On present stage In the development of society, the problem of turning to Russian folklore as a historical source is topical. The chosen topic is especially relevant in the modern world, as it helps to trace the historical life of the people and get an idea of their worldview and psychology. This knowledge makes it possible to understand history more deeply.
The history of folklore is inseparable from the history of the people. Researchers of such sciences as philosophy, history, philology, ethnography, archeology, etc. have been and are engaged in the study of folklore. The use of folklore material in history lessons in grades 6-7 is especially effective.
In the works of folklore, we can see the description of Russian cities. For example, according to epics, one can get an idea of Kyiv, as it was before the defeat by the Tatar-Mongols in 1240. Kyiv is always called the capital city and great - it was for a long time the capital of the ancient Russian state. The city was surrounded by a city (city) wall, at the corners of the wall there were corner towers.
“Jump over the city wall, through that corner tower,” Batu, the leader of the enemy army, says to his ambassador in one of the epics. Almost all old Russian cities have preserved such walls and such towers. At first they were wooden, and then stone. We can find out what weapons the heroes had: a tight bow, red-hot arrows, a club, a Murzavets spear (from the Tatar word “murza” - “prince”), a dagger, and sometimes a saber.
In 6th grade, when studying the topic “The reign of Prince Vladimir and the baptism of Rus'”, you can use the epic about Vladimir’s matchmaking with Apraksia, the youngest daughter of the Politovsky king. Separate versions of the epic preserved the historically reliable answer heard by the prince’s matchmakers from the Politovsky king: “Yes, how your prince is small in himself,” and also: “And the prince - from Volodymyr and being a serf.” The chronicle under 980 tells that even during the reign in Novgorod, Vladimir sent matchmakers to Polotsk to ask Prince Rogvolod for the hand of his daughter Rogneda. The proud Polotsk princess refused the ambassadors, saying that she did not want to “take off the shoes of the robichich”. In the wedding ceremony, “undress the groom” meant becoming a wife, and “robichich” meant the son of a slave (Vladimir was indeed the son of the housekeeper Malusha and Prince Svyatoslav). Rogneda insulted the prince. Vladimir ruined Polotsk and took Rogneda as his wife by force. The Principality of Polotsk was located on the western outskirts of the Russian lands and later, for some time, was included within the borders of Lithuania. Therefore, epics speak of “Politovskaya land”.
Talking about the invasion of Batu into Rus', one can cite an excerpt from the epic “Ilya and Kalin-Tsar”.
A lot of force is driven,
As from a cry from a human,
Like the neighing of a horse.
The human heart desponds;
Mother earth shook from the army;
There was no red sun to be seen in the horse top,
And the bright moon from a pair of horses faded west ...
The noise of convoys captured by the epic, screams, neighing, suffocating horse fumes, dust that darkened the sky are historically reliable.
The epic talks about how events could have turned out if the mutual enmity and disagreement between the prince and the soldiers had been forgotten. The name of the leader of the Tatar hordes does not correspond to the name of the historical Batu. Kalin is a slightly distorted common noun for the biblical killer Cain.
In the study of the political life of Novgorod XII - XIII centuries. you can use the epic about Stavra. Stavr is a historical figure. He really lived in Novgorod in the X-XI centuries. and was the leader of a hundred. In the epic, Stavr is a merchant-usurer. He boasts of lending money to the poor. The prince of Kiev is angry with Stavr for his boasting. What is the reason for his anger? Here it should be said about the existence of the charter of Vladimir Monomakh on interest. The Kiev prince, wishing to weaken the power of the Novgorod usurers, limited them in collecting interest on growth. Vladimir was angry with Stavr for his boast of wealth.
The events of epics are of great importance for the fate of the people and the state. The epics poetically depict the military-political clashes and social situations characteristic of Ancient Rus'.
Bylin "About Vasily Buslaev" reproduces the struggle of Novgorod political parties. Since childhood, Vaska Buslaev has had a spirit of hostility towards the trading post. Especially often he beats his peers from the suburb. Posad peasants threaten to “make the river Volkhov dirty” - to drown Vaska: convicts in Novgorod were thrown off the bridge. This is how serious crimes were punished. To protect himself, Vaska recruits a squad. Eminent Novgorod people kept armed servants with them. Vaska is of a noble family, literate and rich. The squad was not just good fellows, able to withstand the blow of a scarlet elm on a violent head. They are united by a common hostility to the settlement. These are people from different classes and even from other cities. Among them - Kostya Novotorzhanin, a daring from Novy Torzhok, two brothers are mentioned - a boyarch and men from some Zalesye - “Zaleshana”, “Sbrodovichi brothers”, roamers, the prototype of the “Ushkuiniki”, who went in boats far beyond the borders of Novgorod land. Vaska and his comrades appear at the feast, where the townspeople have gathered, and start a quarrel. The belligerents hit on a mortgage - to give the beaten all the state and be in submission. The side of the settlement was taken by the prince, the archbishop. Vaska threatens to beat “the whole of Novgorod”, although he means precisely the settlements - “men of Novgorod”, “rich merchants”. Posad took so much power in Novgorod that it connected with the concept of the city. In the same sense, “the whole of Novgorod” is also named in the ancient acts of business writing. Vaska's dispute with the trading post reproduces a serious urban clash. In Novgorod XII-XIII centuries. ball very strong "Suzdal party", which consisted of wealthy merchants. Their benefits depended on ties with the northeastern principalities. With the enmity of Novgorod with the Vladimir-Suzdal principalities, they suffered losses. Speaking against wealthy merchants, Vaska fights against the grand ducal claims to power over Novgorod.
Novgorod in epics is glorious and great. The peculiar life of the trading republic is widely shown. There are no military feats here. The trading power of Novgorod, its wealth, its rivalry with Moscow are described. It contains many details of the life of a medieval city - for example, fistfights are depicted - a favorite pastime of the ancient Novgorodians.
In the 7th grade, studying the period of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, one can refer to the historical song “The Capture of the Kazan Khanate”. The capture of the Kazan Khanate in 1552 was approved by the people. Regardless of the particulars in the depiction of the siege of Kazan, the song variants speak in the most detailed way about what happened near its walls. The gunners rolled a barrel of gunpowder into a tunnel under the Kazan wall and placed a candle on one of them. The candle will burn down to the base - an explosion will occur and destroy the wall. The same candle for control was placed in the field near the royal tent. And then the outer candle burned out, and the one in the dungeon should also burn out, but there is no explosion. The tsar-sovereign "gets angry - gets angry", wants to execute the gunners of the lighters. He suspected treason. All the big people were frightened, and the young gunner stepped forward and said:
“Oh, you are a goy, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich!
Do not order, sovereign, to execute, hang,
Order you, sovereign, to pronounce the word.
In the wind, the candle will soon burn,
In the wilderness, a candle glows for a long time.
He just spoke out - barrels of gunpowder exploded. Russian soldiers entered the gap, and Kazan fell. The singers said that the king is suspicious, he sees treason even where it does not exist. The sharpness of the song's intention is understandable if we recall that in Rus' under Ivan the Terrible there was a mass extermination of the innocent population. The singers portrayed many authentic features of the siege of Kazan. In many variants, the “topography” of the siege is also reproduced:
Approached the Kazan kingdom for fifteen miles,
They became a mine under Bulat (Bulak) - the river,
They came under another under the river - the river under Kazanka ...
The river Sviyaga, Sviyazhsk-fortress, Sulai-river are also mentioned.
The historical song about Ivan the Terrible's anger at his son Fyodor is very interesting. In it, the people expressed their attitude to the oprichnina. The evidence of folklore is all the more valuable because Grozny's biography has been completely silent for a number of years and there is no information about his family relationships and affairs.
According to the variants, the song names the reason for Ivan the Terrible's anger at Fedor in different ways. As if he opposed his father - he saved the inhabitants of the cities in which the king committed mass executions. The cities in which, according to the songs, executions took place are different: Novgorod, Pskov, Moscow, even Tsargrad, but most often the name is missing. Numerous indications are also indicative of the scale of the coverage of the country by repressions. Grozny himself and his henchmen from the oprichnina with Malyuta Skuratov at the head are depicted as tormentors. On the street where they were traveling, “and the chicken did not drink” - all living things were exterminated: the king “cut everyone, and stabbed, and planted on a stake”.
Fedor confronts the tsar and the oprichnina. Terrible appears hasty in action and wrong. Singing Malyuta Skuratov is a real historical person, Grigory Skurata-Belsky. His name became a household name, a synonym for the executioner.
In the 7th grade, studying the history of the Time of Troubles, a song about Grigory Otrepyev can be cited as an example. In it, the people denounce the impostor. He is a violator of good Orthodox customs. Otrepiev married “Marishka the daughter of Yuryevna” not on the “decree day”. This is stated in the earliest song that has come down to us in the recording:
And the wedding was on a spring holiday,
On the spring holiday, Mikolin's day:
Mikolin's day was on Friday,
And Grishka had a wedding on Thursday...
The wedding of Gregory and Marina Mniszech was really played on Thursday, May 8, 1606, on the eve of St. Nicholas Day. The song says that the Moscow boyars are going to the matins, “Grishka and Marishka went to the bayna”, the boyars go from the matins, and “Grishka and Marishka from the bayna go”. Inappropriate behavior exposed the impostor as both a sinner and a violator of piety.
Also of interest to history is a song about the hero of the liberation struggle, the governor - Prince Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky. The nephew of Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, the young governor Skopin, became famous for his brilliant victories over his enemies. Under the agreement of 1609, acting at the will of the king, he managed to get a mercenary Swedish army. Combining his actions with the actions of the Volga rati F.I. Sheremetiev, he began a liberation campaign in May. Victories were won in districts along the Volga, in the Vladimir-Suzdal land, the siege was lifted from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, Dmitrov was taken. In March 1610, Moscow greeted the winners with a bell ringing, and in April, at the moment of its highest fame and glory, the successful young governor died. This happened after the christening at Prince I.M. Vorotynsky. The song gives an idea of the event and the mood of that time. The death of Skopin is mourned by the "guests" of Moscow: these are artisans and merchants, the predominant part of the inhabitants of Moscow.
“And now our heads are bent,
What did not become our governor
Vasilyevich Prince Mikhail!
Otherwise they perceive the news of the "princes-boyars" -
And they spoke to each other,
And they said a word, grinned:
“High the falcon has risen
And I hurt the earth on the mother’s cheese!”
Names of ill-wishers are named. Among them - "Mstislavskaya, Prince Vorotynskaya." F.I. Mstislavsky - the head of the seven boyars who replaced Vasily Shuisky. I.M.Vorotynsky is his associate, an influential boyar. At the christening, it was at Vorotynsky's, as they said in Moscow, that Skopin was poisoned.
The mention of the sadness of the “Svetsky Germans” is very interesting. All foreigners were called "Germans" as if they did not speak Russian. The Swedes mourned the commander - they were connected with Skopin by military affairs, and their grief was an expression of personal affection for the successful commander.
The Germans ran to Nov-gorod
And they locked themselves in Nove-Gorod.
Indeed, the remnants of the Swedes-mercenaries after the defeat near Smolensk, led by Jacob Delagardie, retreated to Novgorod, and a year later, in 1611, here, taking advantage of the current situation, they began to act against the Novgorodians.
And many world-people have been destroyed,
And turned into the Latin land.
The song about Skopin directly echoes the “Scripture on the Presentation and Burial of Prince Mikhail Vasilievich Shuisky, recommended by Skopin”. It is believed that "Scripture" was created on the basis of folk songs.
The creators of the song “Yaik is flowing quickly, snatching steep banks ...” call Razin “the soul of a thieves' chieftain”. The words "thieves", "thief" in modern meaning associated with a negative assessment. In the old language, others used it in a condemning sense: “thief”, and theft was accordingly called “tatba”. “Theft” was not called a secret, but an open attack. For this reason, the combination “the soul of a thieves' chieftain” did not contain a contradiction and an openly negative meaning .. The song said a lot to the contemporaries of these events. The Razin community united people loyal to each other. Their rallying around “father” Stepan was so close and close that his fellows called themselves “sons”.
Thus, we see that folk poetry, having originated in ancient times, for a long time, before the advent of writing, was the only “unwritten history” of the people, artistically reflecting the most important stages of its life. Folklore for many centuries served the people both as a "textbook of life", passing from generation to generation its wisdom, worldly philosophy, ethics, and as a means of educating character, the best human qualities: patriotism, courage, courage, perseverance, honesty, kindness. Folklore is a true encyclopedia of the poetic knowledge of the people, which gives a complete picture of the ideological and aesthetic riches of their work. Therefore, folk works are the most valuable material for studying the popular worldview of many centuries and its historical evolution.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Anikin V.P. Russian oral folk art: Textbook / V.P. Anikin. - M .: Higher. school, 2001. - 726s.
- Bakhtin V.S. From the epic to the counting rhyme: Tales of folklore / Republished .; rice. S. Islands. - L .: Det. lit., 1988. - 191s., ill.
- Epics / Compilation, introductory article and notes by S.N. Azbelev.-L .: Lenizdat, 1984.-398s. - (B-ka of folk poetry).
- Bychko A.K. folk wisdom Rus': an analysis of the philosopher. - K .: Higher. school Publishing house at Kyiv. Univ., 1988. - 200p.
