The image of a modern shaman. A literary example of Ida Brzezińska, the heroine of Martyna Raduchowska’s trilogy Cover Image

Konterfekt współczesnej szamanki. Literacki przykład Idy Brzezińskiej, bohaterki trylogii Martyny Raduchowskiej
The image of a modern shaman. A literary example of Ida Brzezińska, the heroine of Martyna Raduchowska’s trilogy

Author(s): Angelika Moskal
Subject(s): Polish Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Akademia Techniczno-Humanistyczna w Bielsku-Białej
Keywords: shamanism; shaman; Martyna Raduchowska; urban fantasy; popular culture;

Summary/Abstract: The shaman figure is most often associated with primitive communities, inhabiting, among others Siberia. The shaman plays one of the most important roles in them - he is an intermediary between the world of people and the world of spirits. Responds to, among others for the safe passage of souls to the other side and protects her from evil spirits. However, is there room for representatives of this institution in contemporary Polish popular literature? How would they find themselves in the 21st century? The article aims to show the interpretation of the shaman on the example of Ida Brzezińska, the heroine of the books of Martyna Raduchowska. I intend to introduce the role and functions of the „shaman from the dead”, juxtaposing the way Ida works (including reading sleepy margins from a rather unusual dream catcher, carrying out souls and the consequences that await in the event of failure or making contact with the dead) with the methods described by scholars shamans. The purpose of the work is to show how much Raduchowska tried to adapt shamanism in her work by modernizing it, and how many elements she added from herself to make the story more attractive.

  • Issue Year: 2/2021
  • Issue No: 37
  • Page Range: 117-135
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish