Fantastic characters from everyday fairy tales. Classification of fairy tales

A fairy tale is a miracle! A wonderful world, familiar from childhood, where good always triumphs over evil. On the pages of fairy-tale books live talking animals and dragons, brave heroes and beautiful princesses, good fairies and evil sorcerers. Fairy tales encourage not only to believe in miracles, but also teach kindness, compassion, not giving in to difficulties, listening to parents and not judging others by appearance.

What kind of fairy tales are there?

A fairy tale is a story with fictional characters and a plot that is of an everyday, heroic or magical nature. They are folklore (composed by the people), literary (include features of folk tales, but belong to one author) and author's (written by one specific author). Folklore tales are divided into magical, everyday and about animals.

Folklore

They go a long way before reaching the reader. They are passed down orally from generation to generation until some collector of legends writes them down on paper. It is believed that the heroes of the first stories were the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and others natural phenomena, and images of people and animals began to be used later.

Folk tales have a fairly simple structure: a saying, a beginning and an end. The text is easy to read and does not contain complex words. But despite its apparent simplicity, it retains all the richness of the Russian language. Folklore tales are easily understood even by little ones, which makes them the best choice for reading before bed. This will not only prepare the child for sleep, but also unobtrusively teach life values.

The main features of a fairy tale:

  1. Fairy-tale cliches “Once upon a time,” “In a certain kingdom.”
  2. Use of proverbs and sayings.
  3. Obligatory victory of good in the final.
  4. The tests that the heroes go through are educational and moral in nature.
  5. The animals saved by the hero help him get out of difficult situations.

Household

The action takes place in Everyday life, not “in the distant kingdom,” but an ordinary city or village. The life of that time, features and habits are described. The heroes are the poor and merchants, spouses, soldiers, servants and masters. The plot is based on ordinary life situations and conflicts that the heroes have to resolve with the help of skill, ingenuity and even cunning.

Everyday fairy tales ridicule human vices: greed, stupidity, ignorance. The main message of such stories is that one should not be afraid of work, not be lazy and confidently overcome obstacles. Treat others kindly, be responsive to the grief of others, do not lie or be stingy. For example, “Porridge from an axe,” “Turnip,” “Seven-year-old daughter.”

About animals

Often the characters are animals. They live and communicate like people, talk and play pranks, quarrel and make peace. There is no clear character among the characters division into positive and negative heroes. Each of them is endowed with one distinctive feature, which is played out in the plot of the fairy tale. A cunning fox, an angry wolf, a hardworking hare, and a wise owl. Such images are understandable to children and give ideas about intelligence and stupidity, cowardice and courage, greed and kindness.

Magical

What is a fairy tale? This mysterious world, filled with magic and enchantment. Where animals, nature and even objects can speak. The composition is more complex, it includes an introduction, a plot, a central plot, a climax and a denouement. The plot is based on overcoming a difficult situation or regaining a loss. For example, “Morozko”, “Finist Clear Falcon”, “Cinderella”.

The world of characters is incredibly diverse. G great heroes have everything positive qualities, that is, such as kindness, generosity, responsiveness, courage. They are opposed by evil, greedy and selfish negative heroes. In the fight against enemies, the positive heroes are helped by wonderful helpers and magical objects. The ending is certainly happy. The hero returns home with honors, having overcome all adversity and obstacles.

Literary

Has a specific author, but is closely related to folklore. A literary fairy tale reflects the author's view of the world, his ideas and desires, while folk tales demonstrate generalized values. The writer empathizes with the main characters, expresses sympathy for individual characters and openly ridicules the negative characters.

The basis is often the plots of folk tales.

  • the hero’s belonging to the world of magic;
  • hostility between adoptive parents and children;
  • the hero is helped by nature, living creatures and magical attributes.

To imitate folk tales, the same principles are applied: fairy-tale setting, talking animals, triplicate repetitions and vernacular. The images of the main characters of folk tales are often used: Ivan the Fool, Baba Yaga, Tsar Koschei and others. The author strives for greater detail, the characters and personal qualities of the characters are described in detail, the environment is close to reality and there are always two generations present: the older (parents) and the younger (children).

Vivid examples of a literary fairy tale include the work of A. Pushkin “ gold fish", G. Andersen's "The Snow Queen" and C. Perrault's "Puss in Boots".

Whatever the fairy tale, its goal is to teach a child not to despair, to boldly take on tasks, and to respect other people’s opinions. Looking at the bright illustrations, it’s easy to come up with your own plot based on an already familiar story. Even an adult will benefit from breaking away from the usual cycle of days and immersing himself in beautiful world magic.

It is simply impossible to imagine our life without fairy tales. We get to know them in early childhood. From fairy tales we learn for the first time that there is good and bad, good and evil in the world. Fairy tales awaken and develop the imagination, teach the little man to distinguish good from bad, think, feel and empathize, gradually preparing him to enter adulthood. First, my mother reads to us “Turnip” and “Ryaba the Hen,” then introduces us to the magical world of fairy tales by Pushkin and Charles Perrault. And there we ourselves read the amazing fairy tales of Nikolai Nosov, Vitaly Bianki and Evgeny Schwartz. What kind of fairy tales are there?

Fairy tales happen

  • folk, or folklore;
  • literary, or copyright.

The folk tale came to us from time immemorial. After a hard day of work or on long winter evenings, with a torch lit in the hut, people told and listened to fairy tales. Then they retold them to each other, simplifying or embellishing, enriching them with new characters and events. So they were passed on from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation. But fairy tales were written not only for entertainment; in them people wanted to express their attitude to life. In folk tales we see faith in reason, goodness and justice, the triumph of truth over falsehood, the glorification of courage and bravery, disdain for stupidity, hatred of enemies or ridicule of them. A folk tale allows you to feel a connection with the past and provides an opportunity to join the origins of folk culture.

Folk tales, in turn, are divided into three types:

  • tales about animals;
  • fairy tales;
  • everyday tales.

Animals have lived alongside humans since time immemorial, so it is not surprising that they are often the main characters in folk tales. Moreover, in fairy tales, animals often have human qualities. Such fairy tale character immediately becomes clearer to the reader. And the role of a person in the plot of a fairy tale can be primary, secondary or equal. By genre, there are fairy tales about animals and cumulative tales (repetition fairy tales). Distinctive feature A cumulative fairy tale is the repeated repetition of a plot unit, as, for example, in “Turnip” and “Ryab the Hen”.

Fairy tales are distinguished by the fact that their heroes act in a fantastic, unreal world who lives and acts according to his own special laws, different from human ones. Such a fairy tale is replete with magical events and adventures, exciting the imagination. Fairy tales are classified by plot:

  • heroic tales involving the struggle and victory over a magical creature - a snake, an ogre, a giant, a witch, a monster or an evil wizard;
  • tales related to the search or use of some magical object;
  • tales related to wedding trials;
  • tales about the oppressed in the family (for example, about a stepdaughter and an evil stepmother).

Feature everyday tales is a reflection of everyday folk life And everyday life. They raise social problems and ridicule negative human qualities and actions. An everyday fairy tale may also contain elements of a fairy tale. In everyday fairy tales, as a rule, greedy priests and stupid landowners are ridiculed, and the hero of the fairy tale (a man, a soldier) emerges victorious from all troubles.

What is a literary fairy tale?

A literary fairy tale has an author, which is why it is also called an author's fairy tale. This piece of art, which can be written in prose or poetic form. The plot of a literary fairy tale can be based on folklore sources, or may be an exclusively original idea of ​​the author. A literary fairy tale is more diverse in plot, the narrative in it is more intense, it is replete with various literary devices. It, like a folk tale, also contains fiction and magic. But the predecessor author's fairy tale, of course, it was a folk tale; it was too connected with the folklore that gave birth to it. The author, the author's individual imagination, the selection from the treasury of folklore only of what the author needs to express and formulate his thoughts and feelings - this is the main difference between a literary fairy tale and a folklore one.

