Writer’s Bilingualism and Biculturalism: Nicholas Kotar’s Mythopoetic Literary Works

Abstract

This article examines the matter of bilingualism and biculturalism of bilingual authors analyzing the literary work of Nicholas Kotar, an American bilingual writer who is a descendant of the first-wave of Russian émigrés. The relevance of this topic stems from a growing interest among scholars of bilingual studies in researching the features of bilingual writers who efficiently use two languages and two cultures to create literary images and express their ideas, leading to translingualism and transculturalism in their work. The article analyzes how bilingualism and biculturalism of Nicholas Kotar, a heritage language speaker of Russian, reflect in his English-language literary works, using research methods of comparative, cultural and translational interpretation. In the novels from the Raven Son series The Song of the Sirin, The Heart of the World , The Throne of the Gods , The Son of the Deathless , Nicholas Kotar conveys elements of Russian folklore to Englishspeaking readers by mythopoesis. The analysis of the literary text provides results, revealing that samples of Nicholas Kotar’s English-language creativity emerge in the process of hybridization and syncretism through the mythopoetic transformation of Russian folklore and linguaculture. Nicholas Kotar’s novels contain many lexical and cultural borrowings, exotisms (Slavicisms), sayings from Russian fairy tales, as well as allusions pertaining to Russian linguaculture. Thus, incorporating elements of Russian fairy tales and other folklore genres enables the translingual and transcultural writer to familiarize English-speaking readers with elements of Slavic linguaculture through the combination and hybridization of English and Russian literary traditions in mythopoetic literature.

Keywords

• bilingualism
• bilingual writer
• heritage language speaker of russian
• linguaculture
• syncretism
• transcultural literature
• mythopoetic literature