Email: anna-kadabra@mail.ru
Tel.: +7 (915) 066-19-56
6, Miusskaya sq., Moscow, 125993, Russian Federation
Postgraduate student, Center of Folklore Typology and Semiotics, Russian State University
for Humanities
Basing on field work conducted in Poltava region in 2012–2016 the author considers symbolism of trees in prophetic dream narratives. Interpretation of tree is not always explained by rules contained in the oral dream-book. There are three key patterns defining the interpretation of this image: a tree as a symbol of a person (or a human’s body); a tree as a symbol of a family, branches or fruits symbolize family members; a blossoming three or garden symbolizes love. The first metaphor gets actualized if the tree, which appears in the dream, is damaged. That kind of dream predicts someone’s sudden death or personal injury of the dreamer himself (usually broken arm or leg). The second — if the dreamer notices unevenness in the blossoming (fruiting) of the tree, which can be understood as a prediction of death/birth/recovery of person’s family members or relatives. The third option is associated with the image of fruit trees blooming in the dream. In most of dream narratives observed the respondents told about trees, existing in reality, which were seen in unusual state (knocked off, flowering, fruiting), or about the real place where the dreamer discovers a new tree. In other words, the image of a tree is often conceptualized as part of a territory belonging to certain people.
Avtamonov Ya.A. (1902) Simvolika rasteniy v velikorusskikh pesnyakh [Plant symbolism in Great-Russian songs]. Zhurnal Ministerstva narodnogo prosveshcheniya [Journal of the Ministry of people’s enlightenment]. St. Petersburg. 1876. No. 11 (November). Pp. 46–101. No. 12. Pp. 234–288. In Russian.
Agapkina T.A. (1999) Derevo [Tree]. In: Slavyanskie drevnosti: Etnolingvisticheskiy slovar’ [Slavic Antiquities: Ethno-linguistic Dictionary]. In 5 vol. Vol. 2. Ed. by N.I. Tolstoy. Moscow. 1999. Pp. 60–67. In Russian.
Agapkina T.A. (1999) Derevo plodovoe [Fruit tree]. In: Slavyanskie drevnosti: Etnolingvisticheskiy slovar’ [Slavic Antiquities: Ethno-linguistic Dictionary]. In 5 vol. Vol. 2. Ed. by N.I. Tolstoy. Moscow. 1995. Pp. 70–73. In Russian.
Agapkina T.A. (2012) Derev’ya v traditsionnoy kul’ture slavyan: problema sistemnogo opisaniya [Trees in traditional culture of the Slavs: problem of systematic description]. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie [Ethnographic Review]. 2012. No. 6. Pp. 29–43. In Russian.
Agapkina T.A. (2014) Kontsept tsveteniya v traditsionnoy kul’ture slavyan [Concept of blossom in traditional culture of Slavs]. Slavyanovedenie [Slavic Studies]. 2014. No. 6. Pp. 35–46. In Russian.
Belova O.V. (2012) Yabloko [Apple]. In: Slavyanskie drevnosti: Etnolingvisticheskiy slovar’ [Slavic Antiquities: Ethno-linguistic Dictionary]. In 5 vol. Vol. 5. Ed. by N.I. Tolstoy. Moscow. 2012. Pp. 608–611. In Russian.
Gura A.V. (2012) Brak i svad’ba v slavyanskoy narodnoy traditsii [Marriage and wedding in Slavic folk tradition]. Moscow. In Russian.
Gura A.V. (2016) Simvolika tela v snovideniyakh [Body symbolism in dreams]. Slavyanskiy al’manakh [Slavic almanac]. 2016. No. 1–2. Pp. 339–355. In Russian.
Gura A.V. (2002) Snotolkovatel’naya traditsiya polesskogo sela Rechitsa [Oneirocritic tradition of Polesye village Rechitsa]. In: Sny i videniya v narodnoy kul’ture [Dreams and visions in folk culture]. Comp. by O.B. Kristoforova. Moscow. Pp. 70–94. In Russian.
