Analysis of the program tasks of introducing preschoolers to verbal art Pedagogical conditions for using methods and techniques for introducing children of older preschool age to verbal art ...
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INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………….
CHAPTER I
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- Psychological foundations of the perception of verbal art by older preschoolers……………………………………………………….
- Historical aspects of introducing preschoolers to verbal art …………………………………………………………………….
- Analysis of the program objectives of introducing preschoolers to verbal art…………………………………………………………
- Pedagogical conditions for the use of methods and techniques for introducing children of senior preschool age to the verbal art…………………………………………………………………….
- Analysis of the recommended literature for reading to children on introducing preschoolers to verbal art under the program "From Birth to School", ed.N. E. Veraksy, T. S. Komarova, M. A. Vasilyeva……………………………………………………………..
CHAPTER 2. …………………………………………………………………………
CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………..
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………
INTRODUCTION
An important role in preschool education and training of children belongs to children's fiction.
The relevance of the work isthat in our age of information technology, the role of the book has changed, the love of reading has begun to fall. Already at preschool age, children prefer other sources of information to books: television, video products, computers. As a result, the reading of fiction is not given due attention. Therefore, most modern schoolchildren do not like and do not want to read.
CHAPTER 1 . THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS INVOLVING CHILDREN OF OLDER PRESCHOOL AGE TO VERBAL ART, ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF OLDER PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
- The concept of verbal art, its role in the development of preschoolers
The term "literature" in the linguistic literature is interpreted ambiguously. Let's turn to dictionaries. Explanatory Dictionary of S.I. Ozhegova: “Literature” artistic literary creativity and verbal folklore. Fine literature (an outdated name for fiction).
"Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language" D.N. Ushakov's literature is defined as follows: Creativity, expressed in the word, both oral and written, verbal creativity.
The "Popular Dictionary of the Russian Language" gives the following definition: "Literature is fiction and oral folk art, as well as the totality of literary and folklore works of any people."
In the modern literary encyclopedia, literature is understood as the totality of all texts that are in the cultural circulation of society. The concept of literature is broader than literature, since it includes oral literature, including folklore, as well as business, academic and other types of literature.
These and other dictionaries basically coincide in the formulation of this concept.
Thus, there is no strict distinction between the terms literature and literature; one and the other can be used equally. The difference is that literature refers to written works, and literature refers to oral ones. Oral creativity is carried out by the people: from generation to generation, fairy tales, songs, epics, proverbs pass from mouth to mouth - everything that can be combined under the name of literature. "Literature" comes from Latin word litera, which means letter, letter, writing, and hence it follows that literature is verbal creativity, imprinted, fixed in writing. Thus, "literature" or verbal art is fiction and folklore.
Literature is the most accessible and educationally effective form of art. In a literary work, the word appears in the close unity of its figurative and conceptual sides. It is this feature of verbal art that expands the possibilities of the subject of literature in comparison with other types of art.
With the help of the artistic word, the child masters the grammar of the native language in unity with the vocabulary. Literature expands the horizons of a preschooler, develops his perception, thinking, memory, imagination and creativity, is a means of shaping the personality of a child, having a strong moral and ideological impact, unites the children's team.
The art of the word reflects reality through artistic images, shows the most typical, comprehending and summarizing real life facts. This helps the child to learn life, forms his attitude to the environment. Artistic works, revealing the inner world of heroes, make children worry, experience, as their own, the joys and sorrows of heroes.
In poetic images, fiction opens and explains to the child the life of society and nature, the world human feelings and relationships. It makes emotions more saturated, educates the imagination and gives the child excellent examples of the Russian language: in stories, children learn the conciseness and accuracy of the word, in poetry they catch the musicality, melodiousness, and imagery of Russian speech.
In working with children, small folklore genres are actively used: sentences have long been used in education as pedagogical techniques in order to emotionally color the significance of a particular moment in a child’s life, proverbs and sayings are accessible to the understanding of a child of older preschool age. Proverbs addressed to children can inspire them with some rules of behavior. Fairy tales are the most favorite type of folk art for children. Folk tales reveal the accuracy and expressiveness of the Russian word, show how rich the native speech is with humor, lively and figurative expressions, and comparisons. Fairy tales help to form an artistic taste, to cultivate a good attitude towards the world and people. (7.35-39)
Thus, verbal art helps children express their attitude to what they have heard, using comparisons, metaphors, epithets and other means of figurative expression.
When getting acquainted with the works of literature, the connection between speech and aesthetic development clearly emerges, the language is assimilated in its aesthetic function. Possession of linguistic visual and expressive means serves to develop the artistic taste of the child.
The educational function of literature is carried out in a special way, inherent only in art, by the force of the impact of the artistic image.
In order to fully realize the educational possibilities of literature, it is necessary to know the psychological characteristics of the perception and understanding of this type of art by preschoolers.
- Psychological foundations of the perception of verbal art by older preschoolers
At the age of 5-7 years, the child reaches a fairly high level of mental activity in the perception of works of art. This age is a stage of intensive mental development. Thinking plays a special role. At this age, there is an improvement in visual-effective thinking, an improvement in visual-figurative thinking, and verbal-logical thinking begins to actively form.
Thinking becomes out of situation, children's questions are an indicator of the development of curiosity and speak of the problematic nature of the child's thinking, a new correlation of mental and practical activity appears, when practical actions arise on the basis of preliminary reasoning; the planned thinking increases; the prerequisites for such qualities of the mind as independence, flexibility, inquisitiveness are formed.
Older preschoolers have the ability to mentally act in imaginary circumstances, as if to take the place of a hero. For example, together with the heroes of a fairy tale, children experience a sense of fear in tense dramatic moments, a sense of satisfaction when justice is won. A work of art attracts a child not only with its bright and imaginative form, but also with its semantic content. Older preschoolers, perceiving the work, can give a conscious, motivated assessment of the characters. A quick, correct understanding of a story, a fairy tale (and by the end of the preschool age of shifters, fables) is facilitated by empathy for the characters, the ability to follow the development of the plot, to compare the events described in the work with what he had to observe in life. An insufficient level of development of abstract thinking makes it difficult for children to perceive such genres as fables, proverbs, riddles, and requires the help of an adult.
The development of thinking has a positive impact on the development of the semantic side of the speech activity of an older preschooler. This period is characterized by the active development of speech. Verbal art is becoming one of the important components contributing to the expansion vocabulary. The active vocabulary of children of this period of development includes 25003000 words, the child actively uses all parts of speech, the skill of word formation is formed. The child learns the form of dialogue.
Perception becomes a meaningful, intellectual process, allows you to penetrate deeper into the environment and learn more complex aspects of reality. A distinctive feature of perception in older preschoolers is a sharp increase in its meaningfulness. All aspects of the development of perception at this age include the use of visual-figurative thinking, therefore, perception itself merges with understanding, determining the meaning of perceived objects and their properties, their relationship to other objects and properties. In the process of perceiving works of art, children are able to make a choice of what they like best (works, characters, images), substantiating it with the help of elements of aesthetic evaluation. They emotionally respond to those works of art that convey feelings and relationships understandable to them, various emotional states of people, animals, the struggle between good and evil.
The understanding of the literary hero becomes more complicated. Although the child's attention is still attracted by actions and deeds, he begins to penetrate into experiences, feelings, thoughts. In this regard, at the senior preschool age, not only a hero with an unambiguous character (bad or good), but also a more complex character, whose behavior is characterized by contradictory actions, moral feelings, and complex motives, becomes accessible to perception. The ability to penetrate into the sphere of the hero's inner life is associated with the formation of the ability to empathize, sympathize with him. Empathy helps the child to penetrate into such motives for the actions of characters that are associated not only with their actions, but also with feelings.
With the development of perception comes the process of improving attention.
The attention of older preschoolers becomes more stable and arbitrary. They can be engaged in not very attractive, but necessary business for 20-25 minutes together with an adult, but rarely arise under the influence of any set goal.
A characteristic feature of the attention of a child of older preschool age is that it is caused by outwardly attractive objects. Focused attention remains as long as there is interest in the perceived objects: objects, events, people.
At the senior preschool age, the imagination turns from a reproductive one into a creatively transformative one, it becomes controllable. The activity of the recreating imagination also reaches a high level. At an older age, the child is able to perceive the text without the help of illustrations.Necessary for awarenessworks of association can arise without direct visual support. The illustration in the book helps the child to clarify emerging ideas, making it easier to understand the meaning of the work.At the heart of the imagination of preschoolers is a small life experience, so there is a recombination of the accumulated information. This is due to the fact that the preschooler easily combines different ideas and is uncritically related to the resulting combinations. Another feature of the imagination of children is that they are interested in the very process of creating new images, situations, characters.
The preschooler is dominated by involuntary imagination (the images created are most often associated with what greatly excited and captivated). By the end of preschool age, the child begins to arbitrarily plan some of his actions. The growth of the arbitrariness of the imagination is especially manifested in the development of the ability to create an action plan and plan its achievement. Older preschoolers are able to fantasize arbitrarily, planning the process of implementing the idea in advance before the start of the activity.
Mastering the techniques and means of creating images leads to the fact that the images themselves become more diverse, richer, more emotional, permeated with aesthetic, cognitive feelings and personal meaning.Memory in older preschool age is involuntary,memorization and recall occurs independently of the will and consciousness child . The child remembers better what is of greatest interest to him, gives the best impressions. Therefore, the amount of fixed material is determined by the emotional attitude to a given object or phenomenon.
Children's memory is also characterized by a completely opposite property - this is an exceptional photographic quality. Children can easily memorize any poem or fairy tale. If an adult, retelling a fairy tale, deviates from the original text, then the child will immediately correct him, recall the missing detail.
At the age of 5 6 years, arbitrary memory begins to form.
In older preschool age, visual-figurative memory predominates, but verbal-logical memory develops, children, when remembering, begin to highlight the essential features of objects
The child is able to retain in memory a large amount of information, he
continued reading available. Analysis of texts, viewing illustrations contribute to the deepening of the reader's experience, the formation of reader sympathy.
Summarizing the most important achievements in the mental development of a child of older preschool age, we can conclude that children at this age are distinguished by a fairly high level of mental development. At this time, a certain amount of knowledge and skills is formed, thinking and imagination are intensively developing, relying on which you can encourage the child to listen, consider, memorize, analyze, which contributes to the full perception of verbal art.
- Historical aspects of introducing preschoolers to verbal art
In the 30s of the twentieth century, attempts were made to determine the specific content of the literary education of preschoolers. L.S. Vygotsky, an outstanding Soviet psychologist, reflected on the features of the educational program for kindergarten. Outlining his views on how to acquaint children with fiction, he pointed out: the task of preschool education, unlike school education, is not to study classical literature, its history, but to introduce the child into the world of verbal art, to open this wonderful world to him, to cultivate a sense of the word, to evoke love and craving for a book. (1, p.6)
In the future, the features of the perception of fiction by a child of preschool age are studied in the works of famous Russian psychologists and teachers S. L. Rubinshtein, B. M. Teplov, A. V. Zaporozhets, O. I. Nikiforova, E. A. Flerina, N. S. Karpinskaya, L. M. Gurovich and other scientists.
B. M. Teplov continued the research begun by Vygotsky, having studied the child’s perception of a fairy tale and considering the nature of the child’s artistic perception, he pointed out that empathy, mental assistance to the hero of the work is “ living soul artistic perception. In order to correctly understand a work of art, a child must treat it as an image, as an image of real objects and phenomena. A number of studies have shown that preschool children treat the image as if it were a real object. The child begins to understand what is depicted and depicted: such are real objects and phenomena, and such is their image in a fairy tale. They are related to each other, but they are not the same thing. This is an important step in understanding the artistic image. (2; 69)
A. V. Zaporozhets, studying the artistic impact of literary works, he paid special attention to their understanding by children of preschool age. In the work “Psychology of perception of a fairy tale by a preschool child”, Zaporozhets drew attention to the fact that although the child is fascinated by the colorfulness of the descriptions, the amusing external positions that the characters fall into, the inner, semantic side of the narrative begins to occupy him very early and “gradually opens up to him ideological content of a work of art.
Considering the mechanism of perception and understanding, A.V. Zaporozhets argued that "listening to a fairy tale, along with creative games, plays an important role in shaping the type of internal mental activity - the ability to mentally act in imaginary circumstances, without which no creative activity is possible"
A.V. Zaporozhets emphasized that a properly organized artistic education would not only provide individual knowledge and skills, but would also change the attitude to reality and would contribute to higher motives for activity. (2, p. 66)
Domestic teacher N. S. Karpinskaya believed that a fiction book provides excellent examples of the literary language. In stories, children learn the conciseness and accuracy of the language; in poetry musicality, melodiousness, rhythm of Russian speech; in fairy tales - accuracy, expressiveness.
Psychologist O. I. Nikiforova identified the following levels of perception
of a work of art: understanding its subject side, understanding the subtext and the system of artistic images and means, and, finally, comprehending the ideological and figurative content of the work, leading to an assessment of what has been read, to an understanding of the main thoughts of the work, to the disclosure of motives, relationships (5, 352)
The outstanding theorist and teacher E. A. Flerina was engaged in research in the field of preschool childhood, the main of which was the problem of aesthetic education of children by means of art, visual activity, artistic expression, games and toys.
To artistic reading and retelling by E.A. Flerina approaches from the position of the concept she developed. She considers the artistic word as the most important part of the comprehensive education of children; the art of the word is a means of developing creative abilities, creative aspirations and capabilities of children; artistic word means of communication and mutual understanding of children. Flerina also noted such a feature as the naivety of children's perception: children do not like a bad end, the hero must be lucky (kids do not want even a stupid mouse to be eaten by a cat). Listening to a story, a fairy tale, a preschool child shows a special inner activity, becoming, as it were, an accomplice of the events described and perceived, this is the secret of the deep influence that a work of art has on a child, leaving a bright mark on his soul. (4, p.293)
Based on the generalization of scientific data and his own research, L. M. Gurovich considers the age-related characteristics of the perception of a literary work by preschoolers, singled out two periods in their aesthetic development: from two to five years, when the baby does not clearly separate life from art, and after five years, when art, including the art of the word, becomes valuable in itself for the child. The artistic perception of the child during preschool age develops and improves. Many researchers continue to work on the problem of children's perception of a work of art, such as I. A. Zimnyaya, A. A. Melik - Pashaev, N. D. Moldavskaya, M. I. Omorokova.
