What genres of folklore. Features of collecting and researching oral folk art in Russia
Oral folk art is the traditional verbal creativity of the people. It can be both ancient and new - created in our days. Its main feature is that this art of words is passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.
There are a lot of genres in verbal folk art. These are legends, epics, epics, proverbs and sayings, riddles, ditties, fairy tales, songs... You can list them endlessly. The creator is not an individual, but a people. That is why not a single work has its own specific, single author.
Over the centuries, the creations of people have evolved into entire verbal forms, which subsequently form rhymes (“verses”). Thanks to this technique, the works were easier to transmit and remember. Thus, ritual, round dance, dance, and lullaby songs appeared.
The subject of folklore creativity completely depended and continues to depend on the culture, beliefs, history and region of residence of the people. But the main feature of such creations was and remains the combination of a direct reflection of life with a conventional one. Simply put, in folklore there is not, and was not, a mandatory reflection of life in the form of life itself; convention is always allowed in it.
Genres of folklore
To better understand what oral folk art is, it is necessary to take a closer look at its genres, and there are a great many of them in this type of verbal art.
Proverbs and sayings
Let's start with those that we know well and sometimes use in everyday life - with proverbs and sayings. These types of oral art are one of the most interesting genres that have survived to this day.
No one knows for certain when these genres of oral creativity appeared. The undoubted fact remains how accurately and concisely, figuratively, logically complete, the saying expresses the people's mind and experience accumulated over many centuries.
Meanwhile, many of us have long been accustomed to thinking that proverbs and sayings are one and the same thing. Actually this is not true. A proverb is a complete sentence containing folk wisdom. It is written in simple, often rhyming language.
Example of Russian proverbs:
"God saves man, who save himself"
"Small spool but precious"
“A penny saves the ruble”
Then, as a saying, it is an established phrase or phrase. It is intended for decoration.
Example of Russian sayings:
“Stay with your nose” (be deceived)
“Disservice” (help that turns into harm)
“When the cancer whistles on the mountain” (never)
Signs
Signs are another folklore genre that has undergone quite a few changes, but still has not lost its wisdom and has reached modern people.
It appeared in ancient times, when our ancestors were very close to nature, when people observed it, the phenomena occurring around them, and found connections between events. Over time, people put their observations into words. This is how signs appeared, which through the centuries carry the collected knowledge of their ancestors.
Some examples of weather signs:
The larks fly to the warmth, the chaffinch to the cold.
A lot of sap flows from a birch tree - for a rainy summer.
Sparrows bathe in the sand - predicting rain.
Also, many old signs related to home and everyday life have survived to this day. The most common is: “Spilling salt means shedding tears.” It is believed that this sign appeared in the middle of the 17th century, during the times of riots and uprisings in Rus'. Back then, salt was literally worth its weight in gold. This is where the meaning came from - spilling such an expensive “seasoning” like salt will inevitably lead to a quarrel in the house.
A few more examples of everyday signs that are undoubtedly familiar to us:
“If you whistle at home, you’ll miss the money”
“Clothes inside out means hassle”
“If you sew on yourself, you will sew up a memory”
Belief
The desire of man to explain and organize the world around him, to comprehend his place in nature, surrounded by a variety of animals and plants, is reflected.
Fairy tales
Since ancient times, certain elements of children's folklore have been preserved -. Later, this genre of oral art changed greatly. This happened under the influence of aesthetic and pedagogical functions, but still it continues to exist.
However, some genres of verbal art “die out” over time, and humanity gradually forgets about them. This process is a natural phenomenon; it does not indicate the decline of folk art. On the contrary, the process of “dying away” is a sign that, due to changes in the conditions of human existence, the artistic collective creativity of the people is developing, as a result of which new genres appear and old ones disappear.
Epics
These genres include (or as they were also called - antiquities - Russian heroic-patriotic songs-legends, the main plot of which was important historical events or heroic deeds of heroes and warrior maidens). This genre arose in Ancient Rus', existed until the Middle Ages and gradually began to be forgotten by the 19th century.
In addition, ritual folklore can also be classified as almost forgotten genres. Let's look at its components a little closer.
Calendar folklore and annual song cycle
These small genres arose due to the need to monitor the agricultural cycle, as well as changes occurring in nature and religious holidays.
Many proverbs, signs, advice and prohibitions have developed in calendar folklore. Here are some of which have survived to this day:
“If it melts early, it won’t melt for a long time”
“March sows with snow and warms with sun”
Quite a few songs were composed by the people for the annual song cycle. So it was customary to bake pancakes, perform rituals of farewell to winter and sing ritual songs. This and some other old traditions have been preserved to this day.
Family folklore
It included such small genres as: family stories, lullabies, nurseries, nursery rhymes, wedding songs, funeral laments.
The name “Family Stories” speaks for itself, and this genre of verbal art has existed since time immemorial - perhaps as long as a person has lived in this world. It is noteworthy in that it is formed quite separately, as a rule, within the framework of the family and close circle.
In addition, this genre has its own peculiarity, it can form “certain expressions” that are understandable only to family members or people present during the event that led to the appearance of this phrase. For example, in the Tolstoy family there was such an expression as “the architect is to blame.”
The birth of this expression was preceded by an event: when Ilya Tolstoy was five years old, he was given the promised cup for the New Year. The happy child ran to show everyone his gift. While running across the threshold, he tripped and fell. The cup broke. Little Ilya, justifying himself, said that he was not to blame, but the architect who made this threshold was to blame. Since then, the family of Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy has had its own expression equivalent to the winged one - “the switchman is to blame.”
Lullabies
Another equally interesting genre in family folklore were lullabies. In the old days, the ability to sing was considered a special art. During the game, mothers taught their daughters how to “cradle” correctly. This ability was necessary so that older girls, already at the age of six or seven, could look after the younger ones. That is why special attention was paid to this skill.
