The Image of a Bird in the Works of the Sami Writer Nadezhda Bolshakova

The article is devoted to the literature of the Kola (Eastern or Russian) Sami, one of the leading features of which is the myth-folk basis. The aim of the work is to determine the role of the bird image in the works of the Sami writer Nadezhda Bolshakova. Bolshakova's works have not been studied earlier in the framework of the stated topic, which determines the novelty and relevance of the material presented in the article. Material for the study was the collection of tales A Gift of the Seagull and two novels of the writer: Alkhalalalay and Letters in School Notebooks. The leading methods of this study are cultural-historical, hermeneutic and mythopoetics; their combination allows to reflect the relationship of folklore and literary elements in the work, primitive meanings and meanings in the Sami folklore and literature, to determine the author's individual interpretation of folklore material. The study analyzed the semantics of the image of the bird and its functioning in the fairy-tale and non-fairy-tale prose of the Sami writer; traced the transformation of mythological ideas in Bolshakova's works; considered the origins of her worldview, features of the artistic picture of the world and style. In addition, the role and importance of the image of the bird in the culture and mythology of the Sami, in the ritual and non-ritual folklore of the Northern people, some pagan representations of the ancient Sami were described. The analysis of the material showed that birds play an important role in Bolshakova's fairy-tale and non-fairy-tale prose. In fairy-tale prose, they help to recreate the picture of the world of the ancient Sami, perform a plot-forming function, being an instrument of the literary organization of the material, reveal the author's view of the world and the person in it. The basis of the folk image of the bird are ethno-cultural ideas about it, especially mythological ones. In Bolshakova's non-fairy-tale prose, the image of the bird helps to reveal the essence of the female psyche, reinforces the psychology that reconstructs the internal state of primarily female characters, emphasizes the tragic fate of female characters. At the same time, the image of the bird is used for the external characteristics of male characters. In the context of Bolshakova's works, the bird is not just an image, but a mythologem consciously taken from mythology. The idea of the soul in the form of a bird is common among all peoples of the globe; however, Bolshakova rethinks the mythology of the bird in accordance with her literary world and the Sami pagan idea of it. Bolshakova uses mythology consciously. The combination of folk and literary traditions is a feature of the national writer's style.

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