Gura A.V. (2012) Sonnik [Dream book]. In: Slavyanskie drevnosti: Etnolingvisticheskiy slovar’ [Slavic antiquities: Ethno-linguistic Dictionary]. In 5 vol. Vol. 5. Ed. by N.I. Tolstoy. Pp. 122–125. In Russian.
Denisova I.M. (2012) «Stupay k etomu derevu lazorevomu, vlez’ na nego…» (k voprosu ob obraze dereva v russkikh skazkakh) [“Step towards this azure-blue tree, climb onto it…”]. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie [Ethnographic Review]. 2012. No. 6. Pp. 43–59. In Russian.
Derunov S. (1898) Materialy dlya narodnogo snotolkovatelya. III. (Yaroslavskoy gubernii) [Materials for folk oneirocritic. III. Yaroslavl’ province]. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie [Ethnographic Review]. 1898. No. 1. Pp. 149–151. In Russian.
Dobrovol’skaya V. E. (2003) Derevo v russkoy volshebnoy skazke [Tree in the Russian fairy-tale]. In: Sokhranenie i vozrozhdenie fol’klornykh traditsiy [Maintenance and revival of folk traditions]. Issue 12: Khudozhestvennaya obrabotka dereva [Artistic elaboration of wood]. Pp. 8–15. In Russian.
Filatova V.F. (2003) «Tsveli vo pole tsvetochki…» [“Flowers blossomed in the field…”]. Russkaya rech’ [Russian speech]. 2003. No. 4. Pp. 96–103. In Russian.
Khristoforova O.B. (comp.) (2002) Sny i videniya v narodnoy kul’ture [Dreams and visions in folk culture]. Moscow. In Russian.
Kolosova V.B. (2009) Leksika i simvolika slavyanskoy narodnoy botaniki. Etnolingvisticheskiy aspekt [Lexis and symbolism of Slavic folk botany]. Moscow. In Russian.
Kostomarov N.I. (1843) Ob istoricheskom znachenii russkoy narodnoy poezii [About historical significance of the Russian folk poetry]. Khar’kiv. In Russian. Koperzhins’kiy K. (1929) Kalendar narodn’oї obryadovosti novorіchnogo tsiklu [Calendar of folk ceremonialism of the New Year cycle]. In: Pervіsne gromadyanstvo ta yogo perezhitki na Ukraїnі [Initial citizenship and its remnants in Ukraine]. Issue 3. Pp. 14–98. In Ukrainian.
Krinichnaya N.A. (2010) Derevo-chelovek: k probleme sinkretizma i differentsiatsii fitoantropomorfnogo obraza (po materialam narrativnogo fol’klora Karelii) [Tree-human: to the problem on syncretism and differentiation of a phyto-anthropomorphic image]. Trudy Karel’skogo nauchnogo tsentra RAN [Transactions of the Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. 2010. No. 4. Pp. 77–85. In Russian.
Lazareva A.A. (2016) Emotsii kak ob,ekt tolkovaniya v slavyanskikh narodnykh rasskazakh o veshchikh snakh [Emotions as on object for interpretation in Slavic folk narratives about prophetic dreams]. Peterburgskie slavyanskie i balkanskie issledovaniya (Studia Slavica et Balcanica Petropolitana). 2016. No. 2. Pp. 30–46. In Russian.
Lazareva A.A. (2016) Vypavshiy zub, upavshiy potolok i drugie oniricheskie syuzhety v ramkakh traditsionnykh modeley tolkovaniya snovideniy [Fallen out tooth, collapsed ceiling and other oneiric plots in the framework of traditional models of dreams interpreting]. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie [Ethnographic Review]. 2016. No. 1. Pp. 89–103. In Russian.
Lazareva A. A: (2016) Belyy kon’ i chernyy mustang: obraz loshadi v rasskazakh o veshchikh snakh [White horse and black mustang: a horse image in narratives about prophetic dreams]. Traditsionnaya kul’tura [Traditional Culture]. 2016. No. 4 (64). Pp. 159–171. In Russia.
