Wiesław, or a Slavic Magical Fairy Tale as Comic Book Material

Abstract

The article will present the results of a literary analysis of the comic book Wiesław by Maciej Kisiel (3 parts, 2019–2022), which is based on Slavic fairy tales. The inspiration for the analysis of the comic was Jolanta Ługowska’s reflections on the folk magic fairy tale as material of fiction. Folk material functions as a potential source of literary plots and comic scripts from which the author can draw the idea of the plot or even individual motifs or characters to be freely contaminated and modernised. The aim of the reflections on the phenomenon of comic transposition of motifs of Slavic folk tales was to determine to what extent the principles of constructing the plot of the analysed comic correspond to the principles of constructing a folk tale (economy of means, expressive exposition of turning points, covering the perspective of the narrator and the protagonist); and what adaptation and transformation processes (threads, motifs, heroes, objects) serve to adapt folklore material to the new communication situation and recipient.