Based on the characteristics of perception, the leading tasks of familiarization with verbal art are put forward.
1.4. Analysis of the program tasks of introducing children to verbal art
Introduction to verbal art in kindergarten is carried out in the course of the implementation of the educational area "Reading Fiction", the purpose of which is: the formation of interest and the need for reading (perception) of books.
Formation of a holistic picture of the world, including primary value ideas;
Development of literary speech;
Introduction to verbal art, including the development of artistic perception and aesthetic taste.
Analyzed programs: "From birth to school" edited by N. E. Veraksa, T. S. Komarova, M. A. Vasilyeva; program "Childhood" edited by V.I. Loginova, T.I. Babayeva; program "Origins" T.I. Alieva, T.V. Antonova, E.P. Arnautova and others.
In all the analyzed programs, the tasks of work in this educational area are disclosed in sufficient detail (the formation of interest in fiction; the development of aesthetic perception; the acquaintance of children with the visual means of the language; the formation of expressiveness of speech; the development of performing skills, etc.).
These educational tasks are presented in most detail in the program "From Birth to School". The authors of the program consider fiction as a means of moral, intellectual, aesthetic education of children; special attention is paid to the formation in children of elementary ideas about the specifics of works of different genres, to the imagery and expressiveness of speech.
The educational program "Childhood" deserves special attention, in which the child's perception of works of fiction is considered on a par with the perception of fine arts and music; among the knowledge, skills and abilities, the authors of the program distinguish cognitive skills (listening, memorizing), speech skills (transmission of text, expressiveness of speech) and attitudes (emotional response). In sufficient detail, the tasks of introducing children to fiction are presented in the "Origins" program, where the most important is the analysis of fiction at a level accessible to the child, which leads to the formation of ideas about the features of literature and the education of a competent reader. The authors of the program recommend using techniques that maximize children's interest in books (reading with "continuation", reading "thick" books, etc.).
In general, these tasks can be formulated as follows:
1. to cultivate interest in fiction, to develop the ability for a holistic perception of works of different genres, to ensure the assimilation of the content of works and emotional responsiveness to it;
2. to form initial ideas about the features of fiction: about genres (prose, poetry), about their specific features; about composition; about the simplest elements of figurativeness in the language;
3. to cultivate literary and artistic taste, the ability to understand and feel the mood of a work, to capture the musicality, sonority, rhythm, beauty and poetry of stories, fairy tales, poems; develop a poetic ear.
To solve the problems of comprehensive education of children by means of fiction, it is necessary to determine the methods and techniques of literary development.
- Pedagogical conditions for the use of methods and techniques for introducing verbal art to children of older preschool age
The main methods of literary development of children are the following
Reading or telling the educator from a book or by heart. This is a literal translation of the text. The reader, preserving the author's language, conveys all shades of the writer's thoughts, affects the mind and feelings of the listeners. A significant part of literary works is read from the book. Expressive reading, the interest of the educator himself, his emotional contact with children increase the degree of impact of the artistic word. While reading, one should not distract children from the perception of the text with questions, disciplinary remarks, it is enough to raise or lower the voice, pause.
One of the techniques that deepen the understanding of the content and expressive means is repeated reading. Small works are repeated immediately after the initial reading, large ones require some time to comprehend. Further, it is possible to read only the individual, most significant parts. It is advisable to re-read all this material after a certain period of time (2 3 weeks). Reading poems, nursery rhymes, short stories is repeated more often.
Children love to listen to familiar stories and fairy tales over and over again. When repeating, it is necessary to accurately reproduce the original text.
1. Reading or telling one work.
2. Reading several works united by a single theme (reading poems and stories about spring, about the life of animals) or a unity of images (two tales about a fox). You can combine works of one genre (two stories with moral content) or several genres (mystery, story, poem). In these classes, new and already familiar material is combined.
3. Combining works belonging to different types of art:
Reading a literary work and looking at reproductions from a painting by a famous artist;
Reading (better than poetry) combined with music.
In such classes, the power of the impact of works on the emotions of the child is taken into account. There should be a certain logic in the selection of material - an increase in emotional richness by the end of the lesson. At the same time, the peculiarities of children's behavior, the culture of perception, and emotional responsiveness are taken into account.
4. Reading and storytelling using visual material:
Reading and storytelling with toys (retelling of the fairy tale "Three Bears" is accompanied by a display of toys and actions with them);
Table theater (cardboard or plywood, for example, according to the fairy tale "Turnip");
Puppet and shadow theatre, flannelograph;
Filmstrips, transparencies, films, TV shows.
5. Reading as part of a speech development lesson:
It can be logically connected with the content of the lesson (in the process of talking about the school, reading poetry, making riddles);
Reading can be an independent part of the lesson (re-reading poetry or a story as a consolidation of the material).
Preparation for reading includes the following points
Reasonable choice of a work in accordance with the developed criteria (artistic level and educational value), taking into account the age of children, current educational work with children and the time of year, as well as the choice of methods for working with a book;
Definition of program content literary and educational tasks;
Preparation of the educator for reading the work. It is necessary to read the work in such a way that the children understand the main content, the idea and emotionally experience what they have heard (feel it).
When reading and telling works of art, the educator uses such techniques that help children understand and, therefore, better assimilate the text, enrich their speech with new words and grammatical forms, that is, give new knowledge about the world around them.
These methods are as follows:
1) an explanation of words incomprehensible to children found in the text;
2) the introduction of words ethical assessments of the actions of heroes;
3) drawing the attention of children to grammatical constructions text, replacing them with synonymous constructions;
4) comparison of two works, of which the second continues and clarifies the ethical theme begun in the first, or contrasts the behavior in similar situations of two characters - positive and negative.
Reading books is necessarily accompanied by a conversation. Children learn to evaluate the actions of characters, their motives. The teacher helps children comprehend the attitude towards the characters, achieves an understanding of the main idea. With the correct formulation of questions, the child has a desire to imitate the moral deeds of the characters.
Conversation is a purposeful discussion of something, an organized, prepared dialogue on a pre-selected topic.
Conversation types.
1. An introductory conversation that organizes children for a particular type of activity.
2. Conversation accompanying the activities and observations of children.
3. Final conversation, clarifying and expanding the experience of children.
An introductory conversation, or a conversation that precedes the acquisition of new knowledge, is usually the link between the experience children have and the one they will acquire. The role of the introductory conversation is limited. Its purpose is to bring out disparate experiences and generate interest in future activities.
The conversation that accompanies the acquisition of new experience is a transition from conversation to conversation. It is carried out in the process of children's activities. The task of the educator is to provide the most complete perception, to help children get clear, distinct ideas, to supplement their knowledge.
The main conversation in kindergarten is the final conversation, it is commonly called generalizing. The purpose of the generalizing conversation is to systematize, clarify and expand the experience of children gained in the course of their activities.
staging or dramatization is the role-playing of the content of the work. This method can be considered as a means of secondary acquaintance with a work of art. There are quite a few types of dramatizations: a dramatization game, a theatrical performance of children, puppet and shadow theaters, a toy theater, a table cardboard or plywood theater, a flannelograph, etc. Children can be both spectators and performers.
project method. The various themes of project activities can be grouped around three big ideas:
"Children's Book Publishing" production of homemade books with drawings and stories about works, retellings and creative stories by analogy with familiar texts; creation of thematic magazines and children's encyclopedias based on acquaintance with literary works (“A fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it”, “How the writer helped me understand ...”, “What we learned from books” and so on);
"Children's Library" organization of a library of home-made books, as well as design and systematization of children's library books in a group;
"Book Exhibitions" preparation of thematic exhibitions for children of different age groups(“Tales of our childhood”, “Favorite literary heroes”, “Poets and artists about nature”, etc.).
Evenings of literary entertainment, literary holidays and theatrical performances. These events are held about once a month. Their topics depend on the specifics of the reading interests of children and teachers. It is advisable to take into account the dates of the “calendar of holidays” when planning them.
Thematic exhibitions in the book corner and the center of artistic and creative activity. Their topics are determined significant dates"calendar of holidays" and memorable dates in the life of writers and poets.
Thus, when introducing preschoolers to fiction, different methods and techniques are used to form a full-fledged perception of the work by children.
M. A. Vasilyeva
The literary repertoire for children of senior preschool age is distinguished by a variety of types, genres, and themes. So the works of Russian folklore begin with small forms: songs (“Like thin ice ...”, etc.), calls (“Rain, rain is more fun ...”), sentences (“Ladybug ...”), which allow children to learn the value of folk culture . These Russian folk fairy tales, full of wonderful fiction, dramatic situations, confrontations between good and evil, not only entertain and delight children, but also lay the foundations of morality. They give children lessons for life: lessons of diligence and kindness (“Khavroshechka”), friendship and warmth in relationships, mutual assistance (“Winged, shaggy and oily”, etc.), as well as courage (“Bouncer Hare”).
Also, the circle of children's reading includes the folklore of the peoples of the world, songs and fairy tales, which carry a great potential of national folk cultures, make the child the owner of universal spiritual values.
Next come the works of poets and writers of Russia, where poetry is in the first place, the program list includes lyrical poems about nature by A.S. Pushkin, S.A. Yesenin, F.I. Tyutchev, I.A. Bunin, and humorous poems by V. Levin (“Chest”, “Horse”), as well as poems about the life of children.
Prose is represented by works of more complex content: about children, their actions and experiences (V. Dmitrieva "Baby and the Bug", L. Tolstoy "Bone"), about the relationship in the world of people and animals of L.N. Tolstoy ("The Lion and the Dog") , as well as stories about the need and value of friendship by V. Yu. Dragunsky (“Childhood Friend”), humorous stories by N.N. Nosova and others.
Literary tales, which differ from folk not only in detailed descriptions, but also in more intricate plots and a variety of forms, are both prose tales about animals (B. Zakhoder "The Gray Star") and poetic tales (A. Pushkin "The Tale of Tsar Saltan, about his glorious and mighty bogatyr son Gvidon Saltanovich and about beautiful princess swans"), and fairy tales (V. Kataev "Flower of seven flowers"), etc. Specially provided for the acquaintance of preschoolers with stories about little men (T. Alexandrova "Brown-brown Kuzka"), similar to the children themselves, but less knowledgeable, and therefore in need in sympathy guys.
Works of poets and writers different countries presented by the poetry of various authors, mainly humorous poems (W. Smith "About the Flying Cow", J. Brzekhv "On the Horizon Islands", etc.) and instructive poems (Y. Tuwim "Letter to all children on one very important matter" ).
In the list of works by foreign authors, literary tales are also recommended: the Finnish writer H. Mäkelä (“Mr. Au”), English writer R. Kipling ("Elephant"), and the famous Swedish writer A. Lindgren ("Carlson, who lives on the roof")
In the list of program works intended for memorization, there are Russian folk songs (I. Belousov “Knock on the oak tree ...”), poems about mother (E. Blaginina “Let's sit in silence”, G Vieru “Mother's day”), which can be told on matinee, poems about the motherland (M. Isakovsky “Go beyond the seas-oceans”), etc.
For reading in faces, humorous poems are presented that are designed to entertain children.
Additional literature is also represented by different genres, these are Russian and foreign folk and author's tales, as well as prose and poetry by Russian and foreign authors.
Requirements modern life, pedagogical science are forced to constantly revise the circle of children's reading, supplementing it with new works.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Annex 1
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"Birth to School" |
"Childhood" |
"Origins" |
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Learn to listen carefully and with interest to fairy tales, stories, poems; memorize rhymes, tongue twisters, riddles. To instill interest in reading large works (by chapters). Contribute to the formation of an emotional attitude to literary works. Encourage them to talk about their perception of a particular act of a literary character. Help children understand the hidden motives of the behavior of the characters in the work. Cultivate sensitivity to the artistic word; read passages with the most vivid, memorable descriptions, comparisons, epithets. Learn to listen to the rhythm and melody of a poetic text. To help expressively, with natural intonations to read poetry, to participate in reading the text by roles, in dramatizations. Continue to explain (based on the read work) the genre features of fairy tales, stories, poems accessible to children. Continue reading books. Draw the attention of children to the design of the book, to the illustration. Compare illustrations by different artists for the same work |
Enrich the "reader's" experience of children through works of more complex genres of folklore (fairy and everyday fairy tales, metaphorical riddles, epics), literary prose (fairy tale-story, story with moral overtones) and poetry (fables, lyrical poems, literary riddles with metaphor, poetic stories). To cultivate literary and artistic taste, the ability to understand the mood of the work, to feel the musicality, sonority and rhythm of poetic texts; beauty, imagery and expressiveness of the language of fairy tales and stories. To promote the development of artistic perception of the text in the unity of its content and form, semantic and emotional overtones. To ensure the improvement of the skills of artistic and speech activity based on literary texts: retell fairy tales and stories close to the text, retell on behalf of a literary hero,expressively recite poems and poetic tales,invent poetic stanzas, riddles, compose stories and fairy tales by analogy with familiar texts. To promote the expression of attitudes towards literary works in various types of artistic and creative activities, self-expression in a theatrical game in the process of creating a holistic image of the hero in his change and development. |
To form in children ideas about the characteristic structure,typical characters and plot-thematic units of literary works (in particular, fairy tales) and ways of their creative application To develop such forms of imagination, which are based on the interpretation of a literary image. To form in children dynamic ideas about the development and change of the artistic image, its versatility and multiple connections. To develop in children individual literary preferences. Continue to develop children's relationship to the bookas a product of aesthetic culture, to involve them in the creation of handwritten books. |
|
"Birth to School" |
"Childhood" |
"Origins" |
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Continue to develop children's interest in fiction and educational literature. |
To maintain children's interest in literature, to cultivate a love for the book, to contribute to the deepening and differentiation of reader interests. |
To introduce children to highly artistic literature, to form in them a stock of literary artistic impressions. |
|
Help expressively, with natural intonations to read poetry, participate in reading the text by roles, in dramatizations |
To ensure the improvement of the skills of artistic and speech activity based on literary texts: retell fairy tales and stories close to the text, retell on behalf of a literary hero, expressively recite poems and poetic tales, invent poetic stanzas, riddles, compose stories and fairy tales by analogy with familiar texts. |
Develop expressive literary speech Teach children to emotionally and expressively convey the content of small prose texts and recite short poems by heart, participate in the dramatization of famous literary works |
|
Continue to explain (based on the read work) the genre features of fairy tales, stories, poems accessible to children. |
Develop initial ideas about the features of literature: about genera (folklore and author's literature), types (prose and poetry), about the variety of genres and some of their specific features (composition, means of linguistic expression). |
To form in children ideas about the characteristic structure, typical characters and plot-thematic units of literary works (in particular fairy tales) and ways of their creative application |
Appendix 2
Russian folklore
Songs. "Like thin ice..."; "Nicodenka-gusachok ..."; “I am amusing the pegs ...”; “Like grandmother has a goat ...”; “You are frost, frost, frost ...”: “You knock on the oak tree, a blue siskin flies ...”; "Early, early in the morning...": "Rooks-kirichi..."; “Swallow-swallow ...”: “Rain, rain, more fun ...”; "Ladybug...".
