In the seventeenth century. Over the course of four centuries, the meaning of the term has changed, and it denotes a literary work of an epic nature. The plot of this work is fictional. It may contain elements of real life, sometimes even a lot of them, but events happen to the characters that cannot be in reality. It is customary to distinguish between folklore and literary tales.
How is a literary fairy tale different from folklore?
The main difference is the distribution path. Of course, now readers find most often in. But, before appearing on paper, a folk tale goes a long way. It is retold by word of mouth, sometimes it lasts for many centuries. Then there is a folklore collector who records and processes it.U has a completely different fate. It, of course, can be connected with some kind of folklore plot, but the writer composes and writes it down, and it reaches the readers immediately in the form of a book. The folklore tale arose before the literary one. One of its functions was to educate the younger generation, therefore, in folklore, as a rule, a didactic element is pronounced. This is typical of literary fairy tales as well. The expression “A fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it, a lesson for good fellows” quite accurately defines one of the main purposes of this genre.
Genres of literary fairy tale
Like any author's work, a literary fairy tale can have one of three basic structures. There are prosaic, poetic and dramatic constructions. A prominent representative of the prosaic literary tale was, for example, G.-Kh. Andersen. V.F. also worked in this genre. Odoevsky, and A. Lindgren, as well as many other excellent authors of children's and adult books.Fine examples of poetic tales were left by A.S. Pushkin. An example of a dramatic fairy tale is “Twelve Months” by S.Ya. Marshak. At the same time, the authors do not always take folklore plots as a basis. For example, Astrid Lindgren or Tove Jansson's plots are original and have no analogues in folk art, while Charles Perrault's "Tales of the Mother Goose" are based precisely on folk plots.
WHAT IS A FAIRY TALE?
A fairy tale is an epic narrative, predominantly of a prosaic nature, with an emphasis on fiction. It reflects the ancient ideas of the people about life and death, about good and evil, is designed for oral transmission, so the same plot has several options. The phenomenon of a fairy tale, its charm lies in a special organized narration, in the use of fairy tale formulas, symbolic imagery.
Fairy tales are folklore (folk) and literary (they have a specific author). The folklore fairy tale has its own specific poetics, the texts of the fairy tale genre are built with the help of clichés established by tradition: “Once upon a time there were ...”, “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state ...”, “Soon a fairy tale is told, but not soon the deed is done ...”, “And I was there, I drank honey-beer, it flowed down my mustache, but it didn’t get into my mouth.
The folklore tale has intra-genre varieties:
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fairy tales about animals, plants, inanimate nature and objects;
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fairy tales;
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legendary tales;
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novelistic (everyday) fairy tales;
ϖ fables;
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cumulative tales;
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boring tales.
In fairy tales about animals, the plots are occupied by a comic narrative about the antics of animals. Tales about animals are the most ancient, during this period people still deified animals, drew strength from them. For example, "Zayushkina's hut", "Cat, rooster and fox", "Fox and crane".
Fairy tales are the most ancient. They retained the remnants of some of the most ancient pagan ideas, for example, belief in the owners of forests, seas, mountains, elements (Baba Yaga, the snake Gorynych, Morozko), the cult of ancestors (the deceased father gives a horse). In fairy tales, there are always images of heroes - intercessors for the disadvantaged, fighters for truth and justice. These are fairy tales: “At the command of the pike”, “Sivka-burka”, “Flying ship”.
Legendary tales are later. They arose in the middle of the nineteenth century. Their roots are to be found in myths or religious literature. Many of the legendary tales came about as a result of the arrangement (adaptation) of epic and epic narratives. These are such fairy tales as: “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, “Marya Morevna”, “The Frog Princess”.
Miraculous events take place in everyday fairy tales (a person acts as the main character). The hero of a household tale is a representative of the people's environment, fighting for justice. These tales tell about clever, smart and wise advisers. For example, "The Master and the Man", "Seven-Year-Old Daughter", "Porridge from an Ax", "The Funeral of a Goat".
Fables are fairy tales built on nonsense. They are small in volume and often have the form of rhythmic prose. Fables are a special genre of folklore that is found among all nations as an independent work or as part of a fairy tale, buffoons (“Listen, guys ...”, “Yermoshka is rich ...”), bylinas, epics (“Sadko”, “Ilya Muromets and Nightingale -robber", "Nikita Kozhemyaka").
Cumulative fairy tales are built on the repeated repetition of some link. They are distinguished by the richness of the language, often gravitate towards rhyme and rhythm. As a rule, cumulative tales were told to young children so that they quickly learned to speak - listening to repetitions, it is easier for a child to remember individual words or expressions. These are such fairy tales as "Turnip", "Gingerbread Man", "Ryaba Hen", "Cockerel and Bean Seed".