The purpose of lullabies was not only to calm, but also to protect the child. Many songs were “conspiracies.” They were designed to protect a small child from dangers that could await him in the future. Often lullabies were addressed to spirits and mythological creatures, carriers of sleep - Dream, Dream. They were called to lull the baby to sleep. Currently, this genre of folk art is almost forgotten.
Pestushki and nursery rhymes
And nursery rhymes were short tunes. They helped the child in development and knowledge of the world around him. Perhaps someone remembers from childhood - “Magpie-Crow...”. Such small songs and sayings encouraged the baby to take action, instilled hygiene skills, developed fine motor skills and reflexes, and helped to explore the world.
Tongue Twisters
Based on the difficulty of pronunciation, especially when pronouncing them quickly. Examples of tongue twisters:
- The cap is sewn, the cap is delivered, but not in the Kolpakov style.
- The pig was stupid, dug up the whole yard, dug half a snout.
- Tur is stupid, slow-witted.
- A bull's lip is blunt.
- Whey from yogurt.
G.S. Vinogradov uses jokes and questions in his materials that are based on puns. “Can you throw a pickled cucumber over the dam?” - Of course I will. - “But you can’t transfer it.” The matter is clarified - the question means: “Can you throw a cucumber and Alena over the dam?”
Puzzling remarks are of the same nature. When approaching a girl or boy and pointing to the stitches, they say: “You have lice,” instead of “sewn in.” Or “how many lice” instead of “how many ladles.”
Wedding songs
Wedding songs were strikingly different from all other small genres of family folklore. Notable was the fact that these songs were not played outside the wedding ceremony. Moreover, from a functional point of view, they were extremely important, since they played a kind of “legal role” in this event. Along with wedding songs, lamentations played an important role in the ritual. They were an integral part of the holiday; they were lyrical narratives that described the experiences of the bride, parents and girlfriends.
Glorification also played a significant role. Guests used them in songs to praise the bride and groom and wish the newlyweds well-being and happiness. On top of that, not a single wedding could be complete without reproachful songs. This small component of the wedding ceremony consisted of comic songs. As a rule, they were addressed to matchmakers, because of whom the bride “left” her family, girlfriends and lost her maiden will.
Funeral lamentations or laments are another ancient folklore genre, the time and appearance of which no one knows for certain. It has survived only in “scraps” to this day, but from the name you can easily understand what we are talking about and what this genre served for.
The main feature of this oral creativity was that it had its own “formula”, or better yet, a strict sequence, which each mourner “decorated” with his own creative element - a story about the life, love or death of the deceased. Now, for example, part of the ritual, as well as crying, can be seen and heard in the film “Viy” (1967).
Occasional folklore
Folklore that does not correspond to generally accepted use. It had an individual character, determined by a specific situation and occasion. It included such small genres as chants, counting rhymes, and conspiracies.
Calls
Russian folklore is incredibly rich. They were small songs, often not devoid of humor and accompanied by playful actions. The plots of this small genre were very different: they could be chants about the weather and weather phenomena, about nature and the seasons, about animals and fairy-tale creatures...
Rain, rain! Rain, rain!
On me and on people!
A spoonful for me.
For people it’s okay.
And for the devil in the forest -
Lei a whole bucket!
Counting books
- another small genre of verbal folk art. It arose a long time ago, but has now almost disappeared from modern folklore. Meanwhile, no matter how surprising it may sound, in ancient times, counting rhymes were widely used by adults. Their main function was the distribution of work.
Yes Yes. After all, then many types of work were not only very difficult, but sometimes life-threatening. Therefore, few people of their own free will wanted to take on such a task. And the counting rhymes made it possible to distribute the work between the participants so that no one would be “offended.” Nowadays, this “important role” of counting rhymes has been lost, but they still exist and still perform their function in children's games.
CONSPIRACY
And finally, the most amazing, but far from the last, ancient genre of oral folk art, quite complex in its structure, which, oddly enough, continues to live in our time - conspiracy. The function has not changed since the emergence of this genre. He still continues to play the role of a “magic weapon” designed to fulfill the wish of the speaker. As mentioned above, this genre is quite original in its execution and is often complex in its design - this is its peculiarity.
We can talk about the genres of oral folk art for an infinitely long time, because all directions are interesting and unique in their own way. This article is intended only to acquaint the reader with the immense, multifaceted wealth of human culture and wisdom, which clearly reflects the experience of previous generations.
(Poiché quanto sotto riportato è parte della mia tesi di laurea magistrale, se desiderate copiare il testo vi prego di citare sempre la fonte e l’autore (Margherita Sanguineti). Grazie.)
Folklore genres also differ in the way they are performed and in the different combinations of text with melody, intonation, and movements (singing, singing and dancing, storytelling, acting, etc.).
With changes in the social life of society, new genres arose in Russian folklore: soldiers', coachmen's, barge haulers' songs. The growth of industry and cities gave rise to romances, jokes, worker, school and student folklore.
There are genres in folklore productive, in the depths of which new works may appear. Now these are ditties, sayings, city songs, jokes, and many types of children's folklore. There are genres unproductive, but continue to exist. Thus, no new folk tales appear, but old ones are still told. Many old songs are also sung. But epics and historical songs are practically no longer heard live.
Depending on the stage of development, folklore is usually divided into early traditional folklore, classical folklore and late traditional folklore. Each group belongs to special genres, typical for a given stage of development of folk art.
Early traditional folklore
1. Labor songs.
These songs are known among all nations, which were performed during labor processes (when lifting heavy objects, plowing fields, manually grinding grain, etc.).
Such songs could be performed when working alone, but they were especially important when working together, since they contained commands for simultaneous action.
Their main element was rhythm, which organized the labor process.
2. Fortune telling and conspiracies.
Fortune telling is a means of recognizing the future. To recognize the future, one had to turn to evil spirits, therefore, fortune telling was perceived as a sinful and dangerous activity.
For fortune-telling, places were chosen where, according to the people, it was possible to come into contact with the inhabitants of the “other world”, as well as the time of day at which this contact was most likely.
