Word " folklore” is borrowed from English and translated literally as a folk song. Folklore is called, firstly, the totality of texts of various genres: fairy tales, epics, conspiracies, laments and lamentations, ritual and non-ritual songs, historical songs, urban romance, ditties, anecdotes. Secondly, folk art and music, traditional toys, folk costumes are called folklore. Folklore is everything created by the people. At the same time, the people are the collective creator of folklore works. This means that folklore works do not have a specific author. They were created and designed collectively over a long period of time. As a result, a folklore tradition developed.
Heroes and symbols of folklore
Tradition is a key concept in folklore. All folklore works are called traditional. A tradition is a kind of pattern that has developed over a long period of time, according to which individual folklore works are created.
Tradition is closed. For example, a fairy tale has only six possible characters: the hero (Ivan Tsarevich), the sender (the king, father), the desired character (the bride), the antagonist (koshchei, serpent Gorynych), the donor (the character who gives something to the hero) and the assistant (more often animals that help the hero). This is where her secrecy comes into play. There are no other characters here.
Folklore is a means, a tool for consolidating, preserving and transmitting folk wisdom from generation to generation. This means that the performance of fairy tales, epics, songs is initially necessary in order to transfer traditional cultural information and experience from parents to children. For example, fairy tales convey moral norms that every member of society must comply with: the hero of fairy tales is brave, hardworking, honoring parents and the elderly, helping the weak, wise, noble. The heroic epics say that you need to defend your homeland: the hero-defender is strong, brave, wise, ready to stand up for the Russian land.
Folklore is symbolic. This means that folk wisdom is transmitted in symbolic form. A symbol is a sign, the content of which in folklore is the traditional folklore meaning. For example, a drake, a dove, an eagle, an oak are symbols denoting a good fellow. A dove, a duck, a swan, a birch, a willow are symbols that denote a red maiden.
Folklore should not be taken literally. Behind the symbols it is necessary to learn to see the traditional folklore meanings. The gold-silver bridle of a heroic horse does not mean at all that it is made of gold and silver. These metals symbolically denote the folklore meaning "rich, noble".
Who studies folklore?
Folklore reflects traditional folk culture. Russian traditional folk culture is a fusion of pagan and folk Orthodox views on nature and society. In works of folklore, animals, forces of nature (wind, sun) are often characters. This reflects the pagan worldview of the people, who spiritualized nature, believed in wonderful creatures, and prayed to them. Along with this, there are Christian characters (the Mother of God, saints) - these are Orthodox Christian traditions.
Folklore is studied by folklorists. They go on expeditions to record works of oral folk art. After that, the symbolism of these works, their content and structure are examined. The outstanding researchers of folklore are V.Ya. Propp, A.N. Afanasiev, S. Yu. Neklyudov, E.M. Meletinsky, B.T. Putilin.
Folklore is a kind of reflection of the people's consciousness. And this distinguishes it from other forms of linguistic art, including literature, in which the lonely personality of the author is expressed. can also reflect a purely personal perception of the environment, while folklore combines a collective, public vision. Modern literary criticism is increasingly turning to the phenomenon of mass literature and the peculiarities of its functioning within Russia. Authors of the 21st century have recently shown a tendency to actively interpret the spoils of traditional culture. The growth in the popularity of popular literature is ensured by the use by writers of the reader's ability to reproduce on a subconscious level the images and plots already known to him, presented in the work. Very often such a "base" is folklore.
folklore motifs
Folklore motifs are sooner or later used by all writers of both mass and elite literature, the difference lies in their function at this level. In popular literature, folklore is primarily a "factor in the formation of national literature", that is, a guarantor of the correlation of the text with generally accepted standards of literature that the reader is ready to consume. Under such circumstances, literary scholars are trying to determine: what is folklore in literature, how do folklore motifs interact with works of popular literature and what are the features of their influence on the author's text, as well as the transformations that a folklore text experiences as it is included in the plane of a modern literary work and changes it traditional meanings. Researchers establish the limits of the occurrence of a folklore text in a literary text and trace the transformations of universal folklore archetypes. One of the main tasks will be to find out what folklore is in literature, to explore their mutual influence and connections in works of popular literature.
traditional folklore
The main task of the authors of mass literature when writing a work is to interest the reader. To do this, first of all, they strive for a masterful depiction of intrigue. Zofja Mitosek writes in the article "The End of Mimesis" that "intrigue building is a game of tradition and innovation". And if by the concept of traditions we mean “the transmission from one generation to another of traditional forms of activity and communication, as well as the customs, rules, ideas, values that accompany them,” then for the reader, folklore is a worthy representative of tradition in literature. In modern society, it is necessary to instill in the younger generation the need to study traditional folklore.
