Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp. Morphology<волшебной>fairy tales. The historical roots of fairy tales. (Collected works of V. Ya. Propp.) Comments by E. M. Meletinsky, A. V. Rafaeva. Compilation, scientific edition, textual commentary by IV Peshkov. - Publishing house "Labyrinth", M., 1998. - 512 p.
Editor G. N. Shelogurova Artist I. E. Smirnova Computer typesetting: 14. E. Eremin
For the first time, the famous dilogy about a fairy tale is published as a single (according to the author's intention) work. Extensive commentary articles, a bibliography, a name index, an index of characters turn the book into an educational and reference guide for fairy tales, and an unusually wide scope of humanitarian material, the depth of its development and an intelligible style of presentation have long introduced its constituent works into the global cultural fund of modern educated person.
╘ Propp M. V., text ╘ Meletinsky E. M., Rafaeva A. V., comments
╘ "Labyrinth" publishing house, editing, compiling, indexes, design, 1998
All rights reserved
ISBN 5-87604-065-7 (vol. 2) ISBN 5-87604-067-3
MORPHOLOGY<ВОЛШЕБНОЙ>FAIRY TALES
Preface 5
I. Back to the background 6
II. Method and material 18
III. Functions actors 23
IV. Assimilation. Cases of double morphological significance of one function 51
V. Some other elements of the fairy tale 54
A. Auxiliary elements for connecting functions to each other 54 ∙ B. Auxiliary elements for tripling 56 ∙ C. Motivation 57
VI. Distribution of functions by actors 60
VII. Ways to include new faces in the course of action 64
VIII. On the attributes of actors and their meaning 66
IX. Fairy tale as a whole 69
A. Methods of combining stories 69 ∙ B. An example of analysis 73 ∙ C. The question of classification 75 ∙ D. On the relationship of particular forms of structure to the general system 79 ∙ E. The question of composition and plot, plots and variants 87 ∙
Conclusion 89
APPENDIX I∙ 91
APPENDIX II ∙ 97
APPENDIX III ∙ 103
NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL DIAGRAM ∙ 104
APPENDIX IV ∙ 108
Appendix V Translation of the numbering of pre-revolutionary editions of Afanasyev's fairy tales to the numbering of post-revolutionary editions
Fairy tale parsing schemes
Morphology <ВОЛШЕБНОЙ> FAIRY TALES
Foreword
Morphology still has to be legitimized as a special science, making as its main subject that which in others is treated on occasion and in passing, collecting what is scattered there, and establishing new point vision, which allows you to easily and conveniently view the things of nature. The phenomena she deals with the highest degree significant; those mental operations by which it compares phenomena are consistent with human nature and are pleasing to her, so that even an unsuccessful experience still combines usefulness and beauty.
Goethe.
Word morphology, means the doctrine of forms. In botany, morphology is understood as the doctrine of the constituent parts of a plant, their relationship to each other and to the whole, in other words, the doctrine of the structure of a plant.
On the possibility of the concept and the term fairy tale morphology nobody thought. Meanwhile, in the field of folk, folk tale the consideration of forms and the establishment of regularities in the structure is possible with the same accuracy with which the morphology of organic formations is possible.
If this cannot be asserted about the fairy tale as a whole, in its entirety, then in any case it can be asserted about the so-called fairy tales, about fairy tales "in the proper sense of the word." The real work is dedicated to them.
The proposed experience is the result of a rather painstaking work. Such comparisons require some patience from the researcher. But we have tried to find a form of presentation that would not tempt the reader's patience too much, simplifying and reducing where possible.
The work went through three phases. Initially, it was a broad study with a large number of tables, charts, and analyses. It was impossible to publish such a work already because of its large volume. A reduction was undertaken, calculated for a minimum volume with a maximum content. But such an abbreviated summary it would not be on the shoulder nearby
to your reader: it was like a grammar or a textbook of harmony. The format had to be changed. True, there are things that it is impossible to state popularly. They are in this work. But still, I think that in its present form the work is available to every lover of fairy tales, if he himself wants to follow us into the labyrinth of fabulous diversity, which in the end will appear before him as a wonderful uniformity.
In the interests of a more concise and lively exposition, much had to be sacrificed that a specialist would have cherished. In its original form, the work covered, in addition to those parts given below, also the study of a rich field of attributes of actors (that is, characters as such); she dealt in detail with questions of metamorphosis, i.e., the transformation of a fairy tale; large comparative tables were included (only their headings remained in the appendix), the entire work was preceded by a more rigorous methodological outline. It was supposed to give a study not only of the morphological, but also of the completely special logical structure of the tale, which prepared the way for the historical study of the tale. The presentation itself was more detailed. Elements that are only singled out as such here have been subjected to detailed consideration and comparison. But the selection of elements is the axis of the entire work and predetermines the conclusions. An experienced reader himself will be able to finish the sketches.
Essay on folklore
On the topic "Morphology of the fairy tale by V. Ya. Propp"
Introduction page 3
To the history of the issue p. 3
Method and material page 4
Functions of actors page 5
Assimilations, cases of double
morphological meaning of one function. Page 6
Some other elements of the fairy tale p. 7
Distribution of functions by actors p. 7
Ways to include new faces page 8
On the attributes of actors and their meaning p. 9
Fairy tale as a whole p. 9
Classification question p. 13
Conclusion page 14
Introduction
In botany, morphology is understood as the science of the constituent parts of a plant, but no one could even think about the morphology of a fairy tale, although in the field of oral folk tale an organic bond between elements is also possible. If this cannot be said about all fairy tales in general, then one can safely say about the so-called fairy tale, "about a fairy tale in the proper sense of the word." The work of V. Ya. Propp “Morphology fairy tale».
In its original form, the work occupied a very large volume, included more detailed examples, descriptions of the attributes of the characters, it touched in detail on the issues of metamorphosis, that is, the transformation of a fairy tale; large comparison tables have been included. In addition, it was supposed to give not only a morphological, but also a logical justification alien to the fairy tale, thereby preparing its historical study.
To the history of the issue
In the first third of the 20th century, scientific literature about the fairy tale was, to put it mildly, not rich, there were few works published, much more space was occupied by the publication of collections of texts, and if the works were published, then they were of a very narrow focus, with a “philosophical-amateurish character”.
In the 20s of the 19th century, Speransky described the state of folklore in the following way: “NOT dwelling on the conclusions obtained, scientific ethnology continues to search, considering the collected material is still insufficient for a general construction. Thus, science, science again turns to collecting material, in the interests of future generations, and what these generalizations will be, and when we will be able to make them, is unknown.
All this time the study of the fairy tale was carried out genetically. No systematic description has been attempted. Let us then ask ourselves the question: “What is a fairy tale?”
The most common division of fairy tales proposed by F. Miller into:
Fairy tales with wonderful content
Animal Tales
Household fairy tales
At first glance, such a division seems to be correct, but do not fairy tales about animals contain an element of the miraculous? We see that the fairy tale easily ascribes the same properties to people, objects and animals. This phenomenon occurs most often in fairy tales, but in general it extends to fairy tales in general. A vivid example of this is the tale of the division of the harvest ("To me, Misha, tops, you - roots"). On the one hand, it seems that the fairy tale belongs to everyday life, but where has it been seen that in everyday life the harvest was divided in this way. It cannot be said that this is a fairy tale with a wonderful content. In addition, in Russia, the bear is most often deceived, and in the West - the Devil, which means that this tale, with the involvement of the Western version, does not fit into the framework of fairy tales about animals.
Each researcher says that he classifies fairy tales according to the generally accepted scheme, in fact, he does it differently. Therefore, further attempts do not bring relief. It is worth noting Wundt's attempt (Wundt 346 fff) to classify fairy tales:
Mythological tales-fables
Pure fairy tales
Biological tales and fables
Pure Animal Fables
Tales of origin
Joking tales and fables
moral fables
This classification, like all previous ones, raises objections. Take, for example, the term "joking". One and the same tale can be interpreted both heroically and comically. Besides, what is the difference between “pure animal fables” and “moral” fables?
All these classifications concern the distribution of fairy tales by categories. Attempts have also been made to classify them according to plots, and this already brings complete chaos. Let's start with the fact that fairy tales can intertwine plots, parts of one fairy tale can pass into other fairy tales almost without changes. So, for example, Baba Yaga can be found both in fairy tales “about snake fighting” and in fairy tales “about Koshchei”.
Such a division of fairy tales into plots is found to this day. In 1924, a book by R. M. Volkov was published, where the author stated that fantasy tale defined by 15 plots:
About the innocent persecuted
2) About the hero-fool
3) About three brothers
4) About snake fighters
5) About getting brides
About the wise girl
About the cursed and enchanted
About the owner of the talisman
About the owner of miraculous items
About an unfaithful wife, etc.
According to this classification, it is difficult to understand how these plots are defined; here the principle of division is absent at all. Therefore, such a classification is not scientific, it is just a conditional index.
To the question of the classification of plots, one cannot fail to mention Antei Aarne. He became one of the founders of the Finnish school. According to Aarne, each plot is called a type, which makes it possible to encrypt a fairy tale, each type is numbered. He divides fairy tales (subclass) into the following categories:
Miraculous Enemy
Miraculous task
Wonderful Helper
Miraculous Item
Miraculous power or skill
Other wonderful motives.
But Aarne's pointer is not a scientifically substantiated classification; it raises the same objections as Volkov's collection. This index is useful, rather, as a practical guide, an index.
As we have seen, the situation with the classification of the fairy tale is not entirely successful. The main question remains unresolved - the origin of the fairy tale itself, here too there are laws of origin and development, and they are still waiting for their resolution.
Method and material.
The main parts of a fairy tale are the functions of its characters. A function is an act of the acting hero, defined in terms of its significance in the course of the action. Research shows that all functions are repeated (eg, Baba Yaga and Morozko and the mare's head test and reward the stepdaughter). It can also be established that the characters act in the same way, only the principles of the very implementation of functions change. Thus, we see that the functions of the heroes are constant.
I. The constant, stable elements of the tale are the functions of the characters, regardless of who and how they are performed. They form the main components of the tale.
II. The number of functions known to a fairy tale is limited.
In addition, a fairy tale obeys its own special laws, for example, the sequence of elements is always the same. From this follows the following statement:
III. The sequence of functions is always the same.
This applies only to the oral folk tradition, artificially created tales do not obey this statement.
Through some reasoning, we get:
IV. All fairy tales are of the same type in their structure.
It should also be noted that the study of a fairy tale must be conducted deductively, here the point is not in the amount of material, but in the quality of its processing.
Functions of actors.
All fairy tales usually begin with a situation. The situation is not a function, but nevertheless it is important as a morphological element. After the initial situation come the functions:
One of the family members leaves, leaves, etc. (absence, e)
The hero is treated with a ban (ban, b)
The prohibition is violated (violation, b)
The pest, the antagonist is trying to conduct reconnaissance (intelligence, in)
The pest receives information about the victim (issuance, w)
The antagonist tries to deceive his victim in order to take possession of him or his property (catch, designation d).
The victim is deceived and thus unwittingly helps the enemy (aiding, g).
The antagonist causes harm or damage to one of the family members (sabotage, A).
8-a. One of the family members lacks something, he wants to have something (shortage, a).
Misfortune or lack is reported, the hero is addressed with a request or order, sent away or released (mediation, connecting moment, B).
Seeker agrees or decides to resist (initiating opposition, C).