Fairy tales. "The Fox and the Jug", arr. O. Kapitsa; "Winged, hairy and oily" arr. I. Karnaukhova; "Havroshechka", arr. A. N. Tolstoy "Hare-bouncer", arr. O. Kapitsa; "The Frog Princess", arr. M. Bulatova; "Rhymes", an authorized retelling of B. Shergin's "Sivka-Burka", arr. M. Bulatova; "Finist Clear Falcon", arr. A. Platonov.
Folklore of the peoples of the world
Songs. “They washed buckwheat”, Lithuanian, arr. Yu. Grigorieva; "Old lady". "The House That Jack Built", trans. from English. S. Marshak; "Happy way!" Dutch, arr. I. Tokmakova; "Vesnyanka", Ukrainian, arr. G. Litvak; “Friend for friend”, taj., arr. N. Grebneva (abbreviated).
Fairy tales. "Cuckoo", Nenets, arr. K. Shavrova; "Wonderful stories about a hare named Lek", Tales of the peoples of West Africa, trans. O. Kustova and V. Andreev; "Goldilocks", trans. from Czech. K. Paustovsky; "Three golden hairs of Grandfather-Vseved", trans. from Czech. N. Arosyeva (from the collection of fairy tales by K. Ya. Erben).
Works of poets And Russian writers
Poetry. I. Bunin. "First snow"; A. Pushkin. “The sky was already breathing in autumn ...” (from the novel “Eugene Onegin”); "Winter Evening" (abbreviated); A. K. Tolstoy. “Autumn, our whole poor garden is sprinkled ...”; M. Tsvetaeva. "At the bed"; S. Marshak. "Poodle"; S. Yesenin. "Birch", "Bird cherry"; I. Nikitin. "Meeting of winter"; A. Fet. “The cat sings, narrowed his eyes ...”; C. Black. "Wolf"; V. Levin. "Chest", "Horse"; M. Yasnov. "Peaceful Counting". S. Gorodetsky. "Kitty"; F. Tyutchev. “Winter is angry for a reason...”; A. Barto. "Rope".
Prose. V. Dmitrieva. "Baby and the Bug" (chapters); L. Tolstoy. "Bone", "Jump", "Lion and Dog"; N. Nosov. "Live hat"; Diamonds. "Humpback"; A. Gaidar. "Chuk And Huck" (chapters); S. Georgiev. "I saved Santa Claus"; V. Dragunsky. "Childhood Friend", "Top Down, Obliquely"; K. Paustovsky. "Cat-thief".
Literary tales.T. Alexandrova. "Domovenok Kuzka" (chapters); B. Bianchi. "Owl"; B. Zakhoder. "Grey star"; A. Pushkin. "Fairy tale O Tsar Saltan, about his son glorious and mighty hero Gvidon Saltanovich And about the beautiful Swan Princess”; P. Bazhov. "Silver Hoof"; N. Teleshov. "Krupenichka"; V. Kataev. "Flower-seven-flower".
Works of poets and writers from different countries
Poetry. A. Milne. "The Ballad of the King's Sandwich", trans. from English. C. Marshak; W. Smith. "About the Flying Cow", trans. from English. B. Zakhoder; I. Bzhehva. "On the Horizon Islands", trans. from Polish. B. Zakhoder; Lzh. Reeves. "Noisy Bang", trans. With English M. Boroditskaya; "Letter to to all the children on one very important matter”, transl. from Polish. S. Mikhalkov.
Literary tales.X. Myakelya. "Mr. Au" (chapters), trans. from Finnish E. Uspensky; R. Kipling. "Elephant", trans. With English K. Chukovsky, poems from the lane. S. Marshak; A. Lindgren. “Carlson, who lives on the roof, has flown again” (abbreviated chapters), trans. from the Swedish L. Lungina.
To learn by heart
"Knock on the oak tree...", Rus. nar. song; I. Belousov. "Spring Guest"; E. Blaginina. "Let's sit in silence"; G. Vieru. "Mother's Day", trans. from mold, Ya. Akima; M. Isakovsky. "Go beyond the seas-oceans"; M. Carem. "Peaceful counting rhyme", trans. from French V. Berestov; A. Pushkin. “At the seashore, a green oak ...” (from the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”); I. Surikov. "This is my village."
To read in faces
Y. Vladimirov. "Freaks"; S. Gorodetsky. "Kitty"; V. Orlov. "Tell me, little river..."; E. Uspensky. "Destruction".
additional literature
Russian folk tales. "Nikita Kozhemyaka" (from the collection of fairy tales by A. Afanasyev); "Dirty Tales".
Foreign folk tales. "About the little mouse who was a cat, a dog and a tiger", ind. per. N. Khodzy; “How the Brothers Found the Father’s Treasure”, Mold., Arr. M. Bulatova; "Yellow Stork", Chinese, trans. F. Yarlin.
Prose. B. Zhitkov. "White House", "How I Caught Little Men"; G, Snegirev. "Penguin Beach", "To the Sea", "Brave Penguin"; L. Panteleev. "The letter "y""; M. Moskvina. "Baby"; A. Mityaev. "The Tale of the Three Pirates".
Poetry. I am Akim. "Greedy"; Y. Moritz. "House with a rough"; R. Sef. "Council", "Endless Poems"; D. Kharms. “I have been running, running, running…”; D. Ciardi. "About who three eyes", trans. from English. R Sefa; B. Zakhoder. "Nice meeting"; C. Black. "Wolf"; A. Pleshcheev. "My garden"; S. Marshak. "Mail".
Literary tales. A. Volkov. "The Wizard of the Emerald City" (chapters); O. Preusler. "Little Baba Yaga", trans. with him. Y. Korintsa; J. Rodari. "The Magic Drum" (from the book "Tales with Three Ends"), trans. from Italian. I. Konstantinova; T. Jansson. "About the World's Last Dragon", trans. from the Swedish L. Braude; "Wizard's Hat", trans. V. Smirnova; G. Sapgir. “Fables in faces”, “How they sold a frog”; L. Petrushevskaya. "The Cat Who Could Sing"; A. Mityaev. "The Tale of the Three Pirates"
Integration of the educational area "Reading Fiction" with other educational areas.
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Educational area |
Tasks |
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Physical Culture |
1. Encourage children to self-narrative, memorize nursery rhymes, songs. |
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Health |
1. Using the example of works of fiction, instill in children the habit of monitoring their appearance, improving self-service skills. |
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Socialization |
1. Involving children in sharing familiar works with the teacher, in their full or partial dramatization. |
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Safety |
1. To teach the child the ability to act in new, unusual life circumstances for him. |
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Work |
1. To form in children ideas about mutual assistance, friendship, to arouse a desire to provide all possible assistance to those who need it. |
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Cognition |
1. Cultivate interest, love for fiction. Develop the ability to listen to literary works of various genres and subjects, emotionally respond to their content and follow the development of the plot. |
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Communication |
1. To form an emotional-figurative perception of works of various genres, to develop sensitivity to the expressive means of artistic speech, verbal creativity. |
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Artistic creativity |
1. To develop an attitude towards the book as a work of aesthetic culture careful handling, the desire to listen to the book again. |
|
Music |
1. The development of poetic hearing, the ability to perceive musicality, the poetry of speech. |
Forms of educational activity.
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Educational activities during regime moments |
Joint activities of the teacher with children |
Independent activity of children |
Joint activities with family |
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Physical Culture |
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Morning exercises "Animal exercise" A. Barto. |
Physical education minutes. |
P / and "Geese-swans". |
Joint holiday "Mom, dad, I'm a sports family" (learning poems, chants, proverbs). |
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Health |
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The use of nursery rhymes when carrying out hygiene procedures: "Oh, frets, frets, frets, we are not afraid of water ...". |
Reading works of art: "Moydodyr" Chukovsky; |
Role-playing game "Veterinary Clinic" after reading Chukovsky's "Aibolit". |
Leisure: "Journey to the country of Health". |
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Socialization |
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The use of nursery rhymes when dressing for a walk: "We will quickly dress, get ready for a walk", "We love order in everything ...". |
Didactic game "Name the heroes of the fairy tale." |
A dramatization game based on the Russian folk tale "like a bunny Toshka was bored." |
"Poetic readings" (reading poetry with children and parents). |
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Safety |
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Morning exercises using the “Road Song” (a strict crow mother taught crows). Conversation on the content of M. Druzhinin's poem "Rules of the road". |
Reading: “Tamara and I go as a couple” A. Barto, “Football” A. Usachev. |
Role-playing game "Road traffic" (use of poetry). |
Design of the book “Call 03 in case of fire” (using drawings and text invented by parents and children). |
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Cognition |
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On walks during observations reading poems about the seasons, about animals, about nature. |
The use of riddles, sayings, proverbs, poems in the classroom for FEMP, design, ecology. |
The use of poetry when creating buildings, for example, A. Barto's poems "Builders", "Truck", "Airplane". |
"An evening of riddles" (thematic: about nature, animals, seasons, etc.). |
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Communication |
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Conversation on the content of the poem by E. Blaginina: “Let's sit in silence”, A.K. Tolstoy: "Autumn, our whole poor garden is sprinkled ...". |
Retelling of the fairy tale "The Fox and the Jug", "The Bouncer Hare". |
Role-playing games "Family", "Kindergarten", "School" telling familiar tales. |
Theater visit. |
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Artistic creativity |
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The use of illustrations for works of art during hygiene procedures and regime moments, for example, illustrations for the poem by E. Blaginina "Alyonushka", K. Chukovsky "Moydodyr". |
Didactic game "Choose an illustration" (for a work of art). |
Self-drawing illustrations for familiar literary works. |
Visiting an exhibition, a museum. |
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Music |
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Morning gymnastics to the song from the cartoon "38 Parrots" "Merry Exercise". |
Musical and didactic game: "Guess who called?", Cognitive game "Burn, burn clearly!", "Let's dance the Hare!". |
Using familiar songs in role-playing games: "Family", "Kindergarten", "Theater". |
A dramatization of the fairy tale "Cinderella". |
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Work |
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Using nursery rhymes when cleaning toys, things "We play with toys, we put them in their place ..." |
Reading "What do crafts smell like", "What do you have?", S. Mikhalkov "Grandmother's hands". |
Work in the corner of the book: arranging books according to the subject, repairing books. |
Making baby books. |
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Not many have been given the happiness of close contact with the artists of the word.
So look for opportunities to hear them.
I.V. Ilyinsky
introduction
“The written word and the spoken word are not equivalent. For it is not only important What said, but How said. And in this sense, a word that sounds richer than that reproduced on paper” 1 . These words of the outstanding master of the sounding word Irakli Andronikov, said by him in connection with the release of a unique book about writers' voices, today are heard as if from another era.
For about two decades, artistic reading at school has been thoroughly forgotten. If some attention is paid to him, then only within the framework of memorizing the mandatory minimum of program works. In some places, attempts are being made to revive competitions of readers, but here, as a rule, they are timed to coincide with significant historical dates. Expressive reading as an educational and educational task withdrawn from the high school curriculum. True, the priority in this matter does not belong to the school.
There are at least two reasons for the decline in interest in the spoken word. The first is a sharp decline in the general level of performing arts, the disappearance of the entire genre of the artistic word from the stage, the replacement of the culture of the word with a surrogate. At the heart of this sad phenomenon lies the destruction of the reading school. From whom, if not from the masters of the artistic word, does this specific culture? In the last two decades, their reproduction has practically stopped. It cannot be said that society has lost interest in artistic reading. The society was simply deprived of this art. The second reason must be sought in the pedagogical tops. In parallel with the disappearance of a whole genre from the stage, pedagogical structures responsible for the software and methodological support of the educational process stopped research and development in this area. Materials devoted to the art of the sounding word disappeared from the pages of pedagogical journals. All this happened quietly, so that the older generation of teachers paid attention to this loss when those who practically did not know the culture of reading came to school.
It doesn't take long to convince artistic reading is a necessary component of the general culture of a person. This idea was expressed forty years ago by the classic of the reading genre I.V. Ilyinsky: "Classes and work on the artistic word develop a person's culture, enrich and hone his language, fill his soul" 2 . Now, to these golden words, one can add that the art of the sounding word can serve as an effective antidote to electronic hobbies and diseases of modern man, unknown to Ilyinsky's generation.
It is very difficult to raise this layer of culture and return it to school. The efforts of the pedagogical community alone are not enough. The work should begin with an analysis of the state of reading culture in the recent past.