A boring tale is a tale in which the same piece of text is repeated many times. Such a fairy tale is like a chain with a large number of repeating links, the number of which depends only on the will of the performer or listener. The links can be fastened together with the help of a special phrase “wouldn’t the fairy tale start over”, after which the fragment is repeated again and again. In some of the boring tales, the narrator asks a question, to which the listener must answer, which is used for the next repetition of the tale. The plot of the fairy tale does not develop, the connecting question causes only bewilderment and annoyance in the listener.
For example:
Once upon a time there were two peacocks
That's half the story.
There were two geese
That's the whole story.
The Russian folk tale is a unique phenomenon in world culture. This is a complex, very skillfully constructed work, testifying to the great talent and skill of its creators. Let our children be brought up on fairy tales, grow up with them and become smart, kind, strong, like fairy-tale heroes.
For thousands of years, the fairy tale has accumulated the spiritual experience of the Russian people. It had the effect of miraculous power on the human soul. Raised. Helped to become wiser, to realize the main truths of human life, to form the foundations of morality,morality, according to the laws of which children will live.
The story is amazing! A wonderful world familiar from childhood, where good always triumphs over evil. Talking animals and dragons, brave heroes and beautiful princesses, good fairies and evil sorcerers live on the pages of fairy tale books. Fairy tales call not only to believe in miracles, but also teach kindness, responsiveness, not to succumb to difficulties, listen to parents and not judge others by appearance.
What are fairy tales
A fairy tale is a narrative with fictitious characters and a plot that has an everyday, heroic or magical character. They are folklore (compiled by the people), literary (include the features of folk tales, but belong to one author) and author's (written by one specific author). Folklore tales are divided into magical, everyday and about animals.
folklore
Before reaching the reader, they go a long way. In oral form, they are passed down from generation to generation until some collector of legends writes them down on paper. It is believed that the heroes of the first stories were the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and other natural phenomena, and the images of people and animals began to be used later.
Folk tales have a fairly simple structure: a saying, a beginning, and an end. Text is easy to read and does not contain complex words. But with apparent simplicity, it retains all the richness of the Russian language. Folk tales are easy to digest even for toddlers, making them the best choice for bedtime reading. This will not only prepare the child for sleep, but also unobtrusively teach life values.
The main features of a fairy tale:
- Fairy-tale stamps "Once upon a time", "In a certain kingdom".
- Use of proverbs and sayings.
- Mandatory victory for good in the final.
- The tests that the heroes go through are educational and moral in nature.
- The animals saved by the hero help him get out of difficult situations.
household
The action takes place in everyday life, not "in a distant kingdom", but in an ordinary city or village. The life of that time, features and habits are described. The heroes are the poor and merchants, spouses, soldiers, servants and gentlemen. The plot is based on ordinary life situations and conflicts, which the heroes have to solve with the help of skill, ingenuity and even cunning.
Everyday fairy tales ridicule human vices - greed, stupidity, ignorance. The main message of such stories is that one should not be afraid of work, not be lazy and confidently overcome obstacles. Treat others with kindness, be responsive to someone else's grief, do not lie and do not be stingy. For example, "Porridge from an ax", "Turnip", "Seven-year-old daughter".
About animals
Often the characters are animals. They live and communicate like people, talk and play pranks, quarrel and make peace. Among the characters there is no clear division into positive and negative characters. Each of them is endowed with one distinctive feature, which is played out in the plot of the tale. A cunning fox, an evil wolf, a hardworking hare, and a wise owl. Such images are understandable to children, and give ideas about intelligence and stupidity, about cowardice and courage, about greed and kindness.
magical
What is a fairy tale? This is a mysterious world filled with magic and sorcery. Where animals, nature and even objects can speak. The composition is more complex, includes an introduction, an outset, a central plot, a climax and a denouement. The plot is based on overcoming a difficult situation or returning a loss. For example, "Morozko", "Finist clear falcon", "Cinderella".
The world of characters is unusually diverse. G The main characters have all the positive qualities, that is, such as kindness, generosity, responsiveness, courage. They are opposed by evil, greedy and selfish negative heroes. In the fight against enemies, the goodies are helped by wonderful helpers and magic items. The denouement is certainly happy. The hero returns home with honors, having overcome all hardships and obstacles.
Literary
Has a specific author but closely related to folklore. A literary tale reflects the author's view of the world, his ideas and desires, while folk tales demonstrate generalized values. The writer empathizes with the main characters, expresses sympathy for individual actors and openly ridicules the negative characters.
