Kothencz Kelemen (szerk.): Víz, ember, örökség. Tanulmányok a 90 éves született Solymos Ede tiszteletére - Bajai dolgozatok 21. (Baja, 2017)

Fehér Zoltán: "Harcsa van a vízbe, gúnár a szélibe" A halászat folklórjának szimbólumai

Zoltán Fehér

„Catfish in the river, gander at the waterside”

The symbols of fishing’s folklore

In his study the author refers to the ethnographer Imre Katona who stated that the fishing folklore is much poorer than the shepherding folklore. Katona explained this fact with that fishing activities were not carried out throughout the year like shepherding activities.

Zoltán Fehér shows examples of how the water, fish, boats, fishermen and a variety of fishery tools appear in the folk songs and folk tales. These data are complemented by water-related beliefs.

The author emphasizes that the symbolism of fishing songs conveys mainly messages about love. For example the ‘crossing the river’ motif in the folk songs symbolizes the sexual intercourse between a man and a woman.

[Translated by the editor]

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