Levkievskaya E.E. (2004) Mor [Plague]. In: Slavyanskie drevnosti: Etnolingvisticheskiy slovar [Slavic antiquities: Ethno-linguistic Dictionary]. In 5 vol. Vol. 3. Ed. by N.I. Tolstoy. Pp. 296–299. In Russia.
Lurie M.L., Chereshnya A.V. (2000) Krest’yanskie rasskazy o sbyvayushchikhsya snakh [Peasant narratives about fulfilling dreams]. In: Traditsiya v fol’klore i literature [Tradition in folklore and literature]. Papers, publications, methodology layouts by teachers and students of the Academic gymazium at St. Petersburg State University. Ed., comp. by M.L. Lurie. St. Petersburg. Pp. 275–310. In Russian.
Lyatskiy E. (1898) Materialy dlya narodnogo snotolkovatelya. II. (Minskoy gubernii) [Materials for folk oneirocritic. II. Minsk province]. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie [Ethnographic Review]. 1898. No. 1. Pp. 139–149. In Russian.
Mazalova N.E. (2001) Sostav chelovecheskiy: Chelovek v traditsionnykh somaticheskikh predstavleniyakh russkikh [Human compound: Human in traditional somatic convictions of the Russians]. St. Petersburg. In Russian.
Niebzegowska S. (1996) Polski sennik ludowy [Polish folk dream-book]. Lublin. In Polish. Petrukhin V.Ya. (1999) «Perebranka» na mirovom dreve: k istokam slavyanskogo mifologicheskogo motiva [Wrangle at the World tree: to the origins of the Slavic mythological motif]. In: Slavyanskie etyudy [Slavic essays]. Miscellanea to the anniversary of Svetlana M. Tolstaya. Moscow. Pp. 240–247. In Russian.
Razumova I.A. (2002) Oniromanticheskaya simvolika braka, rozhdeniya, smerti v sovremennykh ustnykh rasskazakh [Oneiric symbolism of marriage, birth and death in contemporary oral narratives]. In: Sny i videniya v narodnoy kul’ture [Dreams and visions in folk culture]. Comp. by O.B. Kristoforova. Moscow. Pp. 290–309. In Russian.
Romanov E.R. (1889) Opyt belorusskogo narodnogo snotolkovatelya [Probes on Belarusian folk oneirocritic]. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie [Ethnographic Review]. 1889. No. 3. Pp. 54–72. In Russian.
Safronov E.V. (2016) Snovideniya v traditsionnoy kul’ture [Dreams in folk culture]. Moscow. In Russian.
Tolstaya S.M. (2004) “Chelovek zhivet, kak trava rastet”: vegetativnaya metafora chelovecheskoy zhizni [Human is living as grass growing]. In: Sokrovennye smysly: Slovo. Tekst. Kul’tura [Arcane thoughts: Word. Text. Culture]. Moscow. Pp. 685–693. In Russian.
Tolstoy N.I. (1994) Tolkovanie snov: beglyy vzglyad s filologicheskoy i etnograficheskoy tochek zreniya [Interpretation of dreams: fleeting glance from philological and ethnographic points of view]. Nauka v Rossii [Science in Russia]. 1994. No3. Pp. 33–37. In Russian.
Vinogradova L.N. (2016) Teksty narodnoy kul’tury, nadelennye interpretiruyushchey funktsiey (motivirovki ritual’nogo povedeniya, tolkovaniya gadaniy i snov, mifologicheskaya traktovka znakovykh sobytiy) [Texts of folk culture endowed with interpretation function (motivations of ritual behavior, explanations of divinations and dreams, mythological rendering of sign events). Slavyanskiy al’manakh [Slavic almanac]. 2016. No. 1–2. Pp. 307–321. In Russian.
Zhivitsa E.Yu. (2004) Ustnaya narodnaya snotolkovatel’naya traditsiya (na materiale rasskazov o snakh [Oral folk oneirocritic tradition (exemplified in narratives about dreams)]. PhD thesis (Philology). Moscow. In Russian.