MOTIF OF RETURN IN B. YABZHANOV’S PROSE

The article deals with the works of a Buryat writer, B. Yabzhanov, where the motif of return
is significant because the plot is built around it and the motif becomes the final link of the cyclic
plot scheme «loss-search-acquisition». The author discusses the mythological semantics of the
return motif and its deep roots in the unconscious in works where archetypal images, in particular,
the Mother archetype, are represented. In the story «Mother's Heart» the heroine returns to the
foundation of her house in the unconscious state of mind, anticipating death, which is seen as a
final return to the womb of Mother Nature. Therefore, the story has a semantic identity revealed
in the fact that when the mother dies, her dead children return to her, and she herself returns to
eternity. The story «Mother Wolf» presents the idea of motherhood in the nature, it shows the
need to preserve the natural balance, thus a motif complex arises, in which the return is associated
with revenge and acquisition. Return as the final link in the life cycle is naturally associated in the
author's consciousness with the Mother archetype, the integral aspect of which is to function as a
source of life. The realization of the original identity idea in mythological consciousness determines
the connection between the motifs of return and death, for example, in the story
«Hermeshe», death means the return and heroes’ acquiring their original nature.
In B. Yabzhanov’s stories «Tear» and «Stone flung into the sky» the motif of return is realized
in the context of the author’s moral and ethical search as an expression of karmic determination
of events set by the heroes themselves – those who have the authoritative point of view. In
the final stage of their lives, the characters return to the past and reassess the events of their lives,
thus the device of retrospect helps to make clear that their actions were erroneous because they
violated unwritten rules and patterns, naturally established by mythological consciousness. Return
as the restoration of lost balance is revealed in the motif of punishment. The author, within the
individual human life, shows the violation of order and the inevitable restoration of integrity later.
In B. Yabzhanov’s autobiographical novella «My misfortunes and joys», the motif of return
means healing and transition to the next stage of life search. The autobiographical touch allows
the author to open the logic of mythology by setting the time vector historically, from the past to
the future. Thus, in B. Yabzhanov’s works, the motif of return has mostly mythological semantics.