The Dispute About St. George the Victorious in Poetic Texts About the Miraculous Events on Nikolskaya Mountain

Альманах
Key words
folklore, non-fairytale prose, legend, tradition, naive poetry, variability of folklore texts
Author
Antonina P. Lipatova
About the Author
orcid.org/0000-0002-9041-1342
E-mail: antonina.antonina282@yandex.ru Tel.: +7 (8422) 44-11-58
4/5, Lenin sq., Ul’yanovsk, 432071, Russian Federation,
PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after I. N. Ulyanov
Received
Date of publication
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26158/TK.2024.25.1.007
Body

This article analyzes poetic works by the naive poet Valery Alexandrovich Eremin, who lives in Sursky (formerly Promzino), Sursky district, Ulyanovsk region. That is where Nikolskaya Mountain, a large sacred center revered by residents of the Ulyanovsk and neighboring regions, is located. According to texts from the second half of the XIX – early XX century as well as modern oral and written accounts, Nikolskaya Mountain became revered as holy after Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared on it and scared away enemies who were threatening the village. Since the late nineteenth century, however, some have cast doubt on the story’s veracity. Eremin has his own poetic version of the event, different from existing accounts, with which he is familiar, although none of them is authoritative for him. According to Mikhail Lur’e, the special nature of a naive poet’s patriotism leads to a “reconstruction” of the concept of “small homeland” (land of one’s birth), and instead of seeking artistic perfection, the naive author “sees his [work’s] merit in ‘informing’ other people — fellow villagers, descendants, potential readers.” Debate over the nature of the miraculous event has allowed the poet to create his own history, inscribing his small homeland into world history.

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For citation

Lipatova A. P. The Dispute About St. George the Victorious in Poetic Texts About the Miraculous Events on Nikolskaya Mountain. Traditional Culture. 2024. Vol. 25. No. 1. Pp. 109–122. In Russian.