Fortune telling was based on the technique of interpreting “signs”: randomly heard words, reflections in water, animal behavior, etc. To obtain these “signs,” actions were taken in which objects, animals, and plants were used. Sometimes actions were accompanied by verbal formulas.
Classic folklore
1. Rituals and ritual folklore
Ritual folklore consisted of verbal, musical, dramatic, game and choreographic genres.
The rituals had ritual and magical significance and contained rules of human behavior in everyday life and work. They are usually divided into work and family.
1.1 Labor rites: calendar rites
The observations of the ancient Slavs on the solstice and the changes in nature associated with it developed into a system of mythological beliefs and practical work skills, reinforced by rituals, signs, and proverbs.
Gradually, the rituals formed an annual cycle, and the most important holidays were timed to coincide with the winter and summer solstices.
There are winter, spring, summer and autumn rituals.
1.2. Family rituals
Unlike calendar rituals, the hero of family rituals is a real person. Rituals accompanied many events in his life, among which the most important were birth, marriage and death.
The wedding ceremony was the most developed; it had its own characteristics and laws, its own mythology and its own poetry.
1.3. Lamentations
This is an ancient genre of folklore, genetically related to funeral rites. The object of the lamentation image is the tragic in life, therefore the lyrical principle is strongly expressed in them, the melody is weakly expressed and in the content of the text one could find many exclamatory-interrogative constructions, synonymous repetitions, unity of beginning, etc.
2. Small genres of folklore. Proverbs.
Small folklore genres include works that differ in genre, but have a common external feature - a small volume.
Small genres of folklore prose, or proverbs, are very diverse: proverbs, sayings, signs, riddles, jokes, proverbs, tongue twisters, puns, well wishes, curses, etc.
3. Fairy tales(see § 2.)
3.1. Animal Tales
3.2. Fairy tales
3.3. Everyday tales
3.3.1. Anecdotal tales
3.3.2. Short story tales
4. Non-fairy prose
Non-fairy tale prose has a different modality than fairy tales: its works are confined to real time, real terrain, real persons. Non-fairy-tale prose is characterized by not being distinguished from the flow of everyday speech and the absence of special genre and style canons. In the most general sense, we can say that her works are characterized by the stylistic form of an epic narrative about the authentic.
The most stable component is the character, around which all the rest of the material is united.
An important feature of non-fairy tale prose is the plot. Usually the plots have an embryonic form (single-motive), but can be conveyed both concisely and in detail.
Works of non-fairy tale prose are capable of contamination.
The following genres belong to non-fairy tale prose: tales, legends and demonological stories.
5. Epics
Bylinas are epic songs in which heroic events or individual episodes of ancient Russian history are sung.
As in fairy tales, epics feature mythological images of enemies, characters are reincarnated, and animals help the heroes.
The epics have a heroic or novelistic character: the idea of heroic epics is the glorification of the unity and independence of the Russian land; in the novelistic epics marital fidelity, true friendship were glorified, personal vices (bragging, arrogance) were condemned.
6. Historical songs
Historical songs are folk epic, lyric epic and lyrical songs, the content of which is dedicated to specific events and real persons of Russian history and expresses the national interests and ideals of the people.
7. Ballads
Folk ballads are lyric-epic songs about a tragic event. Ballads are characterized by personal, family and everyday themes. At the center of the ballads are moral problems: love and hatred, loyalty and betrayal, crime and repentance.
8. Spiritual Poems
Spiritual poems are songs with religious content.
The main feature of spiritual verses is the contrast between everything Christian and the worldly.
Spiritual poems are heterogeneous. In oral existence they interacted with epics, historical songs, ballads, lyrical songs, and lamentations.
9. Lyrical non-ritual songs
In folk lyrics, word and melody are inseparable. The main purpose of songs is to reveal the worldview of the people by directly expressing their feelings, thoughts and moods.
These songs expressed the characteristic experiences of a Russian person in different life situations.
10. Folklore theatre.
Folklore theater is the traditional dramatic creativity of the people.
Specific features of folk theater are the absence of a stage, the separation of performers and audience, action as a form of reflection of reality, the transformation of the performer into another objectified image, the aesthetic orientation of the performance.
Plays were often distributed in written form and pre-rehearsed, which did not exclude improvisation.
Folklore theater includes: booths, traveling picture theater (rayok), folk puppet theater and folk dramas.
11. Children's folklore.
Children's folklore is a specific area of oral artistic creativity, which, unlike the folklore of adults, has its own poetics, its own forms of existence and its own speakers.
A common, generic feature of children's folklore is the correlation of the artistic text with the game.
Works of children's folklore are performed by adults for children (mother's folklore) and by the children themselves (actually children's folklore)
Late traditional folklore
Late traditional folklore is a collection of works of different genres and different directions, created in peasant, urban, soldier, worker and other environments since the beginning of the development of industry, the growth of cities, and the collapse of the feudal countryside.
Late traditional folklore is characterized by a smaller number of works and a generally lower artistic level compared to classical folklore.
1. Ditties
A chastushka is a short rhyming folk song that is sung at a fast tempo to a specific melody.
The themes of the ditties are varied. Most of them are devoted to love and family themes. But they often reflect the modern life of the people, the changes that are taking place in the country, and contain sharp political hints. The ditty is characterized by a humorous attitude towards its characters, irony, and sometimes sharp satire.
2. Workers' folklore
Workers' folklore is oral folk works that were created in the working environment or assimilated by it and processed so much that they began to reflect the spiritual needs of this particular environment.
Unlike ditties, workers' folklore did not turn into a national, all-Russian phenomenon. Its characteristic feature is locality, isolation within a particular industrial territory. For example, workers in factories, factories and mines in Petrozavodsk, Donbass, the Urals, Altai and Siberia knew almost no oral works of each other.
Song genres predominated in workers' folklore. The songs depicted the difficult working and living conditions of a simple worker, which were contrasted with the idle life of the oppressors - enterprise owners and overseers.
In form, the songs are monologues-complaints.
