Hedgehog in the North Caucasian folklore tradition (an attempt of classification, according to the ATU Index)

This article explores the specific of embodiment of the hedgehog image in the oral poetry traditions of several peoples of the North Caucasus. The aim of the study is to identify universal features and ethnically distinct characteristics of its embodiment in oral literature samples from this region, using the Aarne-Thompson- Uther index of subjects (ATU). The research material consists of folklore texts and ethnographic notes on the life and culture of individual North Caucasian ethnic groups, identified using a continuous sampling method. The study also utilized descriptive, typological, systemic, comparative-historical, and contrastive methods of analysis. The study of the identified material revealed, that for many peoples of the region, the hedgehog was a totem animal in the past. However, information about its cult has survived only in fragmentary form (the existence of a ban on killing, its use in rituals as a talisman, references in proverbs, sayings, riddles, etc.). This image is most fully realized in fairy-tales. Although not a popular animal hero in North Caucasian folklore, it was revealed that the hedgehog is associated with a number of universal plots and motifs, similar to those found worldwide. Nevertheless, they have been reinterpreted, reworked, transformed and expanded upon by each people in accordance with their own worldview and mentality, the specificity of which is determined by a complex set of factors, such as ethnogenesis, habitat, historical development and intercultural communication. A comparison of fairy-tale texts with the ATU index revealed that some of the globally available plots and motifs, featuring the hedgehog, are associated with other animal characters in the oral folklore of North Caucasian ethnic groups. Furthermore, these motifs do not fully encompass the symbolic meanings and functions of this image. The results obtained in this work can be applied to further, more in-depth and detailed studies of the hedgehog image in individual ethnic groups to identify common typological and specific features. A description of the motif collection, related to the hedgehog image in the North Caucasus region, according to the ATU, will allow the analyzed texts to be included in scholarly circulation and their place in the global classification of folklore.

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