Folk Narrative

У чарговай публікацыі палявых фальклорна-этнаграфічных матэрыялаў, сабраных у 2007 г. у мястэчку Лаварышкі, вёсках Масцішкі, Няверышкі і Дзеканішкі (Віленскі раён, Літва) , прадстаўлены разнастайныя звесткі па рэгіянальнай ідэнтычнасці, вуснай гісторыі, этнічных стэрэатыпах, міфалагічных уяўленнях і павер’ях, каляндарнай і сямейнай абраднасці, земляробчых і жывёлагадоўчых звычаях і абрадах, традыцыях харчавання, народнай медыцыне, песенным фальклоры гістарычнай Віленшчыны. У час экспедыцыі ў якасці інфармантаў выступілі не толькі карэнныя жыхары, але і мігранты з памежнай тэрыторыі Беларусі, якія ў савецкія часы актыўна перасяляліся ў суседнія раёны Літвы. Запісаныя ад іх дыскурсіўныя і наратыўныя выказванні, звязаныя з разнастайнымі аспектамі ідэнтыфікацыі і самаразумення мясцовага насельніцтва, адлюстроўваюць суб’ектыўную і сітуацыйную прыроду этнічнасці (напрыклад, глядзіце тыповы для беларуска-літоўскага памежжа расказ пра змену міжпакаленнай прыпісной ідэнтычнасці, калі пасля вайны ў “польскіх бацькоў” нараджаліся “беларускія дзеці”). Апрача таго, запісы ад перасяленцаў добра паказваюць якім чынам лакальныя культурныя адрозненні і характарыстыкі, прынесеныя з суседніх тэрыторый Беларусі, у новым сацыяльным асяроддзі могуць уключаюцца ў агульны рэгіянальны кантэкст памежжа або набываць этнічна маркіраваную афарбоўку.

Для публікацыя абраныя палявыя запісы, зробленыя ў час фальклорна-этнаграфічнай экспедыцыі ў 2008 г. у Салечніцкім (Шальчынінкайскім) р-не Літвы. Гэта фрагменты дзесяці апытанняў і інтэрв’ю з мясцовымі жыхарамі, зробленых на розныя тэмы ў мястэчках і вёсках Яшуны, Гай, Малыя Салечнікі, Будойці, Навасяды, Тургелі. Звесткі па народнай прозе і лірыцы, павер’ях і ўяўленнях, каляндарнай, сямейнай і земляробчай абраднасці, народнай медыцыне, традыцыях харчавання, вуснай гісторыі ствараюць карціну моўнай і культурнай самабытнасці Салечніцкага краю.

Colección de cuentos folklóricos argentinos de la especie de cuentos animalísticos recopilados en investigaciones de campo, clasificados por el sistema ATU, acompañados de un estudio preliminar, con descripción de tipos temáticos y tabla de narradores

This article aims to demonstrate that folk tales can be understood as socionarratives or as meaningful narratives within a social framework; therefore, I will carry out an analysis focused on fundamental social parameters from the perspective of women’s role. One of the singularities
of fairy tales is that they relate the young protagonists’ itinerary until their elevation to men or women’s status. They go through the different life stages in which they must pass some tests to demonstrate courage and
aptitude, characteristics that at the end of the journey will provide them to fulfil a heroic destiny. While this itinerary lasts, the hero/ heroine is governed by patterns of behaviour and norms imposed by his/her society, and in his/her actions, he/she tries to obey the ways of acting assimilated during the socialization. Therefore, a rigorous textual analysis can bring
us closer to the comprehension of women’s roles and image as they are represented in the folk narratives collected from different Gypsy communities in Spain and Hungary.