- History of Russia from ancient times to late XVII century / A.P. Novoseltsev, A.N. Sakharov, V.I. Buganov, V.D. Nazarov; resp. ed. A.N. Sakharov, A.P. Novoseltsev. - LLC "Publishing house AST-LTD", 1997. - 576 p., ill.
- Putilov B.N. Russian historical and song folklore of the XIII-XVI centuries. M.-L., 1960.
- Rybakov B.A. Ancient Rus'. Legends. Epics. Chronicles. M., 1963.
- Shimbinago S.K. Ancient Russian dwelling according to epics // Anniversary collection in honor of Academician V.F. Miller. M., 1990.
What do we mean by the term "folklore"? If we take the etymology of this word, then in translation from English we get: “folk” - people, people, “lore” - knowledge (knowledge in any field). Therefore, folklore is folk knowledge. In the etymology of this word, we see a deep meaning, very important for reasoning about the nature of folklore. Actually, folklore itself is “the knowledge of the people,” as the American folklorist F.J. Childe (281, p. 291).
The German philosopher I. Herder (see: 1, pp. 118-122; 91, pp. 458-467; 167, pp. 182-186) can be considered the founder of folklore as a science, although the term “folklore” that is familiar to us for he did not use the designations of folk art. I. Herder became not only one of the first collectors folk poetry and songs, publishing in 1778 the work “Voices of the Nations in Songs”, but also published scientific works “Fragments on German Literature”, “Critical Groves”, “On Ossian and the Songs of the Ancients”, etc., in which he put forward the principle of historical approach to the phenomena of folk culture. He drew attention to the collection and study of folk poetry and songs, considering them the source of poetry in general. His external reasons for this were as follows.
In 1760-65. poet and collector of old Scottish ballads and legends J. MacPherson, based on them he wrote poems under common name"The Songs of Ossian son of Fingal". In the following century, the folkloric authenticity of Ossian's Songs proved to be problematic, but in that century his works aroused great public interest in folk poetry and antiquity.
In 1765, the Englishman, writer and publisher T. Percy, using a folk manuscript collection of the 17th century, also published a book of old English songs "Monuments of English Poetry", accompanying it with three scientific articles on the work of ancient bards and medieval minstrels.
I. Herder, interested in these publications, introduced the concept of “folk song” (Volkslied) into science, as he called the ancient and modern songs preserved in folk life folk songs, as well as poetry, which existed at that time among the people. Noting the historical role of the people in the creation of national culture, I. Herder wrote that the poetry of each people reflects its customs, customs, working and living conditions. I. Herder has a great merit in defining folklore as a source for the creation of national literature and art, which was subsequently developed by romantic artists.
The term "folklore" was proposed in the middle of the 19th century. English cultural historian William John Thoms in the article "Folk-Lore", in the journal "The Athenaeum" in 1846 (published under the pseudonym A. Merton). In the article, W. J. Thoms called for the collection of folk art, and in the very title of the article he emphasized that folklore is “folk knowledge” (2, pp. 179-180). Later, in 1879, in the Folk-Lore Record, W. J. Thoms emphasized that folklore is the oral history of a people, the remnants of former beliefs, traditions, customs, etc. In defining the meaning of the term "folklore" W. J. Toms has a noticeable connection with the ideas of I. Herder and the aesthetics of the German romantics (F. Schelling, J. and I. Grimm, and others).
In 1870, the Folklore Society (“Folk-Lore Society”) was created in England. The Folk-Lore Record magazine gives the following meaning of the term: folklore is "the ancient customs, customs, rites and ceremonies of past epochs, turned into superstitions and traditions of the lower classes of civilized society", and in a broader sense - "the totality of forms of unwritten history people", and further: "It can be said that folklore covers the entire culture of the people, which was not used in the official religion and history, but which is and which has always been its own work." .
The spread of the term "folklore" and its introduction into scientific use is associated with the works of V. Manngardt, E. Tylor, E. Lang and others.
So the term "folklore" appeared in science as a designation of the totality of archaism, traditions and folk culture, with a clearly expressed "ethnographic" approach to folklore, and its boundaries were very wide.
In 1874, the American scientist F.J. Childe published in Johnson's Universal Encyclopedia the article "Poetry of the Ballad", where he did not use the terms "folk" and "folklore", using others instead - "people" (people) and "popular "(folk). With these themes, he characterized the folk culture as a whole. Expressing his attitude to the problem of the authorship of a ballad, he wrote that folk poetry "will always be an expression of the mind and heart of the people, as an individual, and never - the personality of an individual person" (281, p. 291).
F. J. Childe was the founder of the American school of folklore and separated his theory of folk poetry from the ideas of the German "romantic" school. In 1892, in Johnson's Universal Encyclopedia, a student of F. J. Child, V. Nevel, developing the ideas of F. Child, defined folklore as the formally universal customs and beliefs of an entire ethnic community, preserved through conservative and less educated classes. He noted as the main characteristic of folklore - " oral creativity”, “oral tradition”, an addition to literature.
Parallel to the term "folklore", in the science of Western countries, there were other names - Poesie populaire, Traditions populaires, Tradizioni populari (folk traditions), Volkdichtung (folk poetry), Volkskunde (folk art). Only in the XX century. the term "folklore" became common. In its broadest sense, i.e. as "folk traditions", "folk art", it began to be used by most scientists in Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, the USA, Latin America and other countries. In the science of the Scandinavian countries and Finland, folklore is defined as a collective traditional knowledge transmitted through word and action.
In 1949-50. in the United States, a two-volume encyclopedic "Standard Dictionary of Folklore Mythology and Legends" was published. It contains more than 20 articles on folklore by scientists from different countries and scientific fields, which gave different definitions of folklore and methods of its research.
The Mexican scientist M. Espinoza defines that “folklore consists of beliefs, customs, superstitions, proverbs, riddles, songs, myths, legends, tales, ritual ceremonies, magic, both primitive and illiterate people, and masses of people in a civilized society ... Folklore may be called a direct and true expression of the memory of primitive man" ["Standard dictionary of folklore ...", p. 399].
Similar views are held in the aforementioned "Dictionary" and other authors. So, M. Barbier includes in folklore everything that belongs to the "traditional culture" - up to culinary recipes; B. Botkin writes that “everything in a purely oral culture is folklore” [ibid., p. 398].
Argentine folklorist K. Vega in 1960 published the work “Folkloristics. Subject and notes for its study in Argentina. K. Vega called folklore such manifestations of folk culture: myths, legends, fairy tales, fables, riddles, songs, games, rituals, beliefs; features of the national language, housing, furniture, utensils, etc.
K. Vega speaks of the presence of two different levels of culture, which correspond to the conditionally "enlightened classes" and the "people" proper. Folklore acts as a cultural "survival", which 50-100 years ago was common among the "enlightened" classes, but was gradually forced out into the masses, primarily rural, where it is preserved and continues to function (176, p. 174-192 ).
We believe that the aforementioned authors, firstly, take rather broad boundaries for defining folklore, linking it with ethnology; secondly, they underestimate the essence of the folklore-historical process, which ensures both the continuity of traditions and innovation, the renewal of the system of types and genres of folklore.
In domestic science in the XVIII-XIX centuries. such concepts as "folk poetry", "oral folk literature" were used. The concept of "folklore" was introduced only in the 1890s. - early 20th century E. Anichkov, A. Veselovsky, V. Lamansky, V. Lesevich, which expanded the subject of the study itself.
But even later, in Soviet folklore, the designation “oral folk art” was used for a long time, which limited the subject of research itself. Along with the importance of the oral transmission of folklore, the collective nature of its creation (or the anonymity of authorship) and variability have always been emphasized.
A common belief is that folklore is "folk art". It is possible that such an interpretation is appropriate in cases where we are talking about the concert performance of folklore. But this kind of "folklore art" is almost always presented in the arrangements and arrangements of professionals, but also "torn out" from the context of folk life.
Note that back in 1938-41. in the work "Russian folklore" Yu.M. Sokolov wrote about the impossibility, due to the close connection of folklore with folk culture, genetic connection with myth, etc., to interpret it only as art and apply the term “oral folk poetic creativity” to it (216, p. 7-8) .
An authority recognized in world science, V.Ya. Propp called folklore verbal creativity and musical-song genres. He wrote: “What is meant by folklore in Western European science? If we take the book of the German folklorist I. Meyer "Deutshe Volkskunde", then we see the following sections there: village, buildings, courtyards, plants, customs, superstitions, language, legends, fairy tales, folk songs. This picture is typical of all Western European science. We call folklore what in the West is called folk traditions, folk poetry. And what is called folklore in the West can be called "popular science homeland studies" [V.Ya. Propp. "Folklore and Reality", 1976, p. 17-18].
V.Ya. Propp wrote: "Folklore is understood only spiritual creativity, and even already, only verbal, poetic creativity. Since poetic creativity is almost always associated with music, we can talk about musical folklore and single it out as an independent scientific discipline” [ibid., p. 18].
The works of domestic researchers of the 20th century reflect ideas about folklore as part of the traditional peasant culture, the remaining layers of culture in the peasant environment over subsequent periods in the history of society. (3. Chicherov V.I. The winter period of the Russian folk agricultural calendar of the 16th-19th centuries. Essays on the history of folk beliefs. M., 1957; Propp V.Ya. Russian agricultural holidays. M., 1963; Rozhdestvenskaya S.B. Russian folk artistic tradition in modern society. M., 1981; Nekrasova M.A. Folk art as part of culture. M., 1983; Chistov K.V. Folk traditions and folklore. Essays on theory. L., 1986. Gusev V.E. Russian Folk Artistic Culture (Theoretical Essays), St. Petersburg, 1993, etc.).
M.S. Kagan associated folklore mainly with peasant creativity and therefore spoke of the extinction of folklore, considered it as pre-art, etc.
V.E. Gusev in the article "Folklore as an Element of Culture" and others writes that three main aesthetic approaches to folklore have now been identified:
1 - folklore is only oral folk art,
2 - folklore is a complex of verbal, musical, dance and entertainment-playing types of folk art,
3 - folklore - this is folk art culture in general, including fine and decorative arts.
The shortcomings of the first approach to folklore lie in the rupture of multifunctional ties that really exist in culture; its correlation only with the word, not noticing its non-verbal syncretic manifestations; studying the specifics of folklore only from the side of language, connections with literature, etc.
The second approach is based on the identification of the artistic specifics of folklore, differentiation between "pictorial" and "expressive" types of artistic activity. In "The Aesthetics of Folklore" V.E. Gusev classified folklore according to the epic, dramatic and lyrical types of art; verbal, musical, dance, theatrical types, etc. He determined the genre specifics of folklore by the artistic form, poetics, everyday use, connection with music, etc. .
In the third approach to folklore, we see the desire to unite in the concept of "folklore" the entire folk culture as a whole, blurring its specific and genre boundaries. Undoubtedly, folk costume (clothes, shoes, jewelry), ritual and ritual objects, musical instruments and even the manner of playing them play an important role in folklore creativity; folk architecture, for example, as a “pictorial and decorative background” on which the action takes place (Russian wedding, etc.). In this regard, we note that there is such a thing as "plastic folklore", that is, folk decorative and fine art (see: 236, 237).
The essential characteristic of folklore by domestic researchers was mainly determined, first of all, by its artistic features, its comparison with literature, which aimed researchers at characterizing it as a specific type of art - "folk art". really, its like art. But in such an approach to folklore, it must have all the specific features of art, as well as the completeness of its characterization as a form of social consciousness.
This leads to an underestimation of folklore, which has a specific connection with both the material and everyday, and with the spiritual and artistic spheres of the historical and cultural process. First of all, folklore is a folk everyday and artistic tradition with a variety of sociocultural functions. K.S. Davletov writes about the most important social function of folklore - "the function of folk history, folk philosophy, folk sociology" (65, p. 16).
Characterizing its sociocultural functions in the past, K.V. Chistov notes that folklore then satisfied not only the artistic needs of the people. “Speaking in modern language, it was both an oral book, and an oral journal, and an oral newspaper, and a form of amateur art, and a way of consolidating and transmitting historical, legal, meteorological, medical and other knowledge” [K.V. Chistov. Folklore and modernity //S.I. Mints, E.V. Pomerantsev. Russian folklore. Reader. M.: Vys. school 1965. p. 453].
We see the reasons for the approaches listed above in defining folklore in the difference in the methodological, philosophical and professional principles of researchers.
Folklore is characterized by a complex interweaving of artistic and non-artistic principles: with some properties it enters the sphere of art, with others it leaves it. Folklore is genetically related to myth in many ways. In addition, the cognitive, aesthetic, ritual and everyday functions in it constitute one syncretic whole, enclosed in a figurative and artistic form.
It is clearly insufficient to look at folklore as merely an oral tradition. The first recorded literature was always or almost always folklore, wrote V.Ya. Propp. Such are the ancient Greek "Iliad" and "Odyssey", the Indian epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana", etc. Medieval writers recorded the ancient German epic "The Song of the Nibelungs", the Old English "Beowulf", Celtic folk tales about King Arthur, Icelandic sagas; The epic “Song of Sid”, “Song of Roland”, etc. are the fruit of knightly creativity. With the spread of literacy, “folk” handwritten books appeared, which were distributed and processed (“The Romance of the Fox”, “The Tale of Doctor Faust”, etc. ).
The first Russian chronicles are associated with folklore traditions and legends. One can note the use of folklore symbols, images, etc. in chronicle sources. Such is the epic "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", discovered in a manuscript in 1792. Count Musin-Pushkin in one of the monasteries. (For Russian culture, the problem of his authorship is no less important than the famous question about the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.)