The basis is often the plots of folk tales.
- the hero's belonging to the world of magic;
- hostility between foster parents and children;
- the hero is helped by nature, living creatures and magical attributes.
To imitate folk tales, the same principles apply: fairy-tale setting, talking animals, triple repetitions and vernacular. The images of the main characters of folk tales are often used: Ivan the Fool, Baba Yaga, Tsar Koschey and others. The author strives for greater detail, the characters and personal qualities of the characters are spelled out in detail, the environment is close to reality and there are always two generations: the older (parents) and the younger (children).
Vivid examples of a literary fairy tale include the work of A. Pushkin "The Goldfish", G. Andersen's "The Snow Queen" and Ch. Perrault "Puss in Boots".
Whatever the fairy tale, its goal is to teach the child not to despair, to boldly take on tasks, to respect the opinions of others. Looking at the bright illustrations, it is easy to come up with your own plot for an already familiar story. It will be useful even for an adult to break away from the usual cycle of days and plunge into the wonderful world of magic.
Gradually, the literary fairy tale became a full-fledged direction of fiction. Today this genre is universal, it reflects the phenomena of the surrounding reality, its problems, achievements, successes and failures. At the same time, the connection with folklore remained the same, inextricable. So, let's try to figure out what a literary fairy tale is.
Definition
First, let's give a definition: a fairy tale is a folk poetic narrative work that tells about fictional events and heroes. Often involving fantastic and magical phenomena.
Now let's find out what a literary fairy tale is.
This is a genre of storytelling with a fantastic or magical story taking place in a real or magical world, in which both real ones can act, and the Author can raise the moral, social, aesthetic problems of history and modernity.
The definitions are similar, but in the second, concerning a literary fairy tale, there is a certain concretization and clarification. They concern the types of characters and space, as well as the author and the problems of the work.
Features of a literary tale
Now we list the main features of a literary fairy tale:
- Reflects the aesthetics and worldview of its era.
- Borrowing characters, images, plots, features of language and poetics from a folk tale.
- A combination of fiction and reality.
- Grotesque world.
- There is a game start.
- The desire to psychologize the characters.
- The position of the author is clearly expressed.
- Social assessment of what is happening.
Folk and literary tale
What is a literary tale, how does it differ from a folk tale? The author's fairy tale is considered a genre that has absorbed folklore and literary principles. It grew out of folklore, transforming and changing its genre differences. We can say that the folk tale has evolved into a literary one.
A literary fairy tale goes through a series of stages as it moves away from the original source - a fairy tale. We list them in order of increasing distance:
- A simple record of folklore tales.
- Processing records of folk tales.
- Retelling of the story by the author.
- In the author's fairy tale, the internal form differs from the folk one, and folklore elements change depending on the writer's intention.
- Parodies and stylizations - their tasks are related to the pedagogical orientation.
- A literary fairy tale is as far as possible from common folklore plots and images. The speech and style of such a fairy tale is closer to the literary tradition.
What are the folk traditions of a literary fairy tale manifested in
What is a literary tale? This, as we have already said, is a combination of literary and folklore. Therefore, in order to answer the question, let us determine what the folk tale inherited from the literary tale.
Writers usually take folklore plots as a basis. For example:
- the magical origin or birth of the protagonist;
- a stepmother's dislike for her stepdaughter;
- the trials of the hero are necessarily of a moral nature;
- rescued animals that become the hero's helpers, etc.
Writers also exploit endowed with certain functions. For example:
- The ideal hero.
- Assistant of the ideal hero.
- The one who sends the hero on his way.
- The giver of a magical thing.
- The one who harms the ideal hero and interferes with the execution of the assignment.
- A stolen character or thing.
- A false hero is one who tries to appropriate other people's exploits.
The space and time of the fairy-tale world are often built according to the laws of folklore. It's a fantastic vague place, and time slows down and speeds up, it is also magical and does not succumb to the laws of reality. For example: faraway kingdom, faraway state; whether long or short; a fairy tale quickly affects, but the deed is not done soon.
Trying to bring their tales closer to folk tales, writers resort to the use of folklore poetic speech: epithets, triple repetitions, vernacular, proverbs, sayings, etc.
Turning to folk traditions, we were able to answer what a literary fairy tale is in its connection with folklore. Let us now consider another component of our fairy tale - the literary one, and try to understand what separates it from the folk heritage.
What is a literary tale and how does it differ from a folk tale
Examples and comparisons of literary and folk tales allow us to highlight a number of their differences.