En este artículo pretendo demostrar que los cuentos folclóricos pueden ser
entendidos como socio-narraciones, o como narraciones significativas dentro de un marco social; por consiguiente, llevaré a cabo un análisis centrado en parámetros sociales fundamentales desde la perspectiva del papel de la mujer. Una de las singularidades de las narraciones folclóricas y, sobre todo, de los cuentos maravillosos en general, es que relatan el itinerario de los jóvenes protagonistas hasta su elevación a la condición de hombres o de mujeres mientras recorren las distintas etapas de la vida, en las que hay que superar pruebas y demostrar valentía y aptitud, características que al final del trayecto ayudan a cumplir destino heroico. Mientras dura este itinerario el héroe/la heroína se rige por normas impuestas por su comunidad y en sus actuaciones procura obedecer a los comportamientos aprendidos en la infancia. Por ende, un análisis textual riguroso nos puede ayudar a entender la imagen que se tiene sobre la mujer según es representada en las narraciones folclóricas recogidas en distintas comunidades gitanas de España y Hungría.

Some beliefs in the supernatural have not diminished appreciably in modern cultures, in spite of many predictions that they would do so. This course will examine traditional beliefs about supernatural beings, supernatural realms, and humans who interact with these, as well as the historical development of Western ideas of “the supernatural” itself. Some areas we may consider include witchcraft, revenants, superstitions, divination, healing, and legend tripping, and there will be room for students to explore other areas.

The goals of this course are to:
1) Gain an introduction to critical concepts, approaches, and methods in the study of culture and the supernatural.
2) Enhance your understanding of human diversity through the study of cross-cultural examples of supernatural folklore.
3) Develop an understanding of the ways in which various genres of folklore have been used as vehicles for the expression of human relationships to the supernatural.

Colección de cuentos maravillosos argentinos recogidos en viajes de campo en la provincia de La Rioja, clasificados por el sistema ATU, con un estudio postliminar referido a los rasgos distintivos del cuento folklórico. Ilustrado con grabados de Elena Davicino

This thesis is a study of an ongoing debate in the Irish Republican and wider Catholic/Nationalist/Republican communities in Northern Ireland. The debate began in 2005 and revolves around the claim that Sinn Féin, one of the main Republican parties in the region, let six of ten hunger strikers die in 1981 in order to gain votes and political power. The project examines the debate as it appears on “Republican.ie”, an Irish Republican website, and how the users form narratives about the events in 1981. It specifically looks at posts made on the website from 2008 all the way to the present day in order to trace repeating patterns of behaviour amongst the user-base, such as how the users evaluate the various pieces of evidence and the manner in which they employ this evidence in the service of the narrative they wish to tell. The project argues that this behaviour is not restricted to the users of “Republican.ie”, but will be found amongst the wider Republican community in Northern Ireland and probably everyone and therefore the behaviour discussed might reveal much about the transmission of folk narratives in the modern age and how they come into being.

This is the second edition of the 3-volume "Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales." Revised and expanded, "Folktales and Fairy Tales" has over 100 additional, new entries and a 4th volume that is an anthology of fairy-tale texts and related genres selected from around the world and a broad historical range. This second edition is co-edited with Anne E. Duggan.

In this essay I try to argue a broader and deeper notion of fairy tale, beginning from an overview of some of the key terminologies and classifications devised and employed by folk-narrative research, passing through an etymological and semantic scrutiny of the word 'fairy', and developing, eventually, a structural analysis purposely framed within the historical-cultural context of the Irish tradition. What I attempt to let emerge – challenging to some extent the established concepts and theories – is a more comprehensive narrative category, characterised by a specific epistemological and ontological value, through which a sort of intermediate, neutral space is modelled, where boundaries are crossed and elements more or less heterogeneous are connected. Thus, the fairy tale can express a multi-dimensional worldview and the potential for a more complex idea of reality.

