Valeria Fol

Valeria Fol

MARINA BETWEEN VENICE AND THE BALKANS

Etudes balkaniques (Sofia) 2022 N 1

Valeria Fol

Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, University of Library Studies and Information Technologies
Bulgaria

AbstractIn this article I return to St. Marina, on whose folkloric image and faith I worked many years ago. My goal is to supplement my previous observations with new ones and to expand the territorial scope. Special attention is paid to the veneration of the saint’s sacred relics in the Mediterranean and the reactivation of her cult. I also consider the transformational models in the believers’ notions of the cave and nature, and the periodic renewal of those notions through archaization and return to archetypes personified in the cult of St. Marina.

Keywords“The Forgotten Saint”, St. Maria Formosa, St. Marina/ Margaret, Venice


 

BACKSTAGE THEATER

Valeria Fol

Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre for Thracology
(Bulgarian Academy of Sciences),
University of Library Studies and Information Technologies
Bulgaria

Abstract: This is a comment on some documents of historic interest from the personal archive of Nikolai Fol, Director of the Varna National Theater in 1943 – 1944. It tells of the evacuation of the theatre, its modus operandi, the way such a cultural institution was administered during WWII, the atmosphere in the theatre and the city of Varna at that time, the transformation of the theatre into a symbol of modernization and Europeanization of the city and village, as well as of the spirit of intellectuals and artists in that situation of crisis.

Keywords: Theater, Varna People’s Theater, WWII, Nikolai Fol


 

ANGRY DEITIES AND HEROES: EXAMPLES FROM THRACE

Valeria Fol

Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology
(Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract: The paper examines testimonies about ancient Thrace, which inform of enraged deities and heroes, and of the punishments, which they send to humans. The correct accomplishment of the rite is a type of magical act for contact with deities and heroes, who can be summoned, subjugated, propitiated. Committing errors during ritual practices, be they a conscious, or an unconscious insult, or forgetting to honour the deities and the heroes, usually provokes their fury, which leads to unfavourable consequences for specific people, the community, frequently for nature. Propitiating deities and heroes requires the performing of specific actions and rituals in order the harmony between divine and human to be restored.

Keywords: Heroes, Orpheus, Thamyris, Aristaios, Sacrifice

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