3. Folklore of the period of the Great Patriotic War.
Folklore of the period of the Great Patriotic War consists of works of various genres: songs, prose, aphoristic. They were created by the participants in events and battles, workers of factories, collective farm fields, partisans, etc.
These works reflect the life and struggle of the peoples of the USSR, the heroism of the country's defenders, faith in victory, the joy of victory, fidelity in love and love betrayals.
In our work we will dwell in more detail on the folklore classical genre of fairy tales.
Russian folklore is the creativity of the people. It contains the worldview of thousands of people who once inhabited the territory of our state. Their way of life, love for the Motherland and their home, feelings and experiences, dreams and shocks - all this has been passed down from mouth to mouth for centuries and gives us a connection with our ancestors.
The heritage of our people is multifaceted and diverse. Conventionally, the genres of Russian folklore are divided into two groups, which include many types: ritual and non-ritual folklore.
Ritual folklore
This group of folk creations is in turn divided into two categories:
- Calendar folklore– a reflection of the way of life: agricultural work, Christmas carols, Maslenitsa and Kupala rituals. Through this genre of Russian folklore, our ancestors turned to Mother Earth and other deities, asking her for protection, a good harvest and grace.
- Family and household folklore, which described the order of life of each person: creating a family and the birth of a child, military service, death. Great songs, funeral and recruiting lamentations - for each event there was a special ritual that imparted special solemnity and mood.
Non-ritual folklore
It represents a larger group of folk art works and includes 4 subspecies:
I. Folklore drama
- Petrushka Theater – street ironic theatrical performances performed by one actor;
- nativity scene and religious drama - performances on the theme of the Nativity of Christ and other events.
II. Folk poetry
- Epics: songs-legends telling about the heroes of antiquity who defended their homeland, their exploits and valor. The epic about Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber is one of the most famous. Colorful characters, colorful epithets and the melodic melody of the narrator paint a vivid image of a Russian hero, a representative of the freedom-loving free people. The most famous are two cycles of Russian epics: and.
- Historical songs describe real events that happened in ancient times. Ermak, Pugachev, Stepan Razin, Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov - these and many other great people and their deeds have gone down not only in history, but also in folk art.
- A chastushka is an ironic quatrain that clearly evaluates, and more often ridicules, life situations or phenomena.
- Lyrical songs are the responses of the common people to events in the political and social life of the state, the relationship between the peasant and the master, the inviolable principles of the peasants’ way of life, and folk morality. Frequent (dancing) and drawn-out, bold and beautiful melodic, they are all deep in content and emotional intensity, forcing even the most callous nature to respond.
III. Folklore prose
The clearest example, familiar to each of us from childhood, is fairy tales. Good and evil, justice and meanness, heroism and cowardice - everything is intertwined here. And only the pure and open heart of the protagonist is able to overcome all adversity.
IV. Folklore of speech situations.
A very diverse group. Here are proverbs, which are folk aphorisms, and riddles that develop thinking, and children's folklore (rhymes, nursery rhymes, counting rhymes, tongue twisters, and others), which helps the better development of children through play and fun.
This is only a small part of the heritage that our ancestors left. Their work has great cultural value. It doesn’t matter which genre of Russian folklore a particular masterpiece belongs to. All of them are united by one common feature - the principles of life are concentrated in each: love, kindness and freedom. Something without which human existence itself is unthinkable.
Oral folk art is the richest heritage of every country. Folklore existed even before the advent of written language; it is not literature, but a masterpiece of the art of oral literature. The genera of folklore creativity were formed in the pre-literary period of art on the basis of ceremonial and ritual actions. The first attempts to comprehend literary genera date back to the era of antiquity.
Types of folklore creativity
Folklore is represented by three genera:
1. Epic literature. This genus is represented in prose and poetry. Russian folklore genres of the epic kind are represented by epics, historical songs, fairy tales, tales, legends, parables, fables, proverbs and sayings.
2. Lyrical literature. All lyrical works are based on the thoughts and experiences of the lyrical hero. Examples of folklore genres of the lyrical direction are represented by ritual, lullabies, love songs, ditties, bayat, haivka, Easter and Kupala songs. In addition, there is a separate block - “Folklore lyrics”, which includes literary songs and romances.
3. Dramatic literature. This is a type of literature that combines epic and lyrical methods of depiction. The basis of a dramatic work is a conflict, the content of which is revealed through the acting of the actors. Dramatic works have a dynamic plot. Folklore genres of the dramatic kind are represented by family ritual songs, calendar songs, and folk dramas.
Individual works may contain features of lyrical and epic literature, therefore a mixed genre is distinguished - lyric-epic, which in turn is divided into:
Works with heroic characters, lyric-epic content (epic, duma, historical song).
Non-heroic works (ballad, chronicle song).
There is also folklore for children (lullaby, nursery rhyme, comfort, pestushka, fairy tale).
Genres of folklore
Folklore genres of folk art are represented in two directions:
1. Ritual works of UNT.
Performed during the rituals:
Calendar (carols, Maslenitsa activities, freckles, Trinity songs);
Family and household (birth of a child, wedding celebrations, celebration of national holidays);
Occasional works - came in the form of spells, counting rhymes, chants.
2. Non-ritual works of UNT.
This section includes several subgroups:
Drama (folklore) - nativity scenes, religious works, theater "Petrushki".
Poetry (folklore) - epics, lyrical, historical and spiritual songs, ballads, ditties.
Prose (folklore) in turn is divided into fairy-tale and non-fairy-tale. The first includes tales about magic, animals, everyday and cumulative tales, and the second is associated with famous heroes and heroes of Rus' who fought witches (Baba Yaga) and other demonological creatures. Also included in non-fairy tale prose are tales, legends, and mythological stories.
Speech folklore is represented by proverbs, sayings, chants, riddles, and tongue twisters.
Folklore genres carry their own individual plot and meaning.
Images of military battles, exploits of heroes and folk heroes are observed in epics, vivid events of the past, everyday life and memories of heroes from the past can be found in historical songs.