Cuentos de animales y creencias sociales
Los cuentos de animales constituyen expresiones narrativas folklóricas
por excelencia, que trasladan al dominio semántico del reino animal temas
y conflictos vinculados con identidades sociales de los grupos humanos más
variados, en una elaboración poética. En este volumen, ofrezco una colección
de relatos animalísticos que recopilé en investigaciones de campo, la mayoría
realizadas en el noroeste argentino. La colección está acompañada de una
breve reflexión sobre conceptos y paradigmas del Folklore, sistemas clasificatorios y modalidades de archivo. Un aspecto saliente de la dinámica de los
relatos es la tensión entre el ajuste a modelos universales y el anclaje en la vida
cotidiana de comunidades argentinas.
El eje ordenador de la colección parte de la hipótesis de que los relatos
animalísticos que comprenden cuentos ficcionales y narraciones presentadas
como casos de ocurrencia verídica, expresiones rituales y otras manifestaciones narrativas, expresan creencias sociales sobre la relación entre los seres humanos, loa animales y los seres sobrenaturales. Este hilo conductor sustenta la
modalidad de organización que imprimí al conjunto de relatos, para mostrar
cómo las creencias locales modifican patrones universales fijados en el curso
de la tradición oral y de sus fijaciones escriturarias. Para explicar estos criterios y discutir esta afirmación, incluí un estudio introductorio donde expongo
los fundamentos de mi propuesta.
Aquí intento presentar un eslabón de la memoria colectiva argentina,
plasmada en aventuras de animales, de la manera en la que fueron contadas
por narradores locales, quienes resignifican patrones de la narrativa folklórica
universal. En ellas, se reconocen personajes y situaciones del contexto argentino, en recreaciones estéticas de nuestra identidad cultural.

The legends of the bull from Vlasina lake belong to the extensive corpus of mythological texts concerning water guardians. This demonic creature belongs to the cluster of so­called water bulls; their characteristics and functions have largely been researched in a Slavic context. Besides cllasic ethnographic and folklore material, we discuss contemporary field records of this legend’s variants, recorded by this author. New material shows the “layering” of new motifs over the architext (dissapearance of the demon, caused by dam building, earthquake on Vlasina and the new “emergence” of the water bull) but a partial reduction of the architext as well (punishing the family of someone who outwitted the water bull – a blacksmith or a potter – is often omitted as a motif), which is how we can trace the logic of “story life” in this material. Since the “revival” of legends about the water bull from Vlasina lake experienced significant media resonance (print and television), it also opens the possibility to analyse the status of a mythological text in media discourse.

Sintetizo aquí una propuesta teórica elaborada en el curso de largos años como investigadora y docente de Folklore en espacios académicos relacionados con la danza, el espectáculo y la expresión corporal. Retomo consideraciones efectuadas en trabajos anteriores y agrego otras nuevas, para articularlas en una reflexión sobre folklore y artes performativas. La originalidad de esta presentación reside en la relectura de materiales ya trabajados a la luz de otros nuevos, en un recorrido teórico que resignifica una trayectoria de investigación con aportes de distintas perspectivas, vinculadas con la performatividad y los estudios sobre el cuerpo.

In this paper we attempt to illustrate the functional role that the mechanism of repetition plays in folk narrative, especially that addressed to the child audience, both in the pedagogical and the aesthetic level.
More specifically, the folk storyteller, based on personal experience and observation, has an intuitive ability to understand the psychological world of young and older children. This means, among others, that he acknowledges the value of repetition and its pedagogical impact on children’s minds, therefore he systematically uses it when developing a myth, for example. In this way, repetition has become a technique inherent in several folk narratives.
From the aesthetic viewpoint, repetition creates satisfaction and joy among children, forms the unique internal rhythm of the story, and, to some extent, determines the poetic value of it. The intensity and quality of emotions expressed in the narrative depend upon repetition. The more intense the emotions articulated by words are, the more poetic the narrative becomes.