The hero leaves the house (sending, )
The hero is tested, interrogated, attacked, etc., which prepares for him to receive a magical agent or helper (the first function of the giver, D).
The hero reacts to the actions of the future giver (the reaction of the hero, D).
The hero has a magic tool at his disposal (supply, getting a magic tool, Z).
The hero is transported, delivered, or brought to the location of the object of the search (spatial movement between two realms, guide; R).
The hero and the antagonist enter into a direct struggle (struggle, B).
The hero is marked (branding, mark, 41 K).
The antagonist is defeated (win, P).
The initial trouble or shortage is eliminated (liquidation of trouble or shortage, L).
The hero returns (return, ¯).
The hero is persecuted (pursuit, pursuit, etc.).
The hero flees from persecution (salvation, Sp.).
The hero arrives home or in another country unrecognized (unrecognized arrival, X)
The false hero makes unfounded claims (unfounded claims, F).
The hero is offered a difficult task (hard task, 3).
The problem is being solved (solution, R).
The hero is recognized (recognition, U).
The false hero or antagonist is exposed (rebuke, O).
The hero is given a new appearance (transfiguration, T).
The enemy is punished (punishment, N).
The hero marries and reigns (wedding, C)
As we can already see, the number of functions is small, and within the limits of these 31 functions, the action of all fairy tales without exception develops. In addition, one can see how one function naturally follows from another. It is also important that most of the functions are located in pairs (prohibition - violation).
Assimilation. Cases of double morphological significance of one function.
The ways in which functions are performed strongly influence each other, the same forms can be applied to different functions. So one form can be transferred to another place and at the same time take on a new meaning or at the same time retain the old one. This makes analysis difficult and requires special attention.
Consider this example (160):
Ivan asks Baba Yaga for a horse, she offers to choose the best foal from the herd. Ivan makes the right choice and takes the horse for himself.
But in another example (219):
The hero wants to marry the daughter of Vodyanoy and he offers to choose one of 12 identical girls. The hero guesses correctly and gets the maiden as his wife.
We see that in both cases the element is performed the same, but in the second example it is clear that this is not a test by the hero's donor, but a matchmaking and a difficult task. Thus, it is clear that assimilation has taken place. In such cases, it becomes difficult to determine the primacy of one or another meaning. In these cases, one can always be guided by the principle of defining a function by its consequences. If the solution of the problem is followed by the receipt of a magical remedy, then we have the test of the donor (D). If a bride's booty and marriage follows, we have a difficult task (G).
Another phenomenon similar to assimilations is the double morphological meaning of one function. The simplest example gives fairy tale No 265 ("The White Duck"). The prince, leaving, forbids his wife to leave the house. "A woman comes to her, it seemed - so simple, warm-hearted! "What, - she says, - are you bored? If only I could see the light of God! If only she could walk in the garden!" etc. The princess goes out into the garden. By this, she agrees to the persuasion of the pest, while simultaneously violating the ban. Thus, the exit of the princess from the house has a double morphological meaning. Another, more complex example, we have in the tale No 179, etc. Here the difficult task (kissing the princess on a horseback) is transferred to the beginning of the tale. It causes the dispatch of the hero, that is, it fits the definition of a connecting moment. It is characteristic that this task is given in the form of a cry, similar to the cry that the father of the kidnapped princesses announces. (Compare "Who will kiss my daughter Milolika the princess with a swing on a horse," etc. "Who will find my daughters," etc.). The cry in both cases is the same element, but besides the cry in tale No 179 is at the same time a difficult task. Here, as in some similar cases, the difficult task is transferred to the plot, used as B, while remaining 3.
Some other elements of the tale.
A. Auxiliary elements for linking functions to each other.
Functions are the basic elements of a fairy tale that form the course of action. Along with them, there are also a number of components in the fairy tale that are also important. As we can see, the functions do not always follow one another, but if two follow one after the other and are performed by different heroes, the second character must somehow find out what happened. Then the tale worked out a whole series of notices.
For example:
The kidnapped princess is taken away from Koshchei and he rushes in pursuit. Koschei could immediately rush in pursuit, but the tale inserts the words of Koshcheev’s horse: “Ivan Tsarevich came, took Marya Morevna with him.”
There is another way of notification - the reverse, when the hero needs to find out if there is a chase for him or not. For example, for this, Ivan Tsarevich puts his ear to the ground.
B. Auxiliary elements in dispensations.
we see similar bundles in dispensations. These are repetitions, we note, by the way, that both individual characters and entire groups of heroes can arrange themselves. An example of such an element would be three snake heads, three clubs (when only the third is suitable).
B. Motivations.
Distribution of functions by actors.
now it is necessary to consider the question of how the functions are distributed among the actors.
First of all, we note that the circle of actions of the heroes is logically limited.
1) The range of actions of the antagonist (pest). Covers:
wrecking, combat or other forms of struggle with the hero, persecution.
2) The circle of actions of the donor (provider). Covers: preparing the transfer of a magical agent, supplying the hero with a magical agent.
3) The circle of actions of the assistant. Covers: the spatial movement of the hero, the elimination of misfortune or shortage, salvation from persecution, the resolution of difficult tasks, the transfiguration of the hero.
4) The circle of actions of the princess (the desired character) and her father. Covers: assignment of difficult tasks, branding, denunciation, recognition, punishment of the second pest, marriage. The princess and her father cannot be delineated in terms of functions quite accurately. The father is most often credited with assigning difficult tasks as an act stemming from hostility towards the groom. He often punishes or orders to punish the false hero.
5) The scope of the sender. Covers only referral.
6) The circle of actions of the hero. Covers: sending in search, reaction to the requirements of the donor, wedding. The first function is characteristic of the hero-seeker, the hero-victim performs only the rest.
7) The range of activities of the false hero also includes sending out in search, reacting to the demands of the giver - always negative and, as a specific function, deceitful claims.
Thus, the tale knows seven characters. The functions of the preparatory part are distributed among the same characters, but the distribution here is uneven, and it is impossible to determine the characters by these functions. In addition, there are special characters for bundles (complainers, informers, slanderers), as well as special traitors for the w function (issuing information: a mirror, a chisel, a broom indicate where the desired victim is). This also includes such characters as One-eye, Two-eye and Three-eye.
How are the indicated circles distributed among individual fairy-tale characters? There are three possible cases here.
1) The circle of actions exactly matches the character. Yaga, who tests and rewards the hero, animals, asking for mercy and giving Ivan a gift, are pure givers. The horse that delivers Ivan to the princess, helps to kidnap her, solves a difficult problem, saves her from a chase, etc., is a pure helper.
2) One character covers several circles of action. The iron peasant, who asks to be released from the tower, then grants Ivan strength and gives him a self-rolling tablecloth, and subsequently helps to kill the snake, is both a donor and an assistant. Grateful animals require special consideration. They start as givers (begging for help or mercy), then they put themselves at the disposal of the hero and become his assistants. Sometimes it happens that an animal, freed or spared by the hero, simply disappears without even giving the formula for summoning it, but at a critical moment it appears as an assistant. It rewards action directly. It can, for example, help the hero move to another realm, or it can get him the object of his search, etc.
Ways to include new actors in the course of action.
The pest appears twice: first, suddenly, and then it is found as a result of the guide. The donor is found by chance, and the magical assistant turns on at the right time. The sender, the false hero and the princess are included in the initial situation, and the princess appears twice: at the beginning of the tale and at the end as a result of the search.
This can be considered a fabulous norm, but there are also deviations, if there is no donor, then his functions can be transferred to an assistant. Another digression may be that not all heroes are included in the initial situation, although this applies only to heroes (princess, Ivan Tsarevich). If there is no donor in the tale, then the forms of his appearance pass to the next character - namely to assistant. Thus, various artisans are randomly encountered by the hero, as is usually the case with the donor. If a character covers two circles of functions, he is introduced in those forms in which he begins to act. The wise wife, who is first a donor, then a helper and a princess, is introduced as a donor, not as a helper or princess.
Another digression is that all characters can be introduced through the initial situation. This form is specific, as already indicated, only for heroes, for the sender and for the princess. Two main forms of initial situations can be observed: the situation involving the seeker with his family (father and three sons), and the situation involving the victim of the pest and his family (the king's three daughters). Some tales give both situations. If the fairy tale begins with a shortage, then a situation is needed with the seeker (sometimes the sender). These situations may overlap. But since the initial situation always requires members of the same family, the seeker and the seeker from Ivan and the princess turn into brother and sister, sons and mother, etc. This situation includes both the seeker and the victim of the pest. It can be observed that in such tales the princess entered retroactively. Ivan goes to look for his mother, kidnapped by Koshchei, finds the royal daughter, also once kidnapped by him.
On the attributes of actors and their meaning.
Attributes are understood as the totality of all the external qualities of the characters (gender, age, etc.). When examining attributes, tabulation can be used, but this creates only three main rubrics: age, dwelling, and appearance characteristics. In fact, the study of attributes is extremely, but tabulation results in a classification that looks like a catalog, which is acceptable from a more general point of view. All the material of one heading can be considered completely independently through all the fabulous material. Although these quantities are variable elements, there is also a great deal of repetition here. The most frequently repeated, most striking forms represent the well-known fairy-tale canon. This canon can be singled out, for which, however, it is first necessary to determine how to distinguish the basic forms from derivative and heteronomous ones. There is an international canon, there are national forms, especially Indian, Arabic, Russian, German, and there are provincial forms: northern, Novgorod, Perm, Siberian, etc. Finally, there are forms that are distributed according to known social categories: soldiers, laborers, semi-urban. Further, one can observe that an element that usually occurs in one rubric suddenly occurs in a completely different one:
we have a permutation of forms.
The story as a whole.
A. Ways of combining stories.
Morphologically, a fairy tale can be called any action from failure to marriage, or any other kind of tie and denouement. The interval between the tie and the denouement is called the course of action. Each fairy tale can have several iods, and when analyzing it, it is necessary to note how many moves it consists of. One move can follow another, but they can also be intertwined. Therefore, it is worth considering the existing options.
one). One move follows another.
2). The first move is interrupted by the second, the action of the second move begins before the end of the first.
3). The episode can be interrupted again, in which case quite complex schemes can turn out.
four). The fairy tale begins with two harms at once, and first one can be eliminated, and then the second.
6). sometimes there are two seekers in a fairy tale. In this case, they part in the middle of the action.
It should be added here that difficulties may arise, whether we have one fairy tale or not. Then a few clearer cases should be pointed out:
We have one tale in the following cases:
1) If the whole fairy tale consists of one move.
2) If the tale consists of two moves, one of which ends positively and the other negatively. Sample: move I -- the stepmother banishes the stepdaughter. Her father takes her away. She returns with gifts. Move II - the stepmother sends her daughters, the father takes them away, they return punished.
3) When tripling whole moves. The snake kidnaps the girl. Moves I and II - the older brothers take turns looking for her, get stuck. Move III - the youngest sets off, rescues the girl and brothers.
4) If a magic tool is obtained in the first turn, which is used only in the second. Sample: move I - the brothers leave the house to get horses for themselves. They get them, they come back. Move II - the snake threatens the princess. The brothers are leaving.
With the help of horses reach the goal. - Here, apparently, the following happened: the prey of the magical agent, usually placed in the middle of the tale, in this case is pushed forward, behind the main plot (the menace of the snake). The acquisition of a magical agent is preceded by the realization of a shortage, which is not motivated by anything (the brothers suddenly want to have horses), but causes a search, that is, a move.