Excellent examples of literary fairy tales are the tales of A.S. Pushkina, K.D. Ushinsky, G.Kh. Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, E. Schwartz, V. Bianchi, J.R.R. Tolkien and many other wonderful fairy tale authors.

Despite the differences in types and genres, all fairy tales have one unifying principle - good. After all the twists and turns and untruths in a fairy tale, goodness and justice always win. There are no evil fairy tales. There are only good fairy tales. That's why they are fairy tales.

Individual existence artistic creativity is a genre - a historically developing type of literary work. One of the most difficult to define and identify common typical features is the fairy tale genre.

The concept of “fairy tale” is the subject of numerous scientific studies and debates. For a long time, scientists did not try to define a fairy tale and, accordingly, did not give its genre characteristics. For example, the definition of the concept and essence of a fairy tale is not found in the works of such major domestic researchers of folklore genres as P.V. Vladimirov, A.N. Pypin.

V.Ya. Propp notes that in most European languages ​​there is no designation for this type of folklore, so the most different words. Only two European languages ​​- Russian and German - have special words for fairy tales: “fairy tale” and “Märchen”. In Latin, the word “fairy tale” is conveyed using the word fabula, which has many other additional meanings: conversation, gossip, subject of conversation, etc. (“plot” in literary criticism is “the plot, the subject of the story”), as well as a story, including a fairy tale and a fable. In French, the word used for fairy tale is “story.”

Based on their meanings of words that are in different languages is designated “fairy tale”, several conclusions can be drawn:

  • 1. The fairy tale is recognized as a narrative genre
  • 2. A fairy tale is considered fiction.
  • 3. The purpose of a fairy tale is to entertain listeners

One of the first scientific definitions fairy tales were given by European researchers J. Bolte and G. Polivka. Its meaning boils down to the following: a fairy tale is understood as a story based on poetic fantasy, especially from the magical world, a story not related to the conditions of real life, which is listened to with pleasure in all strata of society, even if they find it incredible or unreliable.

However, V. Propp finds a number of inaccuracies and weaknesses in this definition. Firstly, the definition of a fairy tale as “a story based on poetic fantasy” is too broad. Any literary and artistic work is based on poetic fantasy. Secondly, the words “especially from the magical world” exclude from this definition all non-magical tales (about animals, short stories). Propp also did not agree that the fairy tale “is not connected with the conditions of real life.” His opinion is shared by many other researchers who believe that a fairy tale is intended to reflect reality, to convey to listeners and readers some generalized idea that is closely related to life. Finally, the formula that a fairy tale provides aesthetic pleasure, even if listeners “find it incredible or unreliable,” is initially incorrect, since a fairy tale is always considered fictional. However, J. Bolte and G. Polivka are right in defining a fairy tale through the closest genus, that is, through a story, a narrative in general.

Based on the above, we will try to formulate the following definition: a fairy tale is one of oldest species folk literature, a narrative (usually prosaic) about fictitious, often fantastic events.

Speaking about the genre, it is important to pay special attention to the folk tale. By folk tale we mean “one of the main genres of oral folk art, an epic, predominantly prosaic work of art of a magical, adventurous or everyday nature with a focus on fiction”

According to V.Ya. Proppa, a fairy tale is determined, first of all, by its artistic form. “Each genre has a special, peculiar to it, and in some cases only to it, artistry. The set of historically established artistic techniques can be called poetics.” Based on this, the most general definition is obtained: “a fairy tale is a story that differs from all other types of narration by the specificity of its poetics.”

However, this definition also requires further additions. The largest collector and researcher of fairy tales A.I. Nikiforov gave this genre the following definition: “Fairy tales are oral stories that exist among the people for the purpose of entertainment, containing events that are unusual in the everyday sense (fantastic, miraculous or everyday) and are distinguished by a special compositional and stylistic structure,” “works with a fantastic plot, conventionally fantastic imagery, stable plot- compositional structure, a listener-oriented form of storytelling."

A number of features characteristic of folk tales can be identified:

1) Variability and specificity of the plot

Speaking about the plot structure of folk tales, in my opinion, it is necessary to dwell on the patterns of construction of folk fairy tales, outlined by V.Ya. Proppom. Based on the understanding of the plot as a complex of motives or repeating elements - the functions of the characters, V.Ya. Propp identified thirty-one functions of the characters, the combination of which determines the structure of any fairy tale. In his work “Morphology of a Fairy Tale,” V. Propp notes that fairy tales have one feature - the components of one fairy tale can be placed in another fairy tale without any changes. Thus, the plots of folk tales are traditional and, to some extent, given. It is important to note that this led to variability in the plots: the core of the plot remained intact, but was only supplemented with individual details.

2) Conscious orientation towards fiction

People initially understand a fairy tale as fiction. “Fairy tales are collectively created and traditionally preserved by the people oral prose artistic narratives of such real content, which necessarily require the use of techniques of implausible depiction of reality. They are not repeated in any other genre of folklore,” argued V.P. Anikin.

The fact that they do not believe in the reality of the events described in the fairy tale was noted by V.G. Belinsky, who, comparing epics and fairy tales, wrote: “At the basis of a fairy tale, a hidden thought is always noticeable, it is noticeable that the narrator himself does not believe what he is telling, and internally laughs at his own story.” Aksakov, who made an attempt to distinguish fairy tales from other types of folklore more than a hundred years ago, wrote that the focus on conscious fiction affects the content of fairy tales, the depiction of the scene in them, and the characters of the characters.

Thus, characteristic feature fairy tales - in their fiction, in the fact that they are presented by the storyteller and are perceived by his listeners primarily as a poetic fiction, as a game of fantasy. The role of poetic fiction in a fairy tale, its function, its quality determine its main genre features.”

3) Techniques of poetics

Special techniques of poetics are, first of all, initial and final formulas, trinity, gradation, the absence of detailed descriptions of nature, the spiritual life of heroes, and so on. According to V.Ya. Propp, “each genre has a special, peculiar to it, and in some cases only to it, artistry.” Folklore tales usually begin with traditional initial formulas “once upon a time there was”: “Once upon a time there was a little peasant boy...”; “Once upon a time there was a king...”; “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, a long-awaited heir was born into the royal family...” Folk tales most often have a happy ending and an equally traditional final formula, testifying to the well-being of the heroes: “They had a wedding here, and they got half a kingdom in addition”; “They lived happily ever after, and died on the same day...”

The final formulas sometimes reveal a claim to the authenticity of what is happening: “And I was there, I drank honey and beer...”.

In folk tales, the number three “dominates”: “Once upon a time there was a woman, and she had three sons...”. "One king had three daughters." There are most often three children in a family, they have to overcome three trials, accomplish three feats (in literary criticism, this technique is usually called three-fold repetition, with the help of which an increase in tension is conveyed or attention is focused on the main character). Along with trinity, gradation is also observed. Every new test, every new feat is more difficult, and every treasure is more precious than the previous one; and if the hero first finds himself in a forest of silver, then the road leads him to a forest of gold, and in the end - to a forest of precious stones.

4) Traditional characters

In folk tales there are only a small number of recurring characters: kings, princes, princesses, magic birds, giants, craftsmen, and so on. The specificity of folklore characters lies in their generalized, abstract image, the constancy of their functions and the brevity of their characteristics.

5) Uncertainty of fairy-tale space and time

In folk tales there are almost no indications of time and place, when and where the action takes place. Everything is very vague: “Once upon a time there was a man who had three sons. And when they grew up, they matured...” Sometimes the time and place are specified in some vaguely vague form: “And they live there in joy day after day, west of the sun, east of the moon in the very wind.” If the location of the action is indicated, then this is most often the native village, or “ White light", or a foreign state.

With the help of clichéd expressions used at the beginning, the folk tale emphasizes its timeless nature: “it etait une fjis”; "es war einmal"; "one day…".

