Non-fairy Ossetian prose about sacred images and symbols and the Nart epic

(experience of application of a plot-thematic index)

Abstract

The problem of compiling pointers to the genres of folklore is relevant, and therefore we set out to test our plot-thematic index of non-fairytale prose about the sacred sphere of the traditional beliefs of the Ossetian people on the Narts Ossetian epic. The index of non-fairytale prose means the sacred characters of the first type and is based on the classification, which is two blocks that were first proposed by us on the basis of the separation “sacred – not sacred” for Ossetian folklore; it contains 15 topics related to various aspects of the sacred space of Ossetians and allows you to study the features of the reflection of this sphere of worldview in the indicated genre. In turn, in the Narts Ossetian epic, we distinguished three types of sacred characters: these are sacred characters that are relevant at the moment; sacred characters of the Scythian, Sarmatian and Alanian times, turned into heroes; images of mythological creatures, which in the past were also sacred characters, but at the moment are preserved as their echoes. Using the method of comparison, we found out what topics indicated in the existing index appear in the Narts epic of Ossetians, led us to the conclusion that we can use the pointer only in relation to sacred images of the first type. The applied perspective of the study revealed a different angle of reflection of the sacred sphere in the genres of Ossetian folklore – non-fairytale prose and Narts legends of Ossetians – also in relation to reality. The index of non-fairytale prose also includes oral stories, in this regard, the gap between the vision of the past by the narrator of the Narts legend and the narrator of the work of non-fairytale prose is great. The study showed that the individual component of a non-fairytale narrative, as a rule, does not contribute to generalization, and the epic generalization in legends is the result of the existence of an image or plot in time. A prospective study is the inclusion of a sacred element in the text of any genre of Ossetian folklore. Indeed, despite the fact that the plots of the Narts epic of the Ossetians are archaic, the storyteller, fulfilling the legend here and now, undoubtedly brings his attitude to the sacred element of modern mythological, religious and ritual reality into his artistic structure. In comparing two genres of Ossetian folklore – fairy-tale prose and Narts epic – at the angle of reflection of the sacred sphere in them, the element “sacred sphere of the first type” appears as a constant.

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