5) We also have one fairy tale if, before the final liquidation of the trouble, some kind of shortage or shortage is suddenly felt, which causes new searches, that is, a new move, but not a new fairy tale. In these cases, a new horse is needed, an egg is the death of Koshchei, etc., which gives rise to a new development, and the development that has begun is temporarily suspended.
6) We also have one fairy tale in the case when two sabotage is given at once in the plot (exile and bewitchment of the stepdaughter, etc.).
7) We also have one tale in the texts, where the first move includes a fight with a serpent, and the second one begins with the brothers stealing the prey, throwing the hero into the abyss, etc., and then the claims of the false hero (F) and difficult tasks follow. This is the development that became clear to us when enumerating all the functions of the tale. This is the most complete and perfect form of fairy tales.
8) Fairy tales where the heroes part at a road post can also be considered whole fairy tales. It should be noted, however, that the fate of each brother can give a completely separate tale, and it is possible that this case will have to be excluded from the category of integral tales.
In all other cases we have two tales and more.
9). Analysis example.
If we now write out all the functions of this fairy tale, we get the following scheme:
The question of classification.
The stability of the structure of fairy tales allows us to give a hypothetical definition: A fairy tale is a story built on the correct alternation of the functions of characters in various forms.
However, it is known that a large number of legends. Novels, etc. Built on the same principle as fairy tales. That is why it is worth finding a new definition for fairy tales, instead of “magic”. Unfortunately, this is very difficult, so let's leave the old name to the fairy tales for now.
The classification of fairy tales is greatly complicated by their multipath. There can be only one way out - learn to distinguish one move in a fairy tale from another, so we get 4 types of fairy tales.
1.) There are elements that are always, without any exceptions, connected by corresponding varieties. These are some couples within their halves. So B 1 (battle on the open field) is always connected with P 1 (victory on the open field) and the connection, for example, with P 3 (winning at cards), is completely impossible and meaningless. All varieties of the following pairs are constantly connected with one another: prohibition and violation of it, finding out and issuing information, deception (trick) of the pest and the hero's reaction to it, battle and victory, mark and recognition.
Apart from these pairs, where all varieties are constantly related only to each other, there are pairs where this can be said about some varieties. Thus, within the limits of the initial sabotage and its liquidation, murder and resurrection, bewitchment and disenchantment, and some others are stably connected. Also, from the types of chase and escape from it, pursuit is constantly associated with a quick transformation into animals with the same form of salvation. Thus, the presence of elements is fixed, the types of which are stably connected with each other due to logical and sometimes artistic necessity.
2) There are couples where one half can be associated with several varieties of its corresponding half, but not with all. Thus, an abduction can be associated with a direct counter-abduction (L 1), with a booty through two or more assistants (L 1 L 2), with a booty through an instant return delivery of a magical nature (L 5), etc. In the same way, direct pursuit can be associated with salvation through a simple flight, with salvation through flight and throwing a comb, with the transformation of a runner into a church or a well, with hiding a runner, etc. However, it is easy to see that often within a pair one function can cause several answers, but each of of such responses is associated with only one form that called it. Thus, throwing a scallop is always associated with a straight chase, but a direct chase is not always associated with a throwing a comb. Thus, there are, as it were, one-sided and two-sided replaceable elements. We will not dwell on this difference now. We will only point out, as an example of a very wide bilateral interchangeability, to the elements D and Z discussed above (see Chapter III, pp. 37-40)
However, it should be noted that these norms of dependence, no matter how obvious they may be in themselves, are sometimes violated by a fairy tale. Causing harm and its elimination (A--L) are distant from each other long story. During the story, the narrator loses the thread, and
it can be observed that the element L sometimes does not quite correspond to the initial A or a. The tale, as it were, detonates (changes tone, is false). Ivan goes for the horse, and returns with the princess. This phenomenon is a precious material for the study of transformations: the storyteller has changed either the plot or the denouement, and from such comparisons certain modes of change and substitution can be deduced. We have a phenomenon similar to detonations when the first half does not evoke the usual response at all or is replaced by a completely different response, unusual for a fairy-tale norm. In fairy tale No. 260, the bewitchment of the boy is not followed by any disenchantment; he remains a kid for the rest of his life.
A question about composition, plots and variants.
Earlier we talked about the classification of fairy tales according to the functions of the characters, although so far they have been classified according to plots. However, we cannot ignore the early classification. Then it turns out that the fairy tale can be stated in short phrases.
In addition, such a study of the tale should be followed by a detailed study of metamorphoses. Only then can you begin to study the history of the creation of plots.
Conclusion.
“Is it permissible in this area to raise the question of typical schemes ... schemes that have been passed down through generations as ready-made formulas that can be enlivened by a new mood, cause new formations? .. Modern narrative literature, with its complex plot and photographic reproduction of reality, apparently , eliminates the very possibility of such a question; but when for future generations it will find itself in the same distant perspective as antiquity for us, from prehistoric to medieval times, when the synthesis of time, this great simplifier, having passed through the complexity of phenomena, will reduce them to the size of points that leave deep down, their lines will merge with those that are revealed to us now, when we look back at distant poetic creativity - and the phenomena of schematism and repetition will be established throughout" (Veselovsky 1913, 2).
Propp, V. Morphology of a fairy tale/
V. Propp. – M.: Labyrinth, 2006. – 128 p.
“Morphology must still be legitimized as a special science, making as its main subject what in others is treated on occasion and in passing, collecting what is scattered there, and establishing a new point of view that makes it easy and convenient to consider things of nature. The phenomena with which it deals are highly significant; those mental operations by which it compares phenomena are consistent with human nature and pleasant to it, so that even an unsuccessful experience still combines usefulness and beauty. (Goethe)
The word morphology means the study of forms. In botany, morphology is understood as the doctrine of the constituent parts of a plant, their relationship to each other and to the whole, in other words, the doctrine of the structure of a plant. In the field of folklore fairy tales, the consideration of forms and the establishment of regularities in the system is possible with the same accuracy with which the morphology of organic formations is possible.
Fairy tale classifications
The most common division of fairy tales is the division into fairy tales with wonderful content, everyday fairy tales, fairy tales about animals. [Suggested by V.F. Miller. This classification essentially coincides with the classification of the mythological school (mythical, about animals, domestic).] At first glance, everything seems correct. But the question involuntarily arises: do not fairy tales about animals contain an element of the miraculous, sometimes to a very large extent? And vice versa: don't they play wonderful tales very big role just animals? Can such a sign be considered accurate enough?
In his famous work"Psychology of peoples" Wundt proposes the following division:
1) Mythological fairy tales-fables.
2) Pure fairy tales.
3) Biological tales and fables.
4) Pure fables about animals.
5) Fairy tales "about the origin".
6) Playful fairy tales and fables.
7) Moral fables.
This classification is much richer than the previous ones, but even it raises objections. Fable (a term that occurs five times with seven digits) is a formal category. What Wundt meant by this is unclear. The term "joking" fairy tale is generally unacceptable, since the same fairy tale can be interpreted both heroically and comically. The next question is: what is the difference between a "pure animal fable" and a "moral fable"? Why are "pure fables" not "moral" and vice versa?
The analyzed classifications concern the distribution of fairy tales by categories. Along with the distribution of fairy tales by categories, there is a division according to plots.
In 1924 there was a book about the tale of the Odessa professor R. M. Volkova(Volkov). Volkov from the very first pages of his work determines that a fantastic fairy tale knows 15 plots. These stories are as follows:
1) About the innocent persecuted.
2) About the hero-fool.
3) About three brothers.
4) About snake fighters.
5) About getting brides.
6) About the wise maiden.
7) About the cursed and enchanted.
8) About the owner of the talisman.
9) About the owner of wonderful objects.
10) About an unfaithful wife, etc.
How these 15 plots were established is not specified. If you look at the principle of division, you get the following: the first category is determined by the plot, the second - by the character of the hero, the third - by the number of heroes, the fourth - by one of the moments of the course of action, etc. Thus, the principle of division does not exist at all. It's really chaos. Thus, this classification is not a scientific classification in the exact sense of the word, it is nothing more than a conditional index, the value of which is very doubtful.
Having touched upon the question of the classification of plots, we cannot pass over in silence the index of fairy tales Antti Aarne. Aarne is one of the founders of the so-called Finnish school. The works of this school represent at the present time the pinnacle of fabulous study. Representatives of this school extract and compare variants of individual plots according to their worldwide distribution. The material is grouped geo-ethnographically according to a well-known, developed system, and then conclusions are drawn about the basic structure, distribution and origin of the plots. However, this approach also raises a number of objections. The plots (especially the plots of fairy tales) are closely related to each other. It is possible to determine where one plot with its variants ends and where another begins only after an inter-plot study of fairy tales and an accurate fixation of the principle of selecting plots and variants. But this is not. The movability of elements is also not taken into account here. The works of this school proceed from the unconscious premise that each plot is something organically whole, that it can be snatched from a number of other plots and studied independently.
The methods of this school first of all demanded a list of plots. The compilation of such a list was undertaken by Aarne. This list has entered into international use and has rendered the study of the fairy tale the greatest service: thanks to Aarne's index, the ciphering of the fairy tale is possible. The plots are called Aarne types, and each type is numbered. Brief symbol fairy tales (in this case - a reference to the index number) is very convenient.
But along with these advantages, the index also has a number of significant drawbacks: as a classification, it is not free from the mistakes that Volkov makes. The main categories are as follows:
I. Tales about animals.
II. Actually fairy tales.
III. Jokes.
Fairy tales, according to Aarne, cover the following categories:
1) a wonderful opponent,
2) a wonderful husband (wife),
3) a wonderful task,
4) a wonderful helper,
5) a wonderful item,
6) miraculous power or skill,
7) other wonderful motives.
In relation to this classification, objections to Volkov's classification can be repeated almost verbatim. What about, for example, those tales in which a wonderful task is solved by a wonderful helper, which happens very often, or with those tales in which a wonderful wife is a wonderful helper?
With the classification of the tale, the situation is not entirely safe. But classification is one of the first and most important stages of study.
Plots of fairy tales
He spoke very little about the description of the tale. A. N. Veselovsky. But what he said is of great importance. Veselovsky understands a plot as a complex of motives. The motive can be timed to coincide with various subjects. "The plots vary: some motifs invade the plots, or the plots are combined with each other." "By plot, I mean a theme in which different positions-motives scurry about." For Veselovsky, the motive is something primary, the plot is secondary. The plot for Veselovsky is already an act of creativity, connection. From this follows for us the need to study not so much according to plots, but primarily according to motives. The plot is not a unit, but a complex, it is not constant, but changeable, it is impossible to proceed from it in the study of a fairy tale. But Veselovsky's doctrine of motives and plots is only general principle. Veselovsky's specific interpretation of the term motive can no longer be applied at the present time. According to Veselovsky, motive is an indecomposable unit of narration. "By motive I mean the simplest narrative unit." "A sign of a motive is its figurative, one-term schematism; such are the elements of lower mythology and fairy tales that cannot be further decomposed." However, those motives that he gives as examples are decomposed. If a motive is something logically whole, then every phrase of a fairy tale gives a motive, ("the father has three sons" - a motive; "the stepdaughter leaves the house" - a motive; "Ivan fights a snake" - a motive, etc.). Thus, contrary to Veselovsky, we must assert that the motif is not monomial, not indecomposable. The last decomposable unit as such is not a logical whole. Agreeing with Veselovsky that the part for description is more primary than the whole (and, according to Veselovsky, the motive is also primary in origin than the plot), we will subsequently have to solve the problem of identifying some primary elements differently than Veselovsky does.