Previously, we had a well-established mechanism for familiarization with the culture and aesthetics of the artistic word. Education began with a kindergarten and was a single structure that included school, radio, television and theatrical community. Let us recall at least the wonderful programs of Nikolai Litvinov, which gathered a huge children's audience. There was coordination between the masters of the artistic word and the pedagogical community in the creation of joint educational programs.
Literary reading as an educational task has two sides: reading itself and listening to samples of the artistic word. The second side is no less important than the first, because "the ability to listen to readers, like the ability to listen to music, watch pictures and performances, enriches the inner world of a person" 3 . It is possible to educate a cultured listener, as well as a reader, only on high samples of the sounding word.
Domestic verbal culture has the richest material representing reading school. The proposed optional course is built as listening to the classics of the genre and analyzing their skills, performance features. In terms of the coverage of the material, the course belongs to the number of integrated ones. It combines language, literature and theatrical art.
From the history of the art of the sounding word
The reading of literary works in front of an audience of listeners began to develop into an independent genre in the 1840s. Interest in him first came from the artists of the word themselves. Some of them were inimitable storytellers and readers. One of them, N.V. Gogol, dedicated an article (letter) “Readings of Russian poets to the public” to the young genre: “I am glad,” wrote the author of “Inspector”, “that we have finally begun public readings of the works of our writers<...>I think we need public reading<...>Skillful readers must be created with us<...>To read a work of literature properly is not a trifle at all.
The entire second half of the 19th century became a preparatory stage for the formation of the reading genre. School teachers played a significant role in this. By their reading in the lessons of literary classics, they laid the foundation for the art of the sounding word and instilled interest in it. “Peculiarities of V. Ostrogorsky’s activity<учителя словесности
петербургской гимназии>, - recalls the famous dramatic actress Elizaveta Time, - consisted in the wide promotion of "expressive reading".<...>Ostrogorsky back in the seventies
Some readers came out of the acting environment, but already in the period of self-determination of the genre, both performers and listeners understood that “reading art is completely independent, having all the rights to exist next to the theater, art in the full sense of the word is high and beautiful” 5.
The genre gains recognition with the release of professional readers on the stage. Superiority in this, no doubt, belongs to Alexander Yakovlevich Zakushnyak, who organized in 1924 the famous "story evenings". And in 1937, the first All-Union competition of professional readers took place. At that time Vladimir Nikolaevich Yakhontov creates the Theater of one actor - the reading theater. The names of the masters of artistic reading - V. Aksenov, D. Orlov, D. Zhuravlev, I. Schwartz, E. Kaminka and others become known throughout the country. Such different theater actors as V. Kachalov, A. Ostuzhev periodically perform reading programs. I. Ilyinsky, A. Koonen, A. Ktorov, N. Mordvinov, V. Maretskaya. Their efforts create the theoretical foundations young art, the specifics of the genre, its technique and varieties are determined.
The first generation of professional readers formed an audience of listeners, which, with the advent of radio in every home, became truly multi-million. Chamber in the beginning, the genre in a short time has become one of the most popular. A major role in its popularization was played by the secondary school and folk universities of culture.
In 1918, the Institute was founded living word, in which the Cabinet for the Study of Artistic Speech worked for many years, the invariable owner of which was the famous linguist Professor S.I. Bernstein. The unique sound fund of the Cabinet served to popularize and publish the literary classics of the 20th century in the author's performance.
For many years in Moscow in the Armenian Lane there was a correspondence people's university of arts, which included a department of art reading at the theater department. In the All-Union Theatrical Society, under the section of artists-readers, a methodological commission worked for many years, providing assistance to teachers and amateur groups in their work on artistic expression.
Since 1965, the annual "The Art of the Sounding Word" began to be published, intended for school teachers. It published articles by recognized masters of the reader genre, revealed the principles of the art of the reader, methods of working on the text, etc. The collection was published for 25 years (38 issues) and made a huge contribution to the education of the culture of the artistic word.
By that time, the All-Union Recording Studio had accumulated the richest fund of samples of reading art, and the Melodiya company launched the production of gramophone records with their recordings. The voices of V. Yakhontov and Y. Smolensky, A. Pokrovsky and A. Slobodsky, R. Plyatt and S. Balashov sounded throughout the country.
Reading competitions had become by that time regular and multi-stage: city (village) - district - region - republic - Union. They were educational in nature and revealed many talented young people. To a large extent, they provided the unsurpassed level of announcer art that we had until the 1990s. They set a high aesthetic criterion for the sounding word, raised the scale of requirements.
In the mid-1970s, each school acquired a record library, in which the recordings of Russian readers occupied a worthy place. Literature lessons were already unthinkable without listening to the recorded poems of Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrasov, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Gogol and Chekhov's prose. But then these notes did not replace printed texts, but supplemented them, enriching the verbal culture of schoolchildren. Unfortunately, then, at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, in the era of enthusiasm for electives, it was not possible to create such a course in verbal art. Most likely, this fact can be explained by the extraordinary wealth and accessibility of samples of the artistic word that the school and society had at their disposal. Then, unfortunately, it was not possible to assess the danger of those trends in the field of speech culture, which were revealed in their entirety later, already in the late 1980s.
In the 1990s, the genre of the literary word does not die, but undergoes a complex transformation. Like many areas of culture, it has not escaped commercialization. Along with classical recordings, periodically re-released by various record companies, new ones were also made. All of them, as a rule, are of a low level, since they mainly pursue non-pedagogical and non-educational goals. Actors who had never previously worked in the genre of the sounding word were often involved in such work. So, for example, in the 1990s, a huge number of works of Russian classics were voiced by the popular theater and film actor Vladimir Samoilov. But none of them deserves to be placed next to the classics of the reading genre. A number of young actors in Moscow theaters have done the same work with the same result. Not a single record of the 1990s became an event in the art world.
In addition to actors, professional announcers began to record literary works. Well-known in the recent past, announcers E. Ternovsky and I. Prudovsky recorded the entire "Anna Karenina" and the entire "War and Peace". Obviously, not artistic goals were pursued. Such records are designed to save from reading those schoolchildren who were too lazy to open a book, that is, an anti-pedagogical task was carried out that brought commercial benefits. This shifted the boundaries of genres and damaged the aesthetics of the artistic word. A prominent master of the reading genre V.N. warned against such a danger in his time. Aksenov: “Often the literary material itself can captivate listeners, regardless of the skill of the performer,” he wrote in the mid-1950s. - We know readers who take interesting book and, making almost no effort to build their reading into an art, they reveal to their listeners plot. Such readers are "transmitters" of other people's thoughts and words and have very little in common with art" 6 .
In recent years, Melodiya has offered a whole program of publishing old classical recordings with the voices of masters. In addition to solo numbers, it included classic radio performances. These recordings will help revive interest in high art. And in order to fit this material into the framework of the educational program, an optional course is needed that will help high school students to join this art.
The originality of the artistic and verbal genre.
Originality is determined by the position of the genre between books and theatre. The discrepancy between acting and reading art runs along the line of “appropriation of the text”. For an actor, he becomes absolutely his own, while a reader's word, in comparison with an actor's, leaves room for understatement.
Another feature of the genre is that the actor's word is associated with action. The reader strives for the "liberated word". A reader both on the stage and in sound recording cannot be limited to creating the image of one hero, as in a play. He must recreate in the story and pictures of nature, and the sounds of music, and the sound of rain, as well as portraits of heroes, their characters, the subtlest feelings and moods. The most expressive description of the reading genre was given by V.N. Yakhontov: "The art of the artistic word is built on the conviction that the word is visible."
Reading intended for the stage imposes specific requirements on the performer: it is “dynamics, conciseness, temperament, concentration of all performing abilities and expressive means in a concise and clear form” 7 . The genre of oral story implies a form that is able to resolve the style of an author through a combination of intonations and composition of the text.
Another outstanding master of the artistic word and genre theorist, A.I. Schwartz formulated the categories that make up the aesthetic nature of the art of artistic reading: “1) A positive ideal; 2) Main idea; 3) The image of the narrator; 4) The attitude of the narrator to the individual elements of the plot” 8 . Ya.M. Smolensky believed that the most important element of reading art is the "logic of speech". He considered mastering it a pedagogical task, because the unfavorable state of the elementary logic of reading "is a consequence of one-sidedness in teaching the laws of logic at school." Reading poetry will help solve this problem, since poetry disciplines thinking, “aggravates the “rigidity” of the verbal form” 9 . And, finally, the most important condition for reading art is language. “A master of the artistic word must know his native language perfectly, take into account and feel all its nuances, the subtlest shades of thought and feeling” 10 .
Since the emergence of the genre, two types of reading have been distinguished in it - the story and theatricalization. Founders and major representatives they were Zakushnyak and Yakhontov. Snack was a consummate storyteller. Yakhontov created the genre of one-man theater. He liked to use stingy props, interiors, historical costumes, which brought elements of acting to the reading. The tradition of the story was brilliantly developed by I. Andronikov, who united both the author and the performer in one person. In the genre of a theatrical one-man show, Alisa Koonen successfully worked in the 1950s–1970s after leaving the main stage. Synthesis of the arts - reading and music - is achieved in the genre of literary and musical montage, which received wide recognition in the 1960s-1970s in the brilliant compositions of Alexei Pokrovsky.
A special place in the art of the artistic word is occupied by the author's performance. Technique made it possible to preserve the voices of many classics of the 20th century, and even L. Tolstoy. Back in the 1920s, V. Mayakovsky insisted on releasing gramophone records with poems performed by the poets themselves. The systematic publication of such records began in 1956.
Author's reading, which is to a certain extent a means of self-expression, helps to better understand the artistic world of the writer, to comprehend textbook works in a new way. The voice of each author has a peculiar aesthetics, its sound is often valuable in itself. He is able to influence the imagination with extraordinary power.
Take, for example, the well-known Khlopushi's monologue from S. Yesenin's dramatic poem "Pugachev". The poet put such energy into this reading that it fascinates the listener, shakes him to the core. Yesenin's voice sounds in contrast to the idea of the poet, which usually develops in the process of reading his poems in a book. Yesenin here rises to high tragedy, and no artist can compete with him in this monologue.
Methodology for organizing classes
The initial and most important stage in the work on the course is the competent selection of material. It has already been said above that the modern market of sound recordings is filled with products of far from high quality. Also, not all classic recordings have been reissued. Therefore, a teacher, with the availability of equipment, can successfully use old gramophone records. They are preserved in the collections of many youth libraries. For example, the Russian State Juvenile Library in Moscow re-records reading programs from vinyl discs to new media as a service.
A great help in the work of the teacher will be 38 issues of the collection "The Art of the Sounding Word". Its permanent editor and author of a number of articles O.M. Itina supplied many editions guidelines. For several years she made diary entries in which she consistently analyzed the reading art of many masters of the sounding word. The methodologist periodically shared her observations with readers. “Learning with the help of records is very important and useful.<...>. First, let the students enjoy the work as a whole, without trying to immediately invade the impression received. And then have a conversation about what you heard, repeat the points of interest ... Then try to understand together what paths the performer followed in his work, how exactly he achieved the necessary impression ”11 - this is how the author of the work“ On Readers and Listeners ”draws a diagram of a lesson on the study of reading art .
The program has been designed with the availability of sound recordings for modern school. It includes samples of the classics of the reading genre. Among them are both the actual readers and the actors. The combination of acting and reading talents is a rather rare phenomenon in art. Not many people united both gifts (V.I. Kachalov, V.N. Aksenov, I.V. Ilyinsky, E.I. Time). Others either completely devoted themselves to the stage, or the latter served for them as an addition to the main acting role (A.G. Koonen, N.D. Mordvinov, M.F. Astangov, B.A. Babochkin).
The proposed course is recommended for philological classes at the final stage of education, when high school students have accumulated the necessary minimum knowledge of Russian literature. The objective of the course is to educate a cultured listener who knows how to appreciate Russian speech and enjoy the art of the sounding word.
In 1919, in one of the conversations at Creative Mondays, K.S. Stanislavsky dropped a catchphrase: “... We are now in line word. We must look for ways to get there." Our critical cultural epoch must set these classic words as a motto.
The publication of the article was made with the support of the NOU SPO "Capital Professional Business College". NOU SPO "SPBK" offers to enroll in acting classes in Moscow. Experienced teachers"SPBK" will help to reveal the student's creative potential, develop and hone his vocal and stage skills, and fully master all the subtleties and professional techniques of acting. You can learn more about the offer of the department of theatrical and variety art of NOU SPO "SPBK" on the website www.SPBK-OTEI.com
PROGRAM
1. Introduction. 2 hours. From the history of the genre. AND I. Zakushnyak and V.N. Yakhontov - the founders of the "literary concert". Evenings of Zakushnyak's story and theater of one actor Yakhontov. The essence of reading art, its difference from acting. Features of the reading word. Speech technique. Word and music. There are two types of reading on the stage - theatrical and storytelling. Genres: oral story, performing cycle, literary program, story cycle. The reader-narrator and literary material. There are two types of embodiment of the reader's intention - stage and sound recording.
2. A. Pokrovsky – V.A. Zhukovsky. The Tale of Tsar Berendey, his son Ivan Tsarevich, the tricks of Koshchei the Immortal, and the wisdom of Princess Marya, Koshcheeva's daughter. 2 hours. The melodiousness of speech, proximity to melodic declamation. Gravitation to the musical construction of the phrase. Intonational closeness to the performance of folk storytellers (epic style).
3.
V.N. Yakhontov - A.S. Griboyedov. Woe from Wit (fragments: scenes from Act IV).
2 hours."The Unknown Power of the Voice", "Music of Thought and Feeling". Yakhontov - "a poet with other people's words." The peculiarity of the theater of one actor. A wealth of poetic voices. The melody, the sense of the phrase, the feeling of the rhythm of the whole piece. "Speech should sound like poetry" - Yakhontov's creative credo. Musical comprehension of the word. Richness and originality of intonations. Laconism of expressive means.
