The Subjugation of Water As a Literary Motif

Abstract

For classical mythology, the act of creation is always the shaping and  subjugation of chaos, which is represented as water. In contrast to cosmogonic myths, eschatological myths present the end of the world as a flood, a return to primordial disorder and formlessness. Therefore, fears associated with water represent a general civilizational fear that is overcome by subduing water – an act that the work presents as a literary motif. The works analyzed in the paper are Henderson, The Rain King by Saul Bellow, The Rain Maker by Herman Hesse, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules
Verne, and The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić. Through a comparative and critical analysis of these examples, chosen either because they consciously refer to the tradition of the motif, or represent prominent examples in different genres, and referring to literature from the fields of sociology, anthropology and literary studies, the paper concludes that the subjugation of water does indeed emerge as a significant and persistent literary motif – it is expressed through individual mastery of the forces of nature through magic or technology and through the collective acts, such
as the builders’ sacrifice that subdues the mythical space and becomes the new, sacred navel of the world.