Motif Index of Prophetic Dream Narratives: Methods of Compilation
Motif Index of Prophetic Dream Narratives: Methods of Compilation
Author(s): Anna Andreevna LazarevaSubject(s): Customs / Folklore, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Culture and social structure
Published by: Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum
Keywords: prophetic dream narratives; motif index; narrative structures; semiotic analysis; invariants and variants; Eastern Slavs; oral tradition; dreams as folklore; symbolism of dreams; dream interpretation;
Summary/Abstract: The article proposes methods for describing and classifying invariant structures of stories about prophetic dreams in the form of a motif index. The author raises the question of what elements of prophetic dream narratives can be defined as folkloric and introduces a classification system of prophetic dream narratives (according to their invariants). Revealing invariants (narrative structures) in the prophetic dream narratives allows the author to create a motif index, which lets us understand the traditional logic of dream interpretation: the rules of generating prophetic dream narratives and the ‘narrative grammar’ lying in the core of stories about prophetic dreams. The motif index covers stories about prophetic dreams recorded by ethnographers and folklorists in the Eastern Slavic regions from the early twentieth century to 2020.
Journal: Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore
- Issue Year: 2023
- Issue No: 89
- Page Range: 161-190
- Page Count: 30
- Language: English