The following diploma thesis presents adaptations of tape recordings of folk tales, 170 minutes-long, documented by researcher, folklorist and ethnologist Milko Matičetov (1919 - 2014) on his magnetophone tapes in the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century in the upper Posočje region. The original reel tapes are stored at the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology ZRC SAZU. In recent years, the tape recordings were digitalised into the WAV format, making them easy to play and transcribe on digital devices. Three narrators tell stories on the tape recordings I researched: Joza Kravanja - Marinčič from Vrsnik, Štefan Kavs - Kolerč from the Soča region and Katra Kverh - Jovževka from Trenta. First, the study focuses on the researcher, Milko Matičetov, best known to the public for his collection of works The Little Beasts of Resia. He wrote over 300 scientific and expert articles, essays, papers and evaluations in different languages. He is considered one of the leading experts in ethnolinguistics on a global scale. The number of Slovenian folk tales he collected first-hand exceeds 3,000. Until the end of the fifties of the 20th century, he wrote down all the folk tales by hand before he started recording them. He started doing so with a magnetophone before replacing it with a reel-to-reel tape recorder. He collected folk tales across all Slovenian regions, especially Resia. Alongside focusing on his life and his contribution to the research of Slovenian folk stories, the diploma thesis also briefly presents his work in the upper Posočje region. By outlining this part of his work, the study highlights all three folk storytellers and how Milko Matičetov came into touch with them. By seeking information in the field first-hand, I tried to learn about the trio of folk storytellers as much as possible. Unfortunately, I did not garner as much information as I wanted. Locals only remember basic information about Joza, Štefan and Katra, which is unsurprising, considering much time has passed since the folk storytellers were born. Katra, the oldest of the three, and Joza, eleven years younger, were, in fact, born in the distant 19th century. Barbara Ivančič Kutin, PhD, found valuable information about them, especially Joza Kravanja Marinčič, which immensely helped my research. I added photographic material, courtesy of the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum, to the description for easier understanding. The diploma thesis also presents an expansive collection of simplified expert transcriptions of folk tales, which is the main aim of my research. Some recordings are shorter, and others are more than 45 minutes long. The list of texts encompasses fairytales, folk tales, descriptions of life in the past, folk traditions and customs, etc. All texts are accompanied by a list of stylistically marked dialect words to aid the reader. The diploma includes a quantitative and content overview of the tape recordings in an accompanying table. I added my opinion and observations on each of the narrators and their narrations upon hearing the tapes. The material I analysed will provide new opportunities for future folklore, ethnological and linguistic studies.
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