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E. Boratynsky’s poem ‘The Stillborn’ [‘Nedonosok’] in the context of Slavic mythology
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2024-5-75-89
Abstract
The article deals with E. Boratynsky’s poem about a spirit of a nonviable nedonosok, or stillborn, drifting between heaven and earth. Scholars have noted the poem’s affinity with works of Dante and Goethe, as well as Plato’s philosophy and the Old Testament. The present study considers the poem’s system of motifs and images in comparison with concepts found in folklore and mythology. The East Slavs believed premature or stillborn babies to be dangerous creatures. They emerged from the ‘other world’ and were ‘unclean.’ For that reason, an infant’s christening was a crucial means to humanize the baby. Unbaptized children (preterm or stillborn) were trapped in the air between heaven and earth. They were feared along with the rest of ‘unclean forces,’ e. g., spirits of sorcerers and sinners. Barred from entering heaven and restless, their existence was an agony that made others suffer as well. Boratynsky poetically interprets a popular superstition about a ‘wrongful’ or ‘bad’ death and its consequences for an infant who was forced out of this world unbaptized. These archaic topics and imagery, among others, inspired the poet’s religious and philosophical reflections.
About the Author
V. A. Korshunkov
Vyatka State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Vladimir A. Korshunkov - Candidate of History
36 Moskovskaya St., Kirov, 610000
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Review
For citations:
Korshunkov V.A. E. Boratynsky’s poem ‘The Stillborn’ [‘Nedonosok’] in the context of Slavic mythology. Voprosy literatury. 2024;(5):75-89. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2024-5-75-89
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