The existence of fairy tales as a special category is admitted as a necessary working hypothesis. Fairy tales are still meant by fairy tales, highlighted by Aarne-Thompson.
We undertake inter-plot comparison of these tales. For comparison, we single out the constituent parts of fairy tales according to special tricks and then compare the tales according to their constituent parts. The result will be morphology, i.e. description of a fairy tale in terms of its constituent parts and the relationship of parts to each other and to the whole.
What methods Can an accurate description of the tale be achieved? Compare the following cases:
1. The king gives the eagle to the daring one. The eagle takes the daring man to another kingdom (Aph. 171).
2. Grandfather gives the bitch a horse. The horse takes Suchenko to another kingdom (132).
3. The sorcerer gives Ivan a boat. The boat takes Ivan to another kingdom (138).
4. The princess gives Ivan a ring. Well done from the ring take Ivan to another kingdom (156); etc.
In these cases, there are constants and variables. The names (and with them the attributes) of the actors change, their actions or functions do not change. Hence the conclusion that a fairy tale often ascribes the same actions to different characters. This gives us the opportunity study a fairy tale by the functions of characters.
Under function the act of the actor is understood, defined in terms of its significance for the course of the action.
The above observations can be briefly formulated as follows:
I. Permanent, sustainable elements fairy tales serve the functions of characters, regardless of who and how they are performed. They form the main components of the tale.
II. The number of functions known to a fairy tale is limited.
III. The sequence of functions is always the same.
IV. All fairy tales are of the same type in their structure.
Since we study fairy tales according to the functions of characters, the attraction of material can be suspended at the moment when it is discovered that new fairy tales do not provide any new functions. We take the Afanasiev collection, start studying fairy tales from number 50 (according to Afanasiev's plan, this is the first fairy tale in the collection) and bring it up to number 151.
Functions of actors
For each function is given: 1) a brief summary of its essence, 2) an abbreviated definition in one word, 3) symbol her. (The introduction of signs will allow later to compare the construction of fairy tales schematically).
The story usually begins with some initial situation. Family members are listed, or a future hero (such as a soldier) is simply introduced by giving his name or mentioning his position. Although this situation is not a function, it is nevertheless an important morphological element. We define this element as the initial situation. Conventional sign - i.
Following the initial situation, the functions follow:
I. One of the family members leaves home
(definition: absence, designation e)
II. The hero is treated with a ban
(definition - prohibition, designation b)
III. The ban is violated
(definition - violation, designation b)
A new face now enters the tale, which can be named hero antagonist(a pest). His role is to disturb the peace of a happy family, cause some kind of trouble, cause harm, damage.
IV. The antagonist tries to reconnoiter
(definition - elicitation, designation c)
V. The antagonist is given information about his victim
(definition - issue, notation w)
VI. The antagonist tries to trick his victim in order to take possession of him or his property
(definition - catch, designation d)
VII. The victim is deceived and thereby unwittingly helps the enemy
(definition - aiding, designation g)
VIII. The antagonist harms or damages one of the family members
(definition - sabotage, designation A)
This function is extremely important, since it actually creates the movement of a fairy tale. Absence, violation of the prohibition, extradition, the success of deceit prepare this function, create its possibility, or simply facilitate it. Therefore, the first seven functions can be considered as a preparatory part of the tale, while the plot opens with wrecking. The forms of sabotage are extremely diverse.
VIII-a. One of the family members lacks something, he wants to have something
(definition - shortage, designation a)
IX. Misfortune or shortage is reported, the hero is addressed with a request or order, sent or released
(definition - mediation, connecting moment, designation B)
This function introduces a hero into a fairy tale. Upon closer analysis, it can be decomposed into its component parts, but for our purposes this is not essential.
The heroes of a fairy tale can be twofold:
1) If a girl is kidnapped and disappears from the horizon of her father (and with this from the horizon of the listener), and Ivan goes in search of the girl, then Ivan is the hero of the fairy tale, and not the kidnapped girl. Such heroes can be called seekers.
2) If a girl or a boy is kidnapped or expelled and the tale goes with the kidnapped, expelled, not interested in what happened to the rest, then the hero of the tale is the abducted, expelled girl (boy). There are no seekers in these tales. Such heroes can be called injured heroes.
X. Seeker agrees or decides to resist
(definition - starting counteraction, designation C)
This moment is characterized, for example, by such words: "Let us find your princesses," etc. Sometimes this moment is not mentioned in words, but a strong-willed decision, of course, precedes the search. This moment is typical only for those fairy tales where the hero is a seeker. Exiled, killed, bewitched, changed heroes do not have a strong-willed desire for liberation, and this element is absent here.
XI. The hero leaves home
(definition - sending, designation?)
ABC elements? represent the beginning of a fairy tale. Next, the course of action develops.
A new person enters the tale, which can be called a donor or, more precisely, a supplier. Usually it is found by chance in the forest, on the road, etc. (see Chapter VII - forms of appearance of characters). From him, the hero - both the seeker and the victim - receives some remedy (usually magical), which allows him to subsequently eliminate the trouble. But before the magical agent is received, the hero undergoes some very different actions, which, however, all lead to the magical agent falling into the hero's hands.
XII. The hero is tested, interrogated, attacked, etc., which prepares for him to receive a magical agent or assistant.
(definition - the first function of the giver, designation D)
XIII. The hero reacts to the actions of the future donor
(definition - the reaction of the hero, designation G)
In most cases, the reaction can be positive or negative.
XIV. The hero gets a magic tool
(definition - supply, obtaining a magical agent, Z designation)
The following can serve as magical means: 1) animals (horse, eagle, etc.); 2) objects from which magical helpers are (a flint and a horse, a ring with fellows); 3) objects that have a magical property, such as clubs, swords, harp, balls, and many others; 4) qualities bestowed directly, such as strength, the ability to turn into animals, etc. All these transfer objects are called us (so far conditionally) by magical means.
If we proceed from the forms of transmission of a magical agent when determining types, then we can fix two types of relationships:
1) Theft of a magical agent associated with an attempt to destroy the hero (fry, etc.), with a request for a division, with an offer for an exchange.
2) All other forms of transmission and receipt associated with all other preparatory forms.
XV. The hero is transferred, delivered or led to the location of the subject of the search
(definition - spatial movement between two kingdoms, guidebook; designation R)
XVI. The hero and the antagonist enter into direct combat
(definition - wrestling, designation B)
This form should be distinguished from a fight (fight) with a hostile donor. These forms can be distinguished by their consequences. If, as a result of a hostile encounter, the hero receives a means for further searches, then we have element D. If, as a result of victory, the very object of the search for which he was sent for falls into the hands of the hero, then we have element B.
XVII. The hero is being tagged
(definition - branding, mark, designation K)
XVIII. The antagonist is defeated
(definition - victory, designation P)
XIX. The initial trouble or shortage is eliminated
(definition - elimination of trouble or shortage, designation L)
XX. The hero returns
(definition - return, designation?)
The return is usually made in the same forms as the arrival. However, there is no need to fix a special function here after the return, since the return already means overcoming space. When going there, this is not always the case. There, following the departure, a means is given (a horse, an eagle, etc.), and then a flight or other forms of travel already take place, but here the return occurs immediately and, moreover, for the most part in the same forms as the arrival. Sometimes the return has the character of flight.
XXI. The hero is persecuted
(definition - pursuit, pursuit, designation Pr)
XXII. The hero flees from persecution
(definition - salvation, designation Sp)
Many fairy tales consist of two rows of functions, which can be called moves. A new misfortune creates a new move, and in this way a whole series of fairy tales is sometimes combined into one story.
XXIII. The hero arrives unrecognized at home or in another country
(definition - unrecognized arrival, designation X)
Two cases can be seen here. 1) Arrival home. The hero stops at some artisan: a goldsmith, a tailor, a shoemaker, becomes his apprentice. 2) He comes to another king, enters the kitchen as a cook or serves as a groom. Along with this, sometimes it is necessary to designate a simple arrival.
XXIV. False hero makes unfounded claims
(definition - unfounded claims, designation F)
If the hero arrives home, then the brothers make claims. If he serves in another kingdom, they are presented by a general or a water carrier, etc. The brothers pretend to be miners, the general - to defeat the snake. These two forms could be considered special categories.
XXV. The hero is given a difficult task.
(definition - difficult task, designation 3)
XXVI. Problem solved
(definition - decision, designation P)
The forms of the solution, of course, exactly correspond to the forms of the problems. Some problems are solved before they are given, or before the tasker requires a solution. Such cases of preliminary decision will be denoted by *P.
XXVII. The hero will be recognized
(definition - recognition, designation U)
XXVIII. The false hero or antagonist is exposed
(definition - denunciation, designation O).
XXIX. The hero is given a new look
(definition - transfiguration, designation T)
XXX. The enemy is punished
(definition - punishment, designation H)
XXXI. The hero marries and reigns
(definition - wedding, notation C**).
This is where the tale ends. It should also be noted that some of the fairytale heroes in some cases, they do not obey and are not determined by any of the above functions. There are very few such cases. These are either forms that cannot be understood without comparative material, or forms transferred from fairy tales of other categories (jokes, legends, etc.). We define them as obscure elements and denote them by N.
We see that, indeed, the number of functions is very limited. Only thirty-one functions can be noted. Within the framework of these functions, the action of absolutely all the tales of our material develops, as well as the action of very many other tales of the most various peoples. Further, if we read all the functions in a row, we will see how, with logical and artistic necessity, one function follows from another. We see that, indeed, no function excludes another. All of them belong to one rod, and not to several rods, as noted above.
We see that a very large number of functions are located in pairs (prohibition-violation, extortion-extradition, fight-victory, persecution-rescue, etc.). Other functions can be arranged in groups. So - wrecking, sending, the decision to oppose and sending from home (A B C?) make up the plot. The test of the hero by the giver, his reaction and reward (D G Z) also constitute a certain whole. Along with this, there are single functions (absences, punishment, marriage, etc.).
Some other elements of the tale
A. Auxiliary elements for linking functions to each other
It can be observed that the functions do not always follow directly one after the other. If successive functions are performed by different characters, then the second character must know what happened before. In this regard, a whole system of information was developed in the fairy tale, sometimes in artistically very striking forms; sometimes the tale misses this awareness, and then the characters act ex machina, or they are omniscient; on the other hand, it is also applied where it is essentially not necessary at all. By these notifications, during the course of action, one function is connected to another.
B. Auxiliary elements in triplings
Both individual details of an attributive nature (three serpent heads), as well as individual functions, pairs of functions (pursuit - rescue), groups of functions and whole moves can be arranged. Repetition can be either uniform (three tasks, serve three years), or repetition gives an increase (the third task is the most difficult, the third battle is the most terrible), or a negative result is given twice, positive once.
C. Motivations
Motivations are understood as the reasons and goals of the characters that cause them to do certain actions. Motivations sometimes give a fairy tale a completely special, bright color, but nevertheless motivations belong to the most inconstant and unstable elements of a fairy tale. In addition, they represent an element less clear and defined than functions or bundles.
