Ukolébavka – žánr v pohybu
Lullaby – a genre in movement

Summary/Abstract: This study concerns lullaby – one of the oldest genres of oral folk tradition aimed at young children. The author focuses on its folklore form and its literary modification in the Czech national, literary and cultural traditions. Ukolébavky (Lullabies) (2017) – a recently published book of texts by Robin Král with illustrations by Jaroslav Róna, was the inspiration for this study. The book’s texts were also adapted by a musician Jan Lstibůrek and the songs were performed by some of the popmusic singers and recorded on CD. Comparison of the printed and digitalised versions with their folklore forms enabled the author to derive typological features: contact with a child, emotionality, syncretism, figurativeness and narrative-thematic plane. The comparison has revealed differences but also some shared characteristics as space-time and archetypes. Interesting archetypes include the archetypes of both transformations and eternal return and elemental archetypes as the archetypes of water and air. Lullaby as a literary genre undergoes transformation determined by age factor, mode of communication and social and cultural differences.

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