Myth and Rationality in Russian Popular Fairy Tales
Myth and Rationality in Russian Popular Fairy Tales

Summary/Abstract: Being a combination of mythological and everyday life details of the Slavic people, the Russian fairy tales surprise the reader with complex characters built on the archaic structures of their society and with interesting malefic figures. The mythological background and the historical details that contributed to shaping a malefic character – Baba Yaga – with different functions and states are analyzed by V. I. Propp, opening the perspective upon the relation between mythology and folklore, and establishing the basis of structural folklore. Fairy-tale motifs associated with this malefic character, as well as mythological representations related to Slavic traditions and rituals, are amongst the major concerns of this essay. Some possible etymologies are mentioned and the main opinions regarding the origin of this malefic figure are overviewed. One of the most important variants of its origin is analyzed, bringing arguments for its Slavic origin, and historical and mythological elements that concern the death cult and pre-Christian customs and rituals are examined. This colorful figure may be seen in its fullness due to various perspectives and, in particular, through the historical, ethnographic and anthropological research proposed by Propp, pointing out the ambivalent nature of this underground creature and its various functions in fairy tales, with its multitude of states, apparently opposed to one another.

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