5) Sociality, the eternal struggle against evil, truth against untruth.

Images positive hero, his beloved, and their assistants form a single system expressing people's ideals and dreams. This world is opposed to the evil of life. Good in a fairy tale always triumphs over evil.

All these features will be continued and developed literary fairy tale.

The origin of the genre of literary fairy tale is the result of the process of interaction between folklore and literature, penetration into the world of folk tales, into its artistic system of elements of literary creativity.

The literary fairy tale is a genre known already in antiquity. The tale is recognizable in the touching love of Cupid and Psyche, told by Apuleius in the second century AD in the novel The Golden Ass. This is a characteristic folklore beginning, as well as a motive for magical trials. But all traditional folk fairy tales are subject to the individual author’s artistic intention - to create irony (for example, the Olympian gods are endowed with the features of “mere mortals”; they argue and refer to Roman criminal law).

And yet, the true founders of the genre of literary fairy tales are considered to be the writers of the late Italian Renaissance. Motifs from folk tales were used by G. Straparola (short stories “Pleasant Nights”). Researchers call him partly a follower of G. Boccaccio, but Straparola goes further, borrowing motifs for his short stories and fairy tales from ancient Indian narrative prose, or creating them himself.

The tradition of literary fairy tales was continued in the seventeenth century by the Neapolitan G. Basile. His “Tale of Tales” (or “Pentameron”) simultaneously absorbed the rich folk fairy tale tradition, literary motives, as well as the color of grace and irony that are inherent in Basile’s creative manner.

A few decades later, “Tales of My Mother Goose, or Stories and Tales of Bygone Times with Teachings” (1697), authored by French writer C. Perrault. C. Perrault belongs to the baroque movement, hence the features of the literary fairy tales he created: gallantry, grace, moralizing and pretentiousness. In search of sources for his works, the author refuses ancient stories and turns to folklore. He was looking for new content and new forms of art. Based on folk tradition, Perrault creatively approached the folklore plot, introduced into its development individual details, author's digressions, reflecting the customs and morals of contemporary reality. In literary fairy tales, C. Perrault reflected the beautiful literary language, vivid descriptions, details and images, even the accuracy of time references.

The courtly age was replaced by times that did not really favor fairy tales. It was an era of discovery and knowledge, which was called the Age of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment saw virtue in hard work and learning, rationality in the life of nature, and the undoubted benefit of art in the moral education of humanity. Inspired by the discoveries of the natural sciences, the enlighteners decided that everything could be explained in terms of practical meaning. Many researchers call this period the “crisis of the genre” of the literary fairy tale.

In Rococo literature, the fairy tale turns into an autonomous literary genre. Here the tales are presented in a different, not folklore, but “literary” style. Rococo tales are assessed as courtly and aristocratic art; they analyze and reflect the mores and psychology of contemporary society, demonstrate the duality of human nature, and affirm the natural imperfection of man. The style of the Rococo fairy tale is “elegantly whimsical metonymic comparisons and emphasized fragmentation and ornamentation, ... virtuoso and graceful play.”

There is a fairly wide range of writers working in the vein of the rocaille literary fairy tale. First of all, this is K.P. Crebillon, Catherine Bernard, Countess d'Aunois, Charlotte Rose Colon Delaforce, Countess de Murat, Jean de Prechac and others. A. France called this period the "golden age" of conte (fairy tales) and short stories.

The literary fairy tale reached its true flowering in the era of romanticism, when the fairy tale genre became the basis of the literature of this period.

Literary fairy tales of the romantics are characterized by a combination of the magical, fantastic, ghostly and mystical with modern reality. The social issues of contemporary society for them (the romantics) are relevant. The Romantics sought to establish the element of the miraculous, which would resist the monotony of everyday life and romanticism.

Literary tales of this period are close to folk tradition. For example, L. Tick’s fairy tales and plays combine folklore elements with everyday family chronicles. Hoffmann's tales, where connections with folklore are least mediated, are based on a combination of the real and the surreal. For the first time, the writer transfers the setting of fairy tales, night sketches and other fantastic and mystical visions to modern times, to the real world.

Hans Christian (or Hans Christian) Andersen continues the tradition of the romantics Tieck, Hoffmann and others. His work ends the period of European classical romanticism. Andersen's literary fairy tale is based not only on folk tales, but also on legends, beliefs, proverbs, as well as on various literary sources. It has elements of novel, lyricism, drama and short story. Expanding the fairy tale, bringing it closer to the real world, Andersen saturates it with enormous life material to such an extent that he himself begins to doubt whether it remains a fairy tale. From 1858 to 187, numerous issues of the collection “New Fairy Tales and Stories” appeared. The title of the collection indicated that the writer did not abandon the fairy tale genre. The concept of "history" also did not mean the radical fairy tales of his tales from one state to another. Andersen's "History", on the one hand, is not a fairy tale in the usual sense of the word. There are no supernatural miraculous events that have almost nothing to do with reality, and no mysterious, magical characters. On the other hand, Andersen’s “story” is a kind of fairy tale, but with a special, unique, unique fantasy.

The most famous and prolific storyteller in France in the third quarter of the nineteenth century is considered to be Edouard Rene Laboulaye de Lefebvre. Laboulet created almost all of his fairy tales on a folk basis, but he reworked the plots and images in such a vivid and original way that in the end it was difficult to recognize a folklore source. The writer’s sources were not only fairy tales from all regions of France, but also Spanish, German, Finnish, and Czech fairy tales. In addition, in the fairy tales of the writer Laboule we can observe both satire and humor (edifying ridicule and everyday humor).

The evolution of the genre does not stop there. Romanticism is being replaced by aestheticism. Fairy tales by O. Wilde and fairy-tale short stories by T. Gautier appeared, focused on the principle of the “ideal”, an aesthetic model.

Thus, O. Wilde’s fairy tales, in which the action takes place in magical lands or past centuries, are called “fairy tales of the future.” “Fairy tales of the future” include a certain universal cosmic worldview. Wilde himself made a conclusion that was ahead of a whole stream of twentieth-century philosophy: real, true beauty impossible without suffering.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the literary fairy tale ceased to be an apology for its era. In a crisis of European culture, moral and religious values the fairy tale undergoes transformation. The form of consciousness and the condition for overcoming the crisis becomes a conscious renunciation of reason and rational orientation. The fairy-tale reality created in a magical literary fairy tale exists according to its own laws, the way of being of which is the process of co-creation and aesthetic experiences.

In the nineteenth century, the tendency to lose the “purity” of the genre and to transform the fairy tale into a synthetic genre, combining components of different genres, intensified. A literary fairy tale is presented as an original author's art system, fundamentally different from folklore and revealing with it only distant connections and commonality of the main genre features.

During the period of romanticism, many genres were created and developed. In France, for example, so-called confessional prose was widespread - novels that contain the hero’s self-exposure. IN lyrical genres The most important artistic discovery was the romantic poem, which was almost the leading genre of romanticism, along with the short story. The literary fairy tale has also become widespread in literature.

The most significant representatives of this genre were Countess de Segur, de Lefebvre and George Sand in France, Novalis, Brentano, Hauff, Hoffmann in Germany.

The literary fairy tale owes its origin to the folk fairy tale, but in many ways it is fundamentally different from it. A significant difference between a literary fairy tale and a folk fairy tale lies in the constant presence of a storyteller - an intermediary between the world of the fairy tale of this author and its creator.

The narrators are individual characters (in the fairy tales of H.H. Andersen, for example, this is the merchant’s son, Ole Lukoje); wind, air, birds, street lamp and so on. Sometimes the storyteller speaks on his own behalf. In some fairy tales, the author and the narrator merge together, are identified, and this gives a touch of authenticity to what is happening.

