The article is devoted to the genre mixing of the Azerbaijani novel with Eastern mythology, and examines its various forms. Special attention is paid to the problems of the influence of mythology on the genre-forming features of the novel. The author reveals the motivation of Azerbaijani writers who turn to mythology in their works, and the opportunities that such a genre mix provides for the writer. The article analyzes samples of Azerbaijani myth novels and anti-myth novels.

Keywords: oriental mythology, roman-myth, roman-anti-myth, Azerbaijani novelistics.

Mythologism in literature is a well-known and widespread phenomenon. It allows the author to reach a deeper reflection of the problem raised in the work and often serves as one of the important tools for revealing the "eternal" problems of being. The mythologism of a work of art involves borrowing certain elements of mythology, which generally affects the mythopoetics of a work of art.

The genetic connection of the novel with the epic, which is an integral part of mythology, leads to the fact that the novel as a genre is marked by elements of mythologism from the moment of its formation, and therefore mythopoetics is also inherent in it to a certain extent. The epic absorbed many fairy-tale and mythological motifs and plots and, having processed them, passed them "into further circulation, which is mandatory for the poetics of the next generations" (Veselovsky, 1989, p. 303). These motifs have played a major role in the genesis of novel plots, and mythological themes, images, and characters are used and reinterpreted in Roman studies almost throughout its history. A number of archetypal mythologems can still be found in the medieval novel [Meletinsky, 2000, p. 85].

At the same time, the interaction of the novel and myth does not end at the level of "genetic" connections. E. A. Dobrenko notes that the entry of myth elements into a work of fiction is possible in various forms: "as an inserted micro-plot that does not determine its entire structure (an extremely rare case, since the inclusion of a myth is usually associated with its artistic reinterpretationit can not only be revealed in the text of the work, but also determine its compositional structure, and finally, the myth may not be introduced into the work, but the elements of the archaic tonic and mythological chronotope will be quite noticeable (to one degree or another) in the compositional structure" (Dobrenko, 1989, pp. 155-156).

Developing the thesis of E. A. Dobrenko that one of the forms of mythologism is the insertion of a myth as a microplot, it should be noted that from the point of view of genre mixing, this is actually a kind of analog of "inserted novels". Similar products

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"inserts" are "lyrical" digressions that do not affect the structure of the work of art, but are designed to convey a certain spirit.

At the same time, a myth can not only be embedded in a work as a microplot, but also form the basis of the plot as a whole, or the basis of one or several storylines of works with a complex plot. If the myth forms the basis of the plot of the work as a whole, then we can talk about the novel-myth or its antipode - the novel-anti-myth.

It should also be noted that when the myth is not introduced into the work, but its influence is felt, we are talking about the mythical intertextuality of the work of art. Refusal to use the form of myth, preference for displaying the spirit of myth, characterizes intertextual mythologism.

In the works of Azerbaijani major prose of the late XIX - early XX centuries, mythologism manifests itself in two ways: either in the form of direct translation by the authors of existing legends and dastans (i.e., the plot of a prose work is based on the plot of a myth), or in the form of interspersing the text as an intertext. Thus, the works of R. Zaki "Kerem and Asli" (1913), "Koroglu" (1913), B. Jabbarzadeh "Ashik Gharib" (1913), A. Muznib "Yusif and Zuleikha" (1913), etc. can be considered prose transcriptions of legends and dastans.

The prosaic presentation of legends and folk dastans inevitably carries one characteristic flaw. The author puts folk dastans on literary prose, but, no matter how much he wants it, he does not have the mythological worldview, by definition inherent in the narrator-the storyteller, on whose behalf the dastan narrates. As a result, the prose version of it loses both its poetics and its mythological component. The fact is that dastan is "a work of folk origin. Therefore, it is hardly legitimate to include in this genre works of art that have a personal authorship and the plots of which have no parallels in the oral epic creativity of the people... " [Sukhochev, 1971, p. 37].

It should be clarified that the intertextual influence of mythological motifs and elements significantly increased the artistic value of the novels created at the stage of formation. As an example, Nariman Narimanov's novel "Bahadur and Sonna" is intertextually linked to the dastan "Asli and Kerem".

