E-mail: danijela.popovic.nikolic@filfak.ni.ac.rs Tel.: +381 (18) 514-312
2, Cyril and Methodius str., Nish, 18000, Serbia
PhD in Philology, Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Nish
The tale of the grateful dead man (AaTh 505–508) is widely known in the folklore of many nations of the world. In it the protagnist buries a dead man who comes alive and turns into the protagonist’s ally and companion and who helps the hero marry and acquire wealth. In this article, the author concentrates on the variants of this folktale type in Serbian, examining their theme-motif structure and the essential characteristics of the main protagonists. She also analyzes their literary sources and the interpenetration of oral texts of different genres (fairy tales, legendary stories and legends). Serbian oral stories about the grateful dead have been recorded since the first half of the nineteenth century; there are also accounts from the second half of the twentieth century. These stories, for which their earliest variants are preserved, reveal the existence of particuar international types as well as of adaptations to particular locations and traditions.
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