Motif and archetypal structure in Erzhena Batorova’s fairy tale “Grandpa Pusuu’s dragon”

This study addresses the scientific problem of the limited understanding of the unique characteristics of the Russian-language literary fairy tale genre in Buryatia within the region’s contemporary literary landscape. Modern literary fairy tales in Buryatia artistically synthesize mythological foundations with literary traditions and demonstrate a fusion of diverse cultures. The aim of this research is to identify the specific features of the fairy tale genre at the intersection of these cultures. The literary fairy tale “Grandpa Pusuu’s dragon” by Erzhena Batorova serves as the source material for this study. The methodology incorporates principles and techniques from comparative-historical literary criticism, alongside psychological approaches to literary analysis. Erzhena Batorova’s “Grandpa Pusuu’s dragon” is defined as a literary fairy tale. The analysis of the work’s ideological and artistic structure is conducted within the context of mythological and folklore traditions. The study examines the interplay of Russian, Buryat, and Chinese artistic traditions, defining the specific nature of its intertextuality. It also reveals the significance and role of myth and oral folklore in the development of the literary fairy tale genre. The analysis identifies motifs of magic, journeys, transformations, initiation, the spiritual path, exchange and deception, illness, return, disruption and the restoration of order. The realization of archetypal figures – the child, the shadow, and the trickster – is explored. The author’s reinterpretation of folklore heroes, such as the seeker, the victim, the antagonist, the helper, and the giver, is investigated. The correlation between types of heroes and their associated functions is established, and the scope of their actions is examined. The authorial perspective is revealed through an analysis of elements from folk cultures. The study identifies the inadequacy of the semantics of mythological images and the disruption of the sequence of hero functions. The individualization and increasing complexity of the author’s fairy tale characters, whose images are rooted in folklore, are traced. The practical significance of this research lies in enriching theoretical knowledge of the modern literary fairy tale genre in Buryatia. Future research directions may involve further investigation of the Russian-language literary fairy tale genre.

1. The mill of literary flow. New Buryatia. Available at: https://newbur.ru/newsdetail/melnitsa_literaturnogo_potoka/ [Accessed 3 May 2025] (in Russian).

2. Batorova E. Grandpa Pusuu’s dragon. Baikal. 2012;(1):105-108 (in Russian).

3. Tamarchenko ND, Tyupa VI, Broitman SN. Theory of literature. In 2 vols. Moscow: Publishing house “Akademiya”; 2004;1:512 (in Russian).

4. Zinchenko VG, Zusman VG, Kirnose ZI. Literature and methods of its study. Moscow: “Flinta”, “Nauka”; 2011:280 (in Russian).

5. Meletinsky EM. From myth to literature. Moscow: Russian State University for the Humanities; 2000:167 (in Russian).

6. Ashikhmanova NA. Plot motif “transformation” as a unit of a fairy tale narrative. Humanities and social sciences. 2015;(6):73-79 (in Russian).

7. Qin L. Symbolism of the fan in Chinese Feng Shui teaching. Humanitarian treatise. 2018;(25):45-47 (in Russian).

8. Maeterlinck M. The Blue Bird. Retelling from French and illustrations by Dekhterev BA. Moscow: Publishing house “Detskaya literature”; 1994:120 (in Russian).

9. Alesenkova VN. Dramaturgy of Maurice Maeterlinck: philosophy in symbols. Art and culture. 2011;(2):46-50 (in Russian).

10. Efremova AA. Ontology of the spiritual path in Early Buddhism. Acta eruditorum. 2018;(25):09-113 (in Russian).

11. Jung CG. Archetype and symbol. Translated by Rutkevich AM, Zelensky VV, Bibikhin VV. Moscow: Publishing house “Renaissance”; 1991:297 (in Russian).

12. Jung CG. Soul and myth. Six archetypes. Translated by Yudin AA. Moscow: Publishing house “Labirint”; 1997:232 (in Russian).

13. Jung CG. The Divine Child. Translated by Dmitriev DV and Robeko TA. Moscow, Nazran: “Olymp”, “AST”; 1997:398 (in Russian).

14. Propp VYa. Morphology of a folktale. Moscow: Publishing house “Labirint”; 2001:192 (in Russian).

15. Pu singling. Strange tales from a Chinese studio (Liaozhai zhiyi)/ Translated from Chinese by Alekseev VM. Moscow: Publishing House “Khudozhestvennaya literatura” 1988:559 (in Russian).

16. Ziyamukhamedov ZhT. Classical plots of Chinese literature and their reflection in the novels of Pu Songling. Philology. 2021;(2):35-49 (in Russian).

17. Han D, Tugulova OD, Bardakhanova ZD. On the reception of Chinese “Tales of the Strange” in Russian literature. Humanitarian vector. 2023;(3):48-56 (in Russian). DOI: 10.21209/1996-7853-2023-18-3-48-56

18. Freudenberg OM. Poetics of plot and genre. Moscow: Publishing house “Labirint”; 1997:445 (in Russian).

19. Kulakova OK. Dragon as a universal precedent phenomenon in the author’s world. Bulletin of Irkutsk State Linguistic University. Literature series. 2010;(4):105-110 (in Russian).

20. Gribina LV. Transformation of the dragon archetype in the works of E. L. Schwartz and modern writers. In: Beshukova FB, Khatkova IN. (eds). Evgeny Schwartz and the problems of the development of Russian literature of the 20th century: Materials of the All-Russian Scientific Conference, Maykop, October 21-23, 2021. Maykop: Publishing House of Adyghe State University; 2021:21-25 (in Russian).

21. Filippovsky VS. Symbolic meaning of the dragon image in Chinese mythology. Student. 2020;(2):28-33 (in Russian).

22. Loginova TA. Traditional representation of the fox-werewolf in Chinese language and culture. Language and culture. 2016;(21):31-36 (in Russian).

23. Shulunova OV, Kazakov OV. Fox representation in Russian folk literature and Chinese literature (on the example of Pu Songlins “Liao Zhai stories about the unusual”). Global and regional research. 2020;2(2):474-481 (in Russian).