Russian folkloric references to reanimated corpses

[Lewis B. Sckolnick]

  Natalie has a good idea so why not

Mertveta

Mertveti

Mertveto

I like the first one the most.

Lewis B. Sckolnick
The Ledge House
130 Rattlesnake Gutter Road, Suite 1000
Leverett, MA 01054-9726
U.S.A.

Telephone 1. 413. 367. 0303
Facsimile 1. 413. 367. 2853
info at runanywhere.com
http://www.twitter.com/Lewisxxxusa





> Not a real Christmasy topic this, but here goes - how about mertvets?  
> This is a negative version of the umershii.  And, I would advocate 
> using a Russian term.  Words from other languages have entered 
> English.  So why not use this Russian word in the hope that it enters 
> English with time.
>
> Natalie Kononenko
>
> Quoting "Leigh Kimmel" <leighkimmel at YAHOO.COM>:
>
>> I'm looking for terms a Russian in the middle of the 20th century 
>> might use to refer to a reanimated corpse. I'm writing a story set in 
>> besieged Leningrad for a horror anthology, and I'm trying to avoid 
>> the term "zombie," which is specifically Afro-Caribbean in etymology 
>> and cultural association.
>>
>> It doesn't necessarily have to be traditional or "high" folklore -- 
>> even the sort of stories kids use to scare each other spitless on a 
>> dark night would do just as well. The biggest thing is to try to get 
>> a term that doesn't jar the reader with associations of voodoo and 
>> the like.
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>> -- 
>> Leigh Kimmel -- writer, artist, historian and bookseller
>> leighkimmel at yahoo.com     http://www.leighkimmel.com/
>> http://www.billionlightyearbookshelf.com/
>> http://www.amazon.com/shops/starshipcat/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> Natalie Kononenko
> Kule Chair of Ukrainian Ethnography
> Editor, Folklorica
> University of Alberta
> Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
> 200 Arts Building
> Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E6
> Phone: 780-492-6810
> Web: http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/uvp/
>
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