“THE NEVA IS ST. PETERSBURG’S MAIN AVENUE”: CONTEMPORARY MYTHOLOGICAL IDEAS OF THE CITY DWELLERS (Part 2)

Abstract

This article analyses the Neva River mythologeme, its role and place in St. Petersburg mythology. The author dwells on the importance of the Neva River as a symbol of St. Petersburg, being a significant element of modern urban mythology. As a method of field research, the author applied the experimental method of social anthropology and ethnology aimed to test the hypothesis made.  In addition, the systematic method was used to study the Neva River mythologeme in order to reveal the connections within the complex system of St. Petersburg mythology. According to the principles of anthropocentrism, the Neva, as any river or water in mythology, represents the feminine; moreover, it is considered as an artery, a key element of a living organism, which is the city. In addition, the Neva has a mythological meaning of the centre. The author concludes that the Neva River mythologeme correlates with such important concepts of culture as water and river and has many of their characteristics. The Neva is also endowed with the meaning of the border. Using the example of the Neva River, the paper shows the specificity of St. Petersburg mythology: the dualism of nature and culture. The author notes that St. Petersburg mythology is characterized by the following: an object of nature begins to be perceived as a cultural object (the Neva as the main avenue) and a cultural object is perceived as a natural object (Nevsky Avenue as a tributary of the Neva). The article proves that it is the Neva River mythologeme that represents two main St. Petersburg myths: the creation myth and the eschatological myth. Therefore, the Neva can be considered as one of the symbols forming St. Petersburg identity.