4. IN AND. Kachalov - A.S. Pushkin. Captain's daughter (detail); Ruslan and Lyudmila (detail). 2 hours."Kachalov is a whole era in the history of verbal art, its symbol, its secret, its holiday" (P.P. Kogan). Velvety timbre, harmony of speech music and deep thought. "The undoubted exponent of the melodious Russian language" (V.N. Aksenov). The fullness and euphony of speech, precise articulation, the charm of a deep, chesty voice. The finest balance between reading and playing. intonation wealth. Narrative "characteristic" in prose. Poetic melody in the lyric-epic genre. Intonation-strophic division of the phrase. Declamation as the basis of style.
5. A.A. Ostuzhev - A.S. Pushkin. The Miserly Knight (Baron's monologue). 1 hour. The originality of the actor's creative destiny and its reflection in reading. Emotional saturation of the voice, melodiousness (Chaliapin's school). Passionate pathos and temperament combined with deep sincerity. Romantic spirituality of execution.
6. D.N. Zhuravlev - A.S. Pushkin. Peak lady. 2 hours. Accuracy of figurative vision, reliability of the story. Psychological depth in the disclosure of character. Poetry and truthfulness of execution, a sensitive sense of the phrase. The ability to moderately “move away” from the work, not to get bogged down in trifles, but to cover everything in its entirety. intonation accuracy of scenes.
7. N.D. Mordvinov - M.Yu. Lermontov. Song about the merchant Kalashnikov. 2 hours. Heroic-romantic (Mochalovskaya) style of performance. Differentiation of phrasing depending on the semantic fullness of the line (causation, song, narrative, dramatic pathos). Epic epicness in intonation. The richness of the sound range - from a whisper to a scream.
Psychological transformation in the depiction of characters. Melodic richness of speech - from melody to singing.
8. A.K. Sloboda - N.V. Gogol. Overcoat (or I.V. Ilyinsky. old-world landowners). 2 hours. Stylistic richness, a combination of irony, humor, realistic "objectivity" of the story. Theatricality of performance: playing with intonations in the transmission of characters' speech. The use of improperly direct speech in the function of direct. Consistency in the deployment of the cross-cutting action of the work. The weakening of Gogol's fantasy in order to unite the performing plan.
9. A.I. Schwartz - N.V. Gogol. Dead Souls (excerpts from the poem: chapters 8–11, abridged). 3 hours.
"Master of deep, voluminous disclosure of the semantic, ideological and philosophical essence of the work" (D.N. Zhuravlev). Simplicity, restraint, stinginess of means, combined with immeasurable depth. temperament of thought and high intelligence. The image of the narrator, "depicting the character." intonation indirect speech in a direct function as a favorite reader's device.
10. E.A. Polevitskaya, A.G. Koonen - I.S. Turgenev. Poems in prose. 2 hours. Emotional immediacy of Polevitskaya combined with psychological accuracy. Transmission of subtle shades of experiences. The pathetic performance of Koonen. Richness of intonation colors.
11. I.V. Ilyinsky - M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Fairy tales ("Karas-idealist", "Konyaga").
2 hours. Ilyinsky is a reader-narrator. “To help goodness and truth with laughter and tears from the stage” is the creative credo of Ilyinsky the Reader. The mask of the narrator in combination with the image of the characters. "Direct improvisation". A masterful adaptation of the throat voice to storytelling and acting.
12. Ya.M. Smolensky - L.N. Tolstoy. Two hussars. 2 hours. Smolensky is an artist alien to emphasized emotionality. Restraint of colors. Great possession of emotion. "Soulful Rationalism". Liberation of the word from excessive emotion. Concentration on the deep plasticity of the word. Flexible and sonorous measured speech. The capacity of the word, "inside which is thought, movement, mise-en-scene and image."
13. D.N. Zhuravlev - A.P. Chekhov. About love. House with mezzanine. Lady with a dog. 2 hours. Restraint in conveying deep feelings. "Wavy" manner of performance: rise and fall of tone depending on the semantic load of the fragment. Transmission of someone else's speech by raising or lowering the voice. Three types of intonation: calm-tempered tone in descriptions; dynamism of speech in the narrative; logical clarity of phrasing in reasoning. Emotional tension in the transmission of strong experiences. Classic expressiveness of the old Moscow pronunciation.
14.
N.S. Plotnikov, V.A. Sperantova - M. Gorky. Grandfather Arkhip and Lenka (composition).
2 hours. The expressiveness of the external drawing, the art of reincarnation of Plotnikov. Sperantova is a "miracle of the ether", a master of "children's" intonations. Psychologically accurate disclosure of the inner world of the child. Penetrating lyricism.
15. M.F. Astangov - I.A. Bunin. Gentleman from San Francisco. 2 hours. Intellectual dude. Brilliant mastery of the art of psychological grotesque. Philosophical comprehension of images.
16. Poems of Russian poets in the author's performance. 2 hours. A.A. Block (verses at the choice of the teacher). Creative credo: "economy of expressive means is the general principle of art." Masterly possession of the form of pronouncing poetry. The predominance of the ethical moment in reading over the aesthetic (not so much admiring as shocking). "Fearless Sincerity" (M. Gorky). Reading, "full of either sadness or doom" (B. Agapov). S.A. Yesenin. "Inner Musical Power" (I. Evdokimov). “A combination of grace and strength of “barbaric temperament” and artistry” (France Helens). Contagious sincerity, masculinity, high tragedy. V.V. Mayakovsky. Proximity to the intonations of natural, colloquial speech. Dynamic construction of sounding phrases, reflecting and concretizing the semantic structure of the poetic text. “Demonstration of yourself, your thought, your passion, your spiritual experience” (P.Antokolsky). "I demand louder than violinists the rights to a gramophone record." A contrasting transition from melodious reading to everyday intonation of a direct appeal to the audience.
17. M.A. Sholokhov reads excerpts from the novel "Virgin Soil Upturned" (the story of grandfather Shchukar, an excerpt from the 29th chapter). 1 hour. Two faces of Sholokhov the reader: an actor and a narrator. Virtuoso acting. Masterful assimilation of the intonation of the hero (Schukar). Restraint, conveying inner feelings and drama of events.
18. Reserve occupation. 2 hours.
19. Final lesson. 2 hours. Independent analysis of a passage or a finished work. An essay about a favorite artist. Essay on the work of the reader (at the choice of the teacher and students).
1 I.L. Andronikov. Sound word. Shilov L.A.. Voices resounding. M., 1977.
2 Sat. "The Art of the Sounding Word". Issue. 4. M., 1968. S. 27.
3 Sat. "The Art of the Sounding Word". Issue. 1. M., 1965. S. 144.
4 Time E. Roads of art. M., 1967. S. 94.
5 Zhuravlev D.N. About the art of the reader. Sat. "The Art of the Sounding Word". Issue. 1. p. 9.
6 Aksenov V
7 Zakushnyak A.Ya. Story evenings. Sat. "The Art of the Sounding Word". Issue. 2. M., 1966. S. 17.
8 A.I. Schwartz. Reader's notes. Sat. "The Art of the Sounding Word". Issue. 2. M., 1966. S. 52.
9 Sat. "The Art of the Sounding Word". Issue. 3. M., 1967. S. 23.
10 Aksenov V. Art of the artistic word. M., 1962. S. 50.
11 Sat. "The Art of the Sounding Word". Issue. 24. M., 1981.
12 Stanislavsky K. S. Collection. op. in 9 vols. T. 6, part 1. M., 1994. S. 489.
O.G. EGOROV,
Doctor of Philology,
lyceum of Zheleznodorozhny,
Moscow region
Verbal art exists in two forms: in oral form, when a work is passed from singer (or storyteller) to singer without being fixed in writing, and in written, genetically later, but only genetically. In fact, since the invention of writing, both of these forms have coexisted and exchanged with each other. Oral creativity is often fixed in writing, and written art again goes into oral existence (the simplest example is a song composed by the author and which has become popular and nameless over time). Oral memory, with all its might, does not retain what has come out of poetic use ...
Many samples of oral creativity, which now form the basis of the world culture of the word, would be irretrievably lost (if they were not written down). Such, for example, are "Shijing" - a collection of Chinese folk songs, preserved thanks to the works of Confucius, Homer's epic poems, written down at the behest of the Athenian tyrant Peisistratus, Irish sagas, recorded by caring monks who saved one of the greatest human cultures from oblivion.
The relationship between oral and written literature can be traced in the most ancient Russian monuments: "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" by an unknown author and "The Tale of Law and Grace" by Metropolitan Hilarion.
Ancient written monuments usually did not have an author (more precisely, he did not sign), like chroniclers or the author of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". When historical narrative historian and writer were one and the same person. Orator and poet, orator and preacher, did not separate from each other for the same long time. "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" is precisely a "word", a political appeal and an instructive essay, just as the "Word of Law and Grace" was both a "word", an oratorical work, and a sermon.
Literary works, separated from history, appear already on the threshold of a new time, when secular literature, created on the basis of folklore forms, also appears.
Written fiction constantly refers to the oral folk tradition, borrowing and processing very, very much from this bottomless well. Such creations of the old literature as "Woe-misfortune" or "The Tale of Ruff, the son of Shchetinnikov" - are generated by folklore. Lermontov's wonderful poem "The Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov" is all based on the metrics and figurative system of ancient Russian ballads. Pushkin's Tales are written in the same vein. And Tvardovsky's poems have a "chastushechnaya" metric. Yes, and the whole Yesenin outside the folklore tradition, in fact, would be impossible, like Klyuev, like Rubtsov, and many others.
Cases of "reverse" movement are not uncommon: the Christian literary tradition has given rise both in Rus' and in the West to a whole genre of "spiritual poems", ballads and songs with religious content. Folk ballads of the West, in particular, English, processed by poets and translated by our poets into Russian, for the second time "descended into the people", giving rise to the genre of later Russian ballads ("Khazbulat daring", etc.) and the so-called "petty-bourgeois romances" of the 19th century. And here is what is interesting: before the advent of the romance, Russian folk poetry did not know a solo lyric song, all lyric songs were choral, and the manner of their performance, defined as "organic polyphony", in general, was an exceptional phenomenon in world vocal culture. Romance responded to the needs of solo, individual singing (guitar).
With all these mutual influences, oral creativity (folklore) retains its fundamental difference from written (author's) creativity - folklore is impersonal. His works not only "do not have an author" (more precisely, he is always unknown), but also do not have such a stylistic difference as the author's manner. Just like the characters of folklore - good fellows, red girls, etc. - do not have an individual psychological portrait. Heroes of folklore are always "types" and never "characters". Written literature, on the contrary, is always characterized by the desire to describe the individual, unique, to describe the characters, and, at the same time, to express a special, author's manner of narration, the author's style.
Classical peasant folklore is dying today, because the very life that gave birth to it is being destroyed. But this does not mean that the oral artistic word will die out completely. It, like the Russian language itself, will constantly inspire authors. Moreover, "returns" of traditional forms of oral poetry are also possible. So, in our days, in connection with the rise of the Cossacks, the choral Cossack song comes to life, gaining a second wind.
Unfortunately, people began to write down works of oral literature (folklore) quite late, mostly already in the 19th century, having lost a lot of our former riches: the ancient Russian epic, for example, has come down to us in meager fragments, and pre-Christian mythology has not been written at all. reached.
Written literature was more fortunate, although in the fires of Russian cities, in the timelessness of the 18th - early 19th centuries, when all interest in Russian antiquity was lost, many written monuments perished, and therefore we should honor the existing composition of ancient Russian (pre-Petrine) literature with only a modest passage great literature of our ancestors.
Primitive origins of verbal art *
On the origin of verbal art
Archaeological material, which provides so much for the history of fine art, is of very little help in studying the roots of verbal art. For this, it is necessary to refer to ethnographic data, which is a significant inconvenience, since the prehistory of the verbal art of some peoples has to be judged on the basis of the archaic folklore of others, based on the idea of uniform, general patterns of social development.
Verbal art, apparently, arose later than some other types of art, since its material, primary element is the word, speech. Of course, all the arts could appear only after a person had mastered articulate speech, but the emergence of verbal art required a high degree of language development in its communicative function and the presence of rather complex grammatical and syntactic forms. Apparently, the fine arts appeared first of all. The first decorated wooden and bone objects (female figurines - Paleolithic "Venuses") date back to about 25 thousand years BC. e. Classical monuments of European cave painting (images of animals in Aurignac, solutre and Madeleine) date back to 25-10 thousand years BC. e.
Fine arts arose in the Upper Paleolithic (the last stage of the Old Stone Age), when a person, according to his constitution, was no longer different from the modern one, spoke, knew the tribal organization based on dual exogamy (the division of a social group into two halves, within which marriage ties are prohibited) , made perfect tools from stone, bone and horn, had primitive religious ideas. But less perfect tools were already being made by man in the Middle and Lower Paleolithic, at least 400,000 years before that.
In the process of labor, the hand was improved, which now could give the natural material a utilitarian-expedient form, and then just as expediently use the object made by it. The "intellectual" use of the hand (and eye) sharpened the faculties that made articulate speech and human thought possible. The shape of the tools made became the plastic realization of human thought, idea, design, and corresponded to the emerging aesthetic taste. The feeling of proportions and symmetry was generated both by man's observations of animals, plants, himself, and by the technique and rhythm of labor operations. Even before the creation of the first bone sculptures and cave "clothings", the manufacture of tools more elegant, more refined than necessary to meet vital needs, testified to the emergence of an aesthetic sense.
Paleolithic cave painting had a pronounced "realistic" character; only at the stage corresponding to the Azile-Tardenoise archaeological culture did the images of animals become more conventional, schematic. But the Paleolithic, and even more so the Neolithic, along with representative, figurative art, knows the art of ornamentation that adorns tools, household items and, probably, the human body (tattoo, temporary coloring), and later objects of worship, and acting as a rhythm of forms and colors. Some models of ornament directly go back to the technique of weaving, pottery, weaving; others are a reflection of geometric forms in nature, an expression of human sensory experience. The convergence of representational and ornamental art in the Neolithic was one of the reasons for the widespread use of conditional, stylized images. Some ornaments really arose as a result of stylization of realistic images of natural objects, but more often their symbolic interpretation arose on the basis of later associations. Perhaps the conventionality and schematism of images were associated with the development of pictography - figured writing.
