Między obserwacją społeczną a snem
Between Social Observation and Dream

The Topos of a Walled-up Mother and its Authority in the Novels “Desa” by Ivana Trajanoska and “Mothers” by Theodora Dimova

Summary/Abstract: The article attempts to reflect on the folk topos of a walled-up woman-mother and its norm-creating authority in Bulgarian and Macedonian culture. The reflection is based on the examples of two contemporary moral novels: Ivana Trajanoska’s "Desa" and Theodora Dimova’s "Majkite" [Mothers]. In this paper, I explain the original position of this motif in the process of forming traditional cultural gender patterns, and then reflect on its two hypoleptic interpretations. As a result, I demonstrate that Dimova (seemingly subversive as a feminist “theologian”) uses the topos to defend conservative values, while Trajanoska emphasizes its subversive and therapeutic potential. In both cases, the folk topos enjoys authority as an active element of cultural memory, aiding communication and demanding new recapitulations.

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