in Russian) doi: 10.26577/JH-2018-3-261

12. Gerasimov I.V. The image of the camel in the Mongolian and Arabic literary traditions. In: Mongolica-IX : Collection of articles. St. Petersburg: Petersburg Oriental Studies; 2010:109-116 (in Russian).

13. Akishev A.K. The image of the camel in the legends of Central Asia. In: Ethnography of the peoples of Siberia. Novosibirsk: Nauka; 1984:69-76 (in Russian).