Distribution of functions by actors
Many features are logically grouped around known circles. These circles generally correspond to the performers. These are action circles. The tale knows the following circles of action:
1) The circle of actions of the antagonist (pest). Covers: wrecking (A), combat or other forms of struggle with the hero (B), persecution (Pr).
2) The range of actions of the donor (provider). Covers: preparing the transfer of a magical agent (D), supplying the hero with a magic agent (Z).
3) The circle of actions of the assistant. Covers: the spatial movement of the hero (R), the elimination of misfortune or shortage (L), salvation from persecution (Sp), resolution of difficult problems (R), transfiguration of the hero (T).
4) The circle of actions of the princess (the desired character) and her father. Covers: assignment of difficult tasks (3), branding (K), denunciation (O), recognition (U), punishment of the second pest (N), wedding (C*).
5) The circle of actions of the sender. Covers only sending (connecting moment, B).
6) Circle of actions of the hero. Covers: sending in search (C?), reaction to the requirements of the donor (G), wedding (C *). The first function (C?) is characteristic of the seeker hero, the victim hero performs only the rest.
7) The circle of actions of the false hero also includes sending out in search (C?), reacting to the demands of the donor - always negative (Gneg) and, as a specific function - deceptive claims (F).
Thus, the tale knows seven characters. The functions of the preparatory part (f, b - b, c - w, d - g) are also distributed over the same characters, but the distribution here is uneven, and it is impossible to determine the characters by these functions. In addition, there are special characters for bundles (complainers, informers, slanderers), as well as special traitors for the w function (issuing information: a mirror, a chisel, a broom indicate where the desired victim is). This also includes such characters as One-eye, Two-eye and Three-eye.
Ways to include new faces in the course of action
Antagonist(vermin) appears twice during the action. For the first time, he appears suddenly, from the side (flies, creeps, etc.), and then disappears. The second time he enters the tale as a character found, usually as a result of a guide.
Donormet by chance, most often in the forest (hut), or in the field, on the road, on the street.
Magic Helper included as a gift. This point is marked with Z.
Sender, hero, false hero , as well as princess included in the initial situation. When listing the characters in the initial situation, sometimes nothing is said about the false hero in words, and only later it turns out that he lives at the court or in the house. The princess appears in the tale, like a pest, twice. The second time, she is introduced as a found character, and the seeker can either see her first, and then the pest (the snake is not at home, a dialogue with the princess), or vice versa.
On the attributes of actors and their meaning
“The doctrine of forms is the doctrine of transformations.” Goethe.
Under attributes we understand the totality of all the external qualities of the characters: their age, gender, position, appearance, features of this appearance, etc. These attributes give the fairy tale its brightness, its beauty and charm. The study of the attributes of a character creates only the following three main headings: appearance and nomenclature, features of appearance, dwelling. To this is added a number of other, smaller, auxiliary elements.
The fairy tale preserves in its depths the traces of ancient paganism, ancient customs and rituals. A fairy tale gradually metamorphoses, and these transformations, metamorphoses of fairy tales are also subject to certain laws. All these processes create such diversity, which is extremely difficult to understand.
And, nevertheless, the study is still possible ... The permanence of functions is preserved, and this will make it possible to bring into the system those elements that are grouped around functions.
How to create this system?
The best way is to create tables . Veselovsky spoke about the tabulation of fairy tales, although he did not really believe in its possibility.
Fairy tale as a whole
A. Ways of Combining Stories
Morphologically a fairy tale any development from sabotage (A) or lack (a) through intermediate functions to marriage (C*) or other functions used as a denouement can be named. The final functions are sometimes rewarding (Z), extraction or even elimination of trouble (L), rescue from the chase (Cp), etc. We call this development move. Each new infliction of harm or damage, each new shortage creates a new move. One fairy tale can have several moves, and when analyzing a text, one should first of all determine how many moves it consists of. One move can immediately follow another, but they can also be intertwined, the development that has begun is suspended, a new move is inserted. It is not always easy to single out a move, but it is always possible with perfect accuracy. However, if we conditionally defined a fairy tale as a move, this does not mean that the number of moves exactly corresponds to the number of fairy tales. Special techniques of parallelism, repetition, etc. lead to the fact that one tale can consist of several moves.
The connection of moves can be the following:
1) One move immediately follows another. Approximate scheme such connections.
2) A new move begins before the first one ends. The action is interrupted by an episodic move. After the end of the episode comes the end of the first move.
3) The episode, in turn, can also be interrupted, and then quite complex schemes can turn out.
4) A fairy tale can begin with two harms at once, of which one can be completely eliminated first, and then the second. If a hero is killed and a magical agent is stolen from him, then the killing is first eliminated, and then the kidnapping is also eliminated.
The question is: under what conditions do several moves form one tale, and when we have two tales and more? Here, first of all, it must be said that the way the moves are connected has no effect. There are no clear signs. But several clearer cases can be pointed out.
We have one tale in the following cases:
1) If the whole fairy tale consists of one move.
2) If the tale consists of two moves, of which one ends positively and the other negatively. Sample: move I - the stepmother banishes the stepdaughter. Her father takes her away. She returns with gifts. Move II - the stepmother sends her daughters, the father takes them away, they return punished.
3) When tripling whole moves. The snake kidnaps the girl. Moves I and II - the older brothers take turns looking for her, get stuck. Move III - the youngest sets off, rescues the girl and brothers.
4) If a magic tool is obtained in the first turn, which is used only in the second. Sample: move I - the brothers leave the house to get horses for themselves. They get them, they come back. Move II - the snake threatens the princess. The brothers are leaving. With the help of horses, they reach the goal. - Here, apparently, the following happened: the extraction of a magical agent, usually placed in the middle of a fairy tale, in this case is pushed forward, behind the main plot (the threat of a snake). The acquisition of a magical remedy is preceded by the realization of a shortage, which is not motivated by anything (the brothers suddenly want to have horses), but causes a search, i.e. move.
5) We also have one fairy tale, if, before the final liquidation of the trouble, some kind of shortage or shortage is suddenly felt, which causes new searches, i.e. a new move, but not a new fairy tale. In these cases, a new horse is needed, an egg is the death of Koshchei, etc., which gives rise to a new development, and the development that has begun is temporarily suspended.
6) We also have one fairy tale in the case when two sabotage is given at once in the plot (exile and bewitchment of the stepdaughter, etc.).
7) We also have one tale in the texts, where the first move includes a fight with a serpent, and the second one begins with the brothers stealing the prey, throwing the hero into the abyss, etc., and then the claims of the false hero (F) and difficult tasks follow. This is the development that became clear to us when enumerating all the functions of the tale. This is the most complete and perfect form of fairy tales.
8) Fairy tales where the characters part at a road post can also be considered whole fairy tales. It should be noted, however, that the fate of each brother can give a completely separate tale, and it is possible that this case will have to be excluded from the category of integral tales.
In all other cases we have two tales and more.
A fairy tale is a story built on the correct alternation of the given functions in various types, in the absence of some of them for each story and in the repetition of others. - With such a definition, the term magical loses its meaning, because one can easily imagine a magical, enchanting, fantastic fairy tale constructed in a completely different way (cf. Goethe's fairy tale about the snake and the lily, some of Andersen's fairy tales, Garshin's fairy tales, etc.). On the other hand, some of the few non-magic tales can be built according to the above scheme. A known number of legends, isolated animal tales, and isolated short stories reveal the same structure. Thus the term magical must be replaced by another term. It is very difficult to find such a term, and we temporarily leave the old name behind these tales. It can be changed in connection with the study of other classes, which will make it possible to create appropriate terminology. Fairy tales could be called fairy tales subject to the seven-character scheme. This term is very precise, but very inconvenient. If we define this class of tales from the historical point of view, then they deserve the ancient, now discarded name of mythical tales.
Correct classification can be done in three ways:
1) by varieties of one trait (deciduous and coniferous trees);
2) by the absence and presence of the same trait (vertebrates and invertebrates);
3) according to mutually exclusive features (artiodactyls and rodents among mammals).
Within one classification, techniques can vary only by genera, species and varieties or other degrees of gradation, but each degree of gradation requires consistency, uniformity of reception.
The general thesis of the work: the complete uniformity of the structure of fairy tales .
If all fairy tales are so uniform in their form, does this mean that they all come from the same source? The morphologist has no right to answer this question. Here he conveys his conclusions to the historian, or must become a historian himself. single source can be psychological, and historical-social or domestic.
The storyteller is bound, not free, does not create in the following areas:
1) In the general sequence of functions, a number of which develop according to the above scheme.
2) The storyteller is not free to replace those elements whose varieties are associated with absolute or relative dependence.
3) The storyteller is otherwise not free to choose certain characters in terms of their attributes if a certain function is required.
4) There is a known relationship between the initial situation and the following functions. So, if it is required or wanted to use the A2 function (abduction of an assistant), then this assistant should be included in the situation.
The storyteller is free and applies creativity in the following areas:
1) In the choice of those functions that he skips or, conversely, that he uses.
2) In choosing the method (type) in which the function is carried out. It is in these ways that new variants, new plots, new fairy tales are being created.
3) The storyteller is completely free to choose the nomenclature and attributes of the characters. Theoretically, freedom is complete. A tree can show the way, a crane can give a horse, a chisel can peek, and so on. This freedom is specific feature only fairy tales. It must be said, however, that even here the people do not make much use of this freedom. Just as functions are repeated, so are characters. Here, as already indicated, a well-known canon has developed.
4) The storyteller is free to choose language tools. This richest area is not subject to study by a morphologist who studies the structure of a fairy tale. The style of a fairy tale is a phenomenon that should be studied specifically.
The question of composition and plot, plots and variants
The whole content of the tale can be summarized in short sentences, such as the following: the parents leave for the forest, forbid the children to go out, the snake kidnaps the girl, and so on. All predicates give the composition of fairy tales, all subjects, additions and other parts of the phrase determine the plot. In other words: the same composition can underlie different plots. Whether the serpent abducts the princess or the devil the peasant's or the priest's daughter is irrelevant from the point of view of the composition. But these cases can be considered as different plots. We allow another definition of the concept of plot, but this definition suitable for fairy tales.
“Is it permissible in this area to raise the question of typical schemes ... schemes that were passed down through generations as ready-made formulas that can be enlivened by a new mood, cause new formations? .. Modern narrative literature, with its complex plot and photographic reproduction of reality, apparently eliminates the very possibility of such a question; but when for future generations it will be in the same distant perspective as antiquity is for us, from prehistoric to medieval times, when the synthesis of time, this great simplifier, having passed through the complexity of phenomena, will reduce them to the size of points that go deep into, their lines will merge with those that are revealed to us now, when we look back at distant poetic creativity, and the phenomena of schematism and repetition will be established throughout" (Veselovsky).
Morphology of a fairy tale
Vladimir Propp
Morphology of the "magic" fairy tale
(Collected Works)
Morphology of a fairy tale
The historical roots of a fairy tale
Russian fairy tale
Russian heroic epic
Russian agricultural holidays
Poetics of folklore
Problems of comedy and laughter
Tales. A diary. Memories
Moscow Labyrinth
V.Ya.Propp
(Collected Works)
[to see the text on the net I had to replace some characters in the book:
1) I replaced the up arrow with an open curly brace (
2) I replaced the down arrow with a closed curly brace)
3) I replaced the underlining of characters with an upper bar in one case with an ordinary underline,
in another case, he also added an HF (upper line) in the superscript HF.
In graphic files, respectively, everything is like in a book.
