Neigiamų žmogaus gyvenimo apraiškų ryšys su pelėdos vaizdiniu lietuvių ir slavų etninėje kultūroje / Związek negatywnych przejawów życia człowieka z wizerunkiem sowy w litewskiej i słowiańskiej kulturze etnicznej

Abstract

In the present article, the ethnolinguistic perspective on the interpretation of one of the most widespread birds in Lithuania and in the Slavic countries, namely, an owl, is studied. In the cultural tradition, both positive and negative aspects are associated with birds, and, as a rule, only negative ones are associated with birds of prey. The connection of an owl with negative aspects of life is analyzed on three levels: on the linguistic level (metaphors, fixed comparisons, phraseological units, etc.); on the level of folklore texts (songs, fairy tales, legends, etc.); and on the level of traditional concepts. The material for the study has been collected from the explanatory dictionaries of the Lithuanian and various Slavic languages, the phraseological dictionaries, folklore collections, etc. On the linguistic level, the analysis shows that in the Lithuanian and Slavic languages, an owl is usually associated with an ugly woman, with large bulging eyes, in Lithuanian it is also associated with an ugly sitting person (which is also found in Polish); in Slavic languages, there is a comparison between an owl and a person who has not slept at night for a long time. What is common in the Lithuanian and some Slavic languages is the love of an owl for its ugly children. In the Lithuanian song material, an owl is depicted as a comic character showing off its “beauty”. In the songs, there is an image of an owl as a rich woman (in Lithuanian and Belarusian folklore); the wedding motif of an owl married to a sparrow is popular in Lithuanian and some Slavic folklore traditions. The motif of widowhood, single motherhood is vividly represented in the Slavic languages. In Lithuanian and Slavic folklore, an owl is widely represented in marriage songs where this bird usually parodies the bride or another participant in the wedding ceremony. The nocturnal lifestyle is explained in Lithuanian and Slavic folklore by its fear of other birds chasing an owl during the day. An owl is demonized in the Lithuanian and Slavic folk tradition. For instance, Lithuanian folklore mentions that a witch can turn into an owl, while in Slavic folklore, an owl is often associated with other birds that are servants of the devil. In both Lithuanian and Slavic traditions, owls are able to foretell the future: either future misfortunes or a birth of a child. This is associated with the acoustic impression of owl’s cry, and with an idea of its connection with the other world. The above-mentioned general interpretations of an owl in the traditional culture of Lithuanians and Slavs, primarily Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, and to a lesser extent – the southern Slavs, Czechs and Slovaks, prove the close ties between Lithuanians’ and Slavs’ beliefs.