The writing of medieval Rus' (“the golden age of folklore”) was represented mainly by Christian literature, and only chronicles and folklore performed secular cultural functions. The chroniclers included both historical legends and folklore, even buffoons (for example, "The Prayer of Daniel the Sharpener"). Photius's Moscow annalistic code (XV century) included epics of the Kyiv cycle.
In Rus', a popular popular print was signed, for example, depicting a performance of buffoons: “a bear and a goat are chilling, they are amused by their music,” etc. By the 17th century. include handwritten stories "The Tale of Grief of Misfortune", "The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn", "Shemyakin Court" and others that did not retain the names of the authors, and in essence, are handwritten folklore. In Russia, such a genre of folklore as spiritual poetry was recorded, and this tradition was preserved until the 20th century. Old Believers. Thus, in addition to oral transmission, the first recordings of Russian folklore arose.
This applies even more to the content of Russian folklore of the 18th-19th centuries, for, starting from the second half of XVIII century, peasant folklore was not only recorded, but also published, thanks to which it became widespread in the urban environment. Without limiting folklore to the peasant tradition, it should be recognized that at this time the genres of urban, soldier, etc. folklore were intensively developing.
In Russian folklore, along with the oral tradition, the collective nature of its creation was emphasized. However, talking about both the collective and individual nature of folklore creativity, or the absence of authorship, is a rather difficult problem. “The concept of collectivity, if we take into account real facts, writes K.S. Davletov, can only be applied to the content of folk art, to its quality, specificity, while the question of the dialectics of the individual and the collective, characteristic of folklore, inevitably arises.
Collective nature folk art does not exclude the personal creativity of ancient rhapsodists, bards, akyns, ashugs, storytellers, such Russian storytellers of epics as T.G. Ryabinin and others. Entire families of folk storytellers were found by M.K. Azadovsky in 20-30s. XX century in the villages of Siberia.
M.K. Azadovsky considered folklore creativity not as a relic of antiquity, a tradition of the past, but as a process of living individual creativity, developing within the framework of a folk collective. He noted that the literacy of storytellers is not an obstacle to the development of folklore, but, on the contrary, is a new stimulus for their creativity: “We break with impersonal ethnography, and enter the circle of master artists, where common work is marked by the seal of the bright individuals who create and lead it” . So is K.S. Davletov writes that folklorists have established the existence of quite definite authors for a number of songs, ditties, etc., “whose nationality cannot be denied by any theoretical bias.”
The problem of collective authorship in folk art is manifested in the following way. In folklore creativity, the personal, authorial principle dissolves in the general flow of folk art, when the individual work of a singer, poet, etc., which is transmitted, as folk, to the next generations. The essence of the folklore-creative process is that the new, most often, merges into traditional forms as processing, alteration of old material and then varied by other performers. In this way, folklore reflects the collective consciousness of the people. Collective national consciousness, as a community of "spirit" and subconscious artistic and creative impulses, prevail and therefore in the process of creativity are not divided into personal and general. The identity of the author, therefore, is anonymous, and his creation expresses the very "spirit of the people."
V.Ya. Propp noted that the historical development of folklore shows that there is folklore that arose in prehistoric times in the system of some ritual and survived in oral transmission to the present day, and has variants on an international scale, and folklore that arose in modern times as an individual creativity. , but circulating as folklore.
Of course between ritual folklore, originating from pagan times, and a tourist song, literally transmitted "by ear", there is a significant difference. In the first case, we see the earliest genres of folklore associated with mythological culture, in the second case, we see the modern folklore of amateur poets.
There are such examples of collective creativity as fairy tales, in which the individuality of the author is expressed in the skill of the narrator, his ability to vary, improvise, and perhaps, even in a new way, present its content to the audience.
Calendar and agricultural songs of Russian folklore are an example of collective creativity, historical songs are an example of the anonymity of an author or a group of authors, and lyrical songs, ditties are an example of an author's creative individuality.
Today, many popular songs among the masses, which we consider “folk” (folklore), can often turn out to be a reworking of the poems of one of the little-known (and even well-known) authors of the 19th century, which are set to music by the people and circulated as folklore, and follows them and being.
Genres such as the author's song, which are clearly gravitating towards folklore, reveal their authors when searching. For example, in 40-60 years. 20th century among the students, the songs “Brigantine” (poems were written by the young poet P. Kogan who died in the war) and “Globe” (only three initial stanzas belong to M. Lvovsky, the rest are anonymous authors) spread among the students. The music for these songs was composed by an amateur musician G. Lepsky. These songs were closely associated with self-consciousness and, of course, became the folklore of the 20th century. They are not forgotten today. (“When the soul sings.” The most popular songs of the twentieth century. Compiled by Yu.G. Ivanov. Smolensk, 2004).
The very idea of descending into the folklore of the "higher" cultural strata is not new. At one time in Russian folklore, the idea of Vs. Miller about the creation of epics by princely retinue singers and supporting this idea in the 20-30s. 20th century V.A. Keltuyalu. However, this process still takes place in folklore, both European and domestic. P.G. also paid great attention to this circumstance. Bogatyrev in the article "Folklore as special form creativity” (27, pp. 369-383). We would call this cultural process “folklorization” of everyday cultural material, as V.Ya. Propp.
One of the specific features of folklore is its connection with everyday culture and national professional art.
The problem of tradition in folklore process and innovations in folklore and means that an unambiguous solution to this issue is also impossible.
As we can see, the problem of the specificity of folklore "orality", as well as the "collectivity" of creativity, is closely related both to the problem of authorship and the problem of "folklorization" of literary and other sources. Literary works can also enter the sphere of folklore circulation. For example, children can be told and “played out” the fairy tale “Cinderella” by Ch. Perrault, which children read, and possibly saw in the cinema. The authorship of poems by N.A. is almost lost. Nekrasov, to which the people composed the song “Korobochka”, etc. But as soon as such fairy tales, songs, etc., begin to change among the people, are performed in different ways, variants are created, they already become folklore if they are fixed in folk practice. A characteristic sign of Russian folklore in the XX century. began the "folklorization" of mass choral songs (M. Zakharov, I. Dunaevsky, B. Mokrousov, M. Blanter, etc.), which were sung by the whole people.
Obviously, Russian historical songs, based on factual material and having many specific historical names (including Pugachev, Suvorov, Ataman Platov, and many others), initially had their own authors. It is possible that when writing a song, these authors wrote down their text. But later, as a result of oral transmission, acquiring changes, variants, such a song became folklore. However, the self-consciousness of the authors of these songs is characterized by the use of the plural - “we will intercede”, “we will win”, etc., and in relation to the historical personality - “he said”, etc. Collectivity is reflected in the very nature of the consciousness of folk authors .
So, the problem of collective creativity in folklore should be considered not so much as a problem of personal authorship, but as a problem of collective consciousness of the people. The collective nature of consciousness in folklore does not in any way exclude the presence of personal creativity of individual storytellers, singers, on the contrary, it presupposes it. Ancient legends speak of the creative power of Orpheus, Ossian, Boyan and other singer-poets.
At the same time, the creative power of folklore lies precisely in its collectivity. For example, unlike any theatrical performance, where on the one hand there is the author of the text, actors - performers, etc., and on the other - the audience, in such a folklore action as a traditional wedding ceremony, such a division does not and cannot have such differentiation . Despite the obvious distribution of the social roles of the groom, bride, matchmakers, boyfriends, numerous relatives, as well as the villagers present, they are not spectators, but participants in one traditional folk ritual. On it, the performance of songs, dances, etc., as a rule, is massive.
The French scientist Arnold van Genner noted that folklore is a universal object with a specific element, which is the definition of "folk" (Le folrlore. Raris, 1924, p. 21). The national image of the world reflects the people's mentality, which is the result of the ethnic group's heredity (genetic inclinations in the psyche) and the development of culture (established folk traditions, customs, the preferred choice of a particular religion), which include the historical experience of the ethnic group that has developed in the process of its long formation.
We do not deny the role of the development of social relations, material factors in the formation of the social psychology of the masses, the emergence of differentiated forms of social consciousness as culture develops, because even with respect to the “archetypes” and “symbols” that lie as the “collective unconscious” at the very foundation of culture, K. Jung believed that “only social experience reveals them, makes them visible” (270, p. 92).
K. Jung spoke about the "archetypes" and "symbols" that give rise to the myth, as a single psychobiological foundation that arose at the dawn human history. The origin of such genres of folklore as a fairy tale, folk rituals and some other genres goes back to the problems of myth, magic and the preservation of the rudiments of mythological consciousness in folklore, paganism, which determine the design features of these folklore forms.
We note a long period of cultural development, and a significant difference in the manifestations national character culture, already noted by ancient thinkers. With the similarity of myths among many peoples of the world (in particular, among the Indo-European peoples), we note that the most characteristic manifestation of the national principle in folklore is music, songs, dances, etc., since each ethnic group differs only in one inherent combination of temperament, such as thinking and worldview.
It seems to us that the entire nation, in the aggregate of its classes, estates, etc., is the bearer and custodian of its language, its folklore and original artistic culture, because only in the "ethnic field" does a constant process of folklore artistic creativity take place, which is preserved in the historical the memory of the people as having the specific features of their language, which differs from the folklore language of other peoples.
At the same time, the musical and other non-verbal components of folklore do not lag behind historically unchanged. For several centuries, the Negro population of America has so transformed and synthesized both European and African elements in music, singing, and dance that this folklore began to be perceived as nationally significant for each of the peoples of those countries of America where they live.
V.Ya. Propp brings folklore genetically close not to literature, but to language, “which is also not invented by anyone” and has no authors. It arises and changes quite naturally and independently of the will of people, wherever appropriate conditions have been created for this in the historical development of peoples” (186, p. 22). We can talk about the metaphorical, artistic figurativeness of the folklore language (A.N. Afanasiev, A.N. Veselovsky and others), the specifics of the reflection in the language of folklore and fairy-tale time and space (D.S. Likhachev).
It should be noted that the artistic language of folklore in many cases, to one degree or another, is syncretic and has not only a verbal (verbal), but also a non-verbal sphere of its “I”, which reflects the specificity folk spirit within the boundaries of the artistic reflection of the world.
The concept of "language" can in no way be reduced to the oral and written speech of a person, to the word. It also includes various other ways and forms of receiving, fixing and transmitting non-verbal information (for example, the languages of music, dance, facial expressions, gestures, colors, etc. in folklore), as well as the ability of a person to reproduce it. In the language of folklore, we mark both the verbal sphere (word) and non-verbal (music, dance, game, ritual, folk festival, etc.). A particularly striking ethnic dominant in folklore is its non-verbal linguistic sphere, which reflects the peculiarities of the national temperament, etc. as a result of the subconsciously sensory assimilation of the world. There is even a sensual-unconscious feeling of the Motherland, and a person’s stay in a foreign land causes “nostalgia”, including due to the lack of the usual sound of folk music, songs, dances, etc.
E. Sapir and B. Whorf, who put forward the hypothesis of linguistic relativity, spoke about the conditioning of perception and thinking by the specific structuralization of language (107, p.163). They believe that the language skills and norms of the unconscious determine the images (pictures) of the world inherent in the speakers of a particular language. The difference between these images is the greater, the further the languages are separated from each other. The grammatical structure of the language imposes a way of articulating speech and a description of the surrounding reality. The role of language here is formative. The absence in the language of words to express a number of concepts does not mean the impossibility of their presence in the mind. G.D. also writes about national images of the world. Gachev (42).
Thus, in the communicative and information sphere of folklore creativity, ethnic features manifest themselves in a noticeable and recognizable shell, and one can note not only the verbal side of folklore, but also the specifics of the non-verbal one. Therefore, it is impossible to translate folk dance, music into “another” language (they can only be reproduced, stylized), just as inadequate is the translation of the verbal text of a folk song into another language, which will change its national specifics.
In connection with the above, the interpretation of folklore as oral folk art, with the syncretism of artistic elements and everyday functions of folklore, seems to us unjustified. In folklore, the word appears in synthesis with other elements, the word itself is poetic-rhythmic, musical-intonational, even if it is a narrative (epic recitative, fairy tale, etc.). In historical, drawn-out, lyrical Russian folk songs, the word is combined with a musical melody, a clear rhythm, and often instrumental accompaniment. In fast and dance songs, ditties, the word is all the more connected with motor rhythm, movement, dance, active facial expressions. The artistic syncretism of folklore is also present in the ornamentation of folk clothes, the symbolism of colors, in decorations that are associated with traditional national psychological attitudes. At the same time, syncretism should not be considered a specific feature of the artistic sphere of folklore, the combination of the verbal and non-verbal nature of its language. Folklore syncretism should be understood in a special "totality" of folklore phenomena with folk traditions, holidays, rituals, in which it manifests itself fully as a cultural and aesthetic phenomenon. Nevertheless, in the folk festival, the folklore "accurate" word is the leading component of the action. This is both a proverb and a saying, said at the right time. The word is also organically combined with music in song genres, a ditty, certainly associated with dance, in game genres. In addition to the word, expressive facial expressions, a successful gesture, as well as the observance of traditions are just as important.
