Parallels in the verbal magic of Eastern and Southern Slavs: the “life” of things as a charm plot

Abstract

The article is devoted to the similarities between the Balkan-Slavic and the Ukrainian charms, namely, to the story, involving the “life” of things, or so-called operational plot. Parallels with the Balkan-Slavic charms that contain а “life story” of things (foodstuff s or plants) are found not throughout the entire space of the Ukrainian ethno-dialectal zone, but along the southwest-northeast line: in the Hutsul region and Bukovina, in Podolia and the Dnieper area, as well as in the Left-Bank Ukraine. There are four versions of this plot presented in charms: “the story of bread”, “the story of fl ax / hemp”, “the story of cheese / butter” and “the story of fi sh”. The article notes that all four versions are known both among the Balkan Slavs and the Ukrainians, although “the story of cheese” dominates in the Balkans, while “the story of bread” prevails in Ukraine. It is shown that in the Balkan-Slavic and Ukrainian traditions the coinciding plot elements of the charms, containing “life stories” of foodstuff s or plants, appear not as atomic facts, but as elements of a system. In particular, this is refl ected in the fact that the functions of individual versions of texts and the features of their poetics coincide.