According to N.A. The basket, content, and idea of ​​a literary fairy tale are adjusted not only by the worldview of the author, but also by a complex of philosophical and aesthetic problems of the era in which it was created. Its plot and composition have no variations and, unlike a folk tale, are rigidly fixed.” For example, in the literary fairy tales of the romantics there are practically no traditional initial and final formulas.

In a literary fairy tale, one of the main tasks of the author is to convey his thoughts to readers, show his vision of the world and, to some extent, influence readers.

Thus, a literary fairy tale is a fairy tale of its time, which is inextricably linked with socio-historical events and literary and aesthetic trends. Like the fruit of labor a certain person Belonging to a certain time, a literary fairy tale carries ideas contemporary to that era and reflects contemporary social relations.

Due to the individualization of the heroes' speech, their naming and other characteristics, fairy-tale types are transformed into characters. In addition, the literary fairy tale is distinguished by subtle psychological shades. The characters of a literary fairy tale are individual and artistically differentiated, and their relationships with each other are often distinguished by complex psychological connections. The individualization of the fairy-tale hero is reflected in a literary fairy tale.

To understand the image of the hero in both literary and folk tales important role portraits and psychological characteristics heroes.

A literary fairy tale often includes components of the external world - natural phenomena, things and objects, elements of everyday life, scientific and technical achievements, historical events and characters, various realities, and so on. Thanks to all of the above, the literary fairy tale is of a broadly educational nature. Her characters are not nameless; sometimes they meet in it geographical names actually existing.

Folklorists and literary scholars note that there is still no unambiguous definition and consensus, even on what should be considered a literary fairy tale: a work that satisfies the ideological and aesthetic principles of a folk fairy tale; a prose or poetic work that actively uses elements of folk poetics (not necessarily fairy-tale, it can be a legend, an epic, and so on); any work in which there is a happy ending and an unrealistic (with elements of fantasy) plot or mentions fairy-tale characters; an author's work for which an exact indication of a folklore and fairy-tale source is possible, or something else.

Y. Yarmysh defines a literary fairy tale as “a genre of literary work in which, in a magical, fantastic or allegorical development of events, and, as a rule, in original plots and images in prose, poetry or drama, moral, ethical and aesthetic problems». This interpretation genre seems not entirely accurate, since allegory is also characteristic of fables and stories, and the fantastic beginning is characteristic not only of the fairy tale genre, but also of ballads and romantic short stories.

FROM. Surat adheres to his own point of view and gives the following definition of a literary fairy tale: it is “a genre that combines the features of individual author’s creativity with the use, to a greater or lesser extent, of certain folklore canons - figurative, plot-compositional, stylistic.” In my opinion, this definition reflects one of the main features of a literary fairy tale, however, “folklore canons” are inherent not only in a literary fairy tale, but also in a song, romance, ballad, tale, fable, story, and so on.

A fairly complete definition of a literary fairy tale was given by L.D. Braude: “A literary fairy tale is an author’s artistic prose or poetic work, based either on folklore sources, or invented by the writer himself, but in any case subordinate to his will; the work is predominantly fantastical, depicting the wonderful adventures of fictional or traditional fairy tale characters and in some cases aimed at children; a work in which magic, miracle plays the role of a plot-forming factor and helps to characterize the characters.”

In turn, T.G. Leonova defines the genre of literary fairy tale as “ narrative work small epic form with a fantastic plot, with conventionally fantastic imagery, unmotivated miracles and miracles as a given, aimed at the reader who accepts the convention; a work that is correlated with a folk tale by a purely individual manifestation of folklorism and differs from it in the author’s concept of seeing the world, the ideological and aesthetic tasks of the time and the connection with the writer’s artistic method.”

Both researchers highlight such common features literary fairy tale as:

  • - author's beginning;
  • - fantastic, wonderful plot;
  • - correlation with a folk tale.

In the concept of T.G. Leonova's most significant is the selection following features literary fairy tale:

  • - conventionally fantastic imagery;
  • - orientation towards the reader who accepts the convention;
  • - connection with the writer’s artistic method;
  • - the author's concept of vision of the world.

Thus, a literary fairy tale is understood as a narrative work of small, medium or large epic form with a fantastic plot, with conventionally fantastic imagery, aimed at the reader who accepts the convention; a work that is correlated with a folk tale by a purely individual manifestation of folklorism and differs from it in the author’s concept of seeing the world, the ideological and aesthetic tasks of the time and the connection with the writer’s artistic method.

When analyzing fairy tales and conducting lessons on fairy tales, the features of folk tales and literary tales should be taken into account.

The most important ideas, main issues, plot cores and - most importantly - the balance of forces that bring about good and evil are essentially the same in fairy tales different nations. In this sense, any fairy tale knows no boundaries; it is for all humanity.

Folklore studies have devoted a lot of research to the fairy tale, but defining it as one of the genres of oral folk art still remains an open problem. The heterogeneity of fairy tales, the wide thematic range, the variety of motives and characters contained in them, and the countless number of ways to resolve conflicts really make the task of defining a fairy tale by genre very difficult.

And yet, the divergence in views on a fairy tale is associated with what is regarded as the main thing in it: an orientation toward fiction or the desire to reflect reality through fiction.

The essence and vitality of a fairy tale, the secret of its magical existence is in the constant combination of two elements of meaning: fantasy and truth.

On this basis, a classification of types of fairy tales arises, although not entirely uniform. Thus, with a problem-thematic approach, fairy tales dedicated to animals, tales about unusual and supernatural events, adventure tales, social and everyday tales, anecdote tales, upside-down tales and others are distinguished.

The groups of fairy tales do not have sharply defined boundaries, but despite the fragility of the demarcation, such a classification allows you to start a substantive conversation with the child about fairy tales within the framework of a conventional “system” - which, of course, makes the work of parents and educators easier.
To date, the following classification of Russian folk tales has been accepted:

1. Tales about animals;
2. Fairy tales;
3. Everyday tales.

Let's take a closer look at each type.

Animal Tales

Folk poetry embraced the whole world; its object was not only man, but also all living things on the planet. By depicting animals, the fairy tale gives them human traits, but at the same time it records and characterizes habits, “way of life,” etc. Hence the lively, intense text of fairy tales.
Man has long felt a kinship with nature; he truly was a part of it, fighting with it, seeking its protection, sympathizing and understanding. The later introduced fable, parable meaning of many fairy tales about animals is also obvious.

In fairy tales about animals, fish, animals, birds act, they talk to each other, declare war on each other, make peace. The basis of such tales is totemism (belief in a totemic animal, the patron of the clan), which resulted in the cult of the animal. For example, the bear, which became the hero of fairy tales, according to the ideas of the ancient Slavs, could predict the future. He was often thought of as a terrible, vengeful beast, unforgiving of insults (the fairy tale “The Bear”). The further the belief in this goes, the more confident a person becomes in his abilities, the more possible is his power over the animal, the “victory” over him. This happens, for example, in the fairy tales “The Man and the Bear” and “The Bear, the Dog and the Cat.” Fairy tales differ significantly from beliefs about animals - in the latter, big role plays fiction related to paganism. The wolf is believed to be wise and cunning, the bear is terrible. The fairy tale loses its dependence on paganism and becomes a mockery of animals. Mythology in it turns into art. The fairy tale is transformed into a kind of artistic joke - a criticism of those creatures that are meant by animals. Hence the closeness of such tales to fables ("The Fox and the Crane", "Beasts in the Pit").

Tales about animals stand out in special group according to the character of the characters. They are divided by type of animal. This also includes tales about plants, inanimate nature (frost, sun, wind), and objects (a bubble, a straw, a bast shoe).

In fairy tales about animals, man:
1) plays minor role(the old man from the fairy tale “The Fox Steals Fish from the Cart”);
2) occupies a position equivalent to an animal (the man from the fairy tale “The old bread and salt is forgotten”).

Possible classification of tales about animals.

