Article

Name: Oriental bestiary of Mikhail Shcherbakov

Authors: Elena Yu. Kulikova

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract:

The paper presents and comments on the main corpus of oriental bestiary compiled based on the works of Mikhail Shcherbakov. These works incorporate elements of ethnography, mythology, history, legends, beliefs, and literary traditions from both Eastern and Western back-grounds. Shcherbakov’s animal world includes the tiger, the “master of the taiga,” gods and mythological creatures such as Ganesha, a man-god with the head of an elephant, the “fox” Irinari (Inari), and the Egyptian scarab. There are also fantastic mammoths and dragons, the symbol of a prosperous sea voyage, the seagull, and others. In the “Black Series” story, luminaries and comets come to life, transforming in front of the reader with vibrant colors and shapes, altering the existing dimension. The bestiary of Shcherbakov combines multiple worlds and cultures, creating an exotic space where stories, reminiscent of Jack London’s novels, are presented as if they were documentary stories interwoven with oriental folklore, legends, and myths. The Shcherbakov’s “zoological code” reveals a complex fusion of mythological motifs, images, and documentary elements, confirmed in many texts by the role of the “I-narrator.” This narrative technique allows the reader to fully experience the past on an epic scale by presenting a character interacting with animal-gods. Simultaneously, it provides the writer with a means to explore the modern Eastern world, into which the Russian emigrant is deeply immersed.

Keywords: Mikhail Shcherbakov, bestiary, zoological code, ethnography, mythology, East, orientalism

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