The folklore and mythological basis of the women’s quest in the Russian-language fantasy novel: To the statement of the problem

In the history of culture and literature, women have always played an important role. Numerous myths, folklore and literary works show the importance of female characters in the content, functional and artistic solution of various problems. In recent decades, attention to the “women’s issue” has certainly increased: representatives of various scientific disciplines are trying to identify the essence of the phenomenon of “true femininity”. In popular literature, a new type of heroine is being formed – a girl undergoing her own set of challenges (quest). On the one hand, it largely resembles the path of a male hero, on the other, it has its own specific features. In both cases, the female quest has a pronounced folklore and mythological nature. The purpose of the study is to identify the folklore and mythological components of the image of the new heroine in Russian language “female” fantasy novels. The research materials are Russian folk tales (35 plots), novels by M. V. Semenova and A. V. Rubanov. The research methodology is based on the simultaneous application of the methods of analyzing the structure of the folklore text by V. Y. Propp and J. Campbell, which allowed the authors to consider the path of the heroines in terms of both the functions they perform and the stages of the chosen path. As a result of the research, the term “women’s quest” was introduced, denoting a folklore and mythological way of organizing the text of mass literature. In turn, fantasy novels are presented as coming-of-age novels with the emphasis of stages similar to initiation rites in traditional culture.