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

Authors : Kerem B. Topçu

Pages : 63-78

Doi:10.21488/jocas.1701029

View : 30 | Download : 33

Publication Date : 2025-05-31

Article Type : Research Paper

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

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