The development of mythology certainly contributed to the emergence of symbolic and fantastic images. There is almost no doubt that Paleolithic cave painting not only synthesized observations of animals - objects of hunting - and in this case represented a way to "master" them, but also had a magical significance as a means of attracting and subordinating hunting prey. This is indicated by images of spears stuck into animal figures. Undoubtedly magical in nature is the "revival" of rock paintings or drawings on the ground among Australians during rituals, aimed at stimulating the reproduction of this type of animal. Visual arts were widely used in more complex rituals, closely associated with early religious beliefs. However, there could exist (this is confirmed by the example of the same Australians) fine art, not strictly related to religious and magical purposes.
In the famous cave of the Three Brothers, there is an image of a disguised man with deer horns dating back to the Madeleine era, that is, to the heyday of Paleolithic painting in Europe. This and similar figures undoubtedly testify to the existence of hunting dances at that time, apparently already having a magical purpose. Dance - this living plastic - is not only one of ancient species art, but a kind that reached a high perfection precisely in the primitive period.
If in the ancient fine arts expressive figurative depiction intertwined with ornamental motifs, then in dance the dynamic reproduction of hunting scenes, labor processes and some aspects of life is necessarily subject to a strict rhythm, and the rhythm of movements from time immemorial is supported by a sound rhythm. Primitive music is almost inseparable from dance and for a long time was subordinated to it. Musical instruments mainly beat the beat, the rhythmic element, even in singing, sharply prevailed over the melodic. The rhythmic beginning, the development of which was facilitated by labor practice, was itself an important moment in the organization of labor and the ordering of psychophysical energy, the synchronization of various structures of the nervous system. In addition, breaking the flow of visual, sound, motor perception into elements, highlighting individual "frames" in it, rhythm contributes to the creation of artistic images.
The reproduction of hunting, gathering roots, and then other labor processes in isolation from these labor processes themselves opened the way for the free reproduction and generalization of reality - the most important principles of art. If labor practice prepared art, then separation from the labor processes themselves was a necessary prerequisite for the development of art as a special creative activity that reflects and at the same time transforms reality. At the primitive stage, the transforming role of art was often naively identified with a utilitarian goal achieved not by labor, but by magic.
The depiction of hunting in a dance (and such hunting dances are widespread among a number of culturally backward peoples) was not a simple game, not only exercise and dress rehearsal before the future hunt. It was a ritual action that was supposed to directly attract hunting prey and influence the outcome of the hunt in the future. More complex magical rites were supposed to promote the reproduction of animals and the growth of plants, maintain a regular change of seasons, in which a period of cold and poverty comes a time of warmth and abundance. The primitive magical rite, as animistic and totem ideas developed and became more complex, the veneration of ancestors, master spirits, etc., grew into a religious cult.
The connection of dance with a magical rite, and then with a religious cult, turned out to be closer than that of the fine arts, since dance became the main factor in the ritual action.
Folk-ritual games, including elements of dance, pantomime, music, and partly fine arts (and later poetry), in their syncretic unity, became the embryo of the theater. A specific feature of the primitive theater is the use of masks, which genetically goes back to disguise as a hunting technique (dressing in the skin of an animal in order to approach the object of the hunt without arousing suspicion). Putting on the skin of an animal is common during the performance of the already mentioned hunting dances among the North American Indians, some peoples of Africa, etc. Imitation of the habits of animals using animal masks and body painting has been developed in totemic rites associated with the corresponding idea of a special relationship of a group of people (certain genera) with certain species of animals or plants, about their origin from common ancestors (which were usually drawn as creatures of a half-human, half-animal nature). In Australia, a classic country of totemism, such rites were carried out either for the magical purpose of breeding animals of one's totem (rites such as intichium), or for educational and educational purposes during the initiation of young men into full members of the tribe. During these rituals (initiations), the young men, after undergoing severe trials (symbolizing temporary death and a new birth), became spectators of various pantomime scenes and dances that adult men played in front of them.
It is interesting to note that these performances also included scenes of a grossly grotesque nature. The image of an animal (first an object of hunting, and then a revered totem) precedes in the "theater" (as well as in rock art) the image of a man. Human masks first appear in funeral and memorial rites in connection with the cult of ancestors (dead relatives). A special role in the preservation and development of primitive "theatrical" traditions was played by secret male unions, well preserved in Africa, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Northwestern America. The members of the unions always acted in disguise; masks depicted human ancestors, sacred animals, various spirits, often in a very fantastic guise (to intimidate the uninitiated and under the influence of a developed animistic worldview). During the period of decomposition of the tribal society, a sample of syncretic theatrical and ritual performances using masks, imitating animals, etc. is provided by shamanic rituals and similar witchcraft sessions among some peoples. The mystery "Tsam", which was played out in pre-revolutionary times in the lamaist monasteries of Mongolia, goes back to a large extent to shamanic actions.
The bear festival, widespread among the peoples of the North, combines hunting magic and the complex cult of the bear with a bright, diverse theatrical spectacle, including not only cult, but also everyday, even satirical scenes that serve exclusively for entertainment.
The wedding ceremony among many peoples has the features of a kind of ritual-syncretic action, distinct elements of theatricality. The same should be said about various calendar agrarian folk-ritual games depicting the change of winter in spring or summer in the form of a struggle, a dispute between two forces, in the form of a “burial” of a doll or actor, embodying a defeated, dying winter. More complex forms of calendar agrarian mysteries are associated with the cult of the dying and resurrecting god. Such are the ancient Egyptian cult mysteries about Osiris and Isis, the ancient Babylonian New Year's festivities in honor of Marduk, the ancient Greek mysteries in honor of the fertility gods Demeter and Dionysus. (Such, in essence, in their genesis, are the medieval Christian mysteries.)
The origin of the ancient theater is associated with the Dionysian mysteries. Revealing the primitive heritage in ancient Greek tragedy and comedy, A.D. Avdeev in his book "The Origin of the Theatre" 1 suggests that initially the basis of the tragedy was zoopantomime, and the dithyramb, which expounded the legends about Dionysus, became the source of its further development as a dramatic genre.
Even more obvious is the "primitive" heritage in the traditional theater of Indonesia (Javanese topeng), Japan ( medieval theater But), China, India, Burma and other countries of the Far and Middle East, where the connection with the cult of ancestors is clearly traced, masks are used, zoomorphic images, demons, etc. occupy a large place.
In the archaic forms of the theater, the pantomime element dominates the verbal text, in some cases a small verbal part is transferred to a special "actor" (this feature is still preserved in the traditional theater of Japan and Indonesia). The transformation of a ritual-theatrical spectacle into a drama takes place already in a historically developed society by breaking away from the ritual and much more intensive penetration of elements of verbal art, often with the help of writing.
Let's go directly to verbal art.
K. Bucher in the well-known book "Work and Rhythm" 2 , relying on an extensive collection of labor songs of various peoples, hypothesized that "at the lower levels of development, work, music and poetry were something unified, but work was the main element of this trinity"; the verse meter goes directly back to labor rhythms, and the main types of poetry gradually developed from the labor song - epic, lyric, drama. This hypothesis vulgarly, one-sidedly represents the connection between labor and poetry. It has already been noted above that just the transition from genuine production activity to its generalized reproduction in folk-ritual games was an important prerequisite for the development of art, in any case, dance, music, theater.
The outstanding Russian scientist A.N. Veselovsky in his "Historical Poetics" saw the roots of not only dance, music, but also poetry in the folk rite. Primitive poetry, according to his concept, was originally a song of the choir, accompanied by dance and pantomime. In the song, the verbal element was naturally combined with the musical. Thus, poetry arose, as it were, in the depths of the primitive syncretism of the arts, united within the framework of the folk ritual. The role of the word at first was insignificant and entirely subordinated to rhythmic and mimic principles. The text was improvised for the occasion, until, finally, it itself acquired a traditional character.
A.N. Veselovsky proceeded from the primitive syncretism not only of art forms, but also of poetry. "The epic and lyric seemed to us the consequences of the decomposition of the ancient ritual choir" 3 . In his opinion, along with the isolation of the song from the rite, the differentiation of genera occurs, and first the epic is distinguished, and then the lyrics and drama. He considers the lyrical-epic nature of its early forms to be the legacy of primitive syncretism in the epic. As for the lyrics, it grew out of the emotional cliques of the ancient choir and short formulas of various content as an expression of "collective emotionality", "group subjectivism" and stood out from ritual syncretism, mainly from spring ritual games. Veselovsky connects the final selection of lyrics with a greater individualization of poetic consciousness than in the epic. To the folk rite, which managed to take the form of a developed cult, he erects a drama. Poetic creativity appears to him in its genesis as collective in the literal sense, that is, as choral. The poet ascends to the singer and, ultimately, to the leader of the ritual choir.
Within the framework of this evolution, A.N. Veselovsky places various types of singers (Finnish laulaya, Old Norse tul and skald, Anglo-Saxon ospreys, Celtic phyla and bards, ancient Greek aeds and rhapsodes, medieval wandering singers - shpilmans, jugglers, buffoons, etc.) . Analyzing the corresponding vocabulary, he proves the semantic similarity in the genesis of the concepts of song-narrative-action-dance, as well as song-spell-fortune-telling-ritual act.
To the ritual-choral roots of poetry, in particular to the amoeba (that is, with the participation of two half-choirs or two singers) performance, Veselovsky erects some ancient features of the folk poetic style, for example, verse parallelism. But "psychological parallelism" (comparison of the phenomena of a person's mental life with the state of natural objects), in his opinion, is rooted in a primitive animistic worldview, representing all nature as animated. To some features of the primitive worldview and way of life (animism, totemism, exogamy, matriarchy, patriarchy, etc.). Veselovsky erects a number of typical narrative motifs and plots. His "Historical Poetics", which arose on the basis of a generalization of the vast material accumulated by classical ethnography and folklore of the 19th century, represents a unique consistent theory of the origin of verbal art.
However, the concept of A.N. Veselovsky in the light of the current state of science needs to be corrected. Veselovsky quite fully traced the role and evolution of the elements of verbal art in folk rituals, correctly showed the gradual increase in the proportion of the verbal text in ritual syncretism. However, the folk rite, which played an exceptional role in the development of the dance-music-theater complex, cannot be regarded as the only source of poetry.
The thesis about the complete initial syncretic unity of the epic, lyrics and drama is also an exaggeration. The origin of the drama from the cult mysteries is not in doubt. As already mentioned, the pre-history of the drama belongs mainly to the pre-literary period and ritual syncretism. For its final design, in addition to separation from the cult, a significant level of development of narrative folklore as a source of plots was necessary.
Veselovsky's theory is the most productive for understanding the origin of lyric poetry. Folklore lyrics are entirely songs, and the song by its very nature reflects the syncretism of music and poetry. A.N. Veselovsky and at the same time the famous French philologist Gaston Paris convincingly showed the connection between medieval knightly lyrics and the traditions of folk songs from the spring ritual cycle.
The epic in its genesis is much less closely connected with ritual syncretism. True, the song form characteristic of epic poetry probably ultimately goes back to the ritual choir, but narrative folklore has been transmitted since ancient times both in the form of an oral prose tradition and in a mixed song or verse-prose form, and in the archaic there is more prose (and not less, as follows from the theory of primitive syncretism of art forms and types of poetry). This is explained by the fact that although the role of the word in primitive rites is much less than the role of mimic and rhythmic principles, even among the most "primitive" tribes, up to the Australians, next to the rite there is a developed tradition of prosaic narration, which ultimately does not go back to expressive, but to the purely communicative function of speech. In this narrative tradition, mythology occupies a huge place, which by no means can be completely removed from poetry.
Research on the origin and early stage of poetic creativity is extremely scarce.
In the material-rich three-volume monograph by the English scientists K. and M. Chadwick "The Development of Literature" 4, the problem of the original genesis remains in the shadows. The book is useful due to the desire of the authors to classify the many archaic genre forms and their originality among different peoples. A serious attempt to reconstruct the very origin of poetry and its first steps is contained in the study of the English academician M. Baura "Primitive Song", which used the material of the folklore of the Australians, Negritos, Andamanese, Bushmen and other primitive hunters and gatherers of wild cereals. Baura consciously, like Veselovsky, undertakes an "evolutionary study by the comparative method" 5 , but at the same time he considers the ways of song formation both within the rite and outside it. The general picture of the formation of poetry in Baura is quite close to that painted by Veselovsky. Baura believes that poetry goes back genetically to rhythmic action and begins with the addition of a word to the rhythm of music and pantomime (the song is preceded by a melody with fixed, but devoid of direct meaning, voice sounds). The initial unit of the song, according to Baur, is, in the presence of dance accompaniment, a whole line, and in the absence of such a poetic line, prompted by the melody and the internal rhythm of the structure itself. In the latter case, the further growth of the "text" occurs in a line-by-line method, with some lines simply repeated in order to increase the magical power of the word. Repetitions from the beginning tend to vary and lead to parallelism. Alliteration and rhyme appear sporadically as an optional embellishment, and fixing the number of syllables (either stressed or unstressed) is a means of generating meter.
M. Baur, whose research results confirm many of A.N. Veselovsky's guesses, however, more clearly imagines the whole complexity of the relationship between primitive song and narrative poetry. He does not regard the primitive song as the immediate germ of the epic. "Narrative poetry in the full sense of the word is absent among the primitives and its place is occupied by drama"; "song is not a normal vehicle for telling myths. They are usually told in prose tales."
Indeed, acquaintance with samples of the poetry of culturally backward tribes 6 shows that this poetry is predominantly ritual-lyrical. Here there are such genres as healer charms, hunting songs; military songs; songs associated with agrarian magic and accompanying both the labor operations of the farmer and the corresponding spring ritual; funeral lamentations, songs of death; wedding and love songs; "disgraceful" songs, playful song bickering; various songs accompanying dances and being one of the elements of complex ritual ceremonies; prayer spells addressed to various spirits and gods. In the poetry of culturally backward peoples, one can find examples of impressive lyricism, but in general, poetry is not strictly lyrical, it contains many descriptive elements, rhetoric, ritual symbolism (this, however, is not syncretism with the epic in the literal sense of the word, as A. N. Veselovsky).
