Towards a hermeneutic interpretation of the epic of king Gesar

The article analyzes The Epic of King Gesar in terms of the hermeneutic aesthetics of nature as part of the ecological aesthetics that arose in the 20th century at the intersection of environmental esthetics and traditional aesthetics. We make a distinction between the Russian and American traditions of environmental aesthetics. H.-G. Gadamer’s hermeneutical methodology is used in the work to describe imagery of the epic, which is of significant aesthetic and environmental value. Then communicative and significative functions of nature are studied. The article considers the use of such hermeneutical categories as the hermeneutic circle, preunderstanding, fusion of horizons, prejudices, and play for interpretation of the cults of the sun, moon, planets, stars. The above categories are applied to the analysis of sacred images of the Eternal Blue Sky and Mother Earth (Etugen), as well as various natural elements like fog, snow, frost, wind, rain. We present the hermeneutic interpretation of the aesthetic reflection upon the message of nature as an equal dialogue between man and nature. The human initially was a part of natural system, and all human activity had always been connected with nature, therefore in The Epic of King Gesar the leitmotiv of the unity of man and nature sounds. We have come to the conclusion that The Epic of King Gesar has the heuristic resource, which can make a contribution to formation of ecological consciousness in the era of environmental pollution and transition of humanity to sustainable development of society.