Border crossing as a way of characters initiation in The annals of the western shore by Ursula Le Guin

The article addresses the specifics of the characters initiation in The Annals of the Western Shore - a fantasy cycle by an American writer Ursula Le Guin. The novelty of the research is due to the appeal to Le Guin’s late works (the cycle was written between 2004 and 2006), which have been little studied. Studying the mythopoetic basis of the main characters’ images allows us to investigate both the features of Le Guin’s creative method and the specifics of fantasy heroes. The relevance of the study is determined by the significant place that fantasy occupies in modern literature and culture. Descriptive, mythopoetic and comparative research methods are used. It is noted that Ursula Le Guin uses the mythological tradition when building the secondary world (the world of the Western Shore is built on binary oppositions), but reinterprets many traditional images and motifs. The images of the main characters in The Annals of the Western Shore are analyzed. The main heroes of the cycle have such features as the original position’s instability and the ability to cross cultural and social borders. It is emphasized that the characters initiation starts with the situation of injury. It is imperative for the heroes to go beyond the border of the ordinary into the realm of the supernatural, but the expected acquisition of extraordinary abilities by the heroes does not occur. The initiation correlates with the stages of ritual rites of passage and with the scheme of the mythological hero’s journey according to Joseph Campbell. After the initiation, the heroes remain in a borderline position between different cultures and between the world of reality and the text. The main heroes’ task is to constantly cross the boundaries for personal development and then for the creation of a new harmonious space. It is concluded that the characters initiation in The Annals of the Western Shore occurs through the crossing of various boundaries (their own consciousness, social standards, social roles, cultural and religious traditions, etc.). As a result, the heroes acquire the cultural mediation function which correlates with the mythological image of the poet and the archetype of the reader.