Гэтая публікацыя – вынік працы палявой экспедыцыі, праведзенай 20–
28 ліпеня 2010 г. на тэрыторыі Віленскага раёна Літвы ў вёсках Жэмайтэлі, Каляснікі, Чапурнішкі, Кулі, Вялікая Касіна, Адамчукі, Слабада, Чарнулішкі і Бурнішкі, у якіх пражывае пераважна беларускамоўнае насельніцтва. У выніку экспедыцыі былі сабраны багатыя звесткі па каляндарнай і сямейнай абраднасці, земляробчых і жывёлагадоўчых звычаях, розных жанрах і відах фальклору, народнай медыцыне, міфалогіі, гаспадарчых занятках, традыцыях харчавання, народнай архітэктуры, вуснай гісторыі, антрапаніміі і мікратапаніміі. У сваёй сукупнасці яны яскрава адлюстроўваюць лакальна-рэгіянальную адметнасць і варыятыўнасць народнай культуры Віленшчыны ўзору сярэдзіны мінулага стагоддзя ва ўсходняй частцы сучаснага Віленскага раёна Літвы.

L’incontro tra oralità e scrittura e, più in generale, tra folklore e letteratura, tra dialetto locale e lingua nazionale, tra cultura popolare e cultura ufficiale, implica l’interazione di una serie di fattori – non sempre chiaramente identificabili e spesso anzi sfuggenti – che, dando vita a una sorta di area ibrida di transizione, permettono ai due campi di partenza di confrontarsi e di pervenire a una sintesi più o meno convincente e prevedibile. Si tratta pertanto di un terreno di studio quanto mai complesso e scivoloso, dal momento che obbliga il ricercatore a valutare attentamente da un lato le peculiarità che contraddistinguono due forme specifiche di creatività e comunicazione umana, dall’altro il ruolo svolto dai contesti storici, sociali, culturali nei quali, nel corso del tempo e nella varietà dello spazio, queste due forme si sono incontrate. Questo discorso vale in particolare per quel ricco e variegato patrimonio di narrativa orale che, soprattutto negli ultimi due secoli, è stato raccolto, trascritto, catalogato e pubblicato da studiosi, scrittori o semplici cultori delle tradizioni popolari secondo modalità più o meno differenti, in virtù della diversità di intenzioni, necessità e obiettivi perseguiti. In tali circostanze il mondo vivo e irripetibile espresso dal narratore orale e dal suo racconto viene fissato, una volta per tutte, dalla registrazione del raccoglitore, il quale gli darà poi una determinata forma testuale, per mezzo di una scrittura che si atterrà più o meno fedelmente a quanto ascoltato, a seconda dell’oggettiva possibilità di rendere esattamente i tratti formali e contenutistici del racconto e della soggettiva volontà di dare una propria impronta al testo in questione.
L’oralità, più della scrittura, adopera formule stilistiche, stereotipi linguistici, modi di dire convenzionali, espressioni idiomatiche che, oltre a svolgere un’indispensabile funzione mnemonica, agevolando il passaggio di una storia tradizionale da un narratore all’altro, da una generazione all’altra, da un luogo all’altro, conferiscono anche una fisionomia e uno spirito particolari al racconto, fisionomia e spirito che sono propri del contesto mutevole e interattivo della performance orale, dove il narratore deve tener conto, in primo luogo, delle caratteristiche e delle aspettative di un pubblico che è realmente – e non idealmente, come è nel caso della creazione letteraria – presente. La scrittura, dunque, deve confrontarsi con queste formule ricorrenti e distintive e cercare di renderle comprensibili e fruibili anche su una pagina stampata. Là dove essa miri a una trasposizione fedele e scientificamente valida della narrazione orale, la scrittura deve preoccuparsi di comunicare al lettore, nei limiti del possibile, la specificità linguistica, che è spesso dialettale, e quella culturale del racconto, e ciò implica una vera e propria opera di traduzione, tanto linguistica quanto culturale, dalla quale deriva un testo ibrido che, con tutti i suoi limiti – anzi, proprio in virtù di tali limiti – assume un valore inestimabile, perché ci permette di valutare le dissonanze e le consonanze tra il mondo dell’oralità popolare e quello della scrittura letteraria e/o scientifica, che nel corso della storia hanno sempre convissuto, influenzandosi reciprocamente.
La mia analisi si focalizza su un genere narrativo, la fiaba, che, forse più di altri, fonda buona parte della sua identità e del suo stesso fascino sull’uso di formule e stereotipi, e che più di altri, vuoi per la sua brevità vuoi per la sua immediatezza, ha trovato nella trasmissione orale un canale privilegiato. Più specificamente prendo in esame la fraseologia che connota il prologo e l’epilogo dei racconti, che sono i momenti topici della narrazione, quelli più adatti ad essere resi in uno stile formulaico, anche perché sono quelli che si fissano più facilmente nella memoria e necessitano dunque di essere adeguatamente caratterizzati e messi in rilievo. Il corpus testuale sul quale conduco la mia ricerca è costituito dalle fiabe raccolte in Puglia nella prima metà del secolo scorso dal demologo molfettese Saverio La Sorsa (Fiabe e novelle del popolo pugliese, riedito nel 2014 dalle Edizioni di Pagina), il quale fornisce sia la trascrizione dialettale sia la traduzione italiana del materiale pubblicato. A complemento di tale analisi sincronica propongo una comparazione diacronica con l’antologia di Fiabe pugliesi della Mondadori (1983), il cui interesse consiste principalmente nel fatto che i testi, per la maggior parte provenienti proprio dalla raccolta di La Sorsa, sono stati selezionati e scientificamente introdotti da un demoantropologo, Giovanni Battista Bronzini, e tradotti con acuta sensibilità da uno scrittore, Giuseppe Cassieri, fornendoci così un interessante e significativo esempio della molteplicità di livelli di lettura e di (ri)scrittura cui può dar luogo una fiaba di tradizione orale.

