Modern transformation of the image of Baba Yaga

The research aims to demonstrate the transformation of Baba Yaga, one of the most popular fairytale characters, within the contemporary media landscape, through an analysis of fanfiction within the Russian fairytale fandom. Russian fairytales represent a part of the rapidly evolving mass culture. The study describes the change in external characteristics, including the loss or reinterpretation of traditional attributes (a bone leg, forest, a hut), the emergence of internal motivation, often emotional in nature, the particular role in the reinterpreted rite of passage, the predominance of the type of Baba Yaga as a giver, the partial or complete loss of the function as an intermediary between the world of the living and the world of the dead, and the change in the heroine’s name. The scientific novelty lies in conducting a first-ever comprehensive study of the image of Baba Yaga and a comparative analysis of the modern character with the traditional folklore image. The results of the research demonstrate how cultural and social realities, including the processes of “de-enchanting” and “enchanting” the world, influence the reinterpretation of mythological images, desacralizing them, leading to the loss of a number of functions, primarily negative ones, and a significant reinterpretation of those that remain. Moreover, modernization allows the inclusion of a complex folklore image into the world of conventional modernity.