Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales

Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales

Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales

Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales

Hardcover

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Overview

Baba Yaga is an ambiguous and fascinating figure. She appears in traditional Russian folktales as a monstrous and hungry cannibal, or as a canny inquisitor of the adolescent hero or heroine of the tale. In new translations and with an introduction by Sibelan Forrester, Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales is a selection of tales that draws from the famous collection of Aleksandr Afanas'ev, but also includes some tales from the lesser-known nineteenth-century collection of Ivan Khudiakov. This new collection includes beloved classics such as Vasilisa the Beautiful and The Frog Princess, as well as a version of the tale that is the basis for the ballet The Firebird.

The preface and introduction place these tales in their traditional context with reference to Baba Yaga's continuing presence in today's culture--the witch appears iconically on tennis shoes, tee shirts, even tattoos. The stories are enriched with many wonderful illustrations of Baba Yaga, some old (traditional lubok woodcuts), some classical (the marvelous images from Victor Vasnetsov or Ivan Bilibin), and some quite recent or solicited specifically for this collection

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781617035968
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Publication date: 08/13/2013
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 290,685
Product dimensions: 8.80(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Sibelan Forrester, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, is a professor of Russian at Swarthmore College and coeditor of Engendering Slavic Literatures.


Helena Goscilo is chair of the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures at The Ohio State University and coeditor of Politicizing Magic: An Anthology of Russian and Soviet Fairy Tales.


Martin Skoro, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a graphic designerand illustrator at MartinRoss Design.

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