Stories about the actions of the heroes Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich are epic. The folklore genre of the fairy tale tells about the actions of Ivan the Tsarevich, Ivan the Fool, Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga. Family songs are always represented by characters such as mother-in-law, wifey, hubby.
Literature and folklore
Folklore differs from literature in its unique system of constructing works. Its characteristic difference from literature is that the genres of folklore works have starters, beginnings, sayings, retardations, and trinities. Also significant differences in style compositions will be the use of epithet, tautology, parallelism, hyperbole, synecdoche.
Just as in oral folk art (ONT), folklore genres in literature are represented by three genera. This is epic, lyric, drama.
Distinctive features of literature and CNT
Large works of literature, represented by novels, short stories, novellas, are written in calm, measured tones. This allows the reader, without interrupting the reading process, to analyze the plot and draw appropriate conclusions. Folklore contains a saying, a beginning, a saying and a chorus. The technique of tautology is the basic principle of storytelling. Hyperbole, exaggeration, synecdoche and parallelism are also very popular. Such figurative actions are not allowed in literature all over the world.
Small folklore genres as a separate block of CNT works
This system includes mainly works for children. The relevance of these genres continues to this day, because every person gets acquainted with this literature even before he begins to speak.
The lullaby became one of the first works of folklore. The presence of partial conspiracies and amulets is direct evidence of this fact. Many believed that otherworldly forces act around a person; if a child sees something bad in a dream, it will never happen again in reality. This is probably why the lullaby about the “little gray top” is popular even today.
Another genre is nursery rhyme. To understand what exactly such works are, we can equate it to a sentence song or a song with simultaneous actions. This genre promotes the development of fine motor skills and emotional health in a child; the key point is considered to be scenes with the play of fingers “Magpie-Crow”, “Ladushki”.
All of the above small folklore genres are necessary for every person. Thanks to them, children learn for the first time what is good and what is bad, and are taught order and hygiene.
Folklore of nationalities
An interesting fact is that different nationalities, in their culture, traditions and customs, have common points of contact in folklore. There are so-called universal desires, thanks to which songs, rituals, legends, and parables appear. Many peoples hold celebrations and chanting to obtain a rich harvest.
From the above, it becomes obvious that different peoples are often close in many spheres of life, and folklore unites customs and traditions into a single structure of folk art.
The word "folklore", which often denotes the concept of "oral folk art", comes from the combination of two English words: folk - "people" and lore - "wisdom". Like literature, folklore works are divided into epic, lyrical and dramatic. Epic genres include epics, legends, fairy tales, and historical songs. Lyrical genres include love songs, wedding songs, lullabies, and funeral laments. Dramatic ones include folk dramas (with Petrushka, for example). The original dramatic performances in Russia were ritual games: seeing off Winter and welcoming Spring, elaborate wedding rituals, etc. One should also remember about small genres of folklore - ditties, sayings, etc.
Children's folklore. This concept fully applies to those works that are created by adults for children. In addition, this includes works composed by children themselves, as well as those passed on to children from the oral creativity of adults. That is, the structure of children's folklore is no different from the structure of children's literature. Many genres are associated with games in which the life and work of elders are reproduced, so the moral attitudes of the people, their national traits, and the peculiarities of economic activity are reflected here. In the system of genres of children's folklore, “nurturing poetry” or “maternal poetry” occupies a special place. This includes lullabies, nurseries, nursery rhymes, jokes, fairy tales and songs created for the little ones.
Larger works of children's folklore - songs, epics, fairy tales.
Russian folk songs play a big role in shaping children’s ear for music, taste for poetry, love for nature, for their native land. The song has been around among children since time immemorial. Children's folklore also included songs from adult folk art - usually children adapted them to their games. There are ritual songs (“And we sowed millet, we sowed...”), historical (for example, about Stepan Razin and Pugachev), and lyrical. Nowadays, children often sing not so much folklore songs as original ones. There are also songs in the modern repertoire that have long lost their authorship and are naturally drawn into the element of oral folk art.
Epics. This is the heroic epic of the people. It is of great importance in nurturing love for native history. Epic stories always tell about the struggle between two principles - good and evil - and about the natural victory of good. The most famous epic heroes are Ilya Muromets. Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich are collective images that capture the features of real people, whose lives and exploits became the basis of heroic narratives - epics (from the word “byl”) or antiquities. Epics are a grandiose creation of folk art. The artistic convention inherent in them is often expressed in fantastic fiction. The realities of antiquity are intertwined in them with mythological images and motifs. Hyperbole is one of the leading techniques in epic storytelling. It gives the characters monumentality, and their fantastic exploits - artistic credibility.
Fairy tales. They arose in time immemorial. Telling fairy tales was a common hobby in Rus'; both children and adults loved them. In a fairy tale, truth and goodness certainly triumph. A fairy tale is always on the side of the offended and oppressed, no matter what it tells. It clearly shows where a person’s correct life paths are, what his happiness and unhappiness are, what his retribution for mistakes is, and how a person differs from animals and birds.
A fairy tale for children contains a special charm; some secrets of the ancient worldview are revealed. They find in the fairy tale story independently, without explanation, something very valuable for themselves, necessary for the growth of their consciousness. The imaginary, fantastic world turns out to be a reflection of the real world in its main fundamentals. A fabulous, unusual picture of life gives the child the opportunity to compare it with reality, with the environment in which he, his family, and people close to him exist. The fairy tale accustoms him to the idea that evil must be punished in any case.
For children, it doesn’t matter at all who the hero of the fairy tale is: a person, an animal or a tree. Another thing is important: how he behaves, what he is like - handsome and kind or ugly and angry. The fairy tale tries to teach the child to evaluate the main qualities of the hero and never resorts to psychological complication. Most often, a character embodies one quality: the fox is cunning, the bear is strong, Ivan is successful in the role of a fool, and fearless in the role of a prince. The characters in the fairy tale are contrasting, which determines the plot: brother Ivanushka did not listen to his diligent, sensible sister Alyonushka, drank water from a goat’s hoof and became a goat - he had to be rescued; the evil stepmother plots against the good stepdaughter... This is how a chain of actions and amazing fairy-tale events arises. A fairy tale is built on the principle of a chain composition, which usually includes three repetitions. Sometimes repetition takes the form of dialogue; then, if children play in a fairy tale, it is easier for them to transform into its heroes. Often a fairy tale contains songs and jokes, and children remember them first.
