Transformation of Turkic Mythological Archetypes in Contemporary Literature: From Epic Code to Literary Symbol

This study investigates how mythological archetypes from Turkic oral epic traditions undergo transformation, recodification, and symbolic re-deployment in the contemporary literary production of Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uyghur, and Turkish writers (1940s–2020s). Building on the theoretical framework of mythological code analysis (Lévi-Strauss), archetypal transformation theory (Jung, Neumann), and postcolonial literary criticism (Bhabha, Said), the research analyses twenty-three literary works in which pre-Islamic Turkic mythological figures — Tengri, the Alp hero, Umay Ana, Albasti, the Cosmic Tree, and the Underworld motif — are identifiably redeployed as literary symbols. Six transformation typologies are identified and systematised: continuation, secularisation, inversion, hybridisation, politicisation, and aestheticisation. The analysis reveals that mythological archetypes function as a persistent cultural grammar that authors consciously activate to negotiate tensions between national identity, Soviet-era ideological imposition, postcolonial recovery, and globalisation. These findings contribute to comparative literary studies, Turkic cultural studies, and the theory of mythological transformation in modern literature.

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