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Paper short abstract

Based on field and published material recorded in the areas of southeastern Serbia, this research is aimed at investigating several aspects of the motif of thunder and thunderbolt in various plot models of the tradition.

Paper long abstract

Based on field and published material recorded in the areas of southeastern Serbia, this research is aimed at investigating several aspects of the motif of thunder and thunderbolt in various plot models of the tradition (motif and motifeme, plot type, actors, interpenetration of genres). Functional in the environment of different narrative units (defense of the settlement from disaster, the occurrence of a storm, punishment for sin, etc.), active in narratives about several demonic beings ('ala', devil), this motif simultaneously shows in some plots the ability to connect the incantation and belief narrative. The inclusion of the incantation text in the narrative about defense against thunder is one example of the interpenetration of genre structures and adaptation in accordance with the new environment and different functions. The paper will also consider beliefs, as segments of the narrative and as subsequent comments by the narrator, especially frequent in more recent field records, in the function of a supplementary or basic explanation of the functioning of the actors, the course of the plot, and the magical significance of individual sequences within it.