For folklorists of the 19th and early 20th centuries, as mentioned above, it is typical to oppose some kind of “pure” peasant folklore, patriarchal folk culture to “corrupting and corrupting” urban influence folklore. They sought to record such disappearing genres as epics and ritual folklore. Folklore theater "Petrushki", folk booths, petty-bourgeois ballad, everyday, gypsy and "cruel" romances, they considered the ditty to be phenomena of the "degeneration" of folklore. Recognizing the aesthetic value of only peasant traditional folklore, folklorists declared the historically inevitable connections with urban creativity and literature to be “disastrous” for it. However, the people loved both booths and puppeteers' rhymes, as the return of "buffoonery".
Folklore, despite long-term contacts with literature and other types of art, exists as a form of mass creativity, quite independently, forming through its specificity, reflecting through the features of folk psychology the “core” of artistic forms and traditions, which also constitutes its specificity, which distinguishes it from other forms of social consciousness, including art. It should be noted that the development of folklore artistic consciousness reproduces not only the former forms and genres of folklore, closely related to folk life, but it also gives rise to innovation as a reflection of changing forms of world perception.
At present, there are several forms of existence of folklore. There is a living form, and there is a historical form of its existence (that which functioned traditionally in the recent past) and has remained for us in the form fixed by folklorists - records, books, notes, objects of material and artistic culture. There is also such a form of today's functioning of folklore as reproduction, which has passed into concert halls, processed by professionals, including in folk choirs, etc.
Less noticeable and we study the folklore of the 20th century proper: the development of amateur creativity of the masses - amateur poetry and song (for example, student, army folklore), new ditties, amateur holidays of laughter, for example, humor, KVN, April 1 holiday, etc., anecdotes, bylichka stories - about poltergeists, drummers, folklorization of bard and mass songs, tourist songs, historical legends, memories of the heroes of the Civil and Great Patriotic War, etc. Obviously, in this case, one should say about a certain time distance necessary for so that this or that new genre, the plot of folklore enters organically into the people's self-consciousness as a blood-native one, and is artistically polished among the masses.
Folklore exists as an unshakable foundation of the national mentality, a collective cultural and aesthetic experience, which is characterized by a special, sensual knowledge of the surrounding world and nature. The artistic specificity of folklore allows us to consider it in the context of the key categories of folk ethics and aesthetics.
All of the above allows us to draw the following preliminary conclusions about the phenomenon that we see behind the concept of "folklore":
Folklore is a manifestation of ordinary artistic consciousness and is characterized by the following level features: syncretism (connection with other forms of social consciousness - myth, religion, art, etc.), active and practical nature, close connection with collective social psychology, wide mass existence, traditional character of the main images and forms.
In this regard, it is necessary to see, first of all, the national identity of folklore artistic consciousness as a whole, which distinguishes it from other forms of social consciousness, including art as a specialized professional, supranational, "reference" form of social consciousness. If in art the forms of artistic expression (creation and reading of the text) are secondary and subject to aesthetic comprehension, then in folklore these two sides are more equivalent, inversion in their semantic interaction is possible.
The main features of the difference between folklore and art as a form of everyday consciousness are the ethnic principle, its qualitatively higher level of artistic and everyday syncretism, etc. In folklore, an aesthetic rethinking of many aspects of everyday consciousness and life is carried out, all of them are designed in the form of a traditional specific folklore text. In part, this circumstance makes folklore related to ritual-ritual, syncretic forms of magic and myth. Speaking about folklore consciousness, it is important to emphasize the special, transformative, formative role of the aesthetic function.
The specificity of folklore consciousness is determined by the regularities of the ordinary level of social consciousness. The identification of folklore artistic consciousness as a special form of social consciousness is possible only in connection with the recognition of the plurality of its aspects behind ordinary consciousness.
The question of the non-differentiation of folklore as a form of social consciousness should be reviewed in connection with historical development society, the emergence of class states, etc., consequently, the development of differentiated levels and forms of social consciousness among which it exists. Folklore, having actually arisen in a tribal-patriarchal society (which is evidenced by the creation of myths, fairy tales, heroic-epic genres, etc.), gradually differentiates from myth, then from other forms of social consciousness, while maintaining its connection with them. It continues to develop and exist in new socio-cultural conditions (for example, antiquity, the Middle Ages, modern times and our days).
Speaking about the specifics of folklore, it is worth dwelling on such a feature of it as social consciousness, in which the collective consciousness prevails over the personal-individual. This allows us to include in the methodological aspect of the study such a phenomenon of social psychology as collective consciousness.
The essence of folklore can be considered not only as a social phenomenon (social consciousness), but also through the knowledge of the individual human psyche, in which there is a layer of the subconscious and the "collective unconscious". This may explain its genetic connection with myth and some of the unconscious impulses in folkloric activity.
It seems to us that folklore consciousness is a wider phenomenon than folklore itself (with its system of types and genres). Folklore consciousness as an artistic consciousness is manifested in all other forms of folk art: arts and crafts, folk crafts, folk architecture, etc.
Folklore is not only "cultural texts" (forms, genres), but also a way of creative people's activity according to their creation, existence (traditions, rituals, etc.), mechanisms for their transmission from generation to generation (peculiar singing "schools", craft artels, etc.). Folklore should be considered in the context of folk culture as an integral system comprehended and regulated by folklore artistic consciousness as a whole.
Comparison of folklore works with data extracted from historical documents is one of the most important methods of historical study of folklore (along with comparative-historical, genetic-typological and other methods).
Folklore researchers are usually interested in historical documents: 1) to identify elements that have passed into writing from the oral tradition; 2) to get acquainted with historical facts that are the same or similar to those depicted in folklore, or 3) to extract facts necessary for historical, everyday, linguistic, etc. commenting on folklore works. This section will deal mainly with the second group.
A comparison of folklore with historical documents is not yet a comparison with historical reality itself. Historical documents are created for specific purposes (social, everyday, legal, political, religious, etc.), and this predetermines the selection of facts, their evaluation and image techniques. As a rule, only that which was of special, heightened interest was fixed, and that which was impossible not to be fixed. Folklore works arise on the basis of the same reality, however, they represent only certain aspects of it and through such techniques that are characteristic of various genres of folklore, their practical purpose or aesthetic function.
The most important problems facing folklorists working with historical documents could be formulated as follows:
a) distinction between “primary” facts, which are a direct reflection of reality, and “secondary” facts, which underwent aesthetic processing in the written tradition and in the oral tradition that preceded it;
b) development or improvement of methods for identifying folklore elements reflected in historical documents for the reconstruction of folklore themes, plots, genres, stylistic devices, etc., contemporary to these documents.
Different types of historical documents contain far from equivalent data for the reconstruction of the history of various folklore genres.
With the relative underdevelopment of the means and methods of accumulating historical knowledge, characteristic of the period of feudalism (especially in its early stages), oral tradition was one of the most important sources and channels for its accumulation, dissemination and preservation. The active use of historical genres (epic and historical songs, legends) in historical documents was also facilitated by the syncretism of the historical, informational and aesthetic functions of both.
For the early stage of the development of writing, it is very difficult to differentiate between historical documents and; literary works, since most of them are ambiguous in nature and function. Historical documents often acquired aesthetic qualities precisely through the use of elements of oral tradition (stylistic, plot, etc.).
In contrast to the so-called historical genres of folklore, fairy tales, lyrical songs and lamentations, if used in historical documents, are mainly used to reflect aspects of reality that have not yet been mastered by writing^; The comparison "historical document - historical folklore" needs further clarification. Along with folklore narratives about historical events of the past (epic past, Sagenplusquamperfekt, etc.) "which should be correlated with written historical writings(chronicles, chronicles, historical stories, etc.), in the oral tradition there have always been stories about the present, which are correlated with a peculiar circle of modern current documentation. Both of them performed primarily the function of actual information. The aesthetic element in stories about the present, as a rule, is derived from the desire to convey information the best way(expressively).
Two levels of current documentation and stories about the present can be distinguished.
A. Local or household level - stories related to "lower" mythology or local Christian "miracles" or unusual events, stories about treasures, local robbers and other incidents. Similar events were reflected, as a rule, in local documentation, sometimes in cases related to lawsuits.
b. Social or political level - stories about wars, political and dynastic or intra-church struggles, which were interpreted in the spirit of peasant aspirations of freedom, legends about "deliverers", about distant "free lands", about anti-feudal uprisings, about robbers whose actions acquired a social character and more or less wide scope, about "miracles" that acquired nationwide social or political significance. The documents corresponding to them are current records in national or local chronicles (chronicles), denunciations, investigative documents, sentences, reports of officials, foreign ambassadors and travelers, private correspondence, etc. , news, news, etc.) received a much wider, sometimes even nationwide distribution; their perpetrators, as a rule, were persecuted, they were opposed by official reports, prohibitions, decrees, etc.
The oral way of transmitting relevant information, dissatisfaction with official interpretations of events, distrust of them forced the narrators (or simply transmitters of "news", "talk", "rumors") to look for their own, sometimes fantastic ways of explaining events (establishing relationships and causes, personification, localization) or make assumptions about the further development of events, etc. At the same time, real facts (not necessarily gradually and only later, as researchers often write about this!), As a rule, immediately, in the process of their primary transmission (mastering, explaining or supplementing the desired ), were intertwined with fiction (conjecture), which, however, did not have an open aesthetic function and purpose, but very often figurative in nature (primarily due to the non-theoretical thinking of the environment in which such stories existed).
In this regard, as the experience of studying Russian materials shows, historical documents reflected not only real facts, but also legends formed in the process of information dissemination, and even events related to the reaction to legends that were perceived as equivalent to facts (for example, legends about tsars or princes - "deliverers", etc.).
The geographical and chronological uneven distribution of stories about the present gave rise to their peculiar relationship with reality. Thus, one can note extremely characteristic and, it would seem, theoretically paradoxical cases:
a) the development of the “legend” could overtake reality (cf., for example, the dating of the legend about the death of Tsarevich Alexei, the son of Peter I, which is discussed in the next chapter);
b) the “legend” could be based on an interpretation quite real facts that retained their historical outlines;
c) at the same time, the facts could be deformed beyond recognition or simply fictional.
The study of historical documents reflecting the process of the formation of oral stories on current political topics, allows you to penetrate into the complex mechanism of multiple convergent origin of plots on the basis of a similar explanation of similar historical events when using running motifs and artistic techniques as a "building material" historical traditions, epic songs, ball frets, fairy tales and other genres. This will be discussed in the chapter "The Legend of the 'Redeemer44 and the Problem of the Repeatability of Folklore Plots'".
ON THE PROBLEM OF DATING FOLKLORE WORKS
For the historical study of folklore, one of the most elementary and, at the same time, the most complex problems, the dating of folklore works, is of no small importance. We called it elementary, since there is no need to prove its importance, practical and theoretical. However, it is always difficult.
A folklore work, as we usually know it in writing, is not only the result of the collective artistic activity of folklore bearers who participated in its dissemination. Any folklore work in one way or another grows out of tradition and, having arisen, undergoes certain changes in the process of existence, which are accumulated and fixed in the text. Therefore, in striving for dating, we should ideally recreate the entire history of the text and at the same time keep in mind that some of its constituent elements could have arisen before the addition of the text whose history we have learned. That is why, as a rule, datings based on the chronological timing of one of the motifs that form the plot of interest to us do not justify themselves.
Recognition of the prehistory of the text and its dynamism (and, in connection with this, the equivalence of variations reflecting various moments of its history) does not remove the question of the time of the initial emergence of this or that folklore work as some kind of relatively stable and qualitatively unique artistic and ideological system. Of course, very different cases can occur in this sense as well. If it is possible, for example, to assert with certainty that the proverb "What a Swede perished near Poltava" did not arise before June 27, 1709, that is, the day of the battle of Russian and Swedish troops near Poltava, then the study of the history of some fairy tale can take us through a series of plot transformations into the archaic depths of primitive folklore. In the latter case, it will not be easy to decide which of the transformations (even if we manage to
renovate their sequence) laid the foundation for the fairy tale known to us in its later quality.
All these difficulties are aggravated by the fact that folklore works are created orally and for oral performance. Therefore, their written fixation (if we are talking about a time when folklore as a science did not yet exist) is always more or less accidental. The vast majority of folklore works are known in later records, and in the end, guesses about their history can only be hypothetical.
All that has been said determines what we have already said - folklore studies are usually forced, like archeology and ethnography, to be satisfied with relative chronology, only occasionally, under especially favorable conditions, breaking through to specific dates (i.e., to absolute chronology).
As the experience of studying Russian epic and historical songs has shown, even the so-called "historical genres" are aimed at a generalized and artistic, and not at an empirical, pragmatic depiction of the historical past. Therefore, only datings based on an analysis of ideas or ideas expressed in an epic or historical song, ballad, fairy tale, etc., that are of interest to us, can have genuine historical reliability. some opportunities in this sense are lost, apparently irretrievably.
The slow development of life, ideas, beliefs, forms of artistic creativity of the feudal peasantry, which was the main carrier of folklore for a long time, determined the centuries-old popularity of many folklore works. On the other hand, the heterogeneity of folklore of any period, the simultaneous existence of archaic and new forms, the usual inclusion of traditional elements in later aesthetic systems for folklore, creates a situation in which folklorists, at best, can establish hypothetical "lower" chronological boundaries of the phenomena known to them and very rarely can say anything about the "upper". It is quite natural at the same time that researchers strive to extract as much as possible from the elements of folklore.
lore work, which could become, in the language of archaeologists, "dating details".
Such, for example, are images or references in the text to any events that actually took place, names known from historical documents, geographical names associated with certain historical episodes, etc.