RESUMEN: En este trabajo, comparo relatos folklóricos infantiles recogidos de boca de los mismos niños, con registros escriturarios y mediatizados de las matrices " Caperucita Roja " y " Blancanieves ". La comparación permite advertir las brechas intertextuales entre narración oral, fijación escritural y recreación mediatizada, y reconocer estilos de narración diferenciados. Los relatos dan cuenta de un entramado intertextual de resignificaciones desde el universo de experiencias infantiles, con una performance propia. Palabras-clave: Caperucita Roja. Blancanieves. Fuga mágica. Narrativa folklórica infantil. Argentina. ABSTRACT: This article offers a comparison between oral folktales narrated by children and scriptural and filmic versions of two narrative matrices: Red Riding Hood and Snow White. Such comparison shows the intertextual gap between orality and literacy, and reflects as well differential styles of storytelling, dealing with different cultural contexts. Comparative analysis also reveals the intertextual gap between orality and the media, mixed up in the children's voices which recontextualise folk matrices with their own styles. The aim is to point out such recontextualization of folk narrative patterns in the voices of the children, who give new meanings to old stories.

Beginning with a critical reappraisal of the notion of “fairy tale” and extending it to include categories and genres which are in common usage in folklore and in literary studies, this book throws light on the general processes involved in storytelling. It illuminates the fundamental ways in which a culture is formed, while highlighting important features of the Irish narrative tradition, in all its wealth and variety and in its connections with the mythical and historical events of Ireland. The Irish Fairy Tale argues that the fairy tale is a kind of “neutral zone,” a place of transition as well as a meeting place for popular beliefs and individual creativity, oral tradition and literary works, historical sources and imaginary reconstructions, and for contrasting and converging views of the world, which altogether allow for a deeper and more sophisticated understanding of reality. The book focuses on stories by Yeats and Stephens, whose approach to the subject marks the culmination of a long tradition of attempts at linking past and present and of bridging the gap between what appear to be contradictory facets of a single culture. This leads to a comparative study of Joyce’s Dubliners, which illustrates the universal and exemplary nature of the notion of fairy tale put forward in the work.

International folkloristics, especially folk narrative studies have long been in want of comprehensive collection, enumeration and classification of historical legends; a sizeable task indeed and time-consuming to accomplish. Researchers have attempted to define the requirements for cataloguing for two centuries, but unified requirements were first conceived only in 1962 at the 1st ISFNR Conference (e.g. Tillhagen 1963). This monumental, 12-volume work under review here, with its strict and relevant methodologies and an exhaustive database may well be the fulfillment of much of these longstanding expectations of the folk narrative research community. At present, The Catalogue of Hungarian Historical Legends is by far the most extensive catalogue of this type.

