Fairy Tale Motifs in the Slavic Universe of Marta Krajewska

Abstract

Marta Krajewska’s series of novels forming the so-called Slavic universe (Idź i czekaj mrozów, 2016, Zaszyj oczy wilkom, 2017 Wezwijcie moje dzieci, 2021) is characterized by noticeable generic syncretism, with fairy tales playing an important role in the construction of the presented world. In her trilogy, the author draws on the most popular, universal fairy tale motifs recorded in international catalogues as well as in Polska bajka ludowa w układzie systematycznym (The Systematic Catalogue of the Polish Folk Tale) by Julian Krzyżanowski, using as the basis of her own story. Krajewska applies the plot patterns of these fairy tales (T. 400A “Urvasi”, T. 333 “Little Red Riding Hood”, T. 425 “The Quest for a Lost Husband”) in the construction of the fates of her protagonists; they also appear by way of folkloric quotes, present, for example, in dialogue replies of the characters. In the narratives of the novels, the writer also devotes a lot of space to the phenomenon of oral transmission of fairy tales, characteristic of folk tradition, and the function of this phenomenon in the life of the local community. However, the numerous references to folk tradition do not mean that Krajewska recreates the logic of selected motifs established in the folk tradition, with their characteristic intentionality and moral messages. The main novelty of the literary approach to traditional tales (especially the story of Little Red Riding Hood) lies in the author’s departure from the fairy tale’s warning role and in her focus on the ambivalence of fascination and horror evoked in the heroine by the figure of the wolf, which in the narrative structure initiates a complex love story with dramatic complications and frequent plot twists, leading, however, towards a happy ending.