Both the content and the form of primitive lyrics are strictly canonized. In the old ethnographic literature, especially in all sorts of "journeys", primitive lyrics are often erroneously characterized as free improvisation for the occasion, direct "artless" expression of impressions and emotions. However, in most cases, these songs are not spontaneous self-expression, even if of "collective subjectivism", but a purposeful activity based on faith in the power of the word. From this point of view, one can understand the words of one Indian (Navajo) that he was such a poor man that he did not have a single song.
Many songs have a magical purpose, such as sorcerers' incantations, songs about the growth and reproduction of plants, hunting songs in which the hunter usually calls on animals as their "friend", love "drinks". Most love songs are of this nature. A number of songs, without pursuing "magic" goals, are designed to cheer up, inspire the singers or demoralize the enemy. Such, for example, are military songs containing self-praise, or "disgraceful" songs that humiliate enemies. With a similar goal, in conditions of hunger, forced loneliness, etc., obviously cheerful songs are sung that glorify life. A special case is the songs sung by warriors at the moment of mortal danger or after receiving a mortal wound. These songs express high courage, the inevitability of their death and revenge on the enemy.
Agrarian songs and prayers to spirits often contain inspirational hymns to nature, poetic images of spring blossoming, the power of the "masters" of various natural forces. A descriptive-narrative element sporadically penetrates ritual and lyrical songs in the form of an explanation of the cause of the disease (in healers' conspiracies), the feat of the god of war (in military songs); messages about the deeds of "spirits" and even the reproduction of the mythical picture of the first creation (in ritual songs), the exploits of the deceased leader (in funeral and memorial songs). In Polynesia, a special genre of panegyric developed from funeral and wedding songs. Some peoples (for example, the Eskimos or some African tribes) practice song competition, sometimes in the form of a playful squabble.
Songs are usually considered as the collective property of men's unions, ritual societies, and less often of individuals. The Pueblo Indians associated the origin of the song with the realm of death and the chthonic serpent (when the serpent was burned, the shreds of its body became songs). The source of the song is often thought to be the suggestion of spirits, usually in the form of a sleepy "vision". The Nivkhs in the past had an idea of a special spirit that sits on the tip of the singer's tongue during the performance of a song. Poetry without music is completely unknown to the pre-literary period.
Ritual and lyric poetry are known only in song form, very often in combination with a theatrical and dramatic element. From the point of view of the sophistication of the stylistic structure, ritual poetry ranks first, followed by proper lyrical songs. Songs can be very short, consisting of one word (for example, characterizing a certain animal) or two words (for example, the word "warrior" and the name of a warrior), but they can also be quite extensive.
The songs are dominated by a musical element; they are dominated by a rhythm approaching the meter. Rhythmization in a number of cases is achieved by stretching or adding new syllables, as well as all sorts of emphatic particles, exclamations, etc. Rhyme is not characteristic of primitive poetry. In it, the leading principle is the repetition not of sounds, but of semantic complexes. The element of repetition is supported by faith in the power of the word, as the accumulation of this power. But the repetition of thoughts must be varied, because literal repetition is often considered dangerous. Sometimes in the ritual poetry of the Indians, ritual models require the repetition of a phrase for each direction of the world, with a change in the symbolic meaning of the name of a color, animal, plant, etc. We find repetition of lines in every enumeration.
The combination of repetition and variation leads to semantic-syntactic parallelism. In parallel lines, the reception of contrast is often manifested (such as: the white light of the morning - the red light of the evening, the falling rain - a standing rainbow). Such contrasting (day and night, man and woman, red and white falcon) is extremely characteristic of "primitive" songs. Along with contrasting, a typical feature of the style of primitive poetry is the accumulation of synonyms.
In lyrics, in addition to parallelism, refrain is widely found, repetition is literal or with variations. The repetition of a word at the end of a line at the beginning of the next line (polylogy - pickup) is one of the ways to highlight an important word. In oratory, speeches are repeated many times when referring to different persons, in new situations.
There are metaphors in primitive poetry. They are also frequent in oratorical prose when describing the greatness of leaders or warriors. Some metaphors owe their origin to taboos about death and illness. Ritual poetry has developed permanent metaphorical formulas.
The epic in its genesis is much less connected with ritual syncretism than the lyrics. The classical epic monuments of European and Asian peoples are mostly in verse, but in more archaic epic monuments (for example, in the legends of the peoples of the Caucasus, in heroic poems of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples of Siberia, in the Irish epic, etc.), the proportion of prose is greater, often found the so-called mixed form, i.e., a combination of prose and poetry. Most of the poems convey the speeches of characters and solemn epic descriptions. Some stories have come down to us in both poetic and prose form. On the other hand, in the tales of the most diverse peoples there are often interspersed with poetry, which can be interpreted as a relic of the same mixed form.
If we turn directly to primitive folklore, we will be convinced that the narratives here, as a rule, exist not in the form of songs, but precisely in the form of oral prose with poetic inserts; moreover, the poetic inserts often coincide with the speeches of the characters and, moreover, retain a fairly distinct connection with ritual patterns. This is a prayer, a spell, a call to battle, crying for the dead, a ritually fixed exchange of remarks, etc. But on the other hand, the main prose parts do not contain any traces of connection with music, rhythm, they are transmitted in ordinary language and are stylistically much less fixed and polished. than poetry inserts. Although the song form of the heroic epic probably ultimately goes back to the primitive ritual-lyrical song, the narrative folklore from ancient times has been transmitted mainly as a prosaic or predominantly prosaic (mixed) tradition. The combination of prose and verse (song) in the mixed tradition is, of course, something completely different from the lyrical-epic song in the understanding of A.N. Veselovsky.
The origin of verbal art cannot be studied only "from the outside", in its relation to ritual and other forms of existence. The inner aspect of this problem leads us to the myth. In Western science of the 20th century (Frazer, Robertson-Smith, Harrison, Raglan, Hook, James, and others), the "ritualistic" tendency is very strong7 - to bring myth to the limit and even to identify it with ritual, to see in myth only an echo of ritual. The "ritualists" tried to elevate literature itself directly to the rite - a fairy tale (Sentive), an epic (Miro, Levi, Carpenter, etc.). The close connection between myth and ritual in primitive and ancient Eastern cultures is beyond doubt; some myths really directly ascended to rituals (for example, myths about dying and resurrecting gods). However, there are myths that are clearly independent of the rite in their genesis and do not even have ritual equivalents. In rituals, fragments of myths that arose quite independently were often staged. In Australia, both interconnected myths and rites, and non-ritual myths, and rituals devoid of mythical correspondences are attested (see below on this). It is known that, for example, among the Bushmen or among some groups of American Indians, mythology is much richer than rituals. The same applies to ancient Greece, as opposed to Egypt or Mesopotamia. The question of the ratio of myths and rituals in the genetic plan is adequate to the problem of "chicken - eggs" (who is from whom?!). And their deep connection, "ideological" unity and structural homogeneity are specific to primitive culture. Mythology does not belong to the sphere of behavior, but to the sphere of thinking, which, of course, does not exclude the interdependence of these two spheres.
Syncretism is manifested in primitive culture not only in the forms of activity, but also in the forms of thinking and ideology. Ancient myths contain in undeveloped unity the germs of art, religion, pre-scientific ideas about nature and society. Mythology undoubtedly was the "cradle" and "school" of poetic fantasy, in many respects anticipated its specificity, although the complete identification of mythology and literature proposed by the "ritual-mythological" literary criticism (Bodkin, Fry, Chase, etc.) certainly cannot be accepted.
In contrast to the 19th-century notion of myths as naive rational explanations of the surrounding world, Levy-Bruhl emphasized the importance of the affective elements of "collective representations" and postulated their prelogical character due to their tendency to mystical "participations". Ernst Cassirer interpreted mythology, along with language and art, as an autonomous symbolic form of culture, marked by a special modality, a special way of symbolic objectification of sensual emotions. But only Lévi-Strauss was able to truly describe mythological thinking in terms of the generation of symbolic modeling systems by it and, unlike Lévy-Bruhl, show the intellectual ability of myth to classify and analyze, simultaneously explaining those of its specific features which bring it closer to art: thinking on a sensual level, thinking that achieves its goals in indirect ways ("bricolage") and uses a kaleidoscopic rearrangement of a ready-made set of elements, purely metaphorical thinking - some myths turn out to be a metaphorical (rarely metonymic) transformation of others, convey the same "message" by different "codes"; transformations of mythological texts become a means of revealing the symbolic (not allegorical) meaning.
The significance of mythology is very great in the development of various types of arts, in the very genesis of artistic and figurative thinking, but, of course, mythological narration had a specific significance for the formation of verbal. Susanna Langer was not quite right when she said that myth has no language and meter and can "draw", "dance", etc., i.e. it is in an equal relation to all arts 8 . Drawing even on a purely mythological theme, due to the specifics of fine art, is somewhat freer in the concrete pictorial solution of this topic, even in the selection of impressions of reality as material, model. The same applies to pantomime dance, etc.
But narrative poetry, which has language and plot as its primary elements, has this relative independence to a minimal extent.
The specificity of the primitive myth lies in the fact that ideas about the structure of the world are transmitted in the form of a story about the origin of certain of its elements. At the same time, the events of mythical time from the life of the "first ancestors" appear as the ultimate causes of the current state of the world. From the point of view of science, events and people are determined by the state of the world, from the point of view of myth, the state of the world is the result of individual events, the actions of individual mythical personalities. Thus, narrative enters into the very specifics of primitive myth. Myth is not only a worldview, but also a narrative. Hence the special significance of myth for the formation of verbal art, primarily narrative.
Folklore of the Australian aborigines
For a clearer idea of the ancient state of verbal art, primarily narrative, let us turn to the folklore of the indigenous population of Australia, whose culture some scholars conditionally compare with the Azilian-Tardenoise archaeological culture of the European Mesolithic.
The central place in the verbal creativity of the indigenous population of Australia is occupied by myths in which the action is attributed to some ancient, prehistoric time (Altzhira among the Aranda tribe, Mura among Dieri, Dzhugur among Alurija, Bugari among Karajeri, Ungud among Ungarinyin, Wingara among Waramunga, Mungai among Binbing etc.). In this prehistoric era, mythical heroes acted, and their actions determined the appearance of the earth's surface, called people, plants and animals to life, and determined various customs.
Such assignment of an action to a special prehistoric time is a characteristic sign of myth not only among the Australians, but also among the American Indians (according to the observations of F. Boas) and among other peoples.
In a number of Australian tribes, this mythical time is denoted by the same word as "dreams" (in Anglo-Australian ethnography, its generally accepted designation is dream time). The connection with the "dream" shows that we are talking about time not only prehistoric, but also extrahistorical, about time "out of time". It can be recreated in dreams, as well as in rituals in which the performers are identified with mythical ancestors. The latter are conceived as eternal, not created by anyone. They completed their life cycle at the time of the Altzhir (Altiira), eventually turning into rocks, trees or stone and wooden sacred churingi. These sacred objects (natural or created by human hand), according to the Australian tribes, still retain the magical creative power of the mythical ancestor and can be a means of breeding animals, a source of the souls of newborn children, which some tribes (aranda) think of reincarnation of ancestors. The life of the ancestors is described in very ordinary forms: they sleep, eat, hunt, quarrel among themselves, enter into love affairs, perform rituals; the search for food is in the foreground. It should be noted that in most cases the hunting of ancestors is successful. The "time of dreams" is depicted as an age of abundance and in this respect a kind of golden age. The main meaning of the "time of dreams", however, is not in the idealization of the past, but in the creation of the world by the ancestors.
Both the very structure of the world and the events that determine it in Australian mythology are very simple, its fantasy is devoid of quirkiness and hyperbolicity, which marked the myths of the Indians, Polynesians, and others. Western observers sometimes very inaccurately call it a "horde") is closely connected with a certain fodder territory, beyond which it practically does not go. Folklore vividly reflects the love of the Australian for this territory as for his homeland. And in myths, the main attention is directed not to the universe, but to this "microcosm".
The most common Australian myths therefore have the character of local legends, explaining the origin of all any noticeable places and natural objects in the fodder territory - hills, lakes, springs, rocks, pits, large trees, etc. Very often myths tell about the wanderings of ancestors in "the era of dreams" along certain paths. Various features of the relief, vegetation, etc., turn out to be the result and "monument" of the activity of the mythical hero, the trace of his camp, the fruit of his creative activity, or the place of his transformation into a churinga. The location of some objects on the ground allegedly reproduces individual scenes from the history of the ancestor. The myth very accurately enumerates and describes the terrain traversed by the hero, his route. Some mythical paths cross the territories of several local groups or even tribes. In this case, one local group turns out to be the custodian of only part of the myth. Mythical paths usually have a direction from north to south, which probably corresponds to the direction of the settlement of the mainland.
Mythical heroes are for the most part totem ancestors, i.e. the progenitors or creators of both a certain breed of animals (less often plants) and a human group that considers this breed of animals as its totem, i.e. its relatives, its "flesh" .
Totemism represents a kind of ideological superstructure in the early tribal society. He transfers to the surrounding nature (from which man has not yet learned to fully distinguish himself) ideas about the generic social organization 9 . The relationship of people among themselves appears as the relationship of man to nature. On the other hand, ideas about animals and plants well known to man, their names are widely used as material for the development of a peculiar, of course, rather cumbersome, "code" that allows one to classify both natural and social phenomena 10 . This largely explains the fact that, along with the main (ancestral) totem, there are all kinds of individual subtotems, gender totems, etc. The main totem mostly corresponds to exogamy (the prohibition to marry within this totem) and alimentary taboo (the prohibition to eat meat of a totem animal, with the exception of special ritual moments). In ancestral myths, both exogamy and nutritional taboo are often violated.
