THE GHOST IN MARKO CEPENKOV’S STORIES

Abstract

The folklore fiction has always been a significant constitutive part of the popular art, regardless of its
genre. The oldest mythic discourses represent the ghost (shadow) as an independent substance closely related to
people’s destiny, and it is usually seen as a separate demonological character due to its ability to detach from the
human body. There are numerous examples in the Slavic demonology where the ghost keeps its primary meaning of
duality (doublet) or an equivalent of the human soul. The ghost can detach from the human body when it dies, while
sleeping, or via magic, and then it reincarnates either in the same or into another body. In a similar way, the ghost in
all its different manifestations is almost always related to the soul’s journey and afterlife in the Macedonian folk
tales. The appearance of the demonological creature (ghost) in the tales makes the reality unusual because the
narration includes the codes of fiction which is articulated through the characters’ primary fear of meeting the
unknown creature and the attempt to beat the “higher” power. The stories of our copious collector, Marko
Cepenkov, are one of the oldest written texts in the Macedonian folklore that have the ghost character. Usually, the
ghost in these stories is a result of the collective unconsciousness and the primeval fear of the unknown,
incomprehensible, and mythic, or it represents different manifestations of superstitions. From a literary and artistic
point of view, Marko Cepenkov’s demonological stories with ghosts represent a distinct tendency to overcome the
poetic norms of the traditional folk tales, while by incorporating different views and beliefs for the existence of
“higher” powers, they are closer to the folklore fiction’s concepts. That’s why, Cepenkov’s demonological stories
with ghosts with narrative and mythic concepts are analyzed here, and the special aspects of his prose are detected as
key indicators for his individual and creative contribution to the process of the genesis and constitution of the fiction
story in the contemporary Macedonian prose. Consequently, the perception of Marko Cepenkov’s works represents
a summarized artistic creation of a Macedonian literary genius, which simultaneously highlights the unquestionable
literary talent of collector and belletrist.