Trapped by care. Some thoughts based on Maria Stankova’s drama 'The dead head spoke to me' ('Мъртвата глава ми проговори')
Trapped by care. Some thoughts based on Maria Stankova’s drama 'The dead head spoke to me' ('Мъртвата глава ми проговори')

Author(s): Grażyna Szwat-Gyłybowa
Subject(s): Customs / Folklore, Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Bulgarian Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: ethics of care; Bulgarian folklore; motif of the walled-up woman; Maria Stankova; Bulgarian literature
Summary/Abstract: In folklore, the motif of the walled-up woman expresses the attitude of the folk artist to the issue of the sacrifice of a woman’s life made for the good of the community, which is the epitome of maternal concern. I prove that, contrary to cultural stereotypes, a folk song with this theme can be considered as a testimony to a deep pre-understanding of the limitations flowing from the shortcomings of moral attitudes attributed to men and women as special agents of care. The article is devoted to the problem of adapting this folk motif in the contemporary micro-play by Maria Stankova, The dead head spoke to me (Мъртвата глава ми проговори). Stankova, using a grotesque exaggeration of folk motifs, reveals the non-binary nature of ethical reality. Admittedly, the characters’ attitudes and their openness to caring for others are preconditioned by their cultural gender, but they are not determined by it.

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