Героический модус в традиционной литературе (Запад и Восток)
Heroic Mode in Traditionary Literature (West and Orient)

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the concept of the heroic mode in world literature. The classical understanding of heroism, developed in European scholarship on the basis of ancient and medieval literature, cannot always be applied to the analysis of Eastern literatures, especially non-Indo-European ones. The article undertakes a comparative analysis of the heroic mode based on the following literary works: Western European (“The Song of Roland”, “The Song of the Nibelungs”, “Beowulf”), Old Russian (chronicles, hagiographies, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”), Indian (“Mahabharata”), Persian (“Shahnameh”), Chinese (“Romance of the Three Kingdoms”), and Japanese (“The Tale of the Heike”). The focus is on the understanding of the heroic deed, its purposes, means of achievement, and the role of defeat in the hero’s fate. Significant differences are identified, ranging from the Western European emphasis on self-sacrifice for the sake of posthumous glory to the Indian orientation toward decisive victory and the restoration of world harmony; from the Chinese diversity of goals and the transfer of heroic action into the intellectual sphere, to the Japanese interpretation of victory through the lens of transience and the law of retribution. Special attention is paid to the collective nature of heroism and the “feat of endurance” in Old Russian literature, as well as to psychological readiness for death and the ability to adapt to defeats as crucial traits of the hero in Eastern traditions. Understanding the heroic mode requires taking into account the cultural specificities of each civilization and rejecting simplified notions of heroism as a single ethical category in world literature.

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