The mythopoeic image of water in the Yugra text (based on the prose of E.D. Aipin and Yu.N. Shestalov)

INTRODUCTION. The relevance of the study lies in the examination of the specifics of the Yugra text as a local hypertext, as well as the identification of the features of the mythological consciousness of Yugra writers based on the works of Khanty and Mansi prose writers. The aim of the study is to identify and analyse the system of mythopoetic elements in the spatial-temporal structure of the Yugra text, reflecting the characteristics of the national worldview, specifically the description of the main landscape dominant of Yugra – the water space. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The works of E.D. Aipin and Yu.N. Shestalov are presented as the research material. It is based on the mythopoeic analysis of the text. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. During the analysis, the features of the mythopoetic image of water in the literature of the Yugra writers were identified. In the mythology of the Ob-Ugric people, the Ob River becomes both the prototype and embodiment of the World River. The flow of the river embodies the cyclicity of life. Other rivers of Yugra (Agan, Sosva, Salym, Trom’egan, etc.) are perceived, by analogy, as a kind of local equivalent of the World River. Water is perceived as a boundary between worlds, delineating the “ours” and the “foreign”; it has both life-giving semantics, explaining the most important ritual actions in the culture not only of indigenous peoples but also, for example, in Christianity, and mortuary meanings, serving as a fateful harbinger of misfortune and death. CONCLUSION. The analysis of the semantics and symbolism of water spaces in the artistic texts of Ob-Ugric writers allows for the identification of their connection with the archaic beliefs of the indigenous peoples of the region, to demonstrate the characteristics of mythological worldview, and to expand the understanding of the uniqueness and artistic value of Ugra literature.