Abstract:

This paper examines the identification and analysis of several subversive female (and transgender) figures in Macedonian folklore, whose narratives, choices, trials and resolutions, along with the pedagogical messages they convey and the subversive potential they have carried across centuries, challenge the traditionalist and patriarchal values typically reproduced through folklore. Although statistically marginal when compared to the numerous characters that reinforce conventional gender norms and the socially prescribed role of women, these selected female figures embody the emancipatory potential of negativity. They construct an imagologically and symbolically rich counter-narrative which, on both pedagogical and ideological levels, serves as a remarkably potent counterbalance.

The analysis focuses on female characters who undergo gender transformation (motif AT 514), as well as examples involving episodes of transvestism and androgyny, as seen in figures such as the maiden-soldier, the maiden-warrior, and similar variants (motif AT 884B).