Sir Paul Nurse’s geneticist’s tales : case study of a complex family tree narrative

Blažič, Milena (author), Iseni, Arburim (author)

This study examines the autobiographical narrative of the Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Sir Paul Nurse, to explore the intersection of genetics, identity, and familial secrecy. Employing a structuralist-folkloric framework rooted in Vladimir Propp’s morphology and the Aarne-Thompson-Uther classification, alongside psychoanalytic theories from Carl Jung and Julia Kristeva,the analysis traces Nurse’s journey from perceived familial difference to the revelation of his illegitimacy and concealed maternity. The narrative parallels folktale motifs, such as ATU 926 ("Judgment of Solomon") and ATU 930B ("The Predestined Wife"), while engaging themes of recognition (Aristotle’s anagnorisis), revolt (Kristeva’s self-authorship), and ethical ambiguity (Žižek’s traumatic Real). The findings highlight how personal mythmaking reconciles scientific rationality with archetypal narratives, offering a model for identity reconstruction in empirical paradigms.

• Language: English
• Keywords: genetics, identity, folktale motifs, anagnorisis, illegitimacy, autobiographical narrative, ATU 926
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 11-19
• Numbering: Vol. 14, iss. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-171163
• UDC: 821
• ISSN on article: 1857-8187
• COBISS.SI-ID: 245563651

Copyright

Podatek o licenci CC-BY 4.0 je naveden na pristajalni strani članka (glej izvorni URL zgoraj). (Datum opombe: 14. 8. 2025)

• Publication date in RUL: 14.08.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Anglisticum
• Publisher: Association-Institute for English Language and American Studies, Tetovo, North Macedonia
• ISSN: 1857-8187
• COBISS.SI-ID: 114314499

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: avtobiografska pripoved, ATU, genetika, identiteta, motivi iz ljudskih pripovedk, nezakonskost, književnost