We will not analyze the folklore practice of comparing folklore and historical facts. Let's just say that the successes or failures of researchers along this path are associated not only with greater or lesser historical erudition, courage or caution of individual scientists. To no lesser extent, they are related to the correct understanding artistic nature folklore zhair, to which the researcher refers. The purpose of the genre, its artistic orientation always determine a certain type of reflection of reality, i.e. attention to some of its aspects and neglect of others, the selection of facts necessary for narration, the way they are aesthetically processed, a peculiar combination of facts of reality and fiction, the nature of this artistic fiction, etc. Thus, for example, historical legends are primarily characterized by an informative function. They greatly value the names of heroes, the names of the places of their activity, the specific features of their individual feat. The aesthetic function of legends, as a rule, is expressed very weakly - their text, as a rule, is amorphous. In contrast, epic heroic songs (for example, Russian epics or epic songs of the southern Slavs) are very developed aesthetically. Their text has distinct formal qualities. Everything in them is subordinated to the depiction of the monumental image of the hero-hero. Consideration of the nature of those elements of epic songs that, it would seem (given the historical orientation of the epic) could be used as "dating details", leads to the conclusion that some of them were held very steadfastly and were directly related to the plot of the epic song, to its main content. Such, for example, are the mentions of Kyiv (or Novgorod) and Prince Vladimir in Russian epics. Without them, the epic is unthinkable, they could not be replaced by anything. However, even in these seemingly clearest cases, well-known chronological riddles arise. In most epics, in which the action takes place in Kyiv or near Kiev, Prince Vladimir appears and the Tatars besiege Kyiv or threaten it. At the same time, the Tatars appeared in Rus' at the beginning of the 13th century, and Prince Vladimir reigned in Kyiv from 978 to 1015. Researchers explain this contradiction in two ways. First: the epics about the siege of Kiev were formed in the X-XI centuries, but they talked about the Polovtsy, who later, under the influence of the events of the XIII-XIV centuries, were replaced by the Tatars. Second: the epics known to us were formed in the “Tatar” time on the basis of idealized memories of the heyday of the ancient Russian state in the 10th-11th centuries. ("epic time"). Thus, even in such cases, dating is debatable. As for the majority of other names and geographical names found in epics, they, apparently, were of secondary importance for storytellers and listeners and could more or less freely be replaced, distorted, forgotten, etc. e. In the chapter "Variability as a problem of the theory of folklore" we demonstrated the variability of the name of the city that Ilya Muromets liberates on the way to Kyiv. The Tatar Khan leading the horde to Kiev can be called Kalin Tsar, Batyga, Mamai, Kudrevanka, Skurla, Badan, Koshish, Idolshts, etc. It is obvious that one should rely on such widely varying details to date the emergence of the epic impossible. Apparently, it was not so important for the performers under which city and which Tatar khan the Russian hero defeated, but it was very important that he defeated him, Ilya Muromets responded, acted during the time of Prince Vladimir and accomplished his feat on the way to Kiev.
It would seem that historical events depicted in folklore are more reliable. The relationship between historical and folklore fact at first glance should be elementary and clear: first something actually happens and only then (or at least relatively simultaneously) this event can find an artistic reflection in folklore. So, for example, there is no doubt that the song about the capture of Kazan could only be composed after Kazan was taken. However, upon closer examination, it turns out that this problem is also quite complicated.
Even with relatively definite indications, it is sometimes difficult to decide which person or event is reflected in a folklore work, since two or more similar historical factors(or individuals). For example, it is not clear which of the historical Vladimirs - Vladimir Svyatoslavovich or Vladimir Monomakh (or both of them) - served as the prototype of the epic Vladimir, what kind of battle on the Kosovo field is depicted in the Serbian epic, etc. In other cases, the event that is depicted in the epic, is even more generalized and it is generally not possible to correlate it with one or another specific historical fact. So, despite the coincidence of the names of the epic and chronicle Dobrynia, so far no one has been able to convincingly enough prove that in the epic
about the battle of Dobrynya with a snake, we are not dealing with a traditional archaic plot, but with a direct reflection of the fact - the baptism of Novgorod by the historical Dobrynek, or at least with the adaptation of an inherited plot to depict this event. The arguments at the disposal of supporters of the historicity of the epic Dobrynya (coincidence of names and tradition allegorical image paganism in ancient writing and ICONON graphics), are neutralized by at least equivalent arguments of their opponents (the name Dobrynya was probably quite widespread in Rus', the plot “fight with a snake” exists in folklore tradition.many peoples as completely independent and not having a mandatory allegorical meaning).196
And, finally, even in the case when, it would seem, there should not have been any doubt about the connection between a folklore motif (or plot) and a certain historical fact, theoretically unforeseen, paradoxical circumstances may occur. Thus, for example, most researchers correlate the Russian historical song "The Wrath of the Terrible on His Son" with the murder of Ivan IV's son in 1581.197 However, this does not prevent dating this song by the most different ways. I will list the dating options: 1581, 1580-1590, first quarter. XVII
V. We will not consider the argumentation of the supporters of each of these dates - it is known. Of considerable interest to us is the suggestion made by V. Ya. Propp and B. N. Putilov (and somewhat earlier, for other reasons, by A. A. Morozov). It lies in the fact that the song could have appeared before 1581.198 This assumption was met with disbelief. It was more customary to think that the song could have arisen after 1581 as a reflection of the real murder of Tsarevich Ivan. “Separate” inconsistencies (not Tsarevich Ivan, but Tsarevich Fedor appears in the song, the Tsarevich was not executed, etc.) did not bother - the song in its original form could “more accurately” reflect historical fact, but in the process of existence be subject to distortions. Here the inertia of distrust towards later records, characteristic of the old folklore, was at work. It was assumed that any distortion could occur. In this regard, we would like to recall an extremely expressive fact that we already mentioned in the book Russian Folk Socio-Utopian Legends of the 17th-19th Centuries,199 and examine it specifically in the aspect that interests us. It seems interesting to us, because, on the one hand, we are talking about a similar historical event - the murder of Tsarevich Alexei by Tsar Peter I, on the other hand, it seems possible to operate not with more or less convincing logical arguments, but with a reliably dated document, indicating that the legend of Peter's attempt on his son's life arose at least 13 years before his actual death.
In 1705, Peter's ambassador in Paris, A. A. Matveev, wrote to General-Admiral F. A. Golovin about a rumor that had penetrated from Russia through Poland to France: “From Paris, November 17, 1705 .. . Moreover, he (Deberville, a French royal official, - K. Ch.) asked me if it was true that this month (the number is illegible - K. Ch.) their king wrote from Poland with the Post that our great sovereign at the amusements of some, he was angry with his son. He ordered Prince Alexander (that is, Prince A. D. Menshikov, - K. Ch.) to execute him, who, having mercy, then ordered an ordinary soldier to be hanged instead of his son.
The next day, the sovereign seemed to miss: “Where is my son?” Then Prince Alexander said that something had been done to him, which he indicated. Then, from sadness, he seemed beside himself. Then Prince Alexander came, saw that the sovereign felt sorry for him; immediately in front of him alive the prince brought, which caused joy inscrutable to him. 200
The retelling of A. A. Matveev is very reminiscent of the song "The wrath of the Terrible on his son." This document gave occasion II. I. Kaletsky, who met him through the faulty publication of S. M. Solovyov, to consider that we are talking about -
about the prose transmission of a song about the Terrible, in which Peter replaced the Terrible, Alexei - Fedor,201 and Menshikov - Nikita Romanovich. The study of the legends about Alexei showed that there is no basis for such a conclusion. A. A. Matveev retold one of his contemporary and completely independent legends about Tsarevich Alexei. In those years, there were other stories about Peter's assassination attempt on Alexei.202 Considering that the conflict between Tsar Peter and his son was very protracted (it began as early as 1697-1698, during the Streltsy rebellion in Moscow, and lasted until 1718 d.), then it should be recognized that the popular imagination overtook the real development of events and created a plot that did not rely on already existing facts, but naturally followed from the situation of a protracted conflict that worried the whole country.203 It should be noted that such a possibility is not allowed when study of the relationship between folklore works and reality.
In the XIX - early XX century. developed the basic methods of recording and studying folklore.
Method of "Included observation"(used in the stationary form of collecting work). When using this method, conditions for easy communication are created during the collection of material. Informants constitute the natural communicative environment of the collector. The specificity of the collection work is that the texts are recorded in the situation of a conversation, but not a specially organized interview, so in such an environment it is not always possible to use a voice recorder, some of the texts are recorded from memory. The advantages of the material collected in this way are that the texts are observed in a natural setting, the conversation with the informant is provoked only by the interest of the collector, and not by the questions of the questionnaire. At the same time, the context of the conversation, status, gender and age characteristics of the interlocutors are fixed. The disadvantages of collecting material by the method of "participant observation" include, firstly, a small number of texts, which is determined by the conscious inactive position of the collector, and secondly, the inaccuracy of fixing texts (both phonetic characteristics and designations of rhythmic periods of conversation, separate introductory words necessary for the analysis of illocutionary attitudes of the text.
Statistical method(was developed by B.K. Malinovsky) - is carried out on the basis of drawing up maps and tables.
System (complex) method involves a comprehensive study of folklore, in relation to certain everyday, ethnographic realities.
cartographic method aims to identify the geography of distribution of certain genres of folklore, the study of folklore phenomena "in space and time." This strategic method for long-term research. Mapping can be carried out according to ethnic, territorial, temporal principles and allows you to trace the prevalence and forms of existence of folklore genres among various peoples and ethnic groups in different periods of their history. The study of folklore by the method of mapping requires a lot of preparatory organizational and collecting work, and, as a rule, requires the unification and coordination of folklorists. Thus, a mapping program is preliminarily drawn up, work is carried out to identify and systematize the available materials, gaps are identified, special maps are compiled, and principles for applying materials to the map are developed.
In the XIX - early XX century. the main directions (schools) of researchers of folk art were formed.
founder mythological school became a folklorist f.I. Buslaev, who, following the brothers Grimm, established the connection between folklore, language, mythology, singled out the principle of the collective nature of the artistic creativity of the people.
School of Borrowing pointed out the amazing similarity of many folklore works among the peoples of the West and the East, raised the question of cultural and historical ties between the folk art of different peoples. The borrowing theory found many followers in Russia (G.N. Potanin, F.I. Buslaev).
The most influential in the XIX - early XX century. was historical school. The principles of the historical school finally took shape in the mid-1990s. HGH c. in the generalizing work of V. F. Miller “Essays on Russian Folk Literature”. So, the researcher of epics, for example, had to answer four basic questions: where, when, in connection with what historical events it was created and what poetic sources its creators relied on. They studied the monuments of folklore and ancient Russian literature, extracting from the annals numerous parallels with real story people. This is how the prototypes were set up. epic heroes, titles, and real events, which formed the basis of the plot situations of epics.
Despite the harsh criticism of opponents who reproached scientists for the "theory of the aristocratic origin of epics", the traditions of the historical school in Russian folklore of the 20th century. developed.
So, B.A. Rybakov, answering his opponents, insisted on clarifying the deep connections of the epic with the specific history of Ancient Rus'. In his research, Rybakov made extensive use of chronicles, historical and archeological facts 14 .
Among the modern methods or approaches to the study of folklore, it is necessary to name typological, explaining not individual facts, but establishing patterns. Thus, typological similarity is manifested in the folklore of different peoples in a specific type of folk art (orality, collectivity, traditionalism, variability, etc.). Typologically similar forms and ways of being. Typology explains those striking facts of similarities and coincidences that cannot be explained either by borrowing or by the genetic relationship of peoples.
Thus, the variety of approaches in the study of folk art spoke of the attempts of folklore, which is undergoing its formation, to cover the entire subject as a complex system of many genres.
In the 20th century, for a number of folklorists, the methods of formal research became an alternative to the simplified sociological approach: structural-typological method analysis, involving the identification of invariant models of genres, plots, motives and historical-typological method, involving the study of folklore works in a historical and ethnographic context.
The processes of the history of folklore explores historical poetics, created as a special direction by A.N. Veselovsky. Within its framework, poetic genera, genres, stylistic systems are considered - both in general and in their specific manifestations. Historical poetics explores the connections of oral folk art with written literature, music, and visual arts.
Recently, there has been a clear trend towards a comprehensive study of folklore, language, mythology, ethnography, folk art as components of a single culture of the people.
Any method involves reliance on facts. New technologies have entered the life of folklorists that improve the accuracy and quality of records, simplify the mechanical operations of accounting and systematizing material, and finding the necessary information.
There are centers for philological, musicological, choreographic study of folk art, regional folklore centers and houses of folk art with their own archives, periodicals and scientific publications.
The study of folk choreography. A special problem is learning Russian traditional dance. It should be noted that even today, in many respects, folklore dance remains poorly understood, and our ideas about it are more often based not on scientific facts, but on “myths”. The root cause of the current situation should be sought in the apparent insufficiency of expeditionary research practice. Comparing two closely related areas of ethnography: ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology, it is impossible not to notice a huge difference in their development. Over the past two centuries, thousands of folk songs have been recorded in Russia, hundreds of song collections have been published. During the Soviet period, a number of research centers appeared with extensive audio funds, which are systematically replenished and processed. Constant scientific research and discussions have allowed the formation of several schools of ethnomusicologists.
