Two Mountains, Two Tricksters: A Comparative Analysis of Nart Sosruquo and Mercurius/Hermes

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 16, 63 - 78, 31.05.2025

Kerem B. Topçu

https://doi.org/10.21488/jocas.1701029

Abstract

As this study concerns itself with previous scholarship on the Nart Sagas of the Caucasus—that particularly focus on the figure of Sosruquo—it remedies certain lapses and misrepresentations present in the literature. Furthermore, in its analysis of “Sosruquo and the Inquisitive Ayniwzh” (Colarusso), the study utilizes a Jungian framework to interpret the complex mythological figure of Sosruquo, as to an archetypal dimension of Sosruquo is wanting in previous scholarship. As the study argues Sosruquo presents a unique blend of the divine child, the hero, and the trickster archetypes, it emphasizes the sui generis position of this character in comparative mythology through a close reading of the aforementioned tale—and emphasizing the tension between Sosruquo the figure of Mercurius / Hermes, the latter whom Jung explores in his Alchemical Studies. As the study argues Sosruquo, and therefore on a larger scale, the Nart Sagas cannot be reduced to variations of other mythological corpi, it also establishes Sosruquo as a distinctive figure that breaks through the mold of traditional Jungian dichotomies. The significance of the study lies in the fact that it goes against the grain of the orthodox readings of Caucasus mythology—and yet it does not entrap itself in a contrarianism simply for its own sake. Rather the study intimates a paradigm shift in reading the mythopoeia of the Caucasus within the context of oral literature, a paradigm shift that does not rest on parallelisms and psychologisms.

Keywords

Oral Literature , Comparative Mythology , Jungian Studies , Jungian Literary Criticism , Caucasus Mythology , Archetypes

Two Mountains, Two Tricksters: A Comparative Analysis of Nart Sosruquo and Mercurius/Hermes [İki Dağ, İki Düzenbaz: Nart Sosruquo ve Mercurius/Hermes'in Karşılaştırmalı Analizi]

Abstract

Bu makale, Kafkasya'nın Nart Destanı üzerine, özellikle Sosruko bağlamında daha önce yapılmış olan çalışmalarla ilgilenmesi dahilinde, literatürde mevcut olan belirli eksiklikleri ve yanlış temsilleri gidermeye yöneliktir. Buna ek olarak çalışma, “Sosruquo and the Inquisitive Ayniwzh” (Colarusso) isimli öykünün analizini Jungçu bir teoretik çerçeve dahilinde yürütmesine içkin olarak, Sosruko isimli ziyadesiyle kompleks mitolojik figürü, evvelki çalışmalarda eksik kalan arketipal bir boyut bağlamında ele alır. Çalışma, Sosruko'nun ilahi çocuk, kahraman ve düzenbaz arketiplerinin benzersiz bir karışımını sunduğunun savunusunu yapmakla birlikte, yukarıda belirtilen öyküyü yakın okumaya tabi tutarak, bu karakterin karşılaştırmalı mitolojideki sui generis konumunu vurgular ve Jung'un Alchemical Studies isimli eserinde ele aldığı Mercurius / Hermes figürüyle Sosruko arasındaki gerilimi açımlar. Çalışma Sosruko'nun —ve dolayısıyla daha geniş bir ölçekte Nart Sagaları’nınlencelerinin —farklı mitolojik külliyatların varyasyonuna indirgenemeyeceğini tartışmakla birlikte Sosruko'yu geleneksel Jungcu ikiliklerin kalıbını kıran özgün bir figür olarak da ele alır. Çalışmanın önemi, Kafkas mitolojisinin ortodoks okumalarının aksi yönüne gitmesinde ortaya çıkmaktadır—ancak çalışma bunu salt muhalefet etmek adına değil, Kafkas mitolojisinin sözlü edebiyat bağlamında incelenmesinde bir paradigma değişimini ima eder ki işbu paradigma değişimi, paralelliklerden ve psikolojizmlerden azade bir paradigma değişimi niteliğini taşır.

Keywords

Sözlü Edebiyat , Karşılaştırmalı Mitoloji , Jung Çalışmaları , Jungçu Edebiyat Eleştirisi , Kafkas Mitolojisi , Arketipler

Two Mountains, Two Tricksters: A Comparative Analysis of Nart Sosruquo and Mercurius/Hermes [Две горы, два трикстера: Сравнительный анализ Нарта Сосрука и Меркурия/Гермеса]

Abstract

Поскольку данное исследование связано с предыдущими работами по изучению нартских саг Кавказа, в которых особое внимание уделяется фигуре Сосруку, оно исправляет некоторые пробелы и искажения, присутствующие в литературе. Кроме того, в анализе «Сосруку и любознательный Айнивж» (Коларуссо) исследование использует юнгианские рамки для интерпретации сложной мифологической фигуры Сосруку, поскольку архетипическое измерение Сосруку отсутствует в предыдущих исследованиях. Поскольку в исследовании утверждается, что Сосруку представляет собой уникальную смесь архетипов божественного ребенка, героя и трикстера, в нем подчеркивается положение sui generis этого персонажа в сравнительной мифологии путем внимательного прочтения вышеупомянутой сказки и подчеркивается напряжение между Сосруку и фигурой Меркурия / Гермеса, которую Юнг исследует в своих «Алхимических исследованиях». Поскольку в исследовании утверждается, что Сосруку, а значит, в более широком смысле, и «Нартские саги» нельзя сводить к вариациям других мифологических корпусов, оно также устанавливает Сосруку как отличительную фигуру, которая пробивает себе дорогу сквозь плесень традиционных юнгианских дихотомий. Значимость исследования заключается в том, что оно идет вразрез с ортодоксальными прочтениями кавказской мифологии, но при этом не впадает в контринтуицию просто ради нее самой. Напротив, исследование намекает на изменение парадигмы прочтения мифопоэзии Кавказа в контексте устной литературы, парадигмы, которая не опирается на параллелизмы и психологизмы.

Keywords

Oral Literature , Comparative Mythology , Jungian Studies , Jungian Literary Criticism , Caucasus Mythology , Archetypes

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