All comments on the first and second works are at the end of the second work (ie, in "Historical Roots of a Fairy Tale").
An insert with diagrams is located at the end of the first one (i.e. here).
I will repeat in this book (as well as in homo ludens) that graphic files in the browser look worse than they are, so you can safely look at them by saving html in Word.doc. Write about errors either in my guestbook or [email protected], because Maxim already has enough worries]
Table of contents
MORPHOLOGY OF A FAIRY TALE 5
Preface 5
I. Back to the background 6
II. Method and material 18
III. Functions of actors 23
IV. Assimilation. Cases of double morphological significance of one function 51
V. Some other elements of the fairy tale 54
A. Auxiliary elements for linking functions among themselves 54
B. Auxiliary elements for triplings 56
C. Motivations 57
VI. Distribution of functions by actors 60
VII. Ways to include new faces in the course of action 64
VIII. On the attributes of actors and their meaning 66
IX. Fairy tale as a whole 69
A. Ways to combine stories 69
B. Analysis Example 73
C. The question of classification 75
D. On the relation of particular forms of structure to the general system 79
E. The Question of Composition and Plot, Plots and Variations 87
Conclusion 89
ANNEX I 91
ANNEX II 97
APPENDIX III 103
NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL DIAGRAM 104
APPENDIX IV 108
INSERT
Appendix V Translation of the numbering of pre-revolutionary editions of Afanasyev's fairy tales to the numbering of post-revolutionary editions
Schemes for parsing fairy tales Beginning Ending
Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp. Morphology of a fairy tale. The historical roots of fairy tales. (Collected works of V. Ya. Propp.) Comments by E. M. Meletinsky, A. V. Rafaeva. Compilation, scientific edition, textual commentary by IV Peshkov. - Publishing house "Labyrinth", M., 1998. - 512 p.
For the first time, the famous dilogy about a fairy tale is published as a single (according to the author's intention) work. Extensive commentary articles, bibliography, name index, index of characters turn the book into an educational and reference manual for fairy tales, and an unusually wide scope of humanitarian material, the depth of its development and intelligible style of presentation have long introduced its constituent works into the global cultural fund of a modern educated person.
Morphology of a FAIRY TALE
Foreword
Morphology still has to be legitimized as a special science, making as its main subject that which in others is treated on occasion and in passing, collecting what is scattered there, and establishing a new point of view that makes it easy and convenient to consider things of nature. The phenomena with which it deals are highly significant; those mental operations by which it compares phenomena are consistent with human nature and are pleasing to it, so that even an unsuccessful experience still combines usefulness and beauty.
Goethe.
The word morphology means the study of forms. In botany, morphology is understood as the doctrine of the constituent parts of a plant, their relationship to each other and to the whole, in other words, the doctrine of the structure of a plant.
No one thought about the possibility of the concept and term morphology of a fairy tale. Meanwhile, in the field of folklore fairy tales, the consideration of forms and the establishment of regularities in the system is possible with the same accuracy with which the morphology of organic formations is possible.
If this cannot be asserted about the fairy tale as a whole, in its entirety, then in any case it can be asserted about the so-called fairy tales, about fairy tales "in the proper sense of the word." The real work is dedicated to them.
The proposed experience is the result of a rather painstaking work. Such comparisons require some patience from the researcher. But we have tried to find a form of presentation that would not tempt the reader's patience too much, simplifying and reducing where possible.
The work went through three phases. Initially, it was a broad study with a large number of tables, charts, and analyses. It was impossible to publish such a work already because of its large volume. A reduction was undertaken, calculated for a minimum volume with a maximum content. But such an abbreviated, concise presentation would be beyond
5
to your reader: it was like a grammar or a textbook of harmony. The format had to be changed. True, there are things that it is impossible to state popularly. They are in this work. But still, I think that in its present form the work is available to every lover of fairy tales, if he himself wants to follow us into the labyrinth of fabulous diversity, which in the end will appear before him as a wonderful uniformity.
In the interests of a more concise and lively exposition, much had to be sacrificed that a specialist would have cherished. In its original form, the work covered, in addition to those parts given below, also the study of a rich field of attributes of actors (that is, characters as such); she dealt in detail with questions of metamorphosis, i.e., the transformation of a fairy tale; large comparative tables were included (only their headings remained in the appendix), the entire work was preceded by a more rigorous methodological outline. It was supposed to give a study not only of the morphological, but also of the completely special logical structure of the tale, which prepared the way for the historical study of the tale. The presentation itself was more detailed. Elements that are only highlighted as such here have been subjected to detailed consideration and comparison. But the selection of elements is the axis of the entire work and predetermines the conclusions. An experienced reader himself will be able to finish the sketches.
I. TO THE HISTORY OF THE QUESTION
The history of science is always very important view at the point where we are; we appreciate, it is true, our predecessors, and to a certain extent we thank them for the service they rendered us. But no one likes to regard them as martyrs whom irresistible attraction led into dangerous, sometimes almost hopeless situations; and yet, the ancestors who laid the foundation for our existence often have more seriousness than among the descendants who live out this legacy.
Goethe.
In the first third of our century, scientific literature on fairy tales was not very rich. In addition to the fact that few works were published, bibliographic reports showed the following picture: most texts were published, there were quite a lot of works on particular issues and relatively few works of a general nature. If they were, then in most cases they were not strictly exploratory, but philosophical and amateurish.
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They resembled the works of erudite natural philosophers of the last century, while we needed accurate observations, analyzes and conclusions. Here is how Prof. M. Speransky: "Without dwelling on the findings, scientific ethnology continues to search, considering the collected material is still insufficient for general construction. Thus, science again turns to collecting material and processing this material in the interests of future generations, but what these generalizations will be and when we will be able to make them is unknown" (Speransky 400).
What is the reason for this impotence, this impasse into which the science of fairy tales ran into in the 1920s?
Speransky blames the lack of material for this. But many years have passed since the above lines were written. During this time, the capital work of I. Volte and G. Polivka, entitled "Notes to the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm" (Bolte, Polivka), was completed. Here, under each fairy tale of this collection, options from all over the world are summed up. Last volume ends with a bibliography, where sources are given, i.e. all known to the authors collections of fairy tales and other materials containing fairy tales. This list covers about 1200 titles. True, among the materials there are also random, small materials, but there are also major collections, such as "A Thousand and One Nights" or the Afanasiev collection with its 400 texts. But that's not all. A huge amount of fabulous material has not yet been published, some of it has not even been described. It is kept in the archives of various institutions and individuals. Some of these collections are available to the specialist. Thanks to this, the material of Bolte and Polivka can in some cases be increased. But if this is so, then how many fairy tales do we have at our disposal in general? And further: are there many such researchers who have covered at least one printed material?
Under such conditions, it is absolutely not necessary to say that "the collected material is still not enough".
So, it's not about the amount of material. The point is different: in the methods of study.
While the physical and mathematical sciences have a coherent classification, a unified terminology adopted by special congresses, a methodology improved by succession from teachers to students, we do not have all this. The variegation and colorful variety of fairy-tale material lead to the fact that clarity, accuracy in the formulation and solution of questions is achieved only with great difficulty. This essay does not aim to give a coherent account of the history of the study of the fairy tale. In a short introductory chapter, this is impossible, and there is no great need for this, since this story has already been told more than once. We will only try to critically elucidate attempts to solve several basic problems of fairy tale study and, along the way, introduce the reader to the circle of these problems.
There can hardly be any doubt that the phenomena and objects surrounding us can be studied either from the side of their composition and structure, or from the side of their origin, or from the side of those processes and changes to which they are subject. It is also quite obvious and does not require any proof that one can speak about the origin of any phenomenon only after this phenomenon has been described.
Meanwhile, the study of the tale was carried out mainly only genetically, for the most part without attempts at a preliminary systematic description. For the time being, we will not talk about the historical study of fairy tales, we will only talk about describing them - because talking about genetics without special coverage of the question of description, as is usually done, is completely useless. It is clear that before elucidating the question of where the fairy tale comes from, it is necessary to answer the question of what it is.
Since the tale is extremely diverse and, apparently, cannot be studied in its entirety at once, the material should be divided into parts, that is, it should be classified. Correct classification is one of the first steps scientific description. The correctness of further study also depends on the correctness of the classification. But although classification forms the basis of all study, it must itself be the result of a certain preliminary study. Meanwhile, we see just the opposite: most researchers begin with classification, introducing it into the material from the outside, and not deriving it from the material in essence. As we will see later, classifiers, moreover, often violate the most simple rules division. Here we find one of the reasons for the impasse that Speransky speaks of.
Let's take a look at a few examples.
The most common division of fairy tales is the division into fairy tales with wonderful content, fairy tales from everyday life, and fairy tales about animals*. At first glance, everything seems right. But the question involuntarily arises: do not fairy tales about animals contain an element of the miraculous, sometimes to a very large extent? And vice versa: don't animals play a very important role in wonderful fairy tales? Can such a sign be considered accurate enough? Afanasiev, for example, classifies the tale of the fisherman and the fish as
________________
*Suggested by W.F. Miller. This classification essentially coincides with the classification of the mythological school (mythical, about animals, everyday).
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fairy tales about animals. Is he right or not? If not right, then why? Below we will see that the tale with the greatest ease ascribes the same actions to people, objects and animals. This rule is mostly true of so-called fairy tales, but it is found in fairy tales in general. One of the most famous examples in this regard is the tale of the division of the harvest ("To me, Misha, tops, you have roots"). In Russia, the deceived is the bear, but in the west, the devil. Consequently, this tale, with the involvement of the Western version, suddenly falls out of the series of tales about animals. Where will she go? It is clear that this is not everyday fairy tale, for where has it been seen that in everyday life the harvest is divided in this way? But this is not a fairy tale with a wonderful content. It does not fit in this classification at all.
Nevertheless, we will argue that the above classification is fundamentally correct. The researchers here were guided by instinct, and their words do not correspond to what they really felt. It is unlikely that anyone will be mistaken in referring the tale of the firebird, and gray wolf to stories about animals. It is also quite clear to us that Afanasiev was mistaken with the tale of the golden fish. But we see this not because animals figure or do not figure in fairy tales, but because fairy tales have a very special structure, which is immediately felt and determines the category, although we are not aware of this. Any researcher, saying that he classifies according to the given scheme, actually classifies differently. But, contradicting himself, he does exactly what is right. But if this is so, if the division is subconsciously based on the structure of a fairy tale, which has not yet been studied and not even fixed, then the entire classification of fairy tales should be put on a new track. It needs to be translated into formal, structural features. And in order to do this, these signs should be studied.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. The outlined position has remained unclear to this day. Further attempts essentially do not make improvements. Thus, for example, in his well-known work The Psychology of Nations, Wundt proposes the following division (Wundt 346 ff.):
1) Mythological fairy tales-fables (Mythologische Fabelmarchen).
2) Pure fairy tales (Reine Zaubermarchen).
3) Biological tales and fables (Biologische Marchen und Fabein).
4) Pure fables about animals (Reine Tierfabeln).
5) Tales of "origin" (Abstammungsmarchen).
6) Playful tales and fables (ScherZmarchen und ScherZfabeln).
7) Moral fables (Moralische Fabein).
This classification is much richer than the previous ones, but it also causes
9
objections. Fable (a term that occurs five times with seven digits) is a formal category. What Wundt meant by this is unclear. The term "joking" fairy tale is generally unacceptable, since the same fairy tale can be interpreted both heroically and comically. The next question is: what is the difference between a "pure animal fable" and a "moral fable"? Why are "pure fables" not "moral" and vice versa?
