Традыцыя анімалістычных гратэскаў у беларускай культурнай прасторы
The tradition of animalistic grotesques in the Belarusian cultural space

Summary/Abstract: The subject of this study is the reception and use, as well as the artistic functions of the animalistic grotesque in the Belarusian folklore and book tradition from the second half of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The article studies folklore and literary poetic narrations from the Belarusian cultural space, in which animalistic images and motifs appear as allegories. Such narrations, widely represented in the folklore of Slavic and non-Slavic peoples, were gradually Christianized, filled with didactic content, and therefore became the basis for further processing. In literature, such plots functioned mainly as animalistic grotesques (a term inspired by the term animal grotesque, introduced by Czeslaw Hernas). The tradition of animalistic grotesques in the Belarusian cultural space is examined for the first time in the context of literary hermeneutics, in connection with the folk rituals and traditions (in particular, in connection with the Ptači kwas ritual preserved in the Lusatian Serbs). The popularity of animalistic grotesques can be seen even in the 21st century.

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