MOTÍV SMRTI V SLOVENSKÝCH ĽUDOVÝCH USPÁVANKÁCH

• Authors: Kulíková Terézia

Title variants

EN

Motif of death in Slovak folk lullabies

• Languages of publication: SK

Abstracts

EN

Although the primary function of the lullaby is coded in the very word that designates it, its secondary functions are equally important – they have been shown to have an impact on child development and mental health of the performer. The act of singing a lullaby creates a specific communicative situation in which the recipient does not fully understand its lyrics. Usually, the communicative act also only involves the performer and the child and the uniquely intimate moment that emerges creates an opportunity for the expedient to express all their thoughts – even the most unpleasant ones. The psycho-hygienic function comes to the fore and provides the performer with a space for introspection. This dimension is often reflected in the texts of lullabies in negative motifs, such as death. In various allegorical forms, death is present in as many as one in five Slovak folk lullabies. In careful interpretative analysis, it is possible to detect subtle differences in the meaning of motifs that may not originally refer to death. On this basis, death motifs can be divided into primary ones, which always symbolise death (black earth, church, river, covering/throwing, ringing of the bells, calling of a close person from the other world) and secondary ones, which acquire this meaning by updating individual motifs or whole recurring stanzas in the vertical structure of the text.

Keywords

EN

SLOVAK FOLK SONG; LULLABY; DEATH MOTIF; RECURRING STANZA

• Publisher: Institute of Slovak Literature, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Slovenská literatúra (Slovak Literature)
• Year: 2023
• Volume: 70
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 520 – 535

Contributors

author

Kulíková Terézia

• Department of Czech and Slovak Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, 81 Oedae-ro, Mohyeon-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17035, South Korea

• https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2909-4840

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31577/slovlit.2023.70.5.5