First of all, a fairy tale about animals is classified according to the main character (thematic classification). This classification is given in the index of fairy-tale plots of world folklore compiled by Arne-Thomson and in the “Comparative Index of Plots. East Slavic Fairy Tale”:

1. Wild animals.
- Fox.
- Other wild animals.
2. Wild and domestic animals
3. Man and wild animals.
4. Pets.
5. Birds and fish.
6. Other animals, objects, plants and natural phenomena.

The next possible classification of a fairy tale about animals is a structural-semantic classification, which classifies the fairy tale according to genre. There are several genres in a fairy tale about animals. V. Ya. Propp identified such genres as:

1. Cumulative tale about animals.

3. Fable (apologist)
4. Satirical tale

E. A. Kostyukhin identified genres about animals as:

1. Comic (everyday) tale about animals
2. A fairy tale about animals
3. Cumulative tale about animals
4. A short story about animals
5. Apologist (fable)
6. Anecdote.
7. A satirical tale about animals
8. Legends, traditions, everyday stories about animals
9. Tales

Propp, in the basis of his classification of animal tales by genre, tried to put a formal feature. Kostyukhin, on the other hand, partly based his classification on a formal feature, but basically the researcher divides the genres of fairy tales about animals according to content. This allows us to better understand the diverse material of fairy tales about animals, which demonstrates the variety of structural structures, diversity of styles, and richness of content.

The third possible classification of a fairy tale about animals is a classification based on the target audience. Tales about animals are divided into:

1. Children's fairy tales.
- Fairy tales told for children.
- Fairy tales told by children.
2. Adult fairy tales.

This or that genre of animal tales has its own target audience. Modern Russian fairy tales about animals mainly belong to a children's audience. Thus, fairy tales told for children have a simplified structure. But there is a genre of fairy tales about animals that will never be addressed to children - this is the so-called. A "naughty" ("cherished" or "pornographic") tale.

About twenty plots of fairy tales about animals are cumulative tales. The principle of such a composition is the repeated repetition of a plot unit. Thompson, S., Bolte, J. and Polivka, I., Propp identified fairy tales with cumulative composition as a special group of fairy tales. The cumulative (chain-like) composition is distinguished:

1. With endless repetition:
- Boring fairy tales like “About the White Bull.”
- A unit of text is included in another text (“The priest had a dog”).
2. With End Repetition:
- “Turnip” - plot units grow into a chain until the chain breaks.
- “The cockerel choked” - the chain unravels until the chain breaks.
- “For a rolling duck” - the previous unit of text is negated in the next episode.

Another genre form of a fairy tale about animals is the structure of a fairy tale ("The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats", "The Cat, the Rooster and the Fox").

The leading place in fairy tales about animals is occupied by comic tales - about the pranks of animals ("The fox steals fish from a sleigh (from a cart"), "The wolf at the ice hole", "The fox coats its head with dough (sour cream), "The beaten one carries the unbeaten", "The fox midwife ", etc.), which influence other fairy-tale genres of animal epic, especially the apologist (fable). The plot core of a comic tale about animals is a chance meeting and a trick (deception, according to Propp). Sometimes they combine several meetings and pranks. The hero of a comic fairy tale is a trickster (one who commits tricks). The main trickster of the Russian fairy tale is the fox (in the world epic - the hare). Its victims are usually a wolf and a bear. It has been noticed that if a fox acts against the weak, it loses, if against the strong, it wins. This comes from archaic folklore. In the modern animal tale, the victory and defeat of the trickster often receives a moral assessment. The trickster in the fairy tale is contrasted with the simpleton. It can be a predator (wolf, bear), or a person, or a simple animal, like a hare.

A significant part of fairy tales about animals is occupied by an apologist (fable), in which there is not a comic principle, but a moralizing, moralizing one. Moreover, the apologist does not necessarily have to have a moral in the form of an ending. The moral comes from the story situations. Situations must be unambiguous in order to easily form moral conclusions. Typical examples of an apologist are fairy tales where there is a clash of contrasting characters (Who is more cowardly than a hare?; Old bread and salt is forgotten; A splinter in the paw of a bear (lion). An apologist can also be considered such plots that have been known in literary fables since ancient times (Fox and sour grapes; The Crow and the Fox and many others). Apologist - a relatively late form of fairy tales about animals. Refers to a time when moral standards have already been determined and are looking for a suitable form for themselves. In fairy tales of this type, only a few plots with tricksters' tricks were transformed, some of the plots he developed the apologist himself (not without the influence of literature). The third way of development of the apologist is the proliferation of proverbs (proverbs and sayings. But unlike the proverbs, in the apologist the allegory is not only rational, but also sensitive.

Next to the apologist stands the so-called short story tale about animals, highlighted by E. A. Kostyukhin. A short story in an animal fairy tale is a story about unusual events with a fairly developed intrigue, with sharp turns in the fate of the heroes. The tendency towards moralization determines the fate of the genre. It has a more definite moral than the apologist, the comic element is muted or completely removed. The mischief of a comic fairy tale about animals is replaced in the novella with a different content - entertaining. A classic example of a short story about animals is "Grateful Animals." Most of the plots of folklore short stories about animals develop in literature and then pass into folklore. The easy transition of these plots is due to the fact that they themselves literary subjects are formed on a folklore basis.

Speaking about satire in fairy tales about animals, it must be said that literature once gave impetus to the development of the satirical fairy tale. The conditions for the appearance of a satirical tale arose in the late Middle Ages. The satirical effect in a folk tale is achieved by putting social terminology into the mouths of animals (Fox the Confessor; Cat and Wild Animals). The plot of “Ruff Ershovich”, which is a fairy tale of book origin, stands apart. Having appeared late in a folk tale, satire did not take hold in it, since in a satirical tale one can easily remove social terminology.

So in the 19th century, the satirical fairy tale was unpopular. Satire within a fairy tale about animals is only an accent in an extremely small group of stories about animals. And the satirical fairy tale was influenced by the laws of animal fairy tales with trickster tricks. The satirical sound was preserved in fairy tales where there was a trickster in the center, and where there was complete absurdity of what was happening, the fairy tale became a fable.

Fairy tales

Fairy tales of the fairy type include magical, adventure, and heroic. At the heart of such fairy tales is a wonderful world. The wonderful world is an objective, fantastic, unlimited world. Thanks to unlimited fantasy and a wonderful principle of organizing material in fairy tales with a wonderful world of possible “transformation”, amazing in their speed (children grow by leaps and bounds, every day they become stronger or more beautiful). Not only the speed of the process is unreal, but also its very character (from the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden.” “Look, the Snow Maiden’s lips turned pink, her eyes opened. Then she shook off the snow and a living girl came out of the snowdrift.” “Conversion” in fairy tales of the wonderful type, usually occur with the help of magical creatures or objects.

Basically, fairy tales are older than others; they bear traces of a person’s primary acquaintance with the world around him.

A fairy tale is based on complex composition, which has exposition, plot development, climax and resolution.

The plot of a fairy tale is based on a story about overcoming a loss or shortage with the help of miraculous means or magical helpers. In the exhibition of the fairy tale there are consistently 2 generations - the older (the king and the queen, etc.) and the younger - Ivan and his brothers or sisters. Also included in the exhibition is the absence of the older generation. An intensified form of absence is the death of the parents. The plot of the tale is that the main character or heroine discovers a loss or shortage, or there are motives of prohibition, violation of the prohibition and subsequent disaster. Here is the beginning of counteraction, i.e. sending the hero from home.

Plot development is a search for what is lost or missing.

The climax of a fairy tale is that the protagonist or heroine fights an opposing force and always defeats it (the equivalent of fighting is solving difficult problems that are always solved).

Denouement is overcoming a loss or lack. Usually the hero (heroine) “reigns” at the end - that is, acquires a higher social status than he had at the beginning.