The analyzed classifications concern the distribution of fairy tales by categories. Along with the distribution of fairy tales by categories, there is a division according to plots.
If the situation with the division into categories is unfavorable, then with the division into plots, complete chaos begins. We will no longer talk about the fact that such a complex, indefinite concept as a plot is either not specified at all, or is specified by every author in his own way. Looking ahead, we will say that the division of fairy tales into plots is essentially impossible at all. It must also be put on a new track, like division by category. Fairy tales have one feature: the constituent parts of one fairy tale can be transferred to another without any change. Below, this law of displacement will be elucidated in more detail, but for now we can limit ourselves to pointing out that, for example, Baba Yaga can be found in a wide variety of fairy tales, in a variety of plots. This feature is a specific feature of the tale. Meanwhile, regardless of this feature, the plot is usually defined as follows: one part of the tale is taken (often random, just eye-catching), the preposition "o" is added, and the definition is ready. So a fairy tale in which there is a fight with a snake is a fairy tale "about snake fighting", a fairy tale in which there is Koschey is a fairy tale "about Koschey", etc., and there is no single principle in the choice of defining elements. If we now recall the law of displacement, then with logical inevitability we get confusion, or, to be more precise, a cross-division, and such a classification always distorts the essence of the material being studied. Added to this is the inconsistency of the basic principle of division, i.e., one more of the most elementary rules of logic is violated. This state of affairs continues up to the present day.
We will illustrate this point with two examples. In 1924, a book appeared about the tale of the Odessa professor R. M. Volkov (Volkov). Volkov from the very first pages of his work determines that a fantastic fairy tale knows 15 plots. These stories are as follows:
1) About the innocent persecuted.
2) About the hero-fool.
3) About three brothers.
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4) About snake fighters.
5) About obtaining brides.
6) About the wise maiden.
7) About the cursed and enchanted.
8) About the owner of the talisman.
9) About the owner of wonderful objects.
10) About an unfaithful wife, etc.
How these 15 plots were established is not specified. If you look at the principle of division, you get the following: the first category is determined by the plot (we will see below what the plot is really here), the second - by the character of the hero, the third - by the number of heroes, the fourth - by one of the moments of the course of action etc. Thus, the principle of division is absent altogether. It's really chaos. Are there no fairy tales where three brothers (third category) get themselves brides (fifth category)? Does not the owner of the talisman punish the unfaithful wife with the help of this talisman? Thus, this classification is not a scientific classification in the exact sense of the word, it is nothing more than a conditional index, the value of which is very doubtful. And how can such a classification be even remotely compared with the classification of plants or animals, made not by eye, but after an accurate and lengthy preliminary study of the material?
Having touched upon the question of the classification of plots, we cannot pass over in silence Antti Aarne's index of fairy tales (Aarne 1911). Aarne is one of the founders of the so-called Finnish school. The works of this school represent at the present time the pinnacle of fabulous study. This is not the place to give a proper assessment of this direction. Let us only point out that in the scientific literature there is a fairly significant number of articles and notes on options for individual plots. Such options are sometimes mined from the most unexpected sources. Gradually, a lot of them accumulate, but there is no systematic development. This is where the attention of the new direction is mainly directed. Representatives of this school extract and compare variants of individual plots according to their worldwide distribution. The material is grouped geo-ethnographically according to the well-known, developed System, and then conclusions are drawn about the basic structure, distribution and origin of the plots. However, this approach also raises a number of objections. As we will see below, the plots (especially the plots of fairy tales) are closely related to each other. It is possible to determine where one plot with its variants ends and where another begins only after an inter-plot study of fairy tales and an accurate fixation of the principle of selecting plots and variants. But this is not. change
11
The susceptibility of elements is also not taken into account here. The works of this school proceed from the unconscious premise that each plot is something organically whole, that it can be snatched from a number of other plots and studied independently.
Meanwhile, the completely objective separation of one plot from another and the selection of variants is by no means a simple matter. The plots of the tale are so closely connected with each other, so intertwined with each other, that this issue requires a special preliminary study before the selection of plots. Without such a study, the researcher is left to his own taste, while an objective separation is even simply impossible. Let's take one example. Among the variants for the fairy tale "Frau Holle" Bolte and Polivka cite Afanasiev's fairy tale "Baba Yaga" (Af. 102). There are references to a number of other very diverse tales on this plot. But they do not cite the fairy tale "Morozko". The question is why? After all, here we have the same expulsion of the stepdaughter and her return with gifts, the same sending away of her own daughter and her punishment. Not only that: after all, both Morozko and "Frau Holle" represent the personification of winter, but in a German fairy tale we have a personification in a female form, and in a Russian - in a male one. But, apparently, "Morozko", due to the artistic brightness of this tale, is subjectively fixed as a certain fairy-tale type, as a certain independent plot that can have its own variants. Thus, we see that there are no completely objective criteria for separating one plot from another. Where one researcher will see a new plot, another will see a variant and vice versa. We have given a very simple example, but as the material is expanded and enlarged, the difficulties increase and increase.
But, be that as it may, the methods of this school first of all demanded a list of plots.
The compilation of such a list was undertaken by Aarne.
This list has entered into international use and has rendered the study of the fairy tale the greatest service: thanks to Aarne's index, the ciphering of the fairy tale is possible. The plots are called Aarne types, and each type is numbered. A brief symbol for fairy tales (in this case, a reference to the index number) is very convenient.
But along with these advantages, the index also has a number of significant drawbacks: as a classification, it is not free from the mistakes that Volkov makes. The main categories are as follows: I. Tales about animals. II. Actually fairy tales. III. Jokes. We can easily recognize the old methods, rearranged for new way. (It is somewhat strange that fairy tales about animals do not seem to be recognized as fairy tales proper). Next, I want to ask: do we have such precise study concept of anecdote
12
would they be able to use it quite calmly (cf. Wundt's fables)? We will not go into the details of this classification, but will dwell only on the fairy tales that he singled out as a subclass. Let us note by the way that the introduction of subcategories is one of the merits of Aarne, for the division into genera, species, and varieties was not developed before him. Fairy tales, according to Aarne, cover the following categories: 1) a wonderful opponent, 2) a wonderful spouse (wife), 3) a wonderful task, 4) a wonderful helper, 5) a wonderful object, 6) a wonderful power or skill, 7) other wonderful motives. In relation to this classification, objections to Volkov's classification can be repeated almost verbatim. What about, for example, those tales in which a wonderful task is solved by a wonderful helper, which happens very often, or with those tales in which a wonderful wife is a wonderful helper?
True, Aarne does not strive to create a proper scientific classification: his index is important as a practical guide, and as such it is of great importance. But Aarne's pointer is dangerous to others. He inspires misconceptions on the merits. In fact, there is no clear division into types; it is very often a fiction. If there are types, then they do not exist in the same plane as Aarne outlines, but in the plane structural features similar tales but more on that later. The closeness of the plots to each other and the impossibility of a completely objective distinction leads to the fact that when classifying a text as one type or another, one often does not know which number to choose. The correspondence between the type and the text being defined is often only very approximate. Of the 125 tales listed in the collection of A. I. Nikiforov, 25 tales (i.e., 20%) are assigned to types approximately and conditionally, which is noted by A. I. Nikiforov in brackets (Nikiforov 1927). But if various researchers begin to attribute the same tale to different types, then what can come of it? On the other hand, since the types are determined by the presence of certain bright moments in them, and not by the construction of fairy tales, and one fairy tale can contain several such moments, one fairy tale sometimes has to be attributed to several types at once (up to 5 numbers for one fairy tale). ), which does not mean that given text consists of five stories. This way of fixing is essentially a definition by parts. For famous group In fairy tales, Aarne even deviates from his principles and suddenly, quite unexpectedly and somewhat inconsistently, instead of dividing into plots, he switches to division by motives. Thus distributed by him is one of his subcategories, the group which he
13
heading "about the stupid devil". But this inconsistency again represents the instinctively taken correct path. Below we will try to show that the study of fractional parts is the correct way of studying.
I. To the history of the issue
<...>The most common division of fairy tales is the division into fairy tales with wonderful content, everyday fairy tales, fairy tales about animals. At first glance, everything seems right. But the question involuntarily arises: do not fairy tales about animals contain an element of the miraculous, sometimes to a very large extent? And vice versa: don't animals play a very important role in wonderful fairy tales? Can such a sign be considered accurate enough? Afanasiev, for example, classifies the tale of the fisherman and the fish as one of animal tales. Is he right or not? If wrong, then why? Below we will see that the tale with the greatest ease ascribes the same actions to people, objects and animals. This rule is mostly true of so-called fairy tales, but it is found in fairy tales in general. One of the most famous examples in this regard is the tale of the division of the harvest (“For me, Misha, tops, for you - roots”). In Russia, the deceived is the bear, but in the West, the devil. Consequently, this tale, with the involvement of the Western version, suddenly falls out of the series of tales about animals. Where does she go? It is clear that this is not an everyday fairy tale, because where has it been seen that in everyday life the harvest is divided in this way? But this is not a fairy tale with a wonderful content. It does not fit in this classification at all.
Nevertheless, we will argue that the above classification is fundamentally correct. The researchers here were guided by instinct, and their words do not correspond to what they really felt. It is unlikely that anyone will be mistaken in classifying the tale of the firebird and the gray wolf as animal tales.
It is also quite clear to us that Afanasiev was mistaken with the tale of the golden fish. But we see this not because animals figure or do not figure in fairy tales, but because fairy tales have a very special structure, which is immediately felt and determines the category, although we are not aware of this.<...>
If the situation with the division into categories is unfavorable, then with the division into plots, complete chaos begins.<...>Fairy tales have one feature: the constituent parts of one fairy tale can be transferred to another without any change. Below this law of displacement will be elucidated in more detail, but for now we can limit ourselves to pointing out that, for example, Baba Yaga can be found in a wide variety of fairy tales, in a variety of plots. This feature is a specific feature of the folk tale. Meanwhile, despite this feature, the plot is usually defined as follows: one part of the tale is taken (often random, just eye-catching), the preposition “o” is added, and the definition is ready. So, a fairy tale in which there is a fight with a snake is a fairy tale “about snake fighting”, a fairy tale in which there is Koschey is a fairy tale “about Koschey”, etc., and there is no single principle in the choice of defining elements. If we now recall the law of displacement, then with logical inevitability we get confusion, or, to be more precise, a cross-division, and such a classification always distorts the essence of the material being studied. Added to this is the inconsistency of the basic principle of division, i.e., one more of the most elementary rules of logic is violated. This state of affairs continues up to the present day.
We will illustrate this point with two examples. In 1924, a book appeared about the tale of the Odessa professor R. M. Volkov. Volkov from the very first pages of his work determines that a fantastic tale knows fifteen plots. These stories are as follows:
1) 0 innocent persecuted.
2) About the hero-fool.
3) About three brothers.
4) About snake fighters.
5) About obtaining brides.
6) About the wise maiden.
7) About the cursed and enchanted.
8) About the owner of the talisman.
9) About the owner of wonderful objects.
10) About an unfaithful wife, etc.
