Meaning Of The Russian Bear

Meaning of the Russian Bear: How Goldflower Outsmarts the USSR

In the “Meaning of Mother Goose,” Robert Darton begins with an old variation of “Little Red Riding Hood” (“LRRH”) and the tale’s psychoanalysis interpretation, which picks out “hidden symbols” (p 281) for a universal meaning. Darnton vehemently disagrees with this interpretation method and claims that “. . . folktales are historical documents. They have evolved over many centuries and have taken different turns in different cultural traditions” (p 283) or as Jamie Tehrani put it in “Do Folktales Evolve Like Biological Species?,” an “international tale [type]” like “LRRH” evolves over space and time into a “locally distinctive form.” In other words, a tale, such as “LRRH,” in
Additionally, in his article, unlike what was previously believed, Tehrani discusses how, by using a tool akin to phylogenetic analysis, he found “LRRH” was more likely to have originated in the West than in East Asia. How different can the Asian variations of “LRRH” be, and how does this reflect the culture that has shaped it? Published in 1979, Chiang Mi’s “Goldflower and the Bear” (“Goldflower”) is a literary variation of the “LRRH” story and is distinctly different from the older Western variations, such as “The Story of Grandmother” (“TSoG”). It is also different from the Chinese folktale variations, such as “Grandmother Wolf” or “Tiger Grandmother,” in terms of plot structure, heroine, and in particular the “beast” or antagonist who disguises itself to devour the heroine. By tweaking the antagonist of his version of “Little Red Riding Hood,” Chiang Mi writes a story preparing the Chinese youth for a potential war
First, frustrated by Goldflower’s tricks, the Bear heads out in search of Goldflower. Upon seeing Goldflower’s reflection in the pond, it mistakes it for the actual Goldflower. Next, in trying to catch Goldflower, the Bear fails to climb the greased pear tree that Goldflower is in and gets covered in grease during the process, but in the Chinese folktale variations, the antagonist doesn’t attempt to climb the tree. Finally, the Bear is tricked into retrieving Goldflower’s spear in exchange for the enticing pears in Goldflower’s tree. In the Chinese folktale variations, the protagonist entices the beast with gingko nuts, a symbol for longevity. Chiang Mi purposefully changed the gingko nuts to pears, which in Chinese sounds identical to the word for separation and have become a metaphor for separation. The Bear, of course, is unaware and greedily eats a pear, thrown by Goldflower, “in two bites” (p