Three questions/requests

[James Bailey]

Francoise Rosset

At 11:59 AM 2/18/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>My ignorance shows, I'm afraid. Any help on any of these here would be
>appreciated.
>Feel free to write off-list at: frosset at wheatonma.edu.
>
>(1) One of my students asked about the Russian version of Ovid's
>"Metamorphosis." I assumed he meant Kafka's version, not a Russian one,
>esp. since he says it has to do with beetles.
>But am I missing something obvious here?  Besides some odd human
>regressions in "The Cave," and perhaps some of Sadur's stories, is there
>something we consider a Russian version of "Metamorphosis"?
>
>(2) Can someone point me to a good source that *identifies* the "hex"
>signs carved at the very edge of the long wooden eaves on Russian izbas
>and churches? I've been looking, but haven't found anything except for a
>reasonable description of the "gromovoj znak," which I now think I can
>recognize. I can differentiate the other designs, I just don't know which
>elements they evoke/invoke/protect against.
>
>3) Students who took both the folklore and the lit class noticed
>the coincidence between Gogol' and one of the devil's names "Gogol'"
>(Ivanits' *Folk Belief,* Ch. 3 identifies the origin of the devil's
>name from "gogol'" the duck. Presumably that is also the origin of the
>surname).
>I have not found anything that discusses this in relation to Gogol's name.
>Again, what am I missing?
>-- Was Gogol' aware of this ... I gather his knowledge of folk-lore was
>purely second-hand?
      This is often what is repeated about Gogol and folklore.  I think the
truth is that he had an excellent knowledge of Ukrainian folklore and that
he drew upon it fairly consistently for most of his writing career.  This
is a question that an ethnographer should really handle in detail.
      James Bailey


>-- Would Gogol' or any educated Russians or Ukrainians be aware of this
>tidbit of popular belief?
>-- Does anyone know when the Devil came to be called "Gogol"? I see why,
>but do we know when?
>-- Has this been addressed substantively anywhere in the literature on
>Gogol?
>
>Thank you so much,
>-FR
>
>
>Francoise Rosset                          phone:  (508) 286-3696
>Russian and Russian Studies               fax:    (508) 286-3640
>Wheaton College                           e-mail: frosset at wheatonma.edu
>Norton, Massachusetts 02766
>
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