A fairy tale has its own language - laconic, expressive, rhythmic. Thanks to language, a special fantasy world is created. Based on theme and style, fairy tales can be divided into several groups, but usually researchers distinguish three large groups: tales about animals, fairy tales, and everyday (satirical) tales.
Folk tale and myth
World origins of children's literature: archaic civilizations, the era of antiquity, the early stages of the development of world religions, world folklore. Mesopotamian civilization - the birth of writing in 3 thousand BC. “school” tablets, teaching aids, and tablets with exercises in various fields of knowledge (mathematics, language, law) were found.
The reading circle of children and teenagers included the Sumerian-Akkadian “Epic of Gilgamesh”, 2-3 thousand BC. Its first Russian translator was Gumilyov. In 1997, Voskoboynikov wrote the children's story "The Brilliant Gilgamesh." This work consists of 12 “songs”, their sequence corresponds to the 12 signs of the zodiac. Plot motives: Gilgamesh, dressed in the skin of a lion he killed, defeats the heavenly bull, finds the flower of eternal youth, kills a snake that settled on a tree in a mysterious garden, receives sacred objects from the underworld. Looks like Hercules.
The myth of the Divine Child was formed in ancient cultures along with the myths about the Mother, the Father, the World Tree, and the creation of the world. It is included in the system of mythological ideas of different peoples. The plots and motifs of children's folklore and children's literature are closely connected with the mythologeme of the Divine Child. The image of a child is inseparable from a miracle; the main function of the central character is to perform extraordinary things, miracles. The mythologem of the child’s Deities has a number of structure-forming motifs, each of which is reflected in the children’s literature known to us. The birth of a Child is often preceded by misfortune - a married couple experiences childlessness, like Samson’s parents in the Old Testament. The Divine Child is usually raised above the other heroes, the scale of his image is increased (in the story of Moses, for example). Often the Divine Child has some physical difference that makes him both beautiful and terrible. For example, the story of the miraculous birth of Samson, who grew up to be a strong man, all of whose strength lay in his hair. There were also child prophets, future saviors of the world, for example the prophet Muhammad. A child testifying to a miracle, seeing a divine teacher in his friend, is another structuring element of the poetics of children's literature. The childhood of Hercules, Alex of Macedon, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ is depicted as the era of the first miraculous acts. There are many miracles of healing: with one touch Jesus heals the foot of a young woodcutter. So, the basic idea is the image of a child performing a miracle. The plot of children's literature largely consists of “good deeds.” In ancient texts, the child is depicted in a system of oppositions, conflicts: child-parents, child-other children, child-teachers.
Along with child characters, there are also “undivine” children. For example, the Old Testament story about the twins Esau and Jacob, one will become a skilled trapper, the other a meek “man of the tents,” i.e. practitioner and lyricist. Comic and dramatic duets: Chuk and Huck in Gaidar, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and Twain.
Ancient Greek and Roman schools. Phlegon of Tralles, Rome author, 2nd century AD. collection “Amazing Stories”, in these stories there are fantastic creatures and ghosts; Eastern fairy tales are combined with elements of mysticism and fantasy.
Ancient civilization left the countries of the collapsing Roman Empire a rich cultural heritage; it lasted for many centuries until independent national cultures were formed. With the establishment of Christianity, relations in society began to change, the authority of the ancient classics ceased to be indisputable, and folklore no longer provided answers to new questions.
(from lectures). A child's first acquaintance with myth is through a church service. Myth is a story about the gods and heroes of ancient times. The cult of nature and ancestors is the starting point for the formation of a myth. The grain of myth is an archetype, a certain knowledge embedded in us. Myths are: astral (about the stars), calendar, anthropogonic (about the creation and origin of man), totemic (myth about the kinship of people with objects of living nature), eschatological (myth about the end of the world). The Christ myth reveals itself in prose: a re-imagining of sacred scripture for children, in a literary fairy tale, where the overlap of language and Christ myths occurs; in the genre of a Christmas story. Easter story, in fantasy plots.
Children's literature in RussiaXV-XVIII centuries
The entire history of ancient Russian children's literature can be divided into four periods:
1) the second half of the 15th - the first half of the 16th century, when the first educational works appeared;
2) the second half of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century, when 15 printed books for children were published;
3) 20-40s. XVII century, when regular poetry begins;
4) the second half of the 17th century - the period of the development of different genres and types of children's literature.
Great development in the 17th century. receives poetry. Poems of that time, addressed to children, were, from a modern point of view, still quite primitive. But it was with them that children's poetry began.
It was a rare children's handwritten or printed book without poems. There were especially many of them in the second half of the 17th century, when large works were written, which we now call poems. Poems set out rules of behavior and conveyed various information about the world. Most of the poems are anonymous. However, some authors were already known then, others have been identified now. The very first children's poet in Rus' should be considered the director of the Moscow Printing House, Savvaty. The reference book was responsible for the content and literacy of the book. Therefore, the most educated people were appointed to this position. Currently, more than ten poems by Savvaty are known, written by him specifically for children. Among them is the first poem in the book of the Moscow press, placed in the ABC edition of 1637. It consists of 34 lines. The poem simply, warmly and clearly tells the reader about the book he is holding in his hands, praises literacy and book wisdom, and gives various advice on how to study and how to read. According to the composition, this is an intimate conversation with a child on a topic that is interesting and important to him. The author convinces the child not to be lazy in learning, to be diligent, and to obey the teacher in everything. Only in this case can he learn the “wisdom scripture » (letter), become one of the “wise men” and become a “true son of light.” Later in the second half XVII c., this poem was widely distributed through handwritten books.
