Spread of folklore motifs as a proxy for information exchange: contact zones and borderlines in Eurasia; pp. 3–13
Journal: Trames Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences
Year: 2015

The aim of this paper is to reveal patterns of areal spread of folklore motifs in Eurasia and to understand their rationale. The distribution of 615 motifs related to adventures and tricks according to 339 Old World traditions was statistically processed using factor analysis. Tendencies in the areal spread of motifs are interpreted as proxies for the intensity of information exchange between people. Two regularities in distribution of motifs deserve attention. Western Europe and the Mediterrane