“Hatzi-Yavrouda of Kos – an exceptional storyteller”. Lecture by Birgit Olsen
The female storyteller Hatzi-Yavrouda lived on Kos in the beginning of the 20th
century, and she was one of the local collector Iakovos Zarraftis’s informants.
Her tales are long and complex and show inspiration from both oral and written
tradition. By analysing in detail some of her tales, the aim of this paper is to
show how Hatzi-Yavrouda not only fits the picture of a gifted narrator but is an
exceptionally gifted one.
On an overall level I shall look into the composition of her tales – their structure
and the various elements of raw material the narrator uses to make them longer
and more interesting. On a detailed level I shall present some of HatziYavrouda’s characteristic linguistic and stylistic features as well as her personal
views that pervade the tales. Finally I shall point at her tales’ relation to the
surrounding reality.