RSSS 315 Tier 2

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RSSS 315 (Tier 2)

• Vampires and Werewolves Slavic Folklore in Our
  Culture

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Basic information

• Instructor George Gutsche
• gutscheg_at_u.arizona.edu
• http//russian.arizona.edu/courses/balkans
• Office hours TTH 330-430 or by appointment
• Course listserv balkans_at_listerv.arizona.edu

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Announcements (2nd Meeting)

• Note the changes to syllabus
• Friday night 20/20 segment on vampires

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Origins Eastern Europe
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An area of the world that is

• Complicated
• Dangerous
• Rich in tradition
• Linguistically and culturally diverse
• Multi-national

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Mountain Ranges
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Transylvania
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Folklore

• Classified by genre, area of origin
• Oral and performance based (like drama, opera)
• Transcribed from oral performance by collectors
  (Brothers Grimm, Vuk Karadic, Afanasev)
• Fictional by implication
• Functions in various ways (warnings ritual
  accompaniment entertainment)

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Kinds, genres

• Poetic ritual songs, historical songs, folk
  ballads, epics

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Kinds, genres

• Prose
• Myth
• Legend
• Fairy tales
• Superstitions

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Myth

• Story, or characters and themes in a story, often
  with supernatural elements, that is accorded
  special status in a society by custom or
  tradition because it involves origins
• Untrue religious story in popular understanding

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Legend

• Story about people that contains supernatural
  elements
• Told as if it were an historical event and may
  reflect a real event

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Fairy Tale

• Story with magic, magical creatures, witches,
  dragons

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Languages of Eastern Europe-Slavic

• Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusan
• Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian
• Bulgarian
• Slovenian
• Macedonian
• Czech, Slovak
• Polish

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Non-Slavic

• Albanian
• Rumanian
• Greek
• Hungarian
• Turkish
• German

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Empires in Contact and Conflict

• Byzantine Empire
• Ottoman Empire
• Austrian and Austro-Hungarian Empire

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Alphabets

• Latin
• Cyrillic
• Greek
• Latin Plus and Pronunciation issues

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Special characters (for Slavic)

• zhe
• C che
• C chee
• sha
• Transliteration issues

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Important fact

• Languages (and customs and folklore) dont
  respect national borders

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Etymology of vampire and werewolf words

• Terminological complexity
• Perkowski books
• Classification of written accounts

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Slavic Mythology

• Variety
• Many unrelated types
• Magicians, sorcerers closest to our topic

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Machal

• Numerous creatures with varying forms and powers
• Deeply embedded in belief system
• Co-exist with Christianity (dvoeverie)
• Mora, vukodlak, upir, oboroten are most relevant
  to us
• Ancestor rituals, death rituals

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More Gods

• Household, e.g. Domovye
• Little people, e.g. Ludki
• Fate gods, e.g., Roanice, Dolya
• Unhappy soul gods navye/navky, rusalki (water
  nymphs)
• Beautiful women, e.g., Vily (fairies) and wild
  women
• Forest spirit, Leshii, and field spirit, Polevoi
• Water spirit Vodianoi

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Major Gods

• Svarog, Svantovit
• Triglav
• Chernobog
• Dazhbog
• Khors (Chors)

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Celebrations, festivals

• Appeasing gods is important
• Sacrifices are part of the appeasement
• Dual faith issues prominent

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Christianity

• 988 for East Slavic tribes
• 9th century for West and South Slavic

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East Slavic

• Language early form of Russian, Ukrainian,
  Belarusan
• Orthodox Christianity (Constantinople)
• Prince Vladimir converted Kiev Slavs in 988
• Idols destroyed, but belief system remained

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Leshii (leii) (two of them)
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Vodianoi
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Rusalka
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Other Rusalki
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Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

• Paradjanov, 1964 film
• Armenian, both in Georgia
• 1924-90
• Ukrainian (Hutsul) culture Slavic, Hungarian
• 19th century setting
• Isolation from rest of world

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Characters

• Ivan
• Marichka
• Palagna
• Iura (Hradyvnyk and Molfar)

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Qualities

• Ethnographic document
• Authenticity
• Colorful apparel, rituals (marriage, funeral)
• Strong, elemental passions

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Erzsébet Bathory
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Vseslav of Polotsk

• Belarusan Prince, 1030-1101
• Great Grand-Grandson of Vladimir
• Werewolf-sorcerer reputation (Vseslav the
  Magician)