On the reflection of the traditional beliefs of the Evenks of China in fiction

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to study the formation of Evenk literature in China and to try to comprehend the religious picture of the Evenk world; to introduce into scientific circulation the texts of the Evenki and Chinese writers, reflecting the culture, beliefs, traditions and way of life of the Chinese Evenks. The author analyzes the traditional system of Evenk beliefs – shamanism, Evenk myths and legends, folk songs presented in the works of Chinese writers. The article examines the prose works of the Evenki Uzhertu, Tukedong Qingsheng, as well as the novel by the Chinese Chi Zijian, primarily from the point of view of artistic reflection and understanding of the traditional beliefs of the Evenki ethnic group and their state in the era of civilizational transformations. The research is based on the methodology of comparative literary criticism, which includes typological, motivic, inter- and contextual analyses, as well as the historical method. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the article explicates for the first time the religious constants of the ethnic consciousness of the Evenks from the works of Evenk literature by Chinese authors. The author comes to the conclusion that the unique method of inheriting Evenk myths, culture and traditions through shamanic practices is a stable object of depiction in Evenk literature. The analysis of the material led to the conclusion that Evenk ethnography, an important part of ethnic literature in China, continues to actively develop, as does literature about Evenks created by writers from outside the ethnic group. The main object of this literature is the image of the Evenk and his ethnic consciousness, the constants of which are religiosity (shamanism, animism), a special attitude to nature, and the stability of everyday traditions (reindeer husbandry and hunting culture).