Realizacja funkcji magicznej w tekście jednego chamaiła
THE MAGIO FUNCTION AS REALIZED IN A CHAMAIŁ

Summary/Abstract: In Minsk, Byelorussia, the authors of the article have found a fragment of a Muslim pocket notebook called chamaił, dating back to the times of the 1st Polish Republic. It is a genuine piece of evidence for the existence of a cultural and linguistic borderland in that area. It documents interpenetration of the verbal, object and actional codes, combining magic Muslim and Slavonic practices. Linguistically, it evidences the mixing of Polish and Byelorussian elements (Slavonic elements being written in Arabic script). Quotations from the Koran are provided next to advice to use alcohol as medication, which is against the Muslim tradition. Numerous prescriptions to treat such illnesses as a rash, bleeding, tuberculosis, fever, jaundice or bone pains advise to use appropriate herbs, a practice known to the local Slavonic community. The chamaił also contains original pieces of advice, unknown in larger Slavonic circles, which suggests that the text is a compilation.

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