Eurasian versions of the myth about “solar chaos” and overcoming of it: quantitative indicators

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to comparative analysis of versions of the myth, the pathos of which may be articulated as subdual of “solar chaos”. It is widely distributed among the peoples of Asia and Europe, with some expressive parallels in African and Native American folklore (not dwelled upon at this stage of the research). The purpose of the research is to investigate, from the structural and historical perspective, the motifs comprising the myth’s versions: namely, Himalayan and Southeast Asian, Mongolian, East Tungusic, Japanese and Balkan-Slavic (as well as several “stand-alone” recordings: Armenian, Lithuanian, Russian (Smolensk), Chuvash, Bashkir, Komi, Nenets, Symsk Evenk); to examine their regional (and more local) cultural contexts. The analysis of the versions’ correlations allows to suggest certain hypotheses of structural and historical and genetical sort: of the four-part composition of the “core” mythological plot and its extensive “periphery”, of probable genesis of the myth in the East Himalayan epicenter and of genesis of its various versions with the further branchings of the tradition, of ethnolinguistic and territorial factors’ impact on their distribution.