Folklore, as a historical and cultural process producing and transmitting beliefs, stories, customs, and practices, has always thrived and evolved in the broader context of history and culture. Consequently, tradition and modernity have long coexisted and influenced one another, in particular in the world of folk narratives, orality and literature, storytellers and writers. Since the nineteenth century, folklorists (a category including a variety of figures) have collected, transcribed and published pieces of oral tradition, thus giving folklore a textual form and nature. However, folk narratives continue to be also a living and performed experience for the tradition bearers, a process giving rise to ever new and different expressions, according to the changing historical, social, cultural, and economic conditions. To be sure, folklore – and folk narrative – needs to be constantly lived and performed to remain something actually pertinent and significant, and not only within the oral and traditional contexts. Interestingly, between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, folklore increasingly came to be regarded as and transformed into an inheritance, a valuable, national heritage particularly fitting for those countries, such as Ireland, in search of a strong, national identity. In this light, folklore and folk narratives, beside their routine existence within their original contexts, were consciously " performed " by the official culture, which employed them in politics, education, literature, etc. In the process, it could happen that folk materials were dehistoricised and idealised, " embalmed " according to Máirtin Ó Cadhain, and even trivialised. This situation was turned into a fruitful and significant source of inspiration for the literary parody of Myles na gCopaleen (Flann O'Brien) who, in his Gaelic novel, An Béal Bocht, revealed the funny yet distressing truth of the Irish folklore being misunderstood and betrayed by the Irish themselves.

Resumen. El folklore, como proceso histórico y cultural que produce y transmite creencias, historias, costumbres y prácticas, siempre ha evolucionado en el amplio contexto de la historia y la cultura. Por consecuencia, la tradición y la modernidad se han influido mutuamente a lo largo del tiempo, particularmente en el campo de las narraciones populares, la oralidad y la literatura, los contadores de historias y los escritores. Desde el siglo XIX los folcloristas (que es

Чарговая публікацыя віленскага народнага наратыву знаёміць з вынікамі палявой фальклорна-этнаграфічнай экспедыцыі 2009 г., якая ахапіла вёскі на тэрыторыі Віленскага раёна Літвы з пераважным беларускамоўным насельніцтвам – Кена, Гейбулі, Шумск, Сіруцішкі, Віндзюны, Паненская Касіна, Барванішкі. Рознажанравыя творы празаічнага і песеннага фальклору, этнаграфічныя апісанні абрадаў і звычаяў, фрагменты вуснагістарычных інтэрв’ю і ўспамінаў даюць панарамнае ўяўленне аб рэаліях народнай культуры Віленшчыны сярэдзіны мінулага стагоддзя.

Lake Varano – along with the narrow isthmus separating it from the Adriatic Sea and the five towns standing around it (Ischitella, Carpino, Cagnano Varano, Rodi Garganico, Vico del Gargano) – is not only an enchanting piece of Gargano (Apulia, Southern Italy) landscape; it is also at the centre of an oral narrative tradition that is here examined in its wholeness (historical background, written and literary sources, ethnographic data, narratological and comparative analysis). It is an etiological legend, namely a narrative explaining the origin and the features of something or someone. As a mixture of history, myth and vernacular beliefs, this legend tells an extraordinary event, i.e. the sinking of an ancient and prosperous city, Uria – punished by a biblical deluge due to the sins of its inhabitants – and the resulting birth of the lake, the surrounding towns and the Annunziata shrine. This last one, according to the legend, was originally the outlying house of Nunzia, a young and pure woman, devoted to praying and spinning. Nunzia is the key figure of the story: thanks to her miraculous ball of thread, she (along with her house) is the only survivor from the deluge and, at the same time, the founder of a new order, both geographical and spiritual, as symbolized by the holy crucifix worshipped within the shrine. As a form of space- and place-lore, as well as of religious tale, this legend tells about the ideas, beliefs and images raised by a particular landscape and the relationships the human communities establish with the territory they inhabit.

