The complex of reminiscences in Kate Bernheimer’s novel “The Complete Tales of Merry Gold”
- DOI
- 10.5922/vestnikpsy-2026-2-7
- Pages
- 80-88
Abstract
The article examines fairy-tale motifs in the second novel of the Gold sisters trilogy, “The Complete Tales of Merry Gold”, by contemporary American writer Kate Bernheimer. The methodological framework of the study is based on motif and intertextual analysis. The novel contains a complex system of fairy-tale reminiscences. Recurrent plots of fairy-tale pretexts associated with the water element, as well as images of mythological and fairy-tale characters (selkies, “The Water Nixie” from the collection of the Brothers Grimm, “The Little Mermaid” by H. C. Andersen, and “Vazuza and the Volga” from the collection of tales by A. N. Afanasyev), point to two central latent motifs in Merry Gold’s life that stem from childhood trauma: transformation and disappearance. The psyche of the elder of the Gold sisters is characterized by pronounced ambivalence, as a result of which these motifs both reinforce each other and come into conflict: transformation emphasizes the heroine’s problem of self-identification and her difficulties in understanding herself and others, which she fails to overcome and instead resorts to self-destructive behavior expressed in alcoholism and self-harm, while the motif of disappearance, associated in the text with melting and intersecting with the plot of the Snow Maiden tale, draws attention to the fear of death.