School curriculum: literature (grade 5) - genres of folklore
The fifth grade is an important phase in the development of the language education of schoolchildren. The appeal to works with the use of folklore materials is due to the need for self-affirmation, the significant susceptibility of fifth grade students to folk art, the correspondence of folklore as a spoken word to the active speech of a child who is at the stage of constant development. Such education in secondary school gives the student a lesson in literature.
Genres of folklore that should be studied in a modern school:
Ritual creativity
- Calendar-ritual poetry.
- folk drama.
- Heroic epic.
- Duma.
Ballads and lyric songs
- Ballads.
- Family songs.
- Public songs.
- Shooting and rebel songs.
- Chastushki.
- Songs of literary origin.
Fabulous and non-fairytale historical prose
- Folk tales.
- Legends and traditions.
Folk paremiography
- Proverbs and sayings.
- Puzzles.
- Popular beliefs.
- Fables.
Folklore is a "genetic" element of the worldview
The artistic action in the plot of works of literature is most often simple and understandable, designed to respond to the ordinary consciousness of the reader. Folklore is a "genetic" element of the worldview and, as a rule, is laid in the mind with the first songs, fairy tales, riddles from childhood. So, at school, the peculiarities of folklore works give the student a lesson in literature (grade 5). Folklore makes the world clearer, tries to explain the unknown. Therefore, when the functions of folklore and literature interact, a powerful resource is created to influence the consciousness of the recipient, in which the text is able to mythologize human consciousness and even cause a transformation of the rational sphere of human thinking. The answer to the question "what is folklore in literature" is determined by the whole direction of the integral creative understanding and use. In works of folklore, the ideas of creativity are often revealed on the verge of intersection with literature. Perhaps this is also influenced by the original ritual folklore. Literature (grade 5) in the modern school is increasingly returning to the current topic of spiritual and cultural revival, to the fundamental principle of the existence of our people, one of the main carriers of information about which is folklore.
Tradition of Analysis
In our time, a certain tradition of analyzing what folklore is in literature has already appeared, according to which equating creativity with standards is considered inappropriate: despite the label of “mass character” of novels, they have their own style, creative manner and, most importantly, the themes of works. They "regenerated" from the depths of the soul the eternal topics, the reader's interest in which has been dormant since the beginning of the new era. The favorite themes of ancient authors are the village and the city, the historical connection of generations, mystical stories with a love-erotic coloring. On the basis of established historical images, a modern manner of “direct” description of events is built, traditional culture is presented in a modified version. The heroes of the works are characterized by the breadth of comprehension of life and psychological experience, descriptions of their characters are emphasized by reminiscences to the history and culture of our people, which are most often manifested in the author's digressions and remarks.
Desacralization of folklore
Emphasis is placed on the visualization of paintings, which is carried out with the help of increased dynamism of the presentation of events and the effect of understatement, which stimulates the reader to creative "cooperation". In each novel, the hero exists in a world created by the author himself, with its own geography, history, and mythology. But when reading, the recipient perceives this space as already known, that is, he penetrates the atmosphere of the work from the first pages. The authors achieve this effect by including various folklore schemes; that is, we are talking about “imitation of a myth by a non-mythological consciousness”, according to which folklore elements appear under their traditional context and acquire a different semantic meaning, but at the same time perform the function of identifying the reader with ancient meanings already known to him. Thus, in the texts of mass literature there is a desacralization of traditions and folklore.
The phenomenon of modification of the past and present
The phenomenon of modification of the past and present can be traced even in the nature of the construction of almost all works. The texts are replete with proverbs and sayings, which makes it possible to convey the centuries-old experience of the people in a compressed, condensed form. In the works, the main thing is that they act as elements of the monologues and dialogues of the hero - most often, characters are used in this as carriers of wisdom and morality. Signs and sayings also serve as a hint at the tragic fate of the heroes of that time. They carry a deep meaning, one sign can tell a hero about everything.
Folklore is the harmony of the inner world
So, a certain mythologization and reference to folklore in the works is a natural and as integral part of the created world as the specificity of the peasantry, ethnic coloring and live, real broadcasting. Mass literature is built on the "basic models" of the consciousness of the reader of a given people (which are based on "initial intentions"). In works such “initial intentions” are precisely folklore elements. With the help of folklore motifs, there is closeness to nature, harmony of the inner world, and the rest of the functions of folklore fade into the background, there is a simplification of sacredness.
