Myths and superstitions regarding health and death in four short stories by Georgios Vizyenos. The divertion of folklore into narration

This master's dissertation focuses on four short stories written by Georgios Vizyenos, the plots of which take place in Vizye, East Thrace and Istanbul in the end of the 19th century. The writer's lived experiences and a great deal of elements of folklore were imported into the narration of these short stories, in which Vizyenos attempted to make psychographs of himself and his family, whose lives were marked by a constant struggle with disease and death. This is the reason why the research of this dissertation focuses on these three special issues (Health, Disease and Death) and more specifically on the following thematic categories: religious and metaphysical practises, popular medicine, superstitious and irrational beliefs on these issues. The main research question is how Vizyenos succeeded in making such a creative use of the abundant folklore elements and his personal experience in the specific place and time (Vizye, East Thrace, 19th century) and convert it into autobiographic narrations, which have proved to be insurmountable masterpieces of their kind.