Symbolic Images of Stone and Mountains in the Literatures of Abkhazian and North Caucasian Nations
This article examines the peculiarities of the functioning of symbolic images of stone and mountains in the folklore and literatures of the peoples of the North Caucasus and Abkhazia. The objects of analysis are myths, a heroic epic about the sledges shared by a number of Caucasian peoples, poetry by K. Mechiev, K. Kuliev, A. Keshokov, and R. Gamzatov, novels by B. Shinkuba (Dissected Stone) and A. Gogua (Nimbus). As shown in the article, the images of stone and mountains in each literature function differently within the structure of a literary text, depending on the author’s intention. At the same time, these images are initially closely connected with history, life, mythology, folklore of the people, and with thousand-year historical and spiritual experience of mountaineers. The process of creating a literary image, whose roots go deep into national history and culture, reflects the interaction of different types of thinking — historical, mythological, anthropological, and literary; the nature of the relationship and the dialogue of literature with folklore, historiography, and ethnography speak about the role of this interdisciplinary dialogue in the development of literature; this way, we can also speak of literary or artistic historicism which differs from historicism in historiography or philosophy of history.