Apparently, in places of the greatest distribution of one or another species of animals or plants, totem centers are localized, the creation of which is also described in myths. In totem centers, representatives of the corresponding totem periodically perform magical rites aimed at propagating the totemic species of animals or plants. These rites are not very accurately called intichium in the scientific literature. During such rites (as well as during the rite of initiation), the plots of the corresponding myths about totem heroes are usually staged.
Totemic ancestors in myths appear as creatures with a not completely differentiated dual zoo-anthropomorphic nature, in which, however, the human principle clearly predominates. For the most part, these are people who, in case of need, easily turn into the corresponding type of animal. In the beginning of the myths of some tribes, one can sometimes find such a form: "it was at a time when the animals were still people." Sometimes wanderings end with this transformation. So, among the Murinbata tribe (according to Stanner), myths often end with the word demnina, which means "to change the body", as well as "to turn from a man into an animal", "to go into the water". Certain events from the life of totemic ancestors motivate, explain certain features of the corresponding animals and plants (their color, shape, habits). Then the etiology (explanatory function) of the myth includes not only the features of the area, but also the features of the fauna and flora. This kind of etiology is widespread in the mythology of the most diverse peoples of the world.
Myths about the wanderings of totemic ancestors in their classical form appear in the folklore of the Central Australian tribes. An excellent connoisseur of the language, folklore and culture of these tribes, missionary scientist Karl Strelow recorded them and accurately translated them from the Aranda and Loritia languages 11 . His collection includes myths about the ancestors of the totems of red kangaroos, gray kangaroos, emu, eagle, wild cat, spiny anteater, bat, ducks, crows, frogs, snails, various snakes, birds, larvae, fish, etc.
The totemic myths of Aranda and Loritia are built almost all according to the same scheme: totem ancestors alone or in a group return to their homeland - to the north (less often - to the west). The places passed, the search for food, meals, the organization of camps, meetings on the way are listed in detail. Not far from the homeland, in the north, there is often a meeting with local "eternal people" of the same totem. Having reached the goal, the wandering heroes go into a hole, a cave, a spring, underground, turning into rocks, trees, churingas. This is often attributed to fatigue.
In places of encampment, and especially in the place of death (more precisely, the disappearance into the earth), totemic centers are formed. In some myths (for example, about people - wild cats), totem heroes carry with them churingas, cult wands (which are used as a weapon or for breaking a road in the rocks, that is, as a tool for creating a relief) and other cult objects.
Sometimes we are talking about leaders leading a group of young men who have just passed the rite of initiation - initiation into full members of the tribe. The group along the way performs cult ceremonies for the purpose of propagating their totem. It also happens that the journey has the character of flight and pursuit. For example, a large gray kangaroo runs from a person of the same totem; a man with the help of young men kills an animal, but it is resurrected, then both turn into churingas; a red and gray kangaroo run, pursued by dog-men and then by falcon-man; one of the running emus is torn apart by dog people; swimming fish are chased by a crab and then a cormorant; two snakes are chased by people of the same totem. In these cases, it is not easy to figure out who is being discussed - about animals, people, or beings of a dual nature. For the most part, they mean the latter.
The circle of totemic myths of the Aranda and Loritia also includes a few legends about celestial bodies. The moon is represented by a male, originally belonging to the possum totem. The movement of the moon across the sky is explained in this way: it rose to the sky with a stone knife, wandered to the west, and then descended to the earth to hunt possums, and then again climbed the tree to the sky. After eating possums, the month becomes large (full moon); tired, he takes the form of a gray kangaroo, in this form young men kill him (new moon), but one of them saves the kangaroo bone, from which the moon grows again. The sun is a girl who climbed a tree to heaven; The Pleiades are also girls from the bandicoot totem who witnessed the initiation ceremony of young men and because of this turned into stones, and then into stars, etc. , as much attention as in more developed mythologies. Aranda mythology knows the image of the "master" of the sky (Altira, according to K. Shtrelov), but this character is very passive and does not play a special role in Aranda myths.
Some totemic ancestors of the Aranda during their wanderings introduce various customs and rituals, act as so-called cultural heroes. The fire was obtained by a representative of the gray kangaroo totem from the body of a giant gray kangaroo, which he hunted. It is impossible not to recall on this occasion the Karelian-Finnish rune about Väinämeinen getting fire from the belly of a fiery fish. Such a myth is characteristic of a primitive economy, in which, basically, ready-made fruits of nature are appropriated. Two falcon-men who came from the north to the land of Aranda taught others how to use a stone axe; the marriage rules forgotten by people were again established by one of the ancestors of the kangaroo-dart frog totem named Katukankara.
Rites of initiation play important role in Australian life. The introduction of these rites and related ritual operations on the body is attributed to ancestors - wild cats - and ancestors - flycatcher lizards (the use of a stone knife for these operations, according to myth, replaced fire sticks). The "eternal people" of the Algerian times, who later became flycatcher lizards, play a particularly important role. The tales of their wanderings take on the character of an anthropogenetic and partly cosmogonic myth. Tradition classifies their wanderings among the earliest. However, in reality, they probably mark a less primitive stage in the history of mythology, since here the origin of not one totem group, but at least several, is treated, and we are talking not only about the scattering of churingas, but about the initial emergence of "humanity".
According to this myth, the land was first covered by the sea (a mythological concept widespread throughout the world), and on the slopes of the rocks protruding from the water, in addition to the "eternal" mythical heroes, there were already the so-called rella manarinha (i.e., "glued people "), according to Strelov, or inapatua, according to Spencer and Gillen, - a bunch of helpless creatures with glued fingers and teeth, closed ears and eyes. Other similar human "larvae" lived in water and looked like raw meat. After the earth dried up, the mythical hero - the totem ancestor of the "lizards" - came from the north and separated the human embryos from each other with a stone knife, cut through their eyes, ears, mouth, nose, fingers, etc. He circumcised them with the same knife (here partly reflected the idea that only the rite of initiation "completes" a person), taught them how to make fire by friction, cook food, gave them a spear, a spear thrower, a boomerang, provided each with a personal churinga (as the guardian of the soul), divided people into phratries ("land" and "water") and marriage classes. Before us stands a typical cultural hero-demiurge - the central figure of primitive mythology.
The concept of the development of people from imperfect, helpless beings is known to other Australian tribes and many other peoples. Its echo, by the way, is the well-known Old Norse myth, retold in the Elder Edda, about how the gods found the lifeless bodies of the first people on the shore in the form of pieces of wood and breathed life into them. Along with such an "evolutionary" mythological concept of the origin of people in the same Aranda, in some myths, the "eternal" heroes of the "age of dreams" also act as true progenitors - the creators of people and animals. So, in the myth of the bandicoot totem, it is told about a certain ancestor named Karora, from under whose armpits the bandicoots first came out, and in the following days - his sons - people who began to hunt these bandicoots. (In the same way, in Scandinavian mythology, giants are born from under the arms of Ymir.) This anthropogenetic and at the same time totemic myth is intertwined with the cosmogonic myth: at the beginning of time there was darkness, and constant night pressed down on the earth like an impenetrable curtain, then the sun appeared and dispersed the darkness above Ilbalintya (totem center of bandicoots) 12 .
Similar tales of the wanderings of totemic ancestors and cultural heroes are found among other Australian tribes, but they are less fully recorded. Moreover, nowhere is the influence of totemism manifested with such force as in the Aranda and Lauriti. The Dieri and other tribes who lived southeast of the Aranda, around Lake Eyre, have numerous legends, known from the classical works of Howit 13, about the wanderings of certain mura-mura - mythical heroes similar to the "eternal" people of the Aranda, but with weaker zoomorphic features. . Various features of the landscape, the introduction of exogamy and totem names, the use of a stone ax for circumcision and the production of fire by friction, as well as the "finishing" of imperfect human beings, are also associated with the wanderings of the mura-mura. One of the mura-mura that ascended into the sky became a moon. And the sun is a woman who dug a hole and went to heaven in search of a missing child; since then, she periodically makes the same path. According to another tradition, the sun was born from the connection of a mura-mura with a dieri girl, etc.
Myths about ancestors do not always tell about their wanderings. Some ancestors (including those of the Aranda) do not make long journeys. A good collection of the myths of one of the north-eastern tribes (Munkan), only partly connected with wanderings, is compiled by Ursula McConnell 14 . This collection contains many myths about the formation of totemic centers after the "going underground" of totemic ancestors (pulwaya). Going underground is often preceded by quarrels and fights among the pulwayas, inflicting mutilations and mortal wounds on each other. Although the ancestors are presented as purely anthropomorphic beings, the description of their behavior reflected observations on the way of life and habits of the corresponding animals, and some circumstances of the life of the ancestors explain the features of these animals. Many of the features of the physical appearance of animals are motivated by the mutilations inflicted on them by pulwaya back in ancient times, when animals had a human appearance: from sand, thrown oyster pulwaya, a shark has small eyes, from a blow with a digging stick, an owl has a flat head, etc. and etc. The local breed of storks has red legs, as the pulwaya stork rubbed the spears that he held on his knees with red clay. Although the story is not dedicated to storks, but to their purely anthropomorphic ancestors (of the time when storks were still people), but in the description of how the ancestor climbs on the "sleep platform", or the posture of the ancestor sitting on a tree, observations on habits are clearly manifested these birds. Likewise, the myth of the anthropomorphic ancestors of the opossum well conveys the drowsiness and love for honey inherent in this animal. There are many such examples. The relationship of friendship and enmity of the pulwaya exactly corresponds to the relationship of various animals and plants. Some of the pulwaya perform cultural deeds: for example, the ancestor of one of the fish-eating birds of prey invented the fishing net and the spear.
The myths of the northern and southeastern tribes also know more complex, more generalized and apparently later developed images of "over-totem" mythical heroes. In the north, this is the “old mother” (Kunapipi, Clearin-cleari, Kadyari, etc.), a matriarchal ancestor, symbolizing the fertile giving birth to the earth, as well as the image of the rainbow serpent associated with it (and with fertility, reproduction) 15 . In the southeast, on the contrary, it is the patriarchal image of the universal "father". These are Nurundere, Koin, Biral, Nurelli, Bunjil, Bayame, Daramulun. The uninitiated call him simply "father" (for example, papang). He lives in heaven, acts as a culture hero and patron of initiation rites 16 . However, the mother is also related to initiation, performs cultural deeds. Both mother and father do not necessarily belong to one totem, but sometimes to many at once (for example, each part of their body can have its own totem) and, accordingly, are a common ancestor, that is, in the Australian sense, the bearer and primary source of the souls of various groups of people, animals, plants.
In myths (unlike ritual, which will be discussed below), not one mother usually appears, but several, sometimes two sisters or a mother and daughter. These legends (and the ritual) are associated with one of the halves (phratries) of the tribe (namely, with the dua), which allows the assumption of a partial genesis of these mothers from the ideas of phratrian progenitors.
Among the yulengors living in Arnhemland (according to S. Chesling), the mythical ancestors coming from the north are the junkgova, female sisters. They sailed across the sea they created. In the boat they carried various totems, which had to be hung up to dry on the trees. Then the totems were hidden in work bags and gradually distributed to different places during the wanderings. Dzhunkgov gave birth to ten children, first deprived of sex. Then, however, those hidden in the grass became men, and those hidden in the sand became women. They made for their descendants digging sticks, feather belts and other ornaments, introduced the use of fire, created the sun, taught children to eat certain types of food, gave them weapons, magical means, taught totem dances, and introduced the rite of initiation of youths.
The keepers of ritual secrets, according to this myth, were first women, but the men took away their totems and secrets, and the progenitors were driven away by singing. The progenitors continued on their way, forming the terrain, new food territories and tribal groups of people. Reaching the sea again in the west, they went to the islands, which had previously arisen from the lice shed from their bodies.
Long after the disappearance of the junkgov, the other two Wauwaluk sisters appeared in the west, born in the shade behind the setting sun. They completed the work of their predecessors, established marriage classes and introduced the famous ritual of the great mother - Gunapipi (Kunapipi), in which their deeds are partially staged. The sisters settled in a certain place, built a hut, began to collect food. One of them was pregnant and gave birth to a child. The sisters tried to cook yams, snails and other food, but plants and animals came to life and jumped out of the fire, it started to rain. The sisters tried to dance away the rain and the terrible rainbow snake, which approached them and swallowed first the totem animals and plants (the food of the sisters), and then both women and the child. Being in the belly of the snake, they tortured him, and he spat them out, and the child came to life from the stings of the ants. This myth is widespread among the northeastern tribes.
The Vauvaluk sisters (as they are called by the Yulengors and some other tribes) are also associated with the dua phratry. They are a kind of version of the same mothers-ancestresses, embodying fertility. There is also a fearsome rainbow serpent in the myth, an image widely known throughout most of Australia, as shown by Radcliffe-Brown. This peculiar mythological image combines the idea of the spirit of water, a snake-monster (the embryo of the idea of a dragon), a magic crystal (in which the rainbow spectrum is reflected) used by sorcerers. Swallowing and spitting out by a snake of people is certainly connected (as in other peoples) with the rite of initiation (symbolism of temporary death, renewal). The skin-changing snake naturally becomes a symbol of renewal. R. Berndt finds the erotic symbolism associated with the magic of fertility in the swallowing of the Vauvaluk sisters by a snake. It is curious that in one of the myths of the Murinbata tribe (and in the corresponding ritual), the old woman Mutinga herself swallows the children whom her parents left in search of food entrusted to her. She soothes the children, searches their heads and swallows one by one. After the death of the old woman, the children are released alive from her womb. The Mara tribal group has a story about a mythical mother who killed and ate men attracted by the beauty of her daughters. In such a demonic guise, we do not recognize the mighty progenitor. She is more like a fairy-tale witch, something like Baba Yaga. However, not only among Australians, but also among other peoples (for example, among the Kwakiutl Indians, based on the materials of F. Boas), the myth of the evil cannibal old woman is associated with the idea of initiation of young men into full members of the tribe (as among the Australians