The situation with ethnochoreology was quite different. Recordings and publications of authentic dances were extremely rare. The descriptions of the dances were not given in exact accordance with the authentic originals, but in adaptations or in the author's interpretation and were often passed off as originals. There was practically no research on folk terminology. Specialists studying folk dance were not trained by any educational institution, which did not contribute to the emergence of an extensive and fruitful scientific discussion.
In 1987, the International Folk Dance Forum was held in Novgorod under the auspices of UNESCO. Forum participants from different countries adopted recommendations for Russian choreographers, which included 18 points. Let's list some of the recommendations: “raising the question of the need for serious training of choreographers in folk traditions”; “organization of creative workshops and scientific symposiums”; "creation of a working group to clarify the terms used in folk choreography and choreology"; "creation of national archives of folk dances...".
All these questions remain relevant and practically unresolved today. To increase the level of knowledge of folk dance, the regional nature of traditional dance should become the basis for future research. In the all-Russian choreographic tradition, several
Rybakov B.A. Ancient Rus'. Legends. Epics. Chronicles. - M., 1963.
Original regional performing styles that differ in dance vocabulary, performance style and genre and repertoire composition. It is this originality of different regions that makes up the richness of Russian traditional dance.
However, recently there has been a positive trend in addressing the origins of Russian folk choreography, work has begun on finding and fixing authentic originals of folk choreography, which in the last five years has become the subject of expeditionary practice by many folklore and research teams. New repertory collections have appeared, scientific research in the field traditional choreography, a more active appeal of choreographers to folk themes give hope for the further development of research on folk choreography in Russia, including in the study of the entire spectrum of Russian regional dance styles.
Methods of studying folk art (arts and crafts and folk arts and crafts). The study of folk art is one of the youngest branches of the humanities. This branch of science takes shape in the second half of the 19th century. During this period, the foundations of folklore were laid, in parallel with the study of folklore, the collection of objects of Russian antiquity began. The first archaeological excavations and archival research are being undertaken. The concept of national heritage is expanding, the first publications appear. Of great importance are the works of the outstanding philologist, a brilliant connoisseur of Russian literature F. I. Buslaev, who turned to the most important problems of the origin, evolution, and also the nationality of Russian art. Buslaev raised the question of the close connection and interaction of folk poetry with folk art, publishing a number of interesting, previously unknown monuments.
I. E. Zabelin, who was among the scientists who first turned to the study of the history of the culture of our country, considered Russian art as a deeply original phenomenon. He owns the idea of a national, original system of artistic thinking, inherent in Russian traditional art.
The founder of the science of Russian arts and crafts was V. V. Stasov, he first revealed the artistic value of contemporary peasant art, seeing in it deep connections with ancient culture, and sought to oppose the original beginning of ancient Russian art to Byzantine influence. For us, the significance of his works, in essence the first serious analytical work in the field of folk art, is extremely great. Stasov's innovation was also reflected in the fact that he considered works of folk art not only as objects for collecting: he suggested that contemporary artists use folk art in their practice as genuine art with deep national traditions. However, defending the originality of Russian culture, Stasov attached too much importance to the influence of the cultures of the Middle and Near East on it.
At the end of the XIX century. interest in folk life and creativity is expanding more and more. There are various publications not only of ancient monuments, but also of works of contemporary folk art.
At the end of XIX - beginning of XX century. the press reflects the attempts of a number of zemstvo figures, including artists who worked directly with handicraftsmen, to support the declining crafts, to preserve the treasures of folk art. So, S. A. Davydova left a number of works on women's folk crafts, in particular on Russian lace, the history of this traditional craft, production techniques, and individual lace-making centers. In the collection "Handicraft Industry of Russia" were published interesting information in such women's crafts as embroidery, gold embroidery, weaving.
During this period, zemstvo organizations played a very significant role in the fate of folk crafts. Surveys of handicraft industries undertaken by them, with the aim of providing them with real assistance, are recorded in reports, articles, reference books. The information carefully collected by Zemstvo figures on statistics, economics of crafts and production techniques is the most valuable factual material for scientific research. Zemstvo organizations published multi-volume illustrated collections of handicrafts throughout Russia and individual regions, descriptions of folk art exhibitions, and proceedings of congresses of handicraft industry workers.
At the beginning of the XX century. there are studies on certain types folk art production, which is revealed as a great national art.
So, during the years 1910-1912. 12 releases of the album by A. A. Bobrinsky were published, united by a common name. It was a great contribution of the author to the culture of Russia. Albums
introduced readers to the treasures of Russian art, and also served as material for the work of researchers and artists. Bobrinsky's work is the richest source of extensive material not only conscientiously collected, but also systematized by the author. Here, for the first time, an attempt was made to accurately indicate the places of existence of most of the products.
Along with such works generalizing a wide range of material as Bobrinsky's albums, publications appear devoted to individual folk crafts, with a description of the history of their occurrence and production techniques.
A prominent role in the study of folk art was played by N. D. Bartram, an artist by profession, the organizer of the Toy Museum, unique in its collection. In the past, a member of the Zemstvo, who worked with handicraftsmen, he paid great attention the study of the economics of fisheries. Among the artists - members of the "World of Art" association, who defended aesthetic views, an environment that seemed to be far from the problems of the development of folk art, there is the greatest interest in it. A. Benois, speaking about the originality of folk art, ardently protests against the forcible introduction into crafts alien influences leading to decline - artistic culture. The same thoughts are heard in the articles by I. Bilibin, I. Grabar, who speak of the need to save folk art at all costs from the death that threatens it.
At the end of the XIX century - the beginning of the XX century. museums are active. The Stroganov School, the Moscow Historical Museum and others systematically collect materials on national art, organize expeditions to different regions of Russia. Among private collections, the unique collection of Russian costumes from different provinces and various items of folk arts and crafts by N. Shabelskaya are especially valuable. The publication of outstanding examples of folk art belonging to Shabelskaya was devoted to special issue magazine "Studio". Thus, in the second half of the nineteenth century at the beginning of the twentieth century. valuable material was collected, comprehended and partially published.
A new stage in the study of folk art begins after the revolution. In the context of the development of Soviet culture, a new attitude to folk art is emerging, which contributed to the emergence of a branch of art criticism devoted to the problems of the art of folk crafts and the study of their origins. Domestic science of the Soviet period sought to actively intervene in the fate of crafts, its main goal was to promote the development of folk art. Many works of the 1920s and 1930s are a sharp controversy on the issue of restoring the foundations of folk art. Therefore, the issues of studying the best traditions of Russian art and their creative processing become especially relevant. Among the achievements of Soviet science is the organization of exhibitions in the State Historical Museum in 1922-1923, which for the first time widely familiarized the public with peasant creativity. These were the first scientifically built expositions, where extensive material was systematized. Strictly scientific selection of material allowed scientists to identify certain patterns in the development of folk art, to make a number of theoretical generalizations.
The work “Peasant Art” by V. S. Voronov, one of the leaders of expeditions and organizers of exhibitions in the Historical Museum, is of particular importance for domestic art history. In it, issues of local originality were scientifically developed. V. S. Voronov develops a convincing method for describing and analyzing monuments of folk art, which makes it possible to reveal its specificity. In the works of Voronov, devoted to carving and painting on wood, the provisions are further developed, only outlined in their time in the writings of Bobrinsky; Voronov gives a classification folk ornament and establishes the existence of schools of artistic painting: Severodvinsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Gorodets. This classification has been preserved in art history to the present day.
In the 1920s and 1930s, issues of folk art were of interest to a wide range of researchers. The works of archaeologists and ethnographers make a great contribution to the comprehensive study of folk art. Among the historical and archaeological works, an article by V. A. Gorodtsov is significant, dedicated to the issue origin of a number of ancient motifs preserved in folk art. His work contains detailed iconography of ancient images that have become traditional in folk art.
The works of ethnographers based on the field collection of material, containing detailed descriptions of household items, the technique of their production, and ornamental decorations, are extremely valuable. The most interesting and fully covered issues related to folk clothes, in the works of N. P. Grinkova, M. E. Sheremetyeva, N. I. Lebedeva, E. N. Kletnova.
In the 1930s, along with extensive collecting and scientific activity, a great deal of practical work began directly with the existing folk crafts. During these years, the Handicraft Museum (now the Museum of Folk Art) launched an active activity, on the basis of which the Scientific Research Institute of the Art Industry (NIIKhP) was created in 1931, which carried out the artistic management of crafts. Such prominent scientists as V. S. Voronov, A. V. Bakushinsky, and later V. M. Vasilenko became the heads of the Institute. The collection of material in museums and crafts was carried out by L. I. Sviontkovskaya-Voronova, the author of a serious work on carved bone, V. Ya. Yakovleva, Z. D. Kashkarova, and E. G. Telyakovsky.
This period was most vividly reflected in the works of the prominent scientist A. V. Bakushinsky, who combined scientific, literary work with practice. He found new methodology research and analysis of works of folk art.
Research methods and views of A. V. Bakushinsky are further developed in the works of V. M. Vasilenko, created on the basis of the extensive material he collected. M. Vasilenko in his works of the 30s, devoted to certain types of crafts, gives a vivid description of folk art, focusing on the art of the pre-Soviet period. His monograph "The Northern Carved Bone" is dedicated to the Kholmogory carvers.
As a result of the activities of the 1930s in the field of science and practical work with crafts, the Institute of Art Industry prepared a collection "Folk Art of the USSR in Artistic Crafts". A. V. Bakushinsky, V. M. Vasilenko, V. S. Voronov, G. V. Zhidkov, E. M. Schilling and others took part in writing the articles. The form told about the creative achievements of the masters of folk art over the two decades of Soviet power.
A new stage in the development of art history is associated with the works of Russian scientists in the post-war period, which is characterized by an appeal to a much wider range of materials that were previously unknown.
A significant event in historical science was the publication of the work of B.A. Rybakov "The Craft of Ancient Rus'", summing up the long-term research work author in the field of archeology. Rybakov's extensive work introduced scientists to a whole group of previously unknown wonderful decorative items made by masters of the distant past. New archeological data made it possible to speak more confidently about the degree of development of folk crafts in ancient times, their prevalence and diversity.
The study of the origins of folk art made it possible to raise the question of its origin, development and specifics more broadly. Deepening the research of V. A. Gorodtsov, Rybakov pays great attention to the origin of folk ornament motifs, emphasizing their artistic significance and trying to find a link between the compositions that exist in modern embroidery and their ancient prototypes.
L. A. Dintses worked in the field of studying the roots of Russian folk ornament; his works “Ancient Features in Russian Folk Art”, “Russian Clay Toy” are devoted to this topic. Among ethnographers, E. E. Blomqvist, N. I. Lebedeva, and G. S. Maslova dealt with issues related to folk art. The extensive material collected by them contains valuable and detailed information about public dwelling, clothing, patterned weaving.
Thus, the fundamental works of historians and ethnographers, articles and publications in the journals "Soviet Ethnography" and "Soviet Archaeology" contained a lot of new data on the development of Russian culture.
In the 40-50s, the leading works in Soviet art criticism were the works of A. B. Saltykov. Working mainly in the field of ceramics, he touched upon in his writings a number of common problems development of folk art, continuing what Stasov, Voronov, Bakushinsky started. He was the first to pose many questions about the specifics of decorative art. A. B. Saltykov focused on issues of tradition and innovation, wrote about the features of the solution artistic image in the work of folk masters, dealt with the problem of synthesis, as characteristic feature decorative arts.
A. B. Saltykov's method consisted in a creative approach to traditional art: he was looking for ways to use the traditions of the past in modern art, in relation to modern life.
For the Research Institute of the Art Industry, the post-war years were a period of intense activity for the further collection and publication of materials on
folk art and practical work with crafts. Collective work begins on the creation of a series of books "Artistic crafts of the RSFSR". Thus, all modern Russian crafts were represented, many of which had not previously been covered in the literature. Processing expeditionary materials, comparing them with things from museum collections lead to new discoveries, make it possible to clarify the centers of crafts, to localize art schools. Particularly interesting results are obtained by complex expeditions of employees of institutes and museums: historians, architects, and art historians. I. E. Grabar played a leading role in organizing this work.
The State Russian Museum in Leningrad published a number of works dedicated to folk wooden sculpture, embroidery and lace.
It is necessary to mention the contribution to the science of folk art made by local collectors M. Rekhachev, D. V. Prokopiev, M. P. Zvantsev, I. N. Shatrov, who published a number of monographic studies on individual folk crafts in the pre-war years and after the war.
Among scientific publications the works of V. M. Vasilenko are significant. His monograph "The Art of Khokhloma" is devoted to the issue of stylistic artistic features Khokhloma painting. A big event was the organization in 1957 of the publication of the journal "Decorative Art of the USSR", on the pages of which articles are published on various issues folk art. The first issue of the magazine was entirely devoted to folk art.
Big role The work of M. A. Ilyin “Russian Decorative Art” (M., 1959), translated into several foreign languages, played in the popularization of Russian folk art.
In 1960, the work of S. M. Temerin “Russian Applied Art” was published, highlighting the work of both craftsmen and industrial artists. The author paid great attention to the Soviet applied art of the 30s, which is very little touched upon in the literature, and characterized it from the standpoint of contemporary aesthetic views.
At the present stage, there are certain difficulties in the analysis of sources, since the newly published works are mainly of a highly specialized art criticism nature.