The intertextual mythologism of the Azerbaijani novel is associated with an appeal to the established archetypes in the form of both an image and a motif. The archetype is a product of the collective unconscious [Meletinsky, 2000, p. 18]. Archetypes are images of "mother", "child", "wise old man", "wise old woman", etc. [Meletinsky, 2000, p. 17-18]. It should be taken into account that the concept of an archetype is closely related to the understanding of a motif as an "image in action", formulated by B. I. Yarkho [Yarkho, 1984, p.221]. Mythological motifs themselves act as archetypes (Neklyudov, 1984, pp. 221-229). Thus, the mythologism of a work of art can manifest itself not only in the form of including an archetypal image in it (including as a prototype of a literary hero), but also in the form of a mythological motif.

Paradoxically, the mythologization of literature is provoked by the process of informatization of society. Informatization confronts modern society with the phenomena of the "information explosion", as well as with the "information shock" associated with the latter. "Information shock" leads to a renaissance of mythological consciousness due to the fact that the growing information flow encounters a limited threshold of perception (individual and collective). A peculiar way out of the situation is the activation of the irrational, which "revives" the myth as a form of reasoning and storage of knowledge. This leads to the neo-mythologization of modern culture, which is also reflected in literature.

Sabir Rustamkhanli's novel "Heavenly Tengri" ("Goy Tann") can be cited as an example of neo-mythologization in modern Azerbaijani literature. Its plot takes us back to the reign of the Khagans, the heyday of Tengrianism as a concept of monotheism. At the same time, this work is not a classic historical novel.

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With. Rustamkhanli, using mythology and written sources (including the Orkhon-Yenisei stelae), seeks answers to the questions facing modern society in the mythical past. "Heavenly Tengri" is a work about contemporary problems, but reflected by the author's will in the neo-mythological artistic space.

Naturally, not all works are so "mythologized". In most cases, the novel is partially interspersed with mythological elements. Mythological components are used by authors to solve certain "local" problems. For example, V. Pelevin's novel "Chapaev and the Void"is fully characterized by neo-mythological components. Researchers emphasize the widespread use of author's myth-making techniques by V. Pelevin. If you give an example from Azerbaijani literature, you can refer to Anar's novel " White Aries, Black Aries "("Ag qoc, qara qoc").

It should also be noted that in modern works, the mythological nature is not identical with the mythological nature of literary works of folk art, as well as of the early Middle Ages. In contrast to the affective motivation of characters ' actions (images) "traditional" mythological works, in modern literary samples, the motivation of the characters is morally and psychologically colored. This is most clearly seen in the comparison of Dastan and the Azerbaijani novel, which is influenced by myth. The comparison of dastan and novel is not accidental: in Azerbaijani literature, mythologism is most clearly manifested in the appeal to ancient and medieval dastans-epics.

Known as "folk novels", dastans are characterized by monumental images and extensive content. Unlike fairy tales, legends and fairy tales, dastans have a developed plot, and the heroes of dastans fight not only with mythical forces, but also with negative characters from among people, and sometimes with individual social groups. The most powerful influence on the Azerbaijani novel was the ancient Turkic epic "The Book of my Grandfather Korkud" (1961, pp. 11-12). Problems, scenes, and characters from this dastan were repeatedly reproduced in modern Azerbaijani prose works, for example, in the novels of Movlud Suleymanli "Nomad", Anar "White Ram, Black Ram", Kamal Abdulla " Incomplete Manuscript "("Yarimçiq, etc.").

The special influence of "The Book of my Grandfather Korkud" on Azerbaijani prose, including novelistics, is due not only to the content richness of this epic-dastan, but also to genre features, in particular, its features that are related to European prose genres. Turkish literary critic Agah Sirri Levend notes: "The epic" The Book of my Grandfather Korkud" is a work of fiction that is a cross between a dastan and a story..."1951, p. 59].

