Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.15176/vol62no16
Oral Narratives about the Metamorphosis of a Human into a Mole: A Slavic Parallel
Dragoljub Perić
orcid.org/0000-0003-1077-3405
; Filozofski fakultet, Sveučilište u Novom Sadu
*
Dušan Vladislav Paždjerski
orcid.org/0000-0001-5999-4431
; Institut za klasične i slavenske studije, Sveučilište u Gdanjsku
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Numerous variants of the etiological legend about turning a man into a mole as punishment for stealing land and perjury are widespread in the Slavic ethnocultural area. They are highly concentrated among the South Slavs. The story about the transformation into a mole has an explanatory and moralizing-didactic purpose – by using a well-known and widespread animal species, it shows the gravity and the consequences for perjury (the deceiver’s son, hidden underground, turns into a mole after a false testimony). Unlike the Serbian legend, the Kashubian one varies the characters (a servant rather than a deceiver’s son hides in the hole) and some plot elements, whereas fraud is prevented by a higher force – turning the hidden servant into a mole before the deceit. The international motif of property boundary deceit, with consequences remaining after the perpetrators’ death, gained a specific moralizing interpretation in the Balkans, as well as along the Baltic coast, by activating predominantly chthonic and negative semantics (underground life, ties with the cult of the dead, blindness, etc.) in a layered and primarily ambivalent symbolism of the mole. Like ancient bestiaries and emblemata, the text, image, speech (narration) and example – a well-known animal as evidence – highlight the importance and value of upholding ancient ethical norms – both for the community and individuals.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
332580
URI
Publication date:
24.6.2025.
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