South of Balaton, North of Arta: The Topos of the Walled-Up Woman in the Cultures of Southeastern Europe and Hungary

Abstract

The book is the result of a research project titled “The Topos of an Immured Woman in the Cultures of Southeastern Europe and Hungary”, funded by the National Science Centre [NCN] (2020/37/B/HS2/00152). It focuses on the adaptation of the wandering folk topos of the walled-up woman, which has spread from the oral tradition of Southeastern Europe and Hungary into the modern and postmodern national cultures of this area. The research team was primarily interested in the transformations of this fragment of European folklore in modern national literatures and art from the 19th to the 21st century, in theater, film, performance, popular culture and education. This monograph presents the results of this original exploration and interpretation of cultural resources generated around the topos of the walled-up woman throughout the entire area under consideration: in Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Greek, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian and Hungarian cultures. The book is the most comprehensive and insightful compendium of knowledge on the subject on a global scale. Its message goes beyond the history of one popular wandering motif – it is an essential voice in the debate on the condition of women in the world.