The specificity of geocultural images of the cold in folklore and literature of the indigenous peoples of Yakutia of the Soviet period

This article examines the specificity of geocultural images of the cold in folklore and literature of the indigenous peoples of Yakutia (Yukaghirs, Evens, Evenks, Yakuts) of the Soviet period. The goal consists in studying the specificity of geocultural images of the cold in folklore and literature of the indigenous peoples of Yakutia of the Soviet period and tracing the dynamics of development of such representations. The subject of this research is the geocultural images that characterize the attributes of cold, such as cold, winter, snow, ice, permafrost. The study leans on works of the scholars dedicated to examination of the folklore worldview, northern text, anthropology and conceptology of the cold, and the questions of mythopoeia. The author employs linguoculturological, cultural-historical, semiotic, and geopoetic approaches. The novelty of this research consists in comprehensive examination of the peculiarities of representations on geocultural images with attributes of the cold and extensive coverage of the folklore and literary material based on the folklore materials and literature of the Indigenous peoples of Yakutia of the Soviet period. It is revealed that the indigenous peoples of Yakutia have different representations on these natural phenomena. In the folklore worldview, the representations on the cold mostly have negative connotation. The Yakut national literature of the early XX century adhered to the canons of the traditional worldview, and since the second half of the XX century, the severe climate of the North started to be perceived as something unique and positive. The acquired results can be applied in the field of folklore studies, literary studies, and anthropology in examination of the peculiarities of cultural texts of the North and the Arctic.