| Abstract [eng] |
Life and death are inherent elements of existence of a man as an individual and as a part of a nation. Their conception is revealed not only in a nation’s language, but also in cultural traditions, religion, customs, and folklore. In the present thesis it is analysed how the conception of life and death, denominated through symbols, is reflected in Lithuanian, English and Russian fairy tales. The material for the research is taken from different Lithuanian, English and Russian fairy tale collections compiled by various authors. The material for the analysis was taken from 1950 fairy tales, 650 fairy tales from each language. The collected material consists of examples in which symbols of life and death were found. The aim of the present thesis is to discuss the usage of symbols of life and death in Lithuanian, English and Russian fairy tales. Also, to ascertain, which symbols coincide in all three languages under analysis, which symbols coincide only in two out of three languages and which are typical only for one of the three languages under analysis. The majority of symbols of life and death coincide in fairy tales of all three languages under analysis. There were also symbols that coincide only in Lithuanian and English, Lithuanian and Russian and English and Russian fairy tales. Some symbols are typical only for fairy tales of one out of the three languages under analysis. However, only one or two examples with such symbols were found. Having analysed the collected examples a conclusion can be drawn that, despite that Lithuanian, English and Russian languages belong to different language families, the conception of life and death is very similar and this is well reflected through symbols of life and death found in fairy tales. |
