Understanding of the stories “The Mermaid” by Ales’ Kazhadub and “The Siren” by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampeduza from the position of the theory of archetypes

The article analyzes the stories “The Mermaid” by the Belarusian writer Ales’ Kazhadub and “The Siren” by the Italian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa for the purpose of revealing in them the character of the archetypal basis, distinctive genre-thematic and artistic-visual features. A comprehensive approach to the analysis of the literary works was provided by such methods as mythopoetic, hermeneutic, cultural-historical and comparative. The writers embodied the archetype of the Great Mother in the images of chthonic creatures (a siren and a mermaid). A consistent analysis of the images and plots of the stories made it possible to define a circle of universal images that made up the “archetypal core” of the given works (the Hero/the Child/the Warrior, the Shadow, the Leader/the Wise, the Lover (or one who is capable of love), the Journey, etc.), and also to clarify the features of their genres, to trace the influence of artistic methods on the character of the characters and certain development of the plot lines.