By studying the works of folk art created in different periods, one can identify in the techniques of craftsmanship, in plots and ornaments, a living connection with the centuries-old national culture. In the conditions of handicraft production, there was also an active assimilation of the achievements of simultaneously working masters. Technical improvements, inventions and new motifs, plots and compositions quickly became common property.
Common were not only the skills of work in the field of embroidery, weaving, painting and wood carving, but also the range of things created, their shape and the nature of the decorative design. As a result, the traditional circle of images and techniques of folk decorative art was continuously enriched with new themes, motifs and plots.
It can be assumed that at present art crafts are both an industry and an area of folk art.
Combination of tradition and innovation, style features And creative improvisation, collective started and the views of an individual, man-made ™ products and high professionalism are characteristic features of the creative work of craftsmen and crafts artists.
per century technical progress, machines and automation, standard and unification of handicrafts, made mainly by hand, mostly from natural materials have taken on special significance.
Thus, to date, the following issues of research into folk art have emerged:
1. Ethnological research revealing relationships traditional way life, national character and the originality of the artistic creativity of a particular people.
2. Folklore studies, fixing samples of folk art and studying the history of Russian folklore.
3. Art studies aimed at analyzing the artistic and aesthetic features of amateur art (self-taught artists, amateur authors).
4. Sociological research that reveals the role and place of NHC in the life of an ethnic group, trends and social factors of development.
5. Pedagogical research of the NHC, helping to determine the spiritual and moral values and Creative skills personality in the process of non-professional artistic activity.
Modern Russian scientists use a variety of scientific research methods:
empirical methods; questioning; observation; testing, conversations, sociometry; analysis
and content analysis; system analysis; pedagogical modeling; pedagogical
experiment that allows them to perform theoretical studies NHC (identification of the essence, principles, functions, patterns of development of NHT) and applied research (study of specific processes and phenomena in the development of NHT).
Questions and tasks for self-examination:
1. Expand the essence of the concept of "folklore"
2. Tell us about the main stages in the development of Russian folklore.
3. Describe the research methods of folk art (arts and crafts).
4. List the main methods of collecting and studying folk art.
5. Prepare a report on the topic “Formation and development of Russian folklore”, “The first collections of folklore works in Russia”, “Creativity of outstanding collectors and researchers of folklore (Kireevsky, V.I. Dal, A.N. Afanasyev, G.S. Vinogradov , E. A. Pokrovsky, V. Y. Propp, B. N. Putilov and others, to choose from)”.
Bibliography
1. Azadovsky M.K. History of Russian folklore. - M.: Uchpedgiz, 1958. T. 1. - 479 s; 1963. V.2. -363 p.
2. Asafiev B.V. About folk music / Comp. I.I. Zemtsovsky, A.B. Kunanbaeva. - L .: Music, 1987. -247 p: notes.
3. Banin A.A. Russian instrumental music of the folklore tradition. - M .: Publishing house of the state. rep. center of Russian folklore, 1997. - 247 p.: notes.
4. Bogatyrev Ts.G. Questions of the theory of folk art. - M.: Art, 1971. - 544 p.
5. Veselovsky A.N. Historical poetics / Ed., entry. Art. and note. V.M. Zhirmunsky. - L.: Goslitizdat, 1940. - 364 p.
6. East Slavic folklore: Dictionary of scientific and folk terminology / Ed. V.E. Guseva, V.M. Gatsak; Rep. ed. K.P. Kabashnikov. - Minsk: Navuka i tekhshka, 1993. - 478 p.
7. Gippius E.V. Review of the most important collections of musical recordings of Russian folk songs from the 60s of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century // Materials and articles for the 100th anniversary of the birth of E.V. Gippius / Ed.-ed.: E.A. Dorohova, O.A. Flank. M.: Composer, 2003. S. 59-111.
8. Gusev V.E. Russian folk art culture (theoretical essays) / St. Petersburg, Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography. - St. Petersburg, 1993. - 110 p.
9. Eremina V.I. ritual and folklore. - L.: Nauka, 1991. - 207 p.
10. Ivanova T.G. Russian folklore studies of the beginning of the 20th century in biographical sketches. - St. Petersburg: Dmitry Bulanin, 1993.-203 p.
11. Mints SI., Pomerantseva E.V. Russian folklore: Reader. 2nd ed. - M.: Higher. school, 1971. -416s.
12. Putilov B.N. Folklore and folk culture. - St. Petersburg: Nauka, 1994. - 240 p.
13. Rudneva A.V. Russian Folk Musical Creativity: Essays on the Theory of Folklore. - M.: Composer, 1994. - 222 p.: notes.
14. Russian thought about musical folklore. Materials and documents / Comp. P.A. Wolfius. - M.: Music, 1979. - 367 p.: notes.
15. Russian folk poetry: Reader on folklore / Comp. SOUTH. Round. -M.: Higher. school, 1986. - 535 p.
16. Slavic Antiquities: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary: In 5 volumes / Ed. N.I. Tolstoy. - M.: International relationships, 1995. Vol. 1: (A-D). - 584 s; 1999. Vol. 2: (D-K). - 704 s; 2004. V. 3: (K-P). -704 p.
17. Bibliographic series "Russian Folklore", founded by M.Ya. Meltz: Russian folklore: Bibliographic index. 1945-1959 / Comp. M.Ya. Meltz. - L .: Publishing House of the Library of the Academy of Sciences, 1961. - 402 s; Same. 1917-1944. L., 1966. - 683 s; Same. 1960-1965. L., 1967. - 539 p.; Same. 1901-1916. L., 1981. - 477 p.; Same. 1966-1975. L., 1984. Part 1. - 420 s; 1985. Part 2. - 385 s; Same. 1976-1980 / Comp. T.G. Ivanova. L., 1987. - 399 s; Same. 1881-1900. L, 1990. - 500 s; Same. 1981-1985. SPb., 1993. -
543 s; Same. 1800-1855. St. Petersburg: Dmitry Bulanin, 1996. - 262 p.; Same. 1991-1995. SPb., 2001. -642 p.
18. From the history of Russian Soviet folklore. - L.: Nauka, 1981. - 277 p.
19. From the history of Russian folklore. - L .: Nauka, 1990. Issue. 3. - 278 s; Same. - St. Petersburg: Dmitry Bulanin, 1998. Issue. 4-5. - 598 p.
20. Mapping and areal research in folklore: Sat. Art. / Comp. O.A. Flank. - M., 1999. - 220 p. (Proceedings of the State Russian Academy of Sciences named after the Gnessins; Issue 154).
21. Methods of studying folklore: Sat. scientific tr. / Rev. Ed.: V.E. Gusev. - L.: Lenizdat, 1983. - 154 p. (Folklore and folkloristics; Issue 7).
"Old Russian folklore as a means of expressing self-consciousness and a historical source"
Content:
Introduction
______________________________ __________________________3
I main part _________________________ _________________________4
1. What is folklore ______________________ _________________________-
2. Factors that influenced the formation of folklore _____________________ 5
3. The difference between literature and folklore ______ ___________________________7
4. About the genres of Russian folklore ___________ __________________________9
5. Functions of folklore _____________________ ________________________10
6. Mythological representations in non-ritual folklore ____________12
II About some folklore genres ________________________ ______14
- Epics ________________________ ______________________________ -
Historical songs _________________________ _________________15
Song lyrics ________________________ _____________________16
Conspiracies ______________________ _____________________________ 21
List of used literature ____________________ ___________23
Introduction.
Folklore has repeatedly been the subject of study as part of the culture of Ancient Rus' and the culture of the previous so-called "prehistoric" time. In particular, folklore often served as material for establishing ritual and magical concepts and ideas generated by the traditional agrarian and agricultural occupation of the population of Rus'.
Folklore is poetic creativity that grows on the basis of labor activity humanity, reflecting the experience of millennia. Folklore, being older than written literature and passed from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, is the most valuable source for understanding the history of every nation, no matter what stage of social development it is at.
Folklore is still a significant part of modern culture. It reflected the whole set of psychological-pedagogical and religious-magical views, ethical and aesthetic ideals of the ethnos, its poetic and musical talent, artistry, the history of family and marriage relations, folk humor and rich word creation. That is why representatives of various branches of knowledge turn to the study of folklore, including, in addition to folklorists, for example, ethnographers and linguists, philosophers and historians, psychologists, lawyers, artists, clergymen, teachers, etc.
The significance of folklore as a cultural heritage and, at the same time, modern folk art, as a material important for studying the philosophy of a people, its history and art, has now become theoretically generally recognized. The study of ancient Russian folklore is necessary to comprehend the folk mentality as the basis of ancient culture. Without knowledge of the history and customs of their people, without introducing a young man to folk culture it is impossible to raise a worthy citizen of the Fatherland. That is why I consider the topic of my essay relevant.
Main part.
I.1 . What is folklore
Until now, disputes about what folklore is, what is its specificity have not ceased. This question is far from idle. Folklore is not just folk epics and songs, fairy tales and legends, proverbs and charms. Folklore is a special kind of information, a special kind of folk art, a special form of collective creativity.
Yu.M. Sokolov gave a general definition of folklore, the most accepted to date. “Folklore,” he wrote, “should be understood as the oral poetic creativity of the broad masses of the people.”
The word "folklore" is gradually replacing such equivalent terms as "oral literature" and even "folk poetry". The English word "folklore", i.e. folk wisdom, folk tradition, is most often used in relation to folk poetic art, but along with this they also talk about musical and visual folklore. This term is international, although in different countries it is understood far from being the same.
Folklore is poetry created by the people and existing among the masses, in which it reflects its labor activity, social and everyday way of life, knowledge of life, nature, cults and beliefs. Folklore embodies the views, ideals and aspirations of the people, their poetic fantasy, richest world thoughts, feelings, experiences, protest against exploitation and oppression, dreams of justice and happiness. This is an oral, verbal artistic creativity that arose in the process of the formation of human speech. M. Gorky said: “... The beginning of the art of the word is in folklore”
In a pre-class society, folklore is closely connected with other types of human activity, reflecting the rudiments of his knowledge and religious and mythological ideas.
2. Factors that influenced the formation of folklore.
The features of the formation of ancient Russian culture are revealed already at the initial stage of the formation of the ethnic self-consciousness of the Slavs, before the adoption of Christianity by Russia and have a close connection with those times that the Slavs themselves called the "Trojan Ages" or the old time. “There were, brothers, the times of Troyan,” writes the author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign. She calls Boyan "the old Nightingale", and Prince Igor "the mighty grandson of Troyanov."
The memory of this time is also preserved in folklore: the names of the distant ancestors of Russian heroes are mentioned in songs and epics, but nevertheless, the very space of ancient Russian culture begins to be created from the finally determined “place of development”.
Among the factors that influenced the formation of the core of Russian culture, natural and climatic conditions were of paramount importance, and they, in turn, were determined by the peculiarities of the geographical location. How did the relations of the Slavs develop with the space surrounding them? The forest played a significant role in the formation of the “life and concepts” of a person in ancient Rus'. He became a habitat and provided the ancient Slavs with a wide variety of "services". The forest fed, clothed, shod, warmed the ancient Slavs, served as the most reliable refuge from enemies. Despite this, the man was afraid of the forest, inhabiting it with all sorts of fears.
The understanding of space in Russian culture took place through the steppe. It formed an attitude to space as the absence of visible boundaries and limits, and at the same time as a threatening space, beyond which the "unknown" side began, alien, encroaching on the space, which in the minds of the ancient Slavs was already designated as "one's own", images of Russians heroes in oral folk art embodied the desire to protect themselves from this danger, thus, the steppe and the forest combined two opposite principles - infinity and border, elements and the desire to organize space.
Perhaps only the river gave the ancient Slavs a clear system of coordinates, formed the skills of joint activities, organization and order.
The natural conditions were supplemented by the peculiarities of the climate, which in turn influenced the formation of the type of economic activity, psychological make-up, habits, traditions - everything that is called the mentality of the people. The climatic conditions of the East European Plain - the zone of settlement of the Eastern Slavs in the 6th century - differed from those in which the idea of labor was formed among the peoples of Western European countries. The continental climate, with its long and cold winters, short springs, hot summers and short autumns, demanded from the farmer an enormous exertion of strength during the period of suffering and a leisurely and contemplative attitude to work during the winter.
The complexities of climatic conditions formed the idea of labor activity as an intermittent process. During the harvest, as well as "reclaiming" the space for cultivating the land from the forest, the role of collective labor increased. This is how collectivism developed, the prerequisites for individualism were poorly visible, since there were no motives for competitiveness in labor. Working in a team, people did not seek to stand out among others, since collective activity was more effective.
This was the circumstance that ensured the development of folk poetry in the past, according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, the absence of "sharp differences in the mental life of the people." “The mental and moral life,” he points out, “is the same for all members of such a people - therefore, the works of poetry generated by the excitement of such a life are equally close and understandable, equally sweet and related to all members of the people.” In such historical conditions, works appeared created by "the whole people, as one moral person." Thanks to this, folk poetry permeates the collective principle. It is present in the appearance and perception by listeners of newly created works, in their subsequent existence and processing. Collectivity is manifested not only externally, but also internally - in the folk poetic system itself, in the nature of the generalization of reality, in images, etc. portrait characteristics heroes, in certain situations and images of folklore works there are few individual features that occupy such a prominent place in fiction.
