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Sculptural Ecphrasis: The development of the Golem image from folklore to mod-ern Russian literatureкульптурный экфрасис: развитие образа Голема от фольклора к современной русской литературе

E.F. Shafranskaya, I.V. Yuzefovich
80,00 ₽
UDC 82-3

Shafranskaya Eleonora F.,

Doctor of Philology, Professor

Institute of the Russian Language

Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia

e-mail: shafranskayaef@mail.ru

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4462-5710

eLibrary SPIN: 5340-6268

Yuzefovich Ilya V.,

Candidate of Philology,

Associate Professor of the Philology and

Linguo-Culturology Department

The Academy named after Maimonides

A.N. Kosygin Russian State University

e-mail: ilvicyu@list.ru

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4836-6924

eLibrary SPIN: 6926-8195

 

The article considers sculptural ekphrasis, which is the paradigm of modeling the mythological figure of Golem in world literature and folklore. The unified image of Golem as a man-made clay mute idol eventually evolves in folklore and literary narratives, acquiring human qualities. The authors of the article chose three writers who created Golem: Czech Jan Kruta, Yiddish Isaac Bashevis Singer and Russian Sukhbat Aflatuni — in these texts the image of Golem is transformed from a sacred figure to a tragicomic one. The motifs of the birth of Golem’s image are traced (on the example of prose and poetic texts: Bulat Okudzhava, Dina Rubina, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt), as well as folklore narratives, his connection with the blood libel (in the estimation of folklorist and psychoanalyst Alan Dandes), folklore versions of Golem’s background (on the example of Jewish folklore recorded in the Czech Republic, Golem’s ‘homeland’), the causes of Golem’s death. In Sukhbat Aflatuni’s story “The Golem of Tashkent” the image of Golem is embedded in post-colonial discourse. The entire plot of Golem’s creation and destruction is presented in the world narrative as the work of a sculptor, and therefore the description of this image is logical to name a sculptural ekphrasis.

Keywords: ekphrasis, Golem, Messiah, blood libel, Sukhbat Aflatuni
 

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