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Strutynsky I. Representations of the Restless Dead among the Romanians of the Timok Valley

Ivan Strutynsky
Russian Institute of Art History
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation,
Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-7982-1017
E-mail: sevdbrif@gmail.com

 

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ABSTRACT. The ideas about the “Restless Dead” are extremely common in the Balkan Peninsula, but in each region, they have their own distinctive features. The ideas about the “Restless Dead” — the Moroi — among the Vlachs-Romanians of the Timok River valley are considered. During his expedition to the Zaječar and Bor districts of Eastern Serbia, the author collected detailed narratives about the “Restless Dead” and the complex of customs associated with them. The stories of the inhabitants of the Romanian villages of the Zaječar and Bor districts testify that in the traditional consciousness, the return of the dead to the world of living people is associated mainly with the violation of any rules prescribed by custom, less often with the personal qualities of the deceased. The transformation of the deceased into a “Restless Dead” in the traditional consciousness is due to violations of the order of carrying out funeral and memorial rituals and unfavorable circumstances of death - not at home, without a candle and clothes prepared in advance for the day of death. Archaic ideas that death can also be the result of an unrighteous life have long existed in the Christian mind. Among the Vlachs-Romanians the consequence of a sinful life is considered to be too long and painful dying. A person who cannot die for a long time falls into the category of “Restless Dead” while still alive. Of particular interest is such a figure of Vlachian mythology as moroi de viu, who, being a living person, has all the characteristic features of a “Restless Dead”.

 

KEYWORDS: Vlachs, Romanians, funeral rite, restless dead, local culture, fairy tale, oral tradition

 

FOR CITACION: Strutynsky I. Representations of the Restless Dead among the Romanians of the Timok Valley. Kunstkamera. 2023. 2(20): 153–163. (In Russian). doi 10.31250/2618-8619-2023-2(20)-153-163

 

* The study was supported by the grant of the Russian Science Foundation No. 22-18-00484, https://rscf.ru/project/22-18-00484/.  

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2023-2(20)-153-163
УДК 393.05(=135.1)

 

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