As a rule, at the time of creation, the work is experiencing a period of special popularity and creative flourishing. But there comes a time when it begins to distort, collapse and be forgotten. New times require new songs. The images of folk heroes express the best features of the Russian national character; the content of folklore works reflects the most typical circumstances of folk life. At the same time, folk poetry could not but reflect the historical limitations and contradictions of the peasant ideology. Living in oral transmission, the texts of folk poetry could change significantly. However, having reached complete ideological and artistic completeness, the works often remained for a long time almost unchanged as a poetic heritage of the past, as a cultural wealth of enduring value.
3. The difference between literature and folklore.
Folklore and literature can and should be correlated not only as two types of artistic culture (in synchronous consideration), but also as two stages, two stages, one of which (folklore) preceded the other (literature) in the historical movement of forms and types of culture (that is in diachronic consideration). Even the most ancient literatures of the world (for example, Sumerian, ancient Egyptian, etc.) arose no more than 4,000 years ago, while folklore genetically dates back to the era of the formation of human speech, that is, it arose 100,000-13,000 years ago. At Eastern Slavs with the same age of the folklore tradition (rooted in the proto- and pre-Slavic ethnic environment), the age of literature is much more modest - only about 1000 years.
Consideration of the differences between literature and folklore is usually based on a series of oppositions (oppositions). We list the most important of them:
| sign | Folklore | Literature |
| Social determination | People's environment | Other social strata |
| Ideological differences | People's ideology | Non-popular ideology |
| Stylistic differences | folk tradition | literary tradition |
| The ratio of tradition and innovation | Tradition dominance | Dominance of innovation |
| The nature of creativity | Collective, unconscious, spontaneous | Individual, striving for theoretical self-consciousness |
| The notion of authorship | impersonal creativity | Personal creativity |
| Text Existence Form | variation | Stability |
The question of the origin of many works of folk poetry is much more complicated than that of literary works. Not only the name and biography of the author - the creator of this or that text are unknown, but also the social environment in which the fairy tale, epic, song, time and place of their composition was formed is unknown. The ideological intention of the author can only be judged by the surviving text, moreover, often written down many years later, because in folklore the original text of the work is almost always not known, since the author of the work is not known. The text is passed from mouth to mouth and reaches our days in the form in which the writers wrote it down.
4. On the genres of Russian folklore.
The genres of Russian folklore, as well as the folklore of other peoples, are extremely diverse: some of them are epics, ballads, songs, ditties - songs and are inextricably linked with folk music, others - fairy tales, legends, legends, bylichki and byvalshchina - narrative (prose), the third - dressing up, folk plays ("Tsar Maximilian" and "The Boat", etc.), puppet shows ("Petrushka"), numerous games, round dances and a wedding ceremony that is multi-genre in its composition - dramatic. Epics, legends, fairy tales, love lyrics live out of connection with the rite; lamentations, sentences, friends, carols, stoneflies are closely related to family or calendar rites; lullabies, nursery rhymes exist in the children's environment; epics, historical songs, legends are the property of adults only, etc.
The connection of individual folklore genres with everyday life, with reality, with the living conditions of the Russian people is also different, which also determines their historical destinies.
At the same time, all genres of verbal folklore are characterized by common features: all of them are works of art of the word, in their origins they are associated with archaic forms of art, they exist mainly in oral transmission, they are constantly changing. This determines the interaction in them of the collective and individual principles, a peculiar combination of tradition and innovation. Thus, the folklore genre is a historically emerging type of oral poetic work. In one way or another, all folklore genres are connected with the history of the people, with the reality that called them to life and determines their further existence, their flourishing or extinction. “Tell me how the people lived, and I will tell you how they wrote” - these wonderful words of the great Russian scientist, academician A.N. Veselovsky can also be attributed to oral creativity: how the people lived, so he sang and told. Therefore, folklore reveals folk philosophy, ethics and aesthetics. A.M. Gorky could rightfully say that “one cannot know the true history of the working people without knowing oral folk art.”
Processes associated with the impact of one of the folklore genres on the traditions of others can be identified. They can be called historical-genre. Such is the connection between the traditions of ballad songs, which were originally formed on the basis of the transformation of the traditions of historical songs, and subsequently experienced the influence of epics and a number of lyrical genres: songs, lamentations.
The processes of formation of national-folk specific traditions in folklore, which stood out from the general composition of the poetic culture of kindred peoples, are seen. These are historical and national traditions. Such are the processes of the formation of the traditions of ritual folklore, epic creativity among various Slavic peoples.
Historians have long noted the historical migration process, which can be traced by studying cultural interactions in the analysis of the international distribution and national processing of some fairy tales, proverbs, and riddles.
5. Functions of folklore.
It is the function of a folklore work, its everyday purpose, that is one of the defining, but, of course, not the only feature in the concept of a genre.
So, for example, the magical function gave rise to the main features of conspiracies, which were supposed to give health, well-being, good luck in hunting, etc., and ritual poetry, which allegedly provided a good harvest, wealth, happiness in family life. At the same time, this function is not the only genre feature of incantations and ritual songs: they differ from each other in the nature of the performance, individual or collective, tale or song, and in the features of the construction of the poetic system. The informational function is the main one, but to varying degrees for historical legends, bylichki about goblin, mermaids and brownies, songs about Ivan the Terrible, Stepan Razin and Emelyan Pugachev. However, this does not give us reason to consider all works that are profoundly different in terms of their other characteristics as one genre. We see that a fairy tale and a legend, although they differ in their function, have, since they are genres of oral prose, a number of common features, just like epics and historical songs, which are works of a song epic, or such functionally extremely different small genres as proverbs. and riddles. However, it is the function that most tangibly expresses the genre difference in many similar works. It is the function that gives grounds to divide oral prose into fabulous, for which the aesthetic function is the main one, and non-fabulous, when the informative function dominates.
The sphere of folklore covers very diverse genres, and if some of them are characterized by the dominance of the aesthetic function, then for others - the dominance of the non-aesthetic and the secondary aesthetic function. Therefore, for example, in order for a predisposition to utter a funeral lament to arise, it is not enough to tune in to the perception of the text with certain aesthetic qualities. Someone's death must occur, and the everyday tradition of the social group to which the performer and her listeners belong must prescribe in connection with this a certain type of funeral rite, which provides for mourning the dead with a lament. Consequently, the pronunciation of a folklore text can be stimulated by ritual situations and the ritual functions of the text in situations of this kind. At the same time, this does not mean that a text that has arisen or reproduced in such conditions should be devoid of aesthetic qualities. Folklorists justifiably talk about the poetics of lamentations, incantations, ritual songs, etc., meaning that their aesthetic qualities arise in the process of ritual activity. Or, in other words, aesthetic activity appears here in a complex complex of forms and types of activity, it accompanies them, arises in connection with them. At the same time, in the folklore of all peoples, genres are well known, which are characterized by the dominance of aesthetic functions. There are no traditional prescriptions for them when they should be pronounced. However, their connection with peasant life could be expressed in the fact that in certain situations it was impossible to pronounce them: for example, fairy tales were performed during fasting. If the tradition did not prescribe ritual fun, then fairy tales could not be performed on days when there was a dead person in the village, and so on.
In some genres, for example, in a fairy tale or a song, the aesthetic function clearly prevails, in others, for example, in legend, it fades into the background, is subordinated to the informative function, even if we have a highly artistic text. It can be minimal, as, for example, in an incantation or a tale, the meaning of which is entirely contained in their utilitarian meaning, which does not prevent them, depending on the talent of the performer, from rising to the heights of poetic art.
The ratio of functions also changes, it is determined by time, place, conditions of performance, depends on the degree of talent and the nature of the performer's creativity. The nature of the work, and consequently its genre affiliation, depends on whether the narrator or the singer seeks to entertain his listeners, impress them with his skill, read them any moral teaching, communicate some knowledge, information, subordinate to his will, or whether the task of the performer - bring good luck, health, well-being.
6. Mythological representations in non-ritual folklore
All arts (with the exception of newly invented ones, such as cinema) - literature, music, dance, fine arts, theater - in one way or another go back to ritual action. traditional societies. From the point of view of origin, they are nothing more than a late result of the decomposition of the original ritual unity and the oblivion of the original mythological meanings. The highest, from the point of view of modern man, achievements of the spirit, manifested in art, would perhaps seem to a traditional person to be complete nonsense and a sign of the final decline of the world, evidence of its imminent end. But it should be noted that the oral tradition itself underwent a similar evolution, the development (or decline) of which also followed the path of oblivion. The original meaning of the habitual rites, which lost their "legitimacy" and "legal" status with Christianization, was increasingly eroded from the people's memory, they gradually became customs (that is, that which exists as usual, almost out of habit), accompanied by beliefs, beliefs (i.e. what they believe in, meanwhile, the traditional person knew, and in this sense his way of thinking is very close to the scientific-rational one). The verbal (verbal) side of the rite, without completely separating from the "active" (actional), gave rise to a completely new phenomenon, bearing to varying degrees the features of traditional and written culture - non-ritual folklore. Strictly speaking, only it should be called “oral folk art”, since ritual texts are inextricably linked with the corresponding actions (for example, “curling a beard” from ears), exclude the very concept of creativity as a free generation of new texts: the meaning of the rite is in its invariably precise reproduction that guarantees effectiveness. Creativity, even collective, is out of the question here - there are only slow evolutionary changes in oral texts.
Numerous reflections in folklore of mythological motifs and, more importantly, its very organization with the help of a traditional set of binary oppositions (binary oppositions), the reproduction of the ancient model of the world testify that the tradition not only did not collapse with Christianization, but completely retained its position as a universal regulator of human behavior, only partly yielding this function to the popular faith at the mass level. At its core, folk life remained traditionally pagan. But Christianization opened up new opportunities for the work of the spirit, and bookish written culture opened up new opportunities for reason, rational thinking.
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About some folklore genres.
1. Epics.
Epics (Russian heroic epic) are a wonderful heritage of the past, evidence of the ancient culture and art of the people. Arising in the XI-XV centuries. epic songs about the capital city of Kiev and its struggle with the nomads, about the trading city of Novgorod, its riches and wide international relations, songs about ancient Russian heroes, brave warriors, successful merchants and dashing ushkuyniki for several centuries were passed from mouth to mouth and partially survived in oral tradition to the present day. The Russian heroic epic has been preserved in a living oral existence, perhaps in the original form of the plot content and the main principles of the form. The epic got its name from the word “reality” that is close in meaning. This means that the epic tells about what once actually happened, although not everything in the epic is true. Epics were written down from storytellers (often illiterate), who adopted them according to tradition from previous generations. The main number of plots was created within the Kievan state, that is, in those places that are depicted in them .. The source of each heroic song was some kind of historical fact. In the epic, as in the folk tale, there is a lot of fiction. Bogatyrs are people of extraordinary strength, they ride mighty horses through rivers and forests, lift weights on their shoulders that are beyond the power of any person.
The epic is an old song, and not everything in it is clear, it is told in a leisurely, solemn tone. Many Russian epics speak of the heroic deeds of folk heroes. For example, epics about Volga Buslaevich, the winner of Tsar Saltan Beketovich; about the hero Sukhman, who defeated the enemies - nomads; about Dobryn Nikitich. Russian heroes never lie. Ready to die, but not leave their native land, they consider service to the fatherland their first and holy duty, although they are often offended by princes who do not trust them. Epics told to children teach them to respect human labor and love their homeland. They united the genius of the people.
Epics of the Kyiv cycle, associated with Kiev, with the Dnieper Slavutich, with Prince Vladimir the Red Sun, heroes began to take shape at the turn of the 10th - 11th centuries. They expressed in their own way the public consciousness of an entire historical era, the moral ideals of the people were reflected, the features of ancient life, daily life events. “The value of the heroic epic lies in the fact that, by its origin, it is inextricably linked with the people, with those smerd warriors who plowed the land and fought under the banners of Kiev with the Pechenegs and Polovtsy”
2. Historical songs
Historical songs are a separate genre of folklore. Their artistic originality remains insufficiently studied. In pre-revolutionary science, they were often recognized as a degradation of the heroic epic, a scrap from epics, and in this regard, motives, images and stylistic devices common with epics (as if residual phenomena) were considered their dignity. I beg to differ. “The Song of the Prophetic Oleg”, “Songs of Stepan Razin” can be put today on a par with “ captain's daughter”, “Pugachev’s story” and other historical works. They are also of great artistic value. This is an expression of the historical self-consciousness of the people. The Russian people in their historical songs realized their historical significance. It is also a work of art and history about the past. Its attitude to the past is active: it reflects the historical views of the people to an even greater extent than historical memory. The historical content in the songs is conveyed by the storytellers consciously. Preservation of the historically valuable in the epic (be it names, events, relationships) is the result of a conscious, historical attitude of the people to the content of the epic. The people in their work proceed from fairly clear historical ideas about time. The consciousness of the historical value of the transmitted and the peculiar ideas of the people, and not just mechanical memorization, determine the stability of the historical content of the songs.
3. Song lyrics.
Lyrical songs have retained their connection with some rituals (wedding, round dance) or originated from playing rituals. In the texts of such songs, the influence of the traditional model of the world with its set of main oppositions, as well as some mythological motifs, is still fully restored.
Consider a lyric song.
I'll go out the gate
I'll look far.
The mountains are high there
The lakes are deep.
In these lakes
Pike fish lives
White Beluga.
I'll throw a net -
I live to take out fish.
Where to sit
Live fish to clean?
I'll sit down
To the green garden;
I'll sit still
To the valley,
On the summer trail.
Wherever the darling goes
etc.................