How these fifteen plots are established is not specified. If you look at the principle of division, then you get the following: the first category is determined by the plot (we will see below what the plot is really here), the second - by the character of the hero, the third - by the number of heroes, the fourth - by one of the moments of the course of action, etc. e. Thus, the principle of division is generally absent. It's really chaos.<...>
Having touched upon the question of the classification of plots, we cannot pass over in silence the index of tales by Anti Aarne. Aarne is one of the founders of the so-called Finnish school. This is not the place to give a proper assessment of this direction. Let us only point out that in the scientific literature there is a fairly significant number of articles and notes on options for individual plots. Such options are sometimes mined from the most unexpected sources. Gradually, a lot of them accumulate, but there is no systematic development. This is where the attention of this direction is mainly directed. Representatives of this school extract and compare variants of individual plots according to their worldwide distribution. The material is grouped geo-ethnographically according to a well-known, developed system, and then conclusions are drawn about the basic structure, distribution and origin of the plots. However, this approach also raises a number of objections. As we will see below, the plots (especially the plots of fairy tales) are closely related to each other. It is possible to determine where one plot with its variants ends and where another begins only after an inter-plot study of fairy tales and an accurate fixation of the principle of selecting plots and variants. But this is not. The movability of elements is also not taken into account here. The works of this school proceed from the unconscious premise that each plot is something organically integral, that it can be snatched from a number of other plots and studied independently.
Meanwhile, the completely objective separation of one plot from another and the selection of variants is by no means a simple matter. The plots of the tale are so closely interconnected, so intertwined one with the other, that this question requires a special preliminary study before the selection of plots. Without such a study, the researcher is left to his own taste, while an objective separation is even simply impossible. (...)
But, be that as it may, the methods of this school first of all demanded a list of plots.
The compilation of such a list was undertaken by Aarne.
This list entered international use and rendered the greatest service to the study of the tale: thanks to Aarne's index, the ciphering of the tale became possible. The plots are called Aarne types, and each type is numbered. A short symbol for fairy tales (in this case, a reference to the index number) is very convenient.
But along with these advantages, the index also has a number of significant drawbacks: as a classification, it is not free from the mistakes that Volkov makes. The main categories are as follows: I. Tales about animals. II. Actually fairy tales. III. Jokes. We easily recognize the old methods, rebuilt in a new way. (It is somewhat strange that fairy tales about animals do not seem to be recognized as proper fairy tales.) Next, I would like to ask: do we have such an accurate study of the concept of an anecdote that it can be used completely calmly ... We will not go into the details of this classification, but stop only on fairy tales, which are allocated to them in a subclass. Let us note by the way that the introduction of subcategories is one of the merits of Aarne, for the division into genera, species and varieties was not developed before him. Fairy tales, according to Aarne, cover the following categories: 1) a wonderful adversary, 2) a wonderful husband (wife). 3) miraculous task, 4) miraculous helper, 5) miraculous object, 6) miraculous power or skill, 7) other miraculous motives. In relation to this classification, objections to Volkov's classification can be repeated almost verbatim. What about, for example, those tales in which a wonderful task is solved by a wonderful helper, which happens very often, or with those tales in which a wonderful wife is a wonderful helper?
True, Aarne did not seek to create a proper scientific classification: his index is important as a practical guide, and as such it is of great importance. But Aarne's pointer is dangerous to others. He inspires misconceptions on the merits. In fact, there is no clear division into types; it is very often a fiction. If there are types, then they do not exist on the same plane as Aarne outlines, but on the plane of the structural features of similar tales, but more on that later. The closeness of the plots to each other and the impossibility of a completely objective distinction leads to the fact that when classifying a text as one type or another, one often does not know which number to choose. The correspondence between the type and the text being defined is often only very approximate. (...)
Thus, we see that the situation with the classification of the fairy tale is not entirely successful. (...)
We pass on to another most important field of study of the tale: to the description of it in essence. Here one can observe the following picture: very often, researchers who touch on the issues of description do not deal with classification (Veselovsky). On the other hand, classifiers do not always describe the tale in detail, but study only some aspects of it (Wundt). If one researcher is engaged in both, then the classification does not follow the description, but the description is carried out within the framework of a biased classification.
A. N. Veselovsky spoke very little about the description of the fairy tale. But what he says matters a lot. Veselovsky understands a plot as a complex of motives. A motive can be timed to coincide with various plots 4. (“A series of motives is a plot. A motive grows into a plot.” “Plots vary: some motives invade plots, or plots are combined with each other.” “By plot, I mean a theme in which different positions - motives.”) For Veselovsky, the motive is something primary, the plot is secondary. The plot for Veselovsky is already an act of creativity, connection. From this follows for us the need to study fairy tales not so much by plots, but primarily by motives.
If the science of fairy tales had better accustomed itself to Veselovsky's precept: "to delimit the question of motives from the question of plots", then many ambiguities would have already been eliminated.
But Veselovsky's position on motives and plots is only a general principle. Veselovsky's specific interpretation of the term motive can no longer be applied at the present time. According to Veselovsky, the motif is an indecomposable unit of narration. (“By motive, I mean the simplest narrative unit.” “The sign of a motive is its figurative, one-term schematism; such are the elements of lower mythology and fairy tale that cannot be further decomposed”). However, the motives that he cites as examples are decomposed. If the motive is something logically whole, then every phrase of the fairy tale gives a motive (“the father has three sons” - a motive; “the stepdaughter leaves the house” - a motive; “Ivan fights a snake” - a motive, etc.). It wouldn't be so bad at all if motives didn't really decay. This would make it possible to compile an index of motives. But let's take the motive "the snake kidnaps the king's daughter" (an example not of Veselovsky). This motif is decomposed into four elements, of which each individually can vary. The serpent can be replaced by Koshchei, whirlwind, devil, falcon, sorcerer. Abduction can be replaced by vampirism and various deeds by which disappearance is achieved in a fairy tale. A daughter can be replaced by a sister, fiancee, wife, mother. The king can be replaced by a king's son, a peasant, a priest. Thus, contrary to Veselovsky, we must assert that the motive is not monomial, not indecomposable. The last decomposable unit as such is not a logical or artistic whole. Agreeing with Veselovsky that the part for description is more primary than the whole (and, according to Veselovsky, the motive is also primary in origin than the plot), we will subsequently have to solve the problem of identifying some primary elements differently than Veselovsky does. (...)
The study of the structure of all types of fairy tale is the most necessary preliminary condition for the historical study of the fairy tale. The study of formal patterns predetermines the study of historical patterns.
However, such conditions can only be met by a study that reveals the laws of structure, and not one that is an external catalog of the formal devices of the art of fairy tales.<...>
//. Method and material
First of all, let's try to formulate our problem.
As already mentioned in the preface, the work is devoted to fairy tales. The existence of fairy tales as a special category is admitted as a necessary working hypothesis. (...) We undertake an inter-plot comparison of these tales. For comparison, we single out the constituent parts of fairy tales according to special devices (see below) and then compare fairy tales according to their constituent parts. The result is a morphology, that is, a description of the tale in terms of its constituent parts and the relationship of the parts to each other and to the whole.
By what methods can an accurate description of a fairy tale be achieved?
Compare the following cases:
1. The king gives the brave eagle. The eagle takes the daring man to another kingdom...
2. Grandfather gives Suchenka a horse. The horse takes Suchenko to another kingdom...
3. The sorcerer gives Ivan a boat. The boat takes Ivan to another kingdom...
4. The princess gives Ivan a ring. Well done from the ring take Ivan to another kingdom ... etc.
In these cases, there are constants and variables. The names (and with them the attributes) of the actors change, their actions or functions do not change. Hence the conclusion that a fairy tale often ascribes the same actions to different characters. This gives us the opportunity to study the fairy tale in terms of the function of the action of the characters.
We will have to determine to what extent these functions really represent the repeated, constant dimensions of the tale. The posing of all other questions will depend on the solution of the first question: how many functions are known to the fairy tale?
Research will show that the repeatability of functions is astounding. So, the Baba Yaga, and Frosty, and the bear, and the goblin, and the mare's head test and reward the stepdaughter. Continuing observations, we can establish that the characters of the tale, no matter how diverse they may be, often do the same thing. The very way of implementing functions can change: it is a variable value. Morozko acts differently than Baba Yaga. But a function as such is a constant value. For the study of a fairy tale, the question of what the fairy-tale characters do is important, and the question of who does it and how it does it is only a matter of adventitious study.
The functions of the actors are those components that can replace Veselovsky's motives... (...) Looking ahead, we can say that there are extremely few functions, and there are extremely many characters. This explains the double quality of the fairy tale: on the one hand, its amazing diversity, its variegation and colorfulness, on the other, its no less amazing uniformity, its repetition.
So, the functions of the characters are the main parts of the tale, and we must first of all single them out. To highlight functions, they must be defined. The definition must come from two points of view. First, the definition should in no case be considered with the character-executor. The definition is most often a noun expressing an action (prohibition, questioning, flight, etc.). Secondly, the action cannot be defined outside of its position in the course of the narrative. It is necessary to take into account the value that this function has in the course of action. So, if Ivan marries a princess, then this is completely different than the marriage of a father to a widow with two daughters. Another example: if in one case the hero receives a hundred rubles from his father and subsequently buys himself a prophetic cat with this money, and in another case the hero is rewarded with money for perfect heroism and the fairy tale ends there, then we have, despite the similarity of the action (transfer of money ), morphologically distinct elements. Thus, the same actions can have different meaning, and vice versa.
A function is understood as an act of an actor, defined in terms of its significance for the course of action.
The above observations can be briefly formulated as follows:
I. The constant, stable elements of the tale are the functions of the characters, regardless of who and how they perform. They form the main components of the tale.
II. The number of functions known to a fairy tale is limited.
If the functions are singled out, then another question arises: in what grouping and in what sequence do these functions occur? First of all, about the sequence. It is believed that this sequence is random. The sequence of elements, as we will see below, is strictly the same. Freedom in sequence is limited by very narrow limits, which can be given exactly. We get the third main thesis of our work, subject to further development and proof.
III. The sequence of functions is always the same. It should be noted that this pattern applies only to folklore. It is not a feature of the fairy tale genre as such. Artificially created fairy tales are not subject to it. As regards grouping, it should first of all be said that not all fairy tales provide all functions. But this does not change the law of succession at all. The absence of some functions does not change the order of the rest. We shall dwell on this phenomenon for a moment, but for the time being we shall deal with groupings in the proper sense of the word. The very posing of the question prompts the following assumption: if functions are singled out, then it will be possible to trace which tales give the same functions. Such fairy tales with the same functions can be considered of the same type. On this basis, an index of types can subsequently be created, built not on plot features, somewhat vague and vague, but on precise structural features. Indeed, it will be possible. But if we continue to compare structural types with each other, then we get the following, already completely unexpected observation: functions cannot be distributed over rods that exclude each other. This phenomenon ... can be explained as follows: if we denote the function that occurs everywhere in the first place by the letter A, and the function that (if it exists) always follows it by the letter B, then all the functions known to the fairy tale will be placed in one story, none of them falls out of line, none excludes the other and does not contradict it. Such a conclusion could not have been foreseen. It was, of course, to be expected that where there is a function A, there could not be known functions belonging to other stories. It was expected that we will receive several rods, but the rod turns out to be one for all fairy tales. They are of the same type, and the compounds discussed above are subtypes. At first glance, this conclusion seems ridiculous, even wild, but it can be verified by the most exactly. This uniformity is the hardest problem... This phenomenon will raise a number of questions. Thus we arrive at the fourth main thesis of our work:
IV. All fairy tales are of the same type in their structure.
