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Idle: Fairytale Character Map Raises Ire In Russia and Ukraine

Posted by timothy on from the hate-to-borscht-yore-bubble dept.

The downside of not having ones base of children's stories crafted and maintained by trained storytime engineers from the Disney Corporation has reared its warty head in Russia and Ukraine. A map of purportedly Russian folktale characters' haunts has drawn fire from Ukrainians, who object to what they see as the appropriation (from Ukraine) of such famous characters as miraculously strong Ilya Muromets, the gold-producing Speckled Hen, and Kolobok ("a cheerful talking cake who flees animals eager to eat him"). This seems like nothing that couldn't be cleared up with some artfully mis-pointed highway signs and a few tons of papier-mâché.

4 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Here's the actual map by moonbender · · Score: 4, Informative

    Flash warning: http://www.themoscownews.com/infographics/20110427/188619593.html

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  2. Unfortunately by mgiuca · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Unfortunately, folkloric heritage is not regulated by international norms or by intellectual property rights," Marina Primenko, the creator of the Ukrainian map, said.

    Yes, very unfortunate. Because we need more historical culture to be tied up in intellectual property rights so rich people can sue other people who reference it.

  3. Don't Believe It! by The+Wild+Norseman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Kolobok ("a cheerful talking cake who flees animals eager to eat him").

    The cake is a liar.

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    "A government is a body of people usually -- notably -- ungoverned." -Shepherd Book
  4. The Ukrainian complaints are utterly ridiculous by tetromino · · Score: 4, Informative

    Back in the middle ages, when these fairy tales were created, Russians and Ukrainians were one, united ethnic group speaking one language (it took many centuries for the languages and cultures to drift apart, and Ukrainians didn't really start to develop a separate national identity until the 19th century); so claiming that an ancient fairy tale character is exclusively Ukrainian or exclusively Russian is utterly ridiculous. Unless, of course, that character is somehow firmly tied to a particular geographic location. One such example is Ilya Muromets, who (as you can guess from the name) is from the town of Murom, located in Russia, 400 miles north-west of the Ukrainian border. The insane people claiming Ilya Muromets exclusively for Ukrainian folklore have clearly failed both history and geography.