Another poem by Savvaty was also very famous - “A brief statement about laziness and negligence”, consisting of 124 lines. It creates a negative image of a student, capable, but lazy and careless. Savvaty tries to instill in children respect for literacy, an enthusiastic attitude towards education and contempt for ignorance. The author leads the reader to the conclusion that teaching is light, and ignorance is darkness. Savvaty uses persuasion as the main educational means, and comparison and likening as a literary device. For example, he says that a diamond is precious because of the play of light, color, and paints, and a person is precious because of his education and “his understanding.”
In another long poem of 106 lines called "The ABC of Vacation", an image of a positive student was created who heeded the advice of his teacher, studied diligently, and therefore the teacher taught him everything that he himself knew and could. This is like a parting word to a child on graduation day.
The most important poet of the 17th century. was Simeon of Polotsk. His real name is Petrovsky. In 1664, at the invitation of the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Simeon moved to Moscow, where he opened a school and began to take an active part in literary and social life. Simeon of Polotsk took part in the creation of the primer of 1664. He also compiled the entire primer of the 1667 edition, which was republished in 1669. The preface written by Simeon for this primer is an outstanding pedagogical treatise of the 17th century.
But the primer of 1679 is of greatest interest. It contains two poems for children: “Preface to young men who want to learn” And "Admonition". The first of them talks about the book, praises literacy, and calls on children to study well, for those who work in youth will be at peace in old age. Of all labors, reading and learning bring the greatest pleasure and benefit. The second poem is placed at the end of the book. He wrote poetic prefaces to the books he published for children, “Testament” and “The Tale of Baarlam and Joasaph.” In them he talks about the content of the books, draws attention to the most important thing, trying to interest children and prepare them for perception. The most important books of Simeon of Polotsk are “Reef. Mologion”, which has 1308 large format pages, and “Vertograd multicolor”, consisting of 1316 pages. The books were intended, according to the author, “for the benefit of young and old,” who could “look for words in them” and read “to teach their age.” The books contain many poems that are accessible to children, including greeting poems from children to parents, relatives and patrons.
Poems about nature, minerals, animals, plants, entertaining legends, etc., were also available to children. For example, the poem “Arc” (“Rainbow”) or poems about earth and water. Being a teacher by profession and an outstanding The poet of his time, Simeon of Polotsk, made a significant contribution to the creation of literature for children.
The first Russian writer and poet whose work was entirely dedicated to children was Karion Istomin. In all his works, Karion Istomin glorified science, “enlightenment,” yagi. He believed that everyone should study: children of all classes, boys and girls, people of all nationalities. Science, according to Karion Istomin, should save people from want and grief. Although in most of his poems Istomin directly addressed the princes, he intended them for the entire Russian people.
During Karion Istomin’s lifetime, three of his books for children and a complete set of textbooks were published. Another children's book by Karion Istomin, The Big Primer, had 11 poems. In addition, he wrote more than ten books of poetry. Yes, in the book "Policy" it tells about everyone, seasons, parts of the world, different countries. In a book of poetry "Domostroy", consisting of 176 lines, the rules of behavior are figuratively set out using vivid examples. The main content of the rules boils down to the requirement to study the “free sciences”, etc.
Genre of literary fairy tale. Traditional and innovative in Pushkin's fairy tales
Tales of A.S. Pushkin appeared during the peak period of his creativity. They were not intended for children, but almost immediately entered children's reading.
In 1830, Pushkin began work on a fairy tale about a bear, “Like Warm Spring Time,” which remained unfinished. In 1831, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” and “The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda” were completed. In 1833, two fairy tales were written: “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” and “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights.” In 1834, “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” appeared.
A.S. Pushkin creates his fairy tales based on folklore material. “The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda” is close in plot to the folk tale “The Farmhand Shabarsha.” The plot of “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” is connected in origin with the fairy tale “The Greedy Old Woman” and was presented to Pushkin by the folklore collector writer V.I. Dahlem. “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” echoes the folk tale “About Wonderful Children.” “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights” is close to the plot of the folk tale “The Magic Mirror”. Turning to oral folk art, A.S. Pushkin sees in it inexhaustible possibilities for updating literature.
Tales of A.S. Pushkin - plot works that show a sharp conflict between the light and dark worlds. An example is “The Tale of Tsar Saltan, his glorious and mighty hero Prince Gvidon Saltanovich and the beautiful Swan Princess.” It was written in 1831 and first published in 1832 in the third part of “Poems by A. Pushkin.” This was Pushkin's first fairy tale to appear in print. She received mixed responses. Not all contemporaries understood Pushkin’s innovation and saw the birth of a new poetic genre. From the very beginning, it gives a subtle satirical reduction in the image of the king: “During the entire conversation, he stood behind the fence...” According to the censorship conditions of A.S. Pushkin could not have ridiculed the high-born eavesdropper more openly. The fairy tale reflects the diverse shades of human feelings: “The cook is angry in the kitchen, the weaver is crying at the loom, and they envy the Sovereign’s wife,” and complex relationships between people are revealed.
Pushkin the storyteller spoke out against the monotony of poetry, against erased rhythmic-syntactic phrases. His verse is moving, conveying the rhythm of movement and the tension of events. Dynamism and speed of change of events freely and easily coexist with landscape paintings, laconic and visually colorful: The wind is rustling merrily, the ship is running merrily. The stars shine in the blue sky, the waves lash in the blue sea...
The sound organization of verse in Pushkin the storyteller is energetic and effective. Every sound has significance for him, sometimes conveying the splash of a sea wave, sometimes reproducing the flight of a mosquito or bumblebee.
Pushkin appears in “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” as a fighter for the nationality of the language, or “vernacular.” “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” ends not with a moralistic conclusion, as was the case with many other fairy tale writers, but with a cheerful feast glorifying the triumph of good.
Positive characters win in a long struggle: Prince Guidon meets with his father; the weaver, the cook and the matchmaker, Baba Babarikha, are put to shame. Readers wholeheartedly side with the “bright world” of the fairy tale, personified in the images of the Queen Mother, Prince Guidon, and the Swan Princess. Only the image of Tsar Saltan raises doubts and thoughts.
