“Landscape of images”: symbolic representations of Yakutia in the geopoetics of political exiles

In this article, based on the historical and cognitive analysis of the artistic heritage of political exiles (XIX-XX centuries), who influenced the formation of intellectual history and culture of Yakutia, symbolic images associated with the North as the “periphery” of the Russian Empire are revealed. In the mental mapping of artistic space, positive and negative images constructed on the basis of the “supporting metaphor” - Cold - are highlighted. It is concluded that this concept of Cold influenced the formation of the main metaphorical image of Yakutia as the “edge of the earth” and created a layer of various concepts, knowledge, associations and experiences consisting of conceptual and value-symbolic components. It has been revealed that depending on the emotional and sensory perception of the surrounding space, one can observe the transformation of the mental image of the North. The collective image of the North includes many elements that allow us to present it as a mythologeme, and on the other hand, to consider the variations of the mentality of an exile forced to be in a completely alien world. Thus, despite the fact that imperial policy actively promoted the image of the North as an exotic and rich land, the “narrative of captivity” imposed on the works of political exiles transmits the image of the space of exile associated with the North as a “land of suffering” and “trials”.