Monday, 12 January 2026

Interview with Andrew Jameson


 

On Sunday I was in the beautiful Malvern Hills to conduct an interview for a book I am writing – a forthcoming manuscript project. The interview was with Andrew Jameson, a former academic from Portsmouth Poly and the University of Lancaster, whose work I encountered at the SCRSS in London at a talk in 2020. Andrew spoke about his expertise in the development of Russian and Slav languages, myth and the traditional stove in culture, poetry and storytelling. This included tales of Baba Yaga, and a brilliant story of the ‘Domovik’ or the spirit of the household realm – important in Ukrainian folklore. Andrew told me a story of ‘transferring’ the spirit using a ritual, a clog behind the stove and an oral invitation for the spirit to ‘move house’ with the owners to keep the household a happy one. I acknowledge and thank funding from Manchester School of Art Research fund, which allowed me to document the interview, and thank you to Emily Davies (BA (Hons) Music and Sound Design) for sound design and recording the audio.