Folklore and literature are two types of verbal art. However, folklore is not only the art of the word, but also an integral part of folk life, closely intertwined with its other elements, and this is the essential difference between folklore and literature. But also how the art of the word folklore differs from literature. These differences do not remain unshakable at various stages of historical development, and yet the main, stable features of each of the types of verbal art can be noted. Literature is an individual art, folklore is a collective art. In literature, innovation, and in folklore, tradition comes to the fore. Literature exists in written form, a means of storing and transmitting a literary text, a book serves as an intermediary between the author and its addressee, while a work of folklore is reproduced orally and stored in the memory of the people. A work of folklore lives in a variety of variants, with each performance it is reproduced, as it were, anew, with direct contact between the performer-improviser and the audience, which not only directly affects the performer (feedback), but sometimes also joins the performance itself.
Anika the warrior and death. Splint.
Editions of Russian folklore.
The term "folklore", which in 1846 was introduced into science by the English scientist W.J. Toms, in translation means "folk wisdom". Unlike many Western European scientists, who refer to folklore the most diverse aspects of folk life (up to culinary recipes), including here also elements of material culture (housing, clothing), domestic scientists and their like-minded people in other countries consider oral folk art to be folklore - poetic works created by the people and existing among the broad masses of the people, along with musical and dance folklore. This approach takes into account the artistic nature of folklore as the art of the word. Folklore is the study of folklore.
The history of folklore goes into the deep past of mankind. M. Gorky defined folklore as the oral art of the working people. Indeed, folklore arose in the process of labor, has always expressed the views and interests mainly of working people, it manifested in various forms the desire of a person to facilitate his work, to make it joyful and free.
Primitive man spent all his time on work or on preparation for it. The actions through which he sought to influence the forces of nature were accompanied by words: spells, conspiracies were pronounced, the forces of nature were addressed with a request, threat or gratitude. This indivisibility of various types of essentially artistic activity (although the creators-performers themselves set purely practical goals) - the unity of the word, music, dance, decorative art - is known in science as "primitive syncretism", its traces are still visible in folklore. As a person accumulated more and more significant life experience that needed to be passed on to the next generations, the role of verbal information increased: after all, it was the word that could most successfully report not only what was happening Here And Now but also about what happened or will happen somewhere And once upon a time or some day. The separation of verbal creativity into an independent form of art is an important step in the prehistory of folklore, in its independent, albeit connected with mythological consciousness, state. The decisive event that paved the line between mythology and folklore proper was the appearance of the fairy tale. It was in a fairy tale that imagination - this, according to K. Marx, a great gift that contributed so much to the development of mankind - was first recognized as an aesthetic category.
With the formation of nations, and then states, a heroic epic took shape: the Indian "Mahabharata", Irish sagas, the Kyrgyz "Manas", Russian epics. Lyrics, not connected with the rite, arose even later: it showed an interest in the human personality, in the experiences of a simple person. Folk songs of the period of feudalism tell about serfdom, about the hard lot of women, about people's defenders, such as Karmelyuk in Ukraine, Janoshik in Slovakia, Stepan Razin in Rus'.
When studying folk art, one should constantly keep in mind that the people is not a homogeneous concept and is historically changeable. The ruling classes tried by all means to introduce into the masses thoughts, moods, works that contradicted the interests of the working people - songs loyal to tsarism, "spiritual poems", etc. exploiters, but also ignorance and downtroddenness. The history of folklore is at the same time a process of constant growth in the self-consciousness of the people, and overcoming what expressed their prejudices.
According to the nature of the connection with the folk life, ritual folklore and non-ritual folklore are distinguished. Folklore performers themselves adhere to a different classification. It is essential for them that some works are sung, others are felt. Philologists refer all works of folklore to one of three genera - to epic, lyrics or drama, as is customary in literary criticism.
Some folklore genres are interconnected by a common sphere of existence. If pre-revolutionary folklore was very clearly distinguished by the social affiliation of its bearers (peasant, worker), now age differences are more significant. A special section of folk poetry is children's folklore - play (drawing lots, counting rhymes, various game songs) and non-play (patter, horror stories, shifters). The main genre of modern youth folklore has become an amateur, the so-called bard song.
The folklore of each nation is unique, as well as its history, customs, culture. Epics, ditties are inherent only in Russian folklore, thoughts - in Ukrainian, etc. The lyrical songs of each people are original. Even the briefest works of folklore - proverbs and sayings - express the same idea in each nation in its own way, and where we say: "Silence is gold", the Japanese with their cult of flowers will say: "Silence is flowers."