“The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda” is a satire on unscrupulous servants of the Orthodox Church deceiving the people. It ridicules human greed, stupidity and hypocrisy. The priest is going to hire a servant who will perform the duties of a cook, groom and carpenter for a pittance. Stupidity and greed force him to agree to receive clicks from Balda, whom he hired as an employee. But the priest is not only greedy, but insidious and evil, he is trying to destroy Balda by giving him impossible tasks, for example, collecting rent from the devils.
“The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda” was not published during the poet’s lifetime. It was first published by V.A. Zhukovsky in 1840 in the magazine “Son of the Fatherland” with major alterations caused by the strictness of censorship. “Pop” was turned into “merchant Kuzma Ostolop.” It started like this:
Once upon a time there lived a merchant Kuzma the Stupid, nicknamed Aspen Forehead, and the whole tale was entitled: “The Tale of the Merchant Kuzma Ostolop and his Worker Balda.” The changes made by Zhukovsky distorted the social orientation of the fairy tale, violated the system of its images and poetic integrity.
Pushkin's fairy-tale characters are psychologically and artistically perfect; In the process of working on the fairy tale, he constantly honed its verse, bringing it closer to the folk tale, sharpening the satire.
The artistic means of Pushkin's fairy tales are inextricably linked with his poetic worldview. The poet spoke out against the pretentiousness and abstruseness of the verse; he sought to get closer to the folk saying with its aphorism.
Pushkin's verse in the fairy tale is full of movement. The poet sometimes constructs entire stanzas primarily from nouns and verbs in order to convey the severity of the struggle:
The poor demon crawled under the mare, strained, strained,
He lifted the mare, took two steps, fell on the third, and stretched out his legs.
At the end of the tale, a mocking attitude towards the priest is clearly expressed. In 1835, “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish,” written two years earlier, appeared in the magazine “Library for Reading.”
“The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” reflects motifs that exist not only in Russian, but also in foreign folklore. So, in the collection of the Brothers Grimm there is a similar fairy tale. Pushkin's fairy tale is a philosophical reflection on the confrontation between patient good and aggressive evil. The poet is no stranger to social motives. This is emphasized by the sharp contrast between the old man and the old woman: he remains a peasant, and she rises higher and higher on the social ladder.
The image of an old man personifies the folk beginning of a fairy tale. He is forced to submit to the will of the greedy old woman, but has no respect for her, no matter how high she rises. This is evidenced by his address to her when she wanted to become a queen:
“Why, woman, have you eaten too much henbane?”
The image of the old woman gradually goes beyond the image of greed and becomes a symbol of social oppression. The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish reflected the people's attitude towards tyrants. Good does not so much defeat evil in open confrontation as survive it. The tale ends with an instructive picture of tyranny punished according to the laws of supreme justice (their exponent is a goldfish):
Lo and behold, there was a dugout in front of him again; His old woman sits on the threshold, and in front of her is a broken trough.
“The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights” was written in 1833. Published for the first time in 1834 in the magazine “Library for Reading”. It particularly clearly reflected the humanistic orientation of Pushkin’s fairy tales. In “The Tale of the Dead Princess,” positive characters are endowed with such character traits that are valued by working people: kindness, generosity, courage, devotion in friendship.
The Queen Mother is faithfully waiting for her husband, who has set off on a long journey. Pushkin talks about this in vivid scenes, close in style to oral folk art.
Romantic motifs predominate in the image of the princess-daughter. She arouses the love of the girl Chernavka and the seven heroes by the fact that she is “cuter than everyone else, blushing and whiter than everyone else,” and, most importantly, with her kindness, responsiveness, and readiness to help.
The image of Prince Elisha is given in epic tones. The hero “sets out on the road for a beautiful soul, for a young bride.” He is close to nature. Elisha's lyrical appeals to the sun and the month, and finally to the wind, poetically color his image and give him a special charm. “The Tale of the Dead Princess” was written by the poet in a creative competition with Zhukovsky. But unlike him, Pushkin does not limit himself to a romantic depiction of heroes; he introduces realistic pictures of the life of the royal court, and creates satirical characters in his fairy tale. This is, to some extent, the king-father, who hastened to get married as soon as the prescribed period of widowhood had expired.
The main force of Pushkin’s satire is directed against the queen-stepmother, who personifies the “dark world” in the fairy tale. Envy and anger towards everything bright and good ultimately lead her to death: “Then she was overcome by melancholy, and the queen died.” So in a fairy tale, the victory of good symbolizes the death of evil.
In “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel,” which was written in 1834 and first published in 1835 (magazine “Library for Reading”), a satirical image of King Dadon was created, who prefers to reign without worries, “lying on his side.” That is why the king thoughtlessly agrees to fulfill the first request of the astrologer, who gave him a golden cockerel. King Dadon is depicted as a man incapable of loving not only the country he rules, but also his own sons. Tears caused by their death easily give way to voluptuous delight in front of the Shamakhan queen. At the same time, the tsar is shown to be far from harmless: he is a tyrant, capable of, on a whim, destroying an old man who at one time came to his aid: “The tsar grabbed him on the forehead with his staff; he fell on his face and lost his breath.”
It should be noted that the positive heroes of all fairy tales by A.S. Pushkin - people from the people: the hardworking, resourceful and cheerful worker Balda (“The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda”); a selfless, kind, undemanding hard worker-old man (“The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish”).
Pushkin's fairy tales, as well as folk tales, are characterized by faith in bright forces and feelings. Pushkin's fairy tales are optimistic; in them, good always triumphs over darkness and evil. Balda's resourcefulness and hard work help him defeat the priest; Elisha's love and faithfulness resurrect his bride; Guidon's filial devotion, his fight against envy and slander contribute to the triumph of truth.
Poetic speech in Pushkin’s fairy tales is also marked by national features. They widely use folk sayings, proverbs, words and expressions, suffixes:
