After Propp: World Distribution of Popular Motifs that Reflect Intrafamily Conflicts

Abstract

Vladimir Propp has interpreted the Oedipus myth as a reflection of a historical shift in the rules of power transmission: the rule by which the king’s power had been transmitted from the king to his son-in-law was replaced by one whereby it was transmitted to his son. The data on the world distribution of motifs that describe conflicts between close relatives do not support this interpretation. Like other motifs of folklore and mythology, episodes relating to conflicts within families allow us to reconstruct spheres of communication that existed in particular epochs. None of the adventurous motifs (unlike mythological ones sensu stricto) can be connected with the African homeland of Homo sapiens. Such motifs had emerged only after the outof-Africa migration, but mostly also in the Paleolithic, as evidenced by their presence in the New World. Whereas the content of mythological motifs for which African origin is probable mirrors the attempts to interpret man’s mortality, adventurous motifs evidence the awareness of love and hate. In fairytales, all conflicts develop at the family level and only in realistic tales do social conflicts typical of complex societies first appear.