However, even the first folklorists were struck by the similarity of fairy tales, songs, legends belonging to different peoples. At first, this was explained by the common origin of related (for example, Indo-European) peoples, then by borrowing: one people adopted plots, motives, and images from another.
Only historical materialism provides a consistent and convincing explanation of all the phenomena of similarity. Based on the richest factual material, Marxist scientists explained that similar plots, motifs, images arose among peoples who were at the same stages of socio-cultural development, even if these peoples lived on different continents and did not meet each other. So, a fairy tale is a utopia, a dream of justice, which developed among various peoples as they acquired private property, and with it social inequality. Primitive society did not know a fairy tale on any of the continents.
Fairy tales, heroic epics, ballads, proverbs, sayings, riddles, lyrical songs of different nations, differing in national identity both in form and content, are at the same time created on the basis of laws common to a certain level of artistic thinking and enshrined in tradition. Here is one of the "natural experiments" that confirms this position. The French poet P. J. Beranger wrote the poem "The Old Corporal", using as a basis (and at the same time significantly reworking it) a "complaint" - a special kind of French folk ballad. The poet V. S. Kurochkin translated the poem into Russian, and thanks to the music of A. S. Dargomyzhsky, the song penetrated the Russian folk repertoire. And when, many years later, it was recorded on the Don, it turned out that folk singers made significant changes to the text (and, by the way, to the music), as if restoring in the main the original form of the French “complaint”, which the Don Cossacks of course had never heard. This was affected by the general laws of folk song creativity.
Literature appeared later than folklore, and always, albeit in different ways, used his experience. At the same time, literary works have long penetrated folklore and influenced its development.
The nature of the interaction of the two poetic systems is historically conditioned and therefore varies at different stages of artistic development. On this path, the process of redistribution of the social spheres of action of literature and folklore, which takes place at sharp turns in history, is extremely important, which, on the material of Russian culture of the 17th century. marked by Academician D.S. Likhachev. If even in the XVI century. storytellers were kept even at the royal court, then a century and a half later, folklore leaves the life and life of the ruling classes, now oral poetry is the property of almost exclusively the masses, and literature is the property of the ruling classes. Thus, later development can sometimes change the emerging trends in the interaction of literature and folklore, and sometimes in the most significant way. However, the stages passed are not forgotten. What began in the folk art of the time of Columbus and Athanasius Nikitin, uniquely echoed in the searches of M. Cervantes and G. Lorca, A. S. Pushkin and A. T. Tvardovsky.
In the interaction of folk art with realistic literature, more fully than ever before, the inexhaustibility of folklore as an eternal source of continuously developing art is revealed. The literature of socialist realism, like no other, relies not only on the experience of its immediate predecessors, but also on all the best that characterizes the literary process throughout its entire course, and on folklore in all its inexhaustible richness.
The law “On the protection and use of monuments of the history of culture” adopted in 1976 includes “records of folklore and music” among the national treasures. However, recording is only an auxiliary means of fixing a folklore text. But even the most accurate recording cannot replace the living spring of folk poetry.
FOLKLORE
FOLKLORE
(English). The totality of folk beliefs, legends, fairy tales and other works of folk art, as material for studying the characteristics of the folk spirit.
Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. - Chudinov A.N., 1910 .
FOLKLORE
under this common name unite folk tales, legends, beliefs, fairy tales, proverbs, sayings, in a word - everything that can serve as a reflection of the national spirit, in which folk thought, folk art is expressed. Folklore is the subject of special careful research and detailed study by scientists.
A complete dictionary of foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language. - Popov M., 1907 .
FOLKLORE
a set of folk beliefs, legends, fairy tales, proverbs, etc.; also a special science that studies folk legends; founded by Jacob Grim in Germany.
Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. - Pavlenkov F., 1907 .
Folklore
(English folk-lore) works of oral folk art (epics, fairy tales, ditties, proverbs, songs, etc.).
New dictionary of foreign words.- by EdwART,, 2009 .
Folklore
folklore, pl. no, m. folk-lore] (book). 1. Oral folk art. 2. In general - a set of beliefs, customs, rituals, songs, fairy tales and other phenomena of the life of peoples.
A large dictionary of foreign words. - Publishing house "IDDK", 2007 .
Folklore A, pl. No, m. (English folk lore folk people, folk + lore knowledge).
Folklore.
folklorist- specialist in folklore.
Folklore- the science of folklore.
Folklore related to folklore.
Explanatory Dictionary of Foreign Words L. P. Krysina.- M: Russian language, 1998 .
