Motiv zdravotního postižení v pohádce o kosoručce

Title:

Motiv zdravotního postižení v pohádce o kosoručce
Motive of physical handicap in the fairy-tale of scythe-handed women

Creator:

Titzl, Boris and Křížová, Markéta

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:2f7e8bad-5a26-4537-ab4c-771b1a0635c6
uuid:2f7e8bad-5a26-4537-ab4c-771b1a0635c6
urnnbn:urn:nbn:cz:aba007-000bv5

Type:

model:internalpart and TEXT

Format:

print

Description:

The various physical handicaps pertain inseparably to the image of mankind. However, the handicappedpersons always have aroused the notice of others and their presence in the society provoked various reactions for part of the majority of the not handicapped. So this theme was introduced also into the folklore. For the closer scrutiny of this phenomenon was chosen the topic of the Scythe-Handed Woman-a girl with cut-offhands, and its penetration into fairy-tales. As a point of departure the Inventory of Czech Fairy-Tales by Václav Tille was used. The frame of the story of this fairy-tale is based on the clash of the powers of the good and the evil, with the final victory of the good, which can be interpreted also as an essence of the basic human desires. The main theme is being presented in eight versions. The plot unfolds in four basic stages (except for one version with three stages only): (1) in the exposition the main protagonist of the evil is introduced: widowed father or miserly father, widowed mother or step-mother; and also the victim of the evil: daughter or step-daughter. (2) The daughter is being exposed to thefirst attack of the evil, and this leads into cutting-off of one or both ofher hands. (3) The girl saves herself she has her own family, but the evil attacks her again through the accusation that she gave birth to a monster (monsters). (4) The young mother with her child (children) escapes from the immediate threat to their lives, in this final stage she cures herself and meets her husband. The same theme has also the foreign version appendedfor comparison. The motive of the loss or mutilation of hands characterizes not only the fairy-tale of Scythe-Handed Woman but appears also, for example, as a sign of disability to reign, see the mentioned Irish example. There is also mentioned the connexion with the sympathetic magie: Čenìk Zibrt observed its manifestations in our country already at the end of the nineteenth century. The causes of evil root in three negative human features: the incest yearnings of father, the jealousy of mother or step-mother and the insaturable miserness of father. The evil attacks twice, but it doesn't win even after artful accusation of the main protagonist. Its goal was to lower the handicapped women together with her child (children) to the level of the beast and then to destroy them completely. To remedy the consequences of the evil some curing ingredient (water) or some person gifted through some higher power must cooperate so that the young woman could recuperate her physical integrity. On the side of good also concrete persons operate, among them in the most of the cases father-in-law or mother-in-law. Th and e social aspect of the normal state is being restored through the reconstitution of the new family. The representants of the evil are punished, but they can be also pardoned. As a general message of the fairy-tale of Scythe-Handed Woman we can consider two imperatives: mother should at all costs save her own child and at the same time she should find the way to secure the basic life necessities. The specific message is the fact thatfor handicapped persons suffering from Health defects their personal misery appeals for its overcoming. The fairy-tale of Scythe-Handed Womanis in this sense mediates a in-destructable hope to those who suffer. In this interpretation the acting characters are not archetypical abstractions but personalities that reflect the reality of human life.

Language:

Czech

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
policy:public

Coverage:

61-78 and 64-83

Source:

Český lid | 2003 Volume:90 | Number:1

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false