The article describes the semantics of the motif, its internal structure, textual manifestations and distribution, as well as the ‘network’ of intermotif connections. The analysis focuses on several plot types, variously correlated: Prophetic / Untold dream / Animal language (AaTh 671 E*; 725; 517, 670, 672, 672D*, 673, 781; Mot. M312.2 sq.; D217; M312.0.2), The Taming of the Bride (AaTh 519, cf. 516), Victory of the Weak (AaTh 480C*, 565, 613, 735A, 930, 1535; SUS -813A**; Berezk., K27nn, K88) and on some other stories associated with these ones. The motifs that are included in this group usually have a binary or ternary structure. The elements of such structure are dispersed through the tale; they are separated by narrative fragments that are filled with other events and adventures.

The performed analysis makes it possible to systematize motifs and their structural elements as follows: 1) minimal meaningful (but not meaning-forming) differential features of plot composites (semes of ‘narrative grammar’), which are not further divided at the plot level; 2) ‘simple’ motifs; they can be considered as a set of semes, which, thanks to the connections established between them, acquire meaning-forming functions and structure the motif as a kind of narrative semanteme; 3) ‘complex’ motifs that have a binary or ternary structure, the elements of which are dispersed throughout the tale text (however, the boundary between ‘simple’ and ‘complex’ motifs is rather arbitrary).

The structure of a motif is adequately characterized as a frame, the slots of which, determined by their facet values, can be filled with both semes (in ‘simple’ motifs, but not only in them) and semanthemes (in complex motifs). Thus, inter-motif connections turn out to be either hierarchical (a motif embedded in a motif, a ‘nested doll’ principle), or networked (the same semes fill the slots of different motifs, linking these motifs through ‘semantic channels’; the latter has far-reaching consequences for the generative mechanisms of the tradition). Finally, it is expedient to consider slots that contain the ‘programs’ themselves, according to which logical relationships are established between the components of the motif, as slots designed for special ‘procedural’ (rather than ‘substantial’) filling.

The article considers a special ritual behavior – grabbing meat, which was an integral part of the animal sacrifice rite on Elijah’s Day of the village Noshul of Priluzsky district of the Komi Republic until the 1930s, and also determines the role of the “grabbing meat” motif in the modern oral local tradition. Based on an analysis of ethnographic materials, it was revealed that grabbing meat was a kind of ritual element of summer vow holidays with the sacrifice of animals not only in the village Noshul, but also in certain areas of Karelians and Northern Russians. Considering it in a number of other unusual ways of distributing sacrificial meat, such as throwing it from the roof of a building and issuing it through a church fence, makes it possible to compare ritual behavior with fights and fist battles of rural patronal holidays. Grabbing meat adds to the ritual of sacrificing an animal “strangeness”, “casus”, so that information about the sacrifice is preserved in oral tradition. The analysis of the content and form of oral stories recorded during the folklore and ethnographic expedition in 2006 allows the author to conclude that the collective memory retains not the story of the sacrifice on Elijah’s Day, but a fixed expression – “grab Elijah’s Day meat”, which becomes the plot-forming motif of narratives about Elijah’s Day. The language form of expression provides a relationship with Elijah’s Day and leads to annual updating, which creates the conditions for the motif preservation and translation in the local oral tradition.

Folklorists often use classification systems such as catalogues of motifs or folk types. This method is widely applied to tales or legends. At the same time, it is used less often during analysis of stories about the recent past (for instance, about a war). I apply this method to oral stories collected on an expedition to the Bryansk region to make a motif-index. Using this method allows me to classify these texts, highlight the main themes and divide motives into two groups. I also examine how motives are combined in a longstories and, based on these combinations, I distinguish two scenarios of narrativization. There are two scenarios: incriminatory and apologetic. These two ways of combining motives allow narrators to express two different opinions on the ethical dilemmas of the wartime. The set of plots, as well as popular ways of combining them, shows us that these ethical dilemmas are most important and interesting for the people we have talked to.

The article is devoted to the mediatization of mythological characters of Slavic folklore by means of an example of the video game “Yaga”, created by Breadcrumbs Interactive studio in 2019. The mediatization of folklore allows us to see how traditional ideas are transformed when they get into the media environment and how folklore is “translated” into the language of the media.

In this case, a computer game is considered as a text consisting of various (visual, verbal, etc.) signs. The author undertook structuralsemiotic analysis of the character system of video games that is used both in folklore and game studies to identify functions and plot roles, as well as visual, auditory, and other methods of media representation of game images borrowed from folklore.

The article attempts to answer the following questions: are the functions of game characters similar to the functions of their folklore prototypes? Are there any similar stories in bylichki, or in this case we are dealing with completely fictional stories by the authors of games, which are only trying to be similar to folklore ones?

Here it will be difficult to simply make a comparative scheme by comparing video game and folklore images, since the game does not have a full-fledged bestiary (a separate tab in the game menu where we could see full information about the character). In addition, all folklore characters can be conditionally divided into full-fledged opponents, who will have no other line of behavior besides the attack, and neutral to the hero, who can attack or make contact. In one case, we can talk exclusively about the external similarity, in the other we can focus on the plots of quests in which the character appears.