Synonyms:
See what "FOLKLORE" is in other dictionaries:
- (in the culturological aspect) in the “broad” sense (all folk traditional peasant spiritual and partly material culture) and “narrow” (oral peasant verbal artistic tradition). Folklore is a collection of ... ... Encyclopedia of cultural studies
Artistic creativity of the broad masses of the people, mainly oral poetic creativity. The term was first introduced into scientific use in 1846 by the English scientist William Thoms. Literally translated, Folk lore means: folk wisdom, ... ... Literary Encyclopedia
folklore- a, m. folklore m. , German Folklore folklore lit. folk wisdom. Literary works created by the people; folklore. BAS 1. With enthusiasm and knowledge of the matter, he worked on Russian folklore, edited famous ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
Folklore, oral folk art; swearing, obscene language, untranslatable folklore Dictionary of Russian synonyms. folklore n., number of synonyms: 8 mat (48) ... Synonym dictionary
The song of the shepherd is a speech designed for oneself: the ear listens to the mouth. Iosif Brodsky Folk songs are when there are more people on the stage than in the hall. In life, you need to try everything except incest and folk dances. Thomas Beecham Folk Song Ensembles ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms
folklore- FOLKLORE, a, m. (or untranslatable folklore). Mat, foul language... Dictionary of Russian Argo
- (English folklore), see Folk art ... Modern Encyclopedia
- (English folklore) see Folk art ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
FOLKLORE, folklore, pl. no, husband. (English folk lore) (book). 1. Oral folk art. 2. In general, the totality of beliefs, customs, rituals, songs, fairy tales, and other phenomena of the life of peoples. 3. The same as folklore. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
FOLKLORE, husband. Folk art; a set of folk rituals. verbal f. Music f. dance f. Old Russian f. | adj. folklore, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov
Books
- Folklore. Russian poetry of the early twentieth century, V. G. Bazanov. The book of Corresponding Member of the Literature and Language Department V. G. Bazanov "Folklore. Russian poetry of the early XX century" includes articles on historical and theoretical problems ...
There is not a single person in the world who would not like folk tales, songs and dances. You can find everything in them - spontaneity, the subtlest sadness and daring joy. And, probably, the most important thing that attracts modern people in them is the unique charm of antiquity and a certain nostalgic aroma of ancient times. So, folklore - what is it and what are its main features?
Basic definition
Folklore is called the collective creativity of the people, expressing its worldview and ideals, as well as serving as a complete reflection of its mentality. Usually this is oral creation - epics, tales, proverbs, conspiracies, riddles. Considering the question of folklore - what it is, one cannot fail to mention the very meaning of this word. In translation "Folk-lore" - literally "folk wisdom" or "folk knowledge". This term was introduced into use in 1846 by the English researcher William Toms.
In our country, a huge contribution to the study of this area of culture was made by many enlightened people - M. Lomonosov, A.S. Pushkin, G. Derzhavin, N. Roerich, I.I. Shishkin and many other writers, artists, historians and scientists. After the revolution, great attention was paid to the question of folklore - what it is, Maxim Gorky paid. It was thanks to this main proletarian writer that the main problems of Soviet folklore were developed.
Main characteristics
So, folklore - what is it and what are its signs? The main distinguishing features of folk art can be called non-writing, verbality, of course, collectivity and deep traditionalism. This, in fact, is the only area of culture on which the state and power cannot exert any influence at all. Tales, epics and legends have been passed down from father to son for centuries. In addition to the literary sphere, mentality and traditionalism are also manifested in all other areas of folk art - in dance, music, etc.
Basic varieties and genres of folklore
The main folk art include epic, riddle, proverb and lamentation.
Oral tradition, dance, handicrafts and songs are the main varieties of folklore proper. At the same time, it is also worth highlighting its ritual types. This area of art usually has pagan roots and manifests itself as a kind of opposition to the new religion. However, this is not always the case. For example, during the years of the USSR, when any cults were banned, it was Christian ritual folklore that showed itself very strongly. In this light, folk art can even be considered a reflection of some kind of confrontation between the common people and the authorities, and any.
Folklore works reflect the experience of millennia. And regardless of the stage of social development of a particular nation, fairy tales and epics are one of the most valuable sources of knowledge of its history. Perhaps the Russian minion of fate Ivan the Fool, the beautiful Vasilisa, the Greek villain Prometheus and Hercules, the German Freya, the Scandinavian trolls, etc. are able to tell about what events took place on earth in antiquity, much more than it might seem at first glance.
