Eco-Polyphony and Religious Juxtaposition in Ayurzana’s Novels

Abstract

This article examines the novels The Shaman’s Legend (2010) and Shugdën (2012) by contemporary Mongolian writer G. Ayurzana through the combined perspectives of Buddhist philosophy, shamanic tradition, and ecocriticism. Building on Bakhtin’s theory of polyphony and the Buddhist doctrine of dependent origination, the paper introduces the concept of eco-polyphony to analyze how nature, religion, and society emerge as dialogic voices in Ayurzana’s narratives. It also explores the theme of religious syncretism—the blending of Buddhist and shamanic worldviews—as a defining feature of the author’s literary imagination. Close textual analysis shows how Buddhist notions of emptiness, shamanic theories of interacting worlds, and ecological ethics intertwine with narrative conflict and character development, producing a multi-centered dialogic field. The study argues that Ayurzana’s works highlight the hybridization of religious and cultural traditions, critique social and ecological crises, and stage nature itself as an agentive voice within the polyphonic structure of the novel. By bringing non-Western literary traditions into ecocritical debate, this article contributes to expanding the theoretical scope of environmental humanities.