The Tree "Yggdrasil" as a Symbolic Key to the Interpretation of the Novel by Mark Z. Danilevsky's "House of Leaves"

Abstract

The object of research in this article is a novel by Mark Z. Danilevsky's "House of Leaves" in the context of postmodernism. The subject of the study was the mythical element of the novel (ash Yggdrasil). This element is considered as a hermeneutic key to the interpretation of the novel by Mark Z. Danilevsky's "House of Leaves". Also, the subject of the study is space and time in the novel, inextricably linked with the mythical component of the works. As a result, a detailed analysis of the mythical component of the "House of Leaves" is given in the context of the poetics of postmodernism, as well as some characteristics of the space-time of the novel. Hermeneutical interpretation is performed using the poem "Yggdrasil", located on the last page of the novel, as a symbolic key. The grapheme "Yggdrasil" and the symbolism of the components of the limit tree in their relation to the exemplification of the structure of the novel as a whole are analyzed. The mechanism of the inclusion of the work in the context of world literature is described through the actualization of semantic and etymological inclusions of mythical motifs about the creation of the world in the text of the "House of Leaves". The analysis of intertextual references to Egyptian mythology through the symbols of the ouroboros and the solar disk is given. The plot of the path of the sun god Ra in the "House of Leaves" is analyzed. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that we have analyzed the symbolic detail in the novel: the hidden symbolism of the "Ash Tree" as the tree of the limit; elements of biblical mythology; the image of the inverted world; labyrinth, stairs. The interpretation of the work as a model of the world is considered, where the ambiguity of mythological and spatio-temporal layers, based on the inevitable symbolic references-threads, function as an instrument of appeal to the cultural unconscious. The connection of the mythologies of Egypt, Tibet, the texts of the "Upanishads" and "Kabbalah", as well as the artistic and literary intertext with the "House of Leaves" is analyzed. As a result of this hermeneutic analysis, an ironic postmodern interpretation of the work of Mark Z. is described. Danilevsky through the symbolism of emptiness (unselfishness).