It would be unjustified to limit the influence of the Turkic epics on modern Azerbaijani prose and novelistics only to "The Book of my Grandfather Korkud". Such epic dastans as "Oguzname", "Shah Ismail", "Koroglu", "Gachag Nabi", "Gachag Kerem" and others also had an influence. In some cases, the plot, theme and images of dastans played an important role when writers turned to prose genres, including the novel genre. The dastans "Asli and Kerem", "Shah Ismail", "Koroglu", "Gachag Nabi", "Gachag Kerem", "Sattarkhan" served as the basis for many Azerbaijani novels. The influence of the dastans can be seen in most novels of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Myth-making in Azerbaijani novelistics is also associated with the influence of Islam. For example, an artistic presentation of the life of the Prophet Muhammad is associated with the author's own interpretation of the content of hadiths, as well as a special Islamic biographical literature - Sirah. Chingiz Hasanovich Huseynov's novel " Meraj. A novel about the Prophet Muhammad." The novel thoroughly depicts the isra (night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem) and meraj (ascension to heaven) of the Prophet Muhammad. Source

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information about this event, which is important for Islamic theology, is precisely hadith.

The literature of the twentieth century also gave rise to such a subtype of the novel as the anti-myth novel. An anti-myth novel is an independent genre construct that differs from a myth novel. The genre of the anti-myth novel is genetically related to the classical myth novel, but it is opposed to it in semantics [Polushkin, 2009, p. 14]. The following features are characteristic of the anti-myth novel: textualization of the myth, intertextual dialogue between the novel and mythological text, destruction of traditional semantics while preserving the form.

Let us turn to the opinion of A. S. Podushkin: "The anti-myth novel is characterized by free manipulation of myth as a text, its de-heroization, demonstration of reception, intertextual play, and most importantly-the destruction of mythological semantics while preserving the mythopoetic form" [Polushkin, 2009, p. 14]. If we compare this opinion with the above-mentioned features of the "Incomplete Manuscript", we can fix their meaningful"overlap". "Incomplete manuscript" contains the features of an anti-myth novel. It should be borne in mind that Kamal Abdullah is one of the main researchers of the epic dastan "The Book of my grandfather Korkud", the author of many books and articles about him.

It should be noted that Kamal Abdullah, manipulating the text of the dastan "The Book of my grandfather Korkud", discredits the mythological hero (for example, if in the myth Grandfather Korkud is the archetype of the "sage", then in his "Incomplete Manuscript" he is only a faithful servant of Bayandir Khan), destroys the basis of the mythological worldview (for example, turning a stone "Nur" ("Saint") in the divine beginning of Tengri), satirically reworks plots from epics, mixing them with the author's sarcastic interpretation of historical events (the flight of Shah Ismail Khatai and his death by a ridiculous coincidence), etc.

Summing up, I would like to note that the peculiarities of the mythologism of the Azerbaijani novel depend on the historical and political situation, on the current cultural and historical situation. The dominant feature of mythologism at the present stage is the "refraction" of the plots and motifs of a prose work through the prism of neo-mythology.

list of literature

Veselovsky A. N. Istoricheskaya poetika [Historical Poetics], Moscow: Vysshaya shkola Publ., 1989.

Dobrenko E. A. Mifologicheskaya modeli mira i kompozitsionnaya struktura sovremennogo estonskogo romana [Mythological model of the world and compositional structure of the modern Estonian novel]. Historical, literary and theoretical studies. Petrozavodsk, 1989.

Meletinsky E. M. From myth to literature. Course of lectures "Theory of Myth and historical poetics of narrative genres", Moscow, 2000.
Neklyudov S. Yu. O nekotorykh aspekty issledovaniya fol'klornykh motivov [On some aspects of the study of folklore motifs].
Polushkin A. S. Genre of the Anti-myth novel in the Swedish literature of the 1940s-1960s (based on the works of P. Lagerquist and E. Junson). Abstract of the thesis. Candidate of Philology, Candidate of Sciences, Candidate of Sciences, Candidate of Sciences, Candidate of Sciences, Candidate of Sciences, Candidate of Sciences. Yekaterinburg, 2009.

Sukhochev A. S. From dastan to Roman. From the history of literary Urdu prose of the XIX century. M.: Nauka, 1971.

Yarkho B. I. Metodologiya tochnogo literaturovedeniya (nabrosok plana) [Methodology of exact literary studies (outline of the plan)]. research, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1984.
romaninin (G. Khalilov From the history of the development of the Azerbaijani novel). Baki, 1973.

Sirri Agah. Türk (Levend Sirri Agah. Turkish literature). Istambul, 1951.

M. N. Qorqud boylari haqqinda (Tahmasib M. On the tales of Dede Korkut) / / xalq dair (Study of Azerbaijani oral folk art). Baki, 1961.

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