Query about Swans/Shells

[Kirsti Ekonen]

Dear Kristi,
Do you have already in your bibliography the book Simvolika zhivotnyh  
v slavjanskoj narodnoj tradicii, written by A. V. Gura and published  
in 1997 by Izd-vo Indrik (Moskva). There are some pages about swans in  
folklore in general and something about women and swans.
Kirsti Ekonen

Quoting Kristi Groberg <Kristi.Groberg at NDSU.EDU>:

> Dear Colleagues:
>
> I am working on an article on women from folklore and a few symbolic
> shells in the ouevre of Mikhail Vrubel'.  The women are mostly
> paintings of his wife, who sang the roles of Volkhova in
> Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sadko" and Tsarevna Lebed in his "Tale of Tsar
> Saltan," but also images of rusalki and naiads.  The shells are
> drawings, watercolors, preliminary cartoons and watercolors for
> majolica plates on the theme "Sadko," the plates themselves, some other
> paintings that are experiments in capturing irridescence, and one shell
> in particular appears in one of his Vrubel's late Self-Portraits.  I
> can relate all of these images to Russkii stil and the recovery of
> folkloric themes, symbols, and patterns in that period.  However, aside
> from the very basics I am more familiar with Decadent & Symbolist art
> than I am with symbols from folklore.
>
> To get to my point, I would be most grateful for direction about women
> who turn into swans, female water creatures with transformative powers,
> underwater princesses,
> and shells (seashells, not walnut shells) in Slavic folklore.  I've
> gathered quite a bit of information over the years, but I know that
> there are a lot of folklorists on this list.  Any information or points
> of view will be helpful.  I will, of course, honor the sources and
> acknowledge you in my published work.
>
> Kris Groberg, Ph.D.
> 324D Division of Fine Arts
> NDSU Downtown Campus
> 650 Northern Pacific Avenue
> Fargo, ND  58102
> 701.231.8359
> kristi.groberg at ndsu.edu
> http://www.ndsu.edu/finearts/visual_arts/faculty/groberg/shtml
>
>
>
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