Folk Apocalypse: Ukrainian Cumulative Tales in Comparative Perspective

• In Event: Ukrainian Folklore, Past and Present: Interpretation, Adaptation, Resistance

Abstract

Cumulative folktales, a form of folk narrative characterized by the repetition of the same action by different characters, are among the most archaic narrative forms and have been documented across many cultures. In folktale scholarship, they are recognized for their mnemonic and game-like qualities and are often interpreted as reflecting either mythological thinking or children's consciousness, with frequent comparisons between the two. This paper focuses on Ukrainian versions of several cumulative folktales, including The Mitten (ATU 283B) and Kurochka Riaba (a subtype of ATU 2022), as collected by the prominent Ukrainian ethnographer and folklorist Pavlo Chubinsky. Through a comparative analysis of German, French, Jewish, and New Guinean variants, among others, the paper examines the emplotment patterns, character systems, and narrative conflicts that define the cumulative folktale. Highlighting the genre’s catastrophic “everyone dies” ending (consistently excised in children’s adaptations), the paper explores the philosophical potential of cumulative folktales and argues that beneath their apparent simplicity and absurdity lies the emergence of subjectivity as the central aesthetic event for the tale’s performers and listeners.

Author

• Victoria Somoff, Dartmouth College