The restoration of female images in the works of Yuri Rytkhau: the origins, mythopoetics

The article is devoted to the study of the process of formation of the figurative system in the works of the Chukchi writer Yuri Sergeevich Rytkheu (1930-2008), the formation of female images in works of various genres (short stories, novellas, novels). Textual and contextual analyses of the short stories “Otlek” and “Tegryne goes to Khabarovsk”, the novella “When the Whales leave”, the novels “The Last Shaman”, “The Wanderings of Anna Odintsovo” and the dictionary book “Road Lexicon” were carried out. An integrated approach made it possible to reveal the origins and features of the meaning generation and the ethnospecific character of the heroines. Myths and folklore (fairy tales, legends) are involved, the symbolism of archetypes and their transformation in the literary works of the Chukchi author are revealed. The archetypes used unconsciously and consciously are considered and the types of heroines are highlighted: the virgin, the mother, the creator of the human world, the ruler, the mentor, the worker, the magician and a number of others related to their lives and deeds: the word, the forest, the tree, labor, etc. The understanding of the complex process of image-making in the Chukchi author’s knowledge was facilitated by referring to the materials of ethnologists and linguists who participated in the creation of alphabets, writing, and the first educational books, in the creation of which Rytkheu participated. The role and importance of Russian literature and writers, both classics and contemporaries, are highlighted based on comparativism. In his work, Yuri Rytkheu presented a variant of the evolutionary development of the Chukchi people in the process of creating female images, activated gender issues related to the feminine principle, presenting them through the prism of archetypes and the process of individuation. Creating the image of an ideal woman, reviving the feminine principle, combining the courage to be and compassion as qualities of a strong Ego, he did not pursue the goals of domination, relying on the ideal partner model. The Chukchi writer has made a valuable contribution to supporting the modern gynocentric (women-oriented) renaissance societies. The archetypal aspects in the creation of an imaginative system in the work of Rytkheu, related to the spiritual development of a personality, require further research. 

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