Keel ja Kirjandus (Sep 2024)
Vägivaldne surm muinasjuttudes
Abstract
"Violent death in folktales". Folktales are often rife with scenes of bloodshed and violence, even cruelty. Such violence frequently serves a narrative purpose, propelling the plot, facilitating character development, and delivering poetic justice. This article delves into the historical context of violence in folktales, analysing its portrayal across different folktale types. It pays particular attention to how the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale collection has influenced folktales and authors of Estonian fairy tale collections (Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, Juhan Kunder). The Brothers Grimm notably used violence as a pedagogical tool in their stories. Violence depicted in folktales can unexpectedly resonate with real-world events, prompting a re-evaluation of how we engage with and interpret these traditional narratives. Modern adaptations often tone down or omit violent elements, reflecting a shift in societal values. This underscores the enduring power of folktales to mirror and grapple with the complexities of human experience, including its darker aspects like violence and conflict. The analysis encompasses 300 texts from the academic anthology series of Estonian folktales published as part of the Monumenta Estoniae antiquae series. The sample included 100 tales from each published volume of the academic edition: fairy tales (tales of magic), animal tales, and realistic tales (Novelle). AI-powered analysis using chatbots has been utilized to help identify characters, their roles, violence, and instances of death within the folktales. Texts recorded in Estonian dialects pose a challenge – some are translated into standard Estonian, while others are accompanied by word explanations –, as does the poetic expression characteristic of folktales. Among all the events identified in the analyzed texts, the proportion of violent deaths is highest in animal tales. The functions of fairy tales, as outlined by Vladimir Propp, are also considered: in fairy tales, the highest number of violent deaths occurs (as expected) in Propp’s function no. 30, Punishment. This may suggest that fairy tales strongly emphasize the importance of maintaining a moral order.
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