Literary tale is distinguished by its depiction. The author tries to describe in detail the area, events, to make the characters closer to reality, so that the reader believes in what is happening as much as possible.
Thus, what is a literary fairy tale, if not the psychologism of the characters? The writer is trying to explore the inner world of the character, to portray experiences. So, Pushkin in "Tsar Saltan", depicting the meeting of the hero with his wife and son, describes: "Zealousness beat in him ... the spirit in him took up the tsar burst into tears." You don't see that in folklore.
Ershov, Pushkin, Odoevsky and other fairy tale writers endow their characters with a full-fledged character. These are not just heroes characteristic of folklore, they are full-fledged living people with their aspirations, experiences, contradictions. Even the devil in "The Tale of Balda" Pushkin endows with a naive childish character.
What else is a literary fairy tale different from
What is a literary tale? The answers to this question can be found in the specifics Namely, in vivid expression. In a fairy tale, it manifests itself through assessments, attitudes towards what is happening, from which it is easy to guess which of the characters the author sympathizes with and whom he does not like or ridicule. So, describing the priest, his fears and natural greed, Pushkin makes fun of it.
A literary fairy tale will always reflect the author's view of the world, his idea of life and ideas. We will see the writer, his aspirations, values, spiritual world, desires. In a folklore tale, only the ideals and values of the whole people can be reflected, the identity of the narrator in it will be erased.
So, what is a literary fairy tale in its classical sense? This is a fusion of the author's identity and folk traditions.
The origins of the literary tale
The roots of the literary fairy tale go back to ancient times. There is a recorded Egyptian tale of two brothers dating back to the thirteenth century. BC e. The epic also contains references to fairy tales, for example, in the Babylonian cycle about Gilgamesh, among the Assyrians - in the legends about Ahikar, in Greek - these are the Iliad and the Odyssey.
During the Middle Ages, the church used a literary fairy tale, turning it into a parable. This tradition continued until the 19th century.
The Renaissance brought elements of fairy tales into the short story, using them to create satirical and didactic elements.
The emergence of the literary tale
But only in the XVIII century. the literary fairy tale became an independent artistic genre, largely due to the enthusiasm of romanticism for folk traditions. At this time, in order to answer the question of what a literary fairy tale is, examples would have to be taken from Charles Perrault and A. Gallan in Europe and from M. Chulkov in Russia.
In the 19th century the popularity of the literary fairy tale is growing. Goethe, Chamisso, Tieck, Edgar Allan Poe, Hoffmann, Andersen turn to this genre. Russian literature of this period is also rich in fairy tales. These are V. Zhukovsky, A. Pushkin, N. Gogol, A. Tolstoy and others.
Pushkin's Tales
What is a literary tale? The definition that we gave above is perfectly illustrated by the fairy tales of A.S. Pushkin. Initially, they were not designed for children, but quickly found themselves in the circle of children's reading. The names of these fairy tales are known to us since childhood:
- "The Tale of Tsar Saltan".
- "The Tale of the Priest and his Worker Balda".
- "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish".
- "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the 7 Bogatyrs".
- "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel".
All these tales have a plot connection with folk tales. So, "The Tale of Balda" resembles the folk tale "Labor Shabarsh". “About the fisherman and the fish” - “The greedy old woman”, the recording of which was presented to the poet by V. I. Dal, a well-known collector of folklore. "The Tale of Saltan" is close to the fairy tale "About wonderful children." Pushkin saw in folk art inexhaustible themes and plots for literature. Thus, the poet's tales, better than any definition, can answer the question of what a literary tale is.
Summary of "Tales of the priest and his worker Balda"
Consider one of Pushkin's fairy tales. The essence of this tale is a satire on church ministers who deceive the people. Human qualities are also ridiculed: stupidity, greed and hypocrisy. Out of greed, the priest decides to hire a servant for a penny who will do hard work. Stupidity forces him to agree to Balda's proposal. But as the reckoning approaches, deceit and anger wake up in the priest - he decides to destroy the worker.
In this tale, as in others, Pushkin creates psychologically perfect characters. Each author gives character and personality traits. And although the language is poetic, it is as close as possible to the folk. Pushkin always sought to move away from pretentious literary verse to something lighter, more flexible, and freer. All these qualities he managed to find in folk art.
Thus, a literary fairy tale has a rich history of development, is a unique fusion of folklore and author's work, and continues to develop to this day.
It doesn't necessarily mean thrilling action with magical transformations, where glorious heroes defeat mythical monsters with the help of amazing artifacts. Many of these stories are based on events that could well have taken place in real life. These are household stories. They teach goodness, ridicule human vices: greed, stupidity, cruelty, and others, often contain an ironic basis and social background. What is a household story? This is an instructive story without any special supernatural miracles, useful for children, often making even adults think.