V.Ya. Propp reveals the monotony of a fairy tale at the plot level in a purely syntagmatic sense. It reveals the invariance of a set of functions (the actions of actors), the linear sequence of these functions, as well as a set of roles, in a known manner distributed among specific characters and correlated with functions. Functions are distributed among seven characters:

Antagonist (pest),
donor
assistant
princess or her father
sender
hero
false hero.

Meletinsky, identifying five groups of fairy tales, tries to resolve the issue historical development genre in general, and plots in particular. The tale contains some motifs characteristic of totemic myths. The mythological origin of the universally widespread fairy tale about a marriage with a wonderful “totemic” creature who has temporarily shed its animal shell and taken on human form is quite obvious (“A husband is looking for a missing or kidnapped wife (a wife is looking for a husband)”, “The Frog Princess”, “The Scarlet Flower” and etc.). A tale about visiting other worlds to free the captives there (“Three Underground Kingdoms”, etc.). Popular fairy tales about a group of children who fall into the power of an evil spirit, a monster, an ogre and are saved thanks to the resourcefulness of one of them (“The Witch’s Little Thumb”, etc.), or about the murder of a powerful serpent - a chthonic demon (“The Conqueror of the Serpent,” etc. .). In a fairy tale, we are actively developing family theme(“Cinderella”, etc.). For a fairy tale, a wedding becomes a symbol of compensation for the socially disadvantaged (“Sivko-Burko”). Socially disadvantaged hero ( younger brother, stepdaughter, fool) at the beginning of the fairy tale, endowed with all the negative characteristics from his environment, is endowed with beauty and intelligence at the end (“The Little Humpbacked Horse”). The distinguished group of tales about wedding trials draws attention to the narrative of personal destinies. The novelistic theme in a fairy tale is no less interesting than the heroic theme. Propp classifies the genre of fairy tales by the presence of “Battle - Victory” in the main test or by the presence of “Difficult task - Solution of a difficult problem.” The logical development of the fairy tale was the everyday fairy tale.

Everyday tales

A characteristic feature of everyday fairy tales is the reproduction of everyday life in them. The conflict of an everyday fairy tale often consists in the fact that decency, honesty, nobility under the guise of simplicity and naivety is opposed to those personality qualities that have always caused sharp rejection among the people (greed, anger, envy).

As a rule, in everyday fairy tales there is more irony and self-irony, since Good triumphs, but the randomness or singularity of his victory is emphasized.

The variety of everyday fairy tales is characteristic: social-everyday, satirical-everyday, novelistic and others. Unlike fairy tales, everyday fairy tales contain more significant element social and moral criticism, it is more definite in its social preferences. Praise and condemnation sound stronger in everyday fairy tales.

IN Lately In the methodological literature, information began to appear about a new type of fairy tales - fairy tales of a mixed type. Of course, fairy tales of this type have existed for a long time, but they have not been given of great importance, because they forgot how much they can help in achieving educational, educational and developmental goals. In general, fairy tales of a mixed type are fairy tales of a transitional type.
They combine features inherent in both fairy tales with a wonderful world and everyday fairy tales. Elements of the miraculous also appear in the form of magical objects, around which the main action is grouped.

Fairy tale in different forms and scale strives to embody the ideal of human existence.
The fairy tale's belief in the intrinsic value of noble human qualities, the uncompromising preference for the Good, are also based on a call to wisdom, activity, and true humanity.

Fairy tales broaden one's horizons, awaken interest in the life and creativity of peoples, and foster a sense of trust in all the inhabitants of our Earth engaged in honest work.

Elkina Maria

Scientific and practical conference research work students "Youth. The science. Culture"

Scientific direction: Literary studies

Genre classification of Russian folk tales

student of Municipal Educational Institution Secondary School No. 2

Scientific supervisor: Shitova I.G.,

teacher of Russian language and literature

Noyabrsk, 2009
Content


Introduction

The magical world of Russian folk tales... It excited me since early childhood when they were read to me, just a little girl, at night. Time passed, but the passion for fairy tales remained. Only the perception has changed. Previously, it was exclusively emotional and evaluative (I plunged into this world and lived in it together with the characters, feeling the vicissitudes of their fate), now it has become analytical (I looked at the fairy tale as special genre, which I wanted to explore). That is why I chose fairy tales as the object of my research. But it would seem that a lot of research has been written about fairy tales, what else can be discovered in them? A long study of literature led me to this controversial issue- This is problem genre classification fairy tales

So, reasons for turning to the research topic:

1. The controversial issue of genre classification of fairy tales, the conventionality of each of the currently known ones, the dissatisfaction of folklorists and literary scholars with the classifications existing in this moment.

2. Personal interest in fairy tales, the desire to study and systematize them for the convenience of further comprehension.

3. There is also a reason of a universal human nature, which lies in the formula: “The fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it...”. Will I not find answers to the questions that concern me among this whole world of magic and transformations?!

So the main purpose of work is an attempt to create our own version of the genre classification of Russian fairy tales. To achieve the goal, the following were set tasks:

1. Study the currently existing classification options, identifying their pros and cons.

2. Determine the tools (select criteria) to create a classification option.

3. Offer your version of classification.

4. Distribute Russian folk tales from Afanasyev’s collection into categories using the created classification.

So, object of study- Russian folk tales. The key reason for contacting them: personal interest and passion. Subject of study- classification of fairy tales. The key reason for the appeal: the lack of a complete, complete and indisputable classification in folklore studies at the moment.

Hypothesis: An indisputable classification can be created provided that successful criteria are chosen to help distribute texts into groups, and taking into account the disadvantages of known genre classifications.

Stages of work:

1. Statement of the problem, choice of topic, formulation of a hypothesis.

2. Collection of material:

A) bibliographic search on the problem of genre classifications of fairy tales;

B) analysis of existing classifications;

B)reading Russian folk tales in order to identify
criteria for creating your own classification.

3. Confirmation of the hypothesis by distributing fairy tales according to the classification compiled.

4. Conclusions.


Chapter 1. The problem of genre classification of fairy tales

Currently, there are several variants of classifications of fairy tales proposed by various literary scholars and researchers. For the sake of completeness and objectivity of the work, I present them in my research:

Classification 1.

Sreznevsky sets out his point of view in “A Look at the Monuments of Ukrainian Folk Literature.” According to the nature of the content, he divides them into:

· mythical (epic);

· tales about faces, historical events And privacy;

Fantastic and humorous.

Classification 2.

In the 60s of the 19th century, Snegirev, in connection with Afanasyev’s collection in “Lubok Pictures of the Russian People in the Moscow World,” divides it into:

· mythical;

· heroic;

· everyday.

Classification 3.

Bessonov in “Notes to Kireyevsky’s Songs” divides it into:

· former, heroic;

· historical, but not heroic;

· popular prints;

· household (this also includes animals).

Classification 4.

Mythologists, having interpreted Afanasyev’s collection in their own way, are trying to create a different classification. Orest Miller proposes the following division into:

· mythical tales (he also divides 343 of them from Afanasyev’s collection into 10 plot circles);

· moral and mythical (about the soul, fate, truth);

· about animals;

· on heroic subjects;

· arose under the influence of books;

· “Purely morally descriptive of the character of a particular protester... in the form of satire.”

In fact, this is the first scientific classification. But, although Miller considered it historical, it is, in general, formal.

Classification 5.

M.P. Drahomanov in “Little Russian Folk Legends and Stories” identifies 13 headings. Veselovsky accuses Drahomanov of not maintaining the stated principle: the past is original, ancient, pagan and new Christian.

Classification 6.

Romanov divides fairy tales into:

· about animals;

· mythical;

· humorous;

· household;

· cosmogonic;

· cultural.

Classification 7.

V.P. Vladimirov in his “Introduction to the History of Russian Literature” tries to use the principle of motive when dividing fairy tales. He reveals three types of motives:

· motives of the animal epic;

· mythological character;

· ancient cultural character.

