Turturica ‒ the Bird of Existential Predestination in the Short-Story Epic

This article analyzes the ballad Amărâta turturică (The Embittered Dove) in accordance with the symbolism of this bird in folk environments, being presented in different situations and existential hypostases, in accordance with the allegory of human destiny. The image-symbol "embtittered dove" is put at the service of remedying different contradictory states and feelings, depicting the drama of an existential destiny, marked by falls and inner collapses. The ballad about the widowed dove is related to a series of motifs and renders a "synthesis of symbols", tangent to the archetypal significance of some bird topos in our ritual folklore, to foreshadow the culmination of serious existential feelings. As metaphors of predestination, both the hunter and the dove express some tragic entities of human life, outline the meaning of a polarized destiny, marked by inner contradictions, deepen the idea of nostalgic loneliness in the face of irreversible passage.