Специфика концепта сүнс в прозе современных монгольских авторов

Abstract

Goals. The article aims to analyze the functioning of сүнс concept in the works of twenty-first century Mongolian authors. In recent times, modern Mongolian writers and poets have frequently incorporated images of various demonological figures into their texts. In our view, this stems from a desire to engage the reader by offering something mysterious, inexplicable, or supernatural. Furthermore, during the era when socialist realism dominated in Mongolian literature, references to demons, devils, ghosts, and others were considered undesirable. Nevertheless, imagery associated with the otherworld persisted in folk beliefs and traditional oral literature, such as fairy tales, legends, and folk songs. The semantic field of сүнс concept in Mongolian discourse encompasses several meanings. The first one includes soul, spirit, life, and vital force. The second one denotes essence, true meaning, or the core nature of something. In the shamanic tradition, it refers to the soul of the deceased as well as to an evil spirit that must be appeased through appropriate rituals. Consequently, the concept of сүнс cannot be classified solely alongside demonological figures such as чөтгөр (devil), шулам, шулмас, шимнус (witch-shape shifter), алмас (man-beast) or мам (demoness). Materials and methods. The study focuses on short stories by L. Dashnyam (b. 1943) from the collection ‘Ring with Spirits’ (‘Сүнстэй бөгж’; Ulaanbaatar, 2013) and D. Namsrai’s (b. 1949) ‘Writings from My Dreams’ (‘Зүүдний бичээс’), novella ‘Evil Spirit’ (‘Хар сүнс’; Ulaanbaatar, 2024) by D. Batbold (b. 1968), and the novels ‘Formula of the Soul’ (‘Сүнсний томьёо’; Ulaanbaatar, 2019) and ‘Secrets of the Sacred Khangai’ (‘Сахиуст Хангайн нууц’; Ulaanbaatar, 2017) by G. Ayurzana (b. 1970). The primary research method employed is that of descriptive poetics. The paper also takes into account available works on demonological figures in Mongolian folklore and epic literature. Results. The study reveals a broad semantic field for the concept of сүнс in the examined literary narratives of twenty-first century Mongolian authors — ranging from the literal meaning of ‘soul’ (сүнс) to the spirits of ancestral and historical forebears, and even to proper names. Consequently, the study concludes that the concept of сүнс functions as a marker of cultural code to contemporary Mongolians in texts by modern writers.