NARATOLOŠKA ANALIZA UMETNIČKE BAJKE „PRSTEN NA DNU MORA“ DESANKE MAKSIMOVIĆ
NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE FAIRY TALE “THE RING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA“ BY DESANKA MAKSIMOVIĆ

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the narrative analysis of the fairy tale “The Ring at the Bottom of the Sea“ („Prsten na dnu mora“) by a great Serbian writer and poet Desanka Maksimović. It was published in her prose collection called If I Can Trust My Grandma (Ako je verovati mojoj baki) in 1959. Our paratextual source is Maksimović's prose collection The Fairytale of a Swan and Other Stories and Fairy Tales (Bajka o labudu i druge priče i bajke) published in 2014. The analysis focuses on the storyworld, i.e. a macroworld and microworlds, chronotope and microchronotopes, virtual narrative and narrator's voice. On top of that, we deal with character classification according to Vladimir Propp's model based on character function in Morphology of Folktales. We find that there are departures, but they are acceptable as this is a fairytale, not a folktale. Also, we find that macroworld and microworlds are rich, diverse and interactively united by a collective persistence of essential readiness for helping others in need. Although the virtual narrative separates different worlds, here it is a tool for accepting symbiosis among different worlds and macroworlds as they cannot function without each other. “The Ring at the Bottom of the Sea“ can be found in other media, in the form of audio recordings, audiovisual recordings (video lessons), and as an animated film based on the motifs from Maksimović's fairy tale. If we take these recordings and the film as part of the paratext, we can use an interdisciplinary approach to the fairytale. However, how Maksimović achieved the meaning by employing a skillfully executed narration is the subject primarily dealt with in the paper. Hence, the chosen categories/elements serve to present her way of shaping the narration. Narratology continues its search for the essence of the story, narration and narrative texts, which accompany us on our journey through life. We thus acknowledge the importance of narratology for our spiritual and mental growth.

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