"Turnip"
It is not necessary to look too far in search of an example of such a tale. They can be served by the well-known story about the turnip, which my grandfather planted in the garden. The old man did not expect that she would grow too big, so much so that he could not pull her out of the ground alone. In order to cope with a difficult task, the grandfather called for help from all members of his family. They turned out to be a grandmother, a granddaughter and animals living in the house. Thus, the turnip was stretched out. The idea of a simple plot is easy to understand. When everyone works together, together and unitedly, everything is sure to work out. Even a small mouse - and she took part in the described action.
In this example, it is easy to understand what a household fairy tale is. Of course, the mentioned story contains some fantastic facts. For example, a turnip can't grow that big, and animals aren't smart enough to do that kind of work. However, if we discard these details, the moral of the story is very useful and can be useful in real life.
Heroes of Russian fairy tales
The features of everyday fairy tales are that most often they contain healthy satire. Naive innocence turns out to be wiser than the most sophisticated cunning, and resourcefulness and ingenuity repel arrogance, vanity, arrogance and greed. Here vices are ridiculed, regardless of faces and ranks. In such stories, the stupidity and laziness of almighty kings, the greed of hypocritical priests are mercilessly scourged.
Ivanushka the Fool often turns out to be a wonderful hero of Russian fairy tales. This is a special character who always emerges victorious from all, even the most incredible trials. You can understand what a household fairy tale is by remembering other interesting and vivid characters created by the imagination of the Russian people. They are a cunning man who is able to circle around the finger of all his offenders from among the greedy rich, as well as a soldier whose resourcefulness will delight anyone.
"Porridge from an ax"
Among the examples of everyday fairy tales in which the above-mentioned characters are involved, one can name “Porridge from an ax”. This is a very small but instructive story about how easy and fun it is to overcome life's difficulties and hardships if you treat everything with humor and have an approach to people.
The resourceful soldier, having come to stay with a stingy old woman who pretended to be poor in order not to treat her guest with anything, decided to use a trick to achieve his goal. He volunteered to cook food with an axe. Driven by curiosity, the hostess of the house, without noticing it herself, provided the soldier with all the products necessary for cooking and allowed him to take away the ax, which supposedly had not yet been cooked. Here, the sympathies of all readers and listeners, as a rule, turn out to be on the side of the resourceful serviceman. And interested persons are given a chance to laugh merrily at the greedy old woman. This is what a household fairy tale is at its best.
literary works
Many great writers also worked in fairy tale genres. A striking indicator of this are the works of the nineteenth-century genius Saltykov-Shchedrin. Imitating folk art, the author assigned the characters a certain social status, which conveyed his political ideas to the readers.
Most of his stories should rather be classified as animal tales. They contain allegories, the purpose of which is to reveal social vices. But this does not exhaust the list of works of this writer, consonant with the genres of folk tales. Everyday fairy tales created on a social basis, for example, are reminiscent of "The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals." This peculiar narrative breathes with subtle humor and inimitable satire, and its characters are so reliable that they are relevant for any era.
jokes
Anecdotes are also examples of everyday fairy tales. The attitude to this kind of folklore, of course, is far from clear for everyone. But in this colorful genre, folk identity, the concept of morality and various vicissitudes of social relations are clearly expressed. In addition, this form of creativity is always relevant and constantly evolving.
According to the data of modern folklore, everyday jokes in different areas have their own characteristics and features, which is of interest for scientific study. This also applies to the general patterns of formation and development of this genre, which have become a topic for research and presentation in many scientific works and dissertations. At all times, an anecdote has proved to be an excellent way for the people to respond to the arbitrariness of the authorities, to phenomena and events that contradict their concepts of justice and ethics.
Other genre forms
It is not difficult to understand how a household fairy tale differs from a fairy tale. Of course, stories about sorcerers and fantastic adventures are always interesting and find their fans. But capacious, witty stories that reveal the full depth of social and human relations simply cannot be irrelevant. Among other varieties of the genre of everyday fairy tales are riddles and ridicule. The first of them is an allegorical description of some object or event and is given in the form of a question. And the second is a clearly satirical short work, which especially gives a reason to have fun over the vices of unworthy people. There are also boring tales. This is a very interesting genre. In such stories, a certain set of words is deliberately repeated, there is no plot as such, because the action essentially develops in a vicious circle. A striking and well-known example of such a story is the Tale of the White Bull.
All of the above works constitute a treasury of folklore, a storehouse of his wisdom, sparkling humor carried through the centuries.