Il lago di Varano, con il sottile istmo che lo separa dal mare e i cinque paesi che gli fanno corona (Ischitella, Cagnano Varano, Carpino, Rodi Garganico, Vico del Gargano), non è solo un suggestivo elemento del paesaggio garganico; è anche il protagonista di una tradizione narrativa che qui, per la prima volta, viene esaminata in tutti i suoi aspetti. Si tratta di una leggenda eziologica, ovvero di un racconto che spiega le origini di un luogo o le cause di un fenomeno. Mescolando storia, mito e credenze popolari, questa leggenda narra un evento memorabile, la scomparsa di un'antica e ricca città, Uria (biblicamente punita con un diluvio per i peccati dei suoi abitanti), e la conseguente origine del lago, dei paesi circumlacuali e del santuario dell'Annunziata. È quest'ultimo che, fin dal nome, ci riporta all'umile ma portentosa protagonista della leggenda, Nunzia. È lei la figura chiave, unica superstite di un passato sommerso dal lago e (ri)fondatrice di una storia e di un mondo nuovi, simboleggiati dal Crocifisso venerato nel santuario. Una leggenda affascinante e densa di significati, che ci invita a riflettere sui rapporti che intessiamo con i nostri luoghi e sull'impatto che il paesaggio ha nelle vicende umane.

This article investigates correlations between Fran Milčinski’s Butalci and humorous Slovenian folk narratives about Lemberg. A small market town, called Lemberg, is famous for being the centre of numerous jokes and humorous stories. Slovenian writer Milčinski’s popular stories about the people of the fictional town of Butale are regarded as a literary work, and have become part of the nation’s narrative repertoire. Nevertheless, as their comparison with the Slovenian and foreign narrative tradition demonstrates, almost all the stories in the book are based on popular, internationally known humorous folk tales about “numskulls”.

Az ember igyekszik „hellyé változtatni a teret”, ahol él, ezért jelentésekkel
ruházza fel az őt körülvevő természeti és épített környezetet. A hiedelemmondák, a
helyi mondák, a történeti mondák, az élmény- és igaztörténetek kulcsszerepet
játszanak ebben a kreatív folyamatban. Az elbeszélésekből formálódik az a narratív
háló, amelynek a segítségével az emberi közösségek újra- és újra meghatározzák a
tájhoz való viszonyulásukat.
Az orvoslás újkori piacterét kutatva a máriagyűdi kegyhely 18. századi csodagyűjteményeit is megvizsgáltam. A csodaelbeszélések nemcsak a
vonzáskörzet megállapításához szolgáltak hasznos adatokkal, de kiindulópontot
nyújtottak a Gyűdöt körülvevő táj szakrális topográfiájának felvázolásához is. A szent
helyek 18. századtól egészen napjainkig tartó számbavételéhez a kéziratos és
nyomtatott forrásokban megőrzött történetekre támaszkodtam, a jelenkori
állapotokról pedig a néprajzi terepmunkám alatt gyűjtött elbeszélésekből
tájékozódtam. Ekkor felfigyeltem fel a Siklós melletti Göntér-dombra, amit a 19.
századi helytörténeti munkák, a 20. században keletkezett gyűdi kegyhelytörténetek, valamint a környékbeli beszélgetőtársaim két szent alakjával hoztak összefüggésbe:
Kapisztrán Jánossal és Stefan Štiljanovićtyal. Tanulmányomban azokra a történetekre, elbeszélésekre, mondai motívumokra és legenda-elemekre összpontosítok, amelyek mentén egyazon narratív hálóban fonódott össze a domb és a két történelmi figura az elmúlt három évszázad alatt. Ennek a történetekből szőtt, többrétegű hálónak a középpontjában áll tehát a Göntér-domb, a vizsgálódás origója.