Classification 8.

In 1908, Khalansky divided fairy tales and plots without definition into general headings.

Classification 9.

A.M. Smirnov in his “Systematic Index of Themes and Variants of Russian Folk Tales” divides them into:

· tales about animals;

· about animals and humans;

· about the fight against evil spirits.

Classification 10.

An unconventional approach to classification was used by Wundt in The Psychology of Nations. He divides fairy tales according to forms of development from the most ancient to the latest formations:

Later education: comic tale, moral fable.

Classification 11.

It was proposed by Afanasyev himself, forming the collection, then by N.P. Andreev in 1927-28. He also compiled an “Index of Fairy Tale Plots.” Fairy tales are divided into:

· about animals;

· magical;

· household.

This classification is now the most common, but in the future in my work I will point out all its disadvantages. In addition, the authors of numerous textbooks on oral folk art themselves note that a unified classification of fairy tales has not been developed at the present time, that is, there is no correct classification today.

Before I move on to a detailed description of the 11th classification, I would like to note the disadvantages of all the classifications I outlined above.

Thus, according to Sreznevsky’s classification (1), the second block seems overly extensive and unclear: tales about persons, historical events and private life. In addition, it is not clear where, in his opinion, animal epic should be classified. The same question can be addressed to Snegirev’s classification (2). Error
Bessonov (3) can be considered to include fairy tales about animals into the category of everyday ones, since a contradiction “fantasy-non-fiction” arises. In Miller's classification (4), the focus on form leaves aside diverse heroes as actors. Violation of the basic principle by Drahomanov (5)
Veselovsky also discovers.

It is difficult to establish the fundamental principle in Romanov's classification (6). Vladimirov (7) when dividing fractionally according to motives takes into account only 40 of them, and there are much more of them (so Sumtsev calls 400). Kholansky's classification (8) sins of dividing into subjects without defining a general rubric, and in general, almost all researchers are currently considered outdated. A.M. Smirnov (9) creates even more confusion without even finishing his work. Wundt's classification is interesting for its unconventional approach, but, unfortunately, not all fairy tales fall into it.


Chapter 2. Analysis of the Afanasyev classification

2.1 Tales of animals

Tales about animals are divided into the following thematic groups: about wild animals, about wild and domestic animals, about domestic animals, about humans and wild animals

The origins of fiction are due to the ancient views of man, which endowed animals with intelligence. The consequence of this is that the behavior of animals in fairy tales is similar to that of humans.

Here is how the poetic features of animal tales are determined:

1. Fiction in them arises as a result of a combination of contradictions: human world and the animal world - the water space, in one sphere. A special, grotesque world of mixed real ideas arises, in which the incredible must be perceived as probable.

2. There is no idealized hero. The mind is opposed to brute force and wins, but there is no single bearer of this quality.

3. Not all fairy tales about animals end happily, but despite this, there is no tragic sound.

4. Fairy tales about animals have a potential allegorical ability; human everyday situations are easily guessed in them.

5. The plot in fairy tales about animals is simple. There are few events in them. Most often it is developed based on a meeting. The duration of action is indicated by a system of repetitions. A fairy tale can consist of one episode, several episodes, or a chain of episodes in which one moment is repeated. In compositional terms, one can distinguish between single-plot fairy tales, multi-plot tales, and those built on the principle of a chain, with the repetition of all episodes - cumulative (a + ab + abc + abvg + ...).

6. The most common form of fairy tales about animals is narrative-dialogical.

7. The didactic, edifying plan of the tale is very clear. At the end of a fairy tale, a conclusion is always summed up, expressed either by a proverb or a general phrase.

8. In fairy tales about animals, traditional fairy tale formulas are used during the narration, less often at the beginning and middle of the tale, more often at the end.

2.2.Fairy tales

The fairy tale took shape in its main features during the period when ideas primitive man about the world developed simultaneously in two dimensions: there was a visible, real world in which a person lived, and an imaginary, unreal world, inhabited by evil and good forces that, as it seemed to him, had a direct impact on life. Both of them in the consciousness of primitive man constituted a single reality.

Based on the nature of the conflict, there are two groups of fairy tales: in one, the hero comes into conflict with magical forces, in the other, with social forces.

Here is how the poetic features of fairy tales are determined:

1. A conflict in a fairy tale is always resolved with the help of miraculous forces, miraculous helpers, with the relative passivity of the hero.

2. The action unfolds in two space-time planes. From the beginning of the hero's action to his feat and marriage, many events take place; the hero crosses large spaces, but time does not concern him; he is forever young; sometimes epic time is at hand To real: year, month, week and so on. This is one plan that reveals the life of the hero. In another, spatial plane, the hero’s opponents and wonderful helpers live. Here time flows slowly for the hero, but quickly for opponents and wonderful helpers. Fairy tale time is associated with the perception of fairy tale rhythm. The “one-act” or “multi-act” nature of an action is measured by a system of repetitions. They create the rhythm of fairy tale time. Rhythm organizes anticipation and includes the listener in the tale. The rhythm creates tension until the moment the hero performs a feat. Until this point, time passes slowly, repetitions maintaining a state of anticipation in the listener. After the hero accomplishes a feat, a rhythmic decline begins - the tension of expectation is relieved, and the fairy tale ends.

3. In fairy tales there are two types of heroes: a “high” hero, endowed with magical power from birth or who received it from a magical assistant (Ivan the Fool) and a “low” hero (Ivan the Fool).

4. In a fairy tale, description is replaced by poetic formulas. Knowing these formulas makes it incredibly easy to “construct” a fairy tale. A mandatory feature of the formula is repetition in a number of fairy tales. There are initial formulas (sayings), endings (endings), narrative ones, which are in turn divided into formulas of time (“Is it close, is it far, briefly, soon the tale is told, but the deed is not done soon”), into formulas-characteristics (“Such beauty “What cannot be said in a fairy tale cannot be described with a pen”), on etiquette formulas (“he placed the cross in a written way, bowed in a learned way”).

2.3.Everyday tales

The term "everyday tale" combines several
intra-genre varieties: adventure fairy tales, short stories (adventurous-novelistic), social and everyday (satirical), family and everyday (comic).

Here are the poetic features that are generally characteristic of everyday fairy tales:

1. The conflict in everyday fairy tales is resolved thanks to the activity of the hero himself. A fairy tale makes the hero the master of his own destiny. This is the essence of idealizing the hero of an everyday fairy tale.

2. Fairy-tale space and time in an everyday fairy tale are close to the listener and the storyteller. The moment of empathy plays an important role in them.

3. Fiction in everyday fairy tales is based on the depiction of illogicality. Up to a certain point, a fairy tale is perceived as an everyday, completely plausible story, and its realism is aggravated by specific descriptions. Alogism is achieved by a hyperbolic depiction of any quality negative hero: extreme stupidity, greed, stubbornness and so on.

4. An everyday fairy tale can have a different composition: novelistic and adventurous fairy tales, which are based on adventure motifs, are large in volume and have many episodes. Comic and satirical tales always develop one episode - an anecdotal or sharply satirical everyday situation. Multi-episode and comic tales are combined into a cycle according to the principle of increasing comic or satirical effect.

2.4.Discrepancy in ranks

Let me remind you once again that these characteristics of the three fairy tale genres were written according to the textbook “Russian Folk Poetry” edited by A.M. Novikova, but if you take and look at the same question in the textbook by Anikin V.P. and Kruglova Yu.L., then with a similar typology a number of contradictions can be detected. I'll point out a few. So, when characterizing fairy tales about animals, Anikin, unlike Novikova, places emphasis on humor and satirical beginning. If Novikova talks about the absence of an idealized hero in these fairy tales, then Anikin writes that a sharp distinction between positive and negative is in the nature of fairy tales about animals. And when characterizing fairy tales, even different interpretations of the same lexical content are revealed. So, according to Novikova’s textbook, the expression “soon the tale is told, but not soon the deed is done” is presented as a poetic formula, and according to Anikin, as the presence of signs of the everyday in a fantasy world.

Thus, based on all these contradictions, we can once again be convinced that a problem with the typology of Russian folk tales really exists.


Chapter 3. Creating a new classification option

To create any classification, the basis and operation of two principles are necessary: ​​criteria and logic. So, based on all the above facts, I took Afanasyev’s classification as a basis, but specified it and expanded it, using two criteria: heroes and compositional features.

In total, I identified 17 categories:

1. Classic animals (“Fox the Midwife”, “Fox, Hare and Rooster”, “Fox the Confessor”, “Sheep, Fox and Wolf”, “Fox and Crane”, “Fox and Crayfish”, “Cat, Rooster” and the fox”, “Wolf and goat”, “Goat”, “Winter quarters of animals”, “Crane and heron”). Characters in such tales there are exclusively animals, in which human behavior is read, their volume is small, the composition is simple, and there is a good ending.

2. Tragic stories about animals (“The Pig and the Wolf”, “Mizgir”). Meets all the requirements of the first category in terms of heroic features, but has a tragic ending, which no longer allows us to call them classic animals.

3. About animals with everyday context (“Animals in the pit”, “Fox and black grouse”, “Frightened bear and wolves”). In these tales, unlike the first category, it is not complicated composition plan(as in the second category), and heroic: people appear, but they are still only a background for the animal heroes, people are not participants in the events, they are only mentioned.

4. About animals with tragic everyday context (“Tower of the Fly”). As is already clear from the principle of division, this category includes fairy tales that meet the requirements for the third category, but with a tragic ending.

5. Animals (“Little Fox and the Wolf”, “For the Lapotok - a Chicken, for the Chicken - a Goose”, “A Man, a Bear and a Fox”, “Cat and a Fox”, “Fool Wolf”, “The Tale of a Goat” peeled”, “The Kochet and the Hen”, “The Hen”, “The Tale of Ruff Ershovich, Shchetinnikov’s son”, “The Tale of the Toothy Pike”, “Daughter and Stepdaughter”, “The Rooster and the Millstones”, “The Hunter and His Wife”). This category includes fairy tales with the compositional features of fairy tales about animals, but here, along with the main animal characters, they act on equal rights people, sometimes even engaging in combat.

6. Animal-domestic tragedies (“Bear”, “Bear, Dog and Cat”). They meet the requirements of the 5th category, but have a tragic ending.

7. Animal-domestic tragic stories with magical elements (“Kolobok”, “The Little Cockerel”, “Kroshechka-Khavroshechka”). They meet the requirements of the 6th category, but the structure of these fairy tales is even more complicated due to the appearance of magic (these can be either magical secondary characters or magical objects).

8. Animals with magical elements (“Baba Yaga”, “Geese-Swans”, “Horse, Tablecloth and Horn”, “Tricky Science”, “The Little Princess”, “Magic Ring”). The composition of animal fairy tales here is complicated by the introduction of either magical heroes or magical objects.

9. Classical magic (“Marya Morevna”, “Ivan Tsarevich and Bely Polyanin”, “Leggless and Armless Heroes”, “Fake Illness”, “Wonderful Shirt”, “The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise”, “The Tsar Maiden” , “The Feather of Finist the Clear Falcon,” “Elena the Wise,” “The Princess Solving Riddles,” “The Enchanted Princess,” “The Petrified Kingdom,” “Knee-deep in gold, elbow-deep in silver,” “The Golden Slipper.” Fairy tales with a complicated compositional structure, which is based on Propp’s well-known formula: here there are symbolic numbers, and the action of inanimate and magical objects, and magical heroes, a happy ending is required.

10. Classic everyday stories (“Treasure”, “The Slandered Merchant’s Daughter”, “The Soldier and the Tsar in the Forest”, “Robbers”, “The Witch Doctor”, “The Thief”, “The Thieving Man”, “The Soldier’s Riddle”, “The Fool and the Birch”) ", "The Daring Farmhand", "Foma Berennikov", "The Proving Wife", "Husband and Wife", "Dear Leather", "How a Man Weaned His Wife from Fairy Tales", "The Miser"). Fairy tales with a simple composition of everyday stories, noted in the Afanasiev classification. Mandatory requirement - complete absence magic.

11. Magical and everyday (“The Witch and the Sun’s Sister”, “Morozko”, “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, “The Korolevich and His Uncle”, “Three Kingdoms” - copper, silver, and gold”, “Frolka-seat”, “Ivan-bykovich”, “Nikita-kozhemyaka”, “Koschei the Immortal”, “ Prophetic dream", "Arys-Field", "Night Dances", "Dashing One-Eyed", "Good Word", "The Wise Maiden and the Seven Thieves", "Doka on Doku" and others). Fairy tales in which, based on the Proppian formula, the structure is complicated by the introduction of everyday heroes.

12. Magical-everyday ones with animal characters (“Baba Yaga and Zamoryshek”, “Tereshechka”, “Crystal Mountain”, “Kozma Skorobogatiy”, “Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess”, “Sivko-Burko”, “Animal’s Milk” "). An even greater complication of the eleventh category due to the introduction of animal heroes.

13. Magical-pagan with everyday context (“Tales of the Dead”, “Tales of Witches”, “Death of the Miser”, “Fiddler in Hell”, “Leshy”, “Careless Word”). A special series of fairy tales that have a composition of everyday ones. Their peculiarity lies in the fact that they introduce heroes who personify evil spirits - echoes of paganism.

14. Domestic tragedies (“Ivanushka the Fool”, “The Stuffed Fool”, “Mena”, “The Wrangling Wife”, “The Prophetic Oak”). The composition and characters could classify these tales as being in the tenth category, but there is one feature - a tragic ending.

15. Household with an open ending (“Lutonyushko”). A special category of fairy tales that violates all traditional fairy tale structures - they have no ending.

16. Everyday story with a dialogic structure and inanimate characters (“Good, but bad”, “If you don’t like it, don’t listen”, “Mushrooms”). Fairy tales that have a special structure - a form of dialogue.

17. Everyday ones with inanimate heroes of a tragic tone (“Bubble, Straw and Bast Shot”). The structure of an everyday fairy tale, the heroes are inanimate objects.


Conclusion

Thus, I will summarize some results of the work done:

1. I analyzed the current classifications of Russian folk tales.

2. Russian folk tales were carefully read and inconsistencies with existing classifications were found.

3. The basis and principles for creating your own classification are determined.

4. A new classification has been created, and tales from Afanasyev’s collection are distributed according to it.

In general, during the process of work, I became interested in the problem of oral folk art. So, today I already see the imperfection of the classification of oral non-fairy prose. In the future I intend to address this very issue.


Bibliography

1. Russian folk tales by A.N. Afanasyeva. – M., 2004.

2. Fairy tales: Library of Russian folklore. Book 1-2. – M, 1988, 1989.

Research:

1. Anikin V.L., Kruglov Yu.L. Russian folktale. – M., 2001.

2. Zueva T.V. The wonderful world of fairy tales and historical reality// East Slavic fairy tales. M., 1992. P. 3-28.

3. Korepova K.E. The Magic World // Russian Fairy Tale: An Anthology. M., 1992. P. 5-18.

4. Novikova A.M. Russian folk poetry. – M., 2002.

5. Propp V.Ya. Index of plots // Afanasyev A.N. Russian folk tales: In 3 volumes. M., 1957. T. 3. P. 454-502.

6. Pomerantseva E.V. The fate of a folk tale. – M., 2006.

7. Propp V.Ya. Historical roots of fairy tales. – L., 1976.

8. Comparative index of plots. East Slavic fairy tale. – L., 1979.

9. Streltsova L.E., Tamarchenko N.D. Verb and good: Magic and everyday tales. Tver, 2005.

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