The story of Vasily Yakovlev "The Larch That Aged with Me": the structure of the monomyth

The subject of the article is the narrative organization of the story by the famous Yakut writer Vasily Vasilievich Yakovlev "Kyttа kyrd'ybyt t өңkэ tiit" ("The Larch That Has Aged with Me"), which has a mythological basis. The myth serves as a starting point for creating original works that reflect not only universal human experience but also the unique vision of the world by a specific author. In studies addressing the interaction of mythology and literature among the peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East, conducted by literary scholars such as V.T. Petrov, N.N. Toburokov, V.B. Okorokova, A.N. Myreeva, P.V. Sivtseva-Maximova, N.V. Pokatilova, V.G. Semyonova, L.N. Romanova, and others, the source of the emergence and formation of literary tradition is identified as their oral folk creativity and mythology. A comparative analysis of the mythological allusions presented in the story is conducted in the context of the universal model of the monomyth established by American researcher Joseph Campbell. He proposed a psychoanalytic theory of monomyth— a single plot structure common to many mythological narratives, resulting from his work in comparative mythology. The novelty of this article lies in the fact that it first explores the universal aspects of the monomyth in Yakovlev's story "Kyttа kyrd'ybyt t өңkэ tiit" ("The Larch That Has Aged with Me"). In conclusion, we have come to the conclusion that the distinctive narrative and thematic foundation of the work serves as evidence of the author's myth-making character, reflecting the realities of the time and the culture of the people. The conducted research allows for the notion that the path of the old man Mikipper, the archetypal hero of the story "The Larch That Has Aged with Me" by Vasily Yakovlev, is a metaphor for the path of ancestors who inhabited the harsh land of eternal permafrost. This path, accompanied by overcoming difficulties, is reflected in the image of the majestic larch—a symbol of resilience and life force, which has sent deep roots into the eternal permafrost. The larch, aged alongside Mikipper, becomes not only a witness to his personal story but also an embodiment of the collective memory of the people, preserving memories of the struggle for survival and adaptation to harsh conditions.

mythology, archetype, monomyth, monomyth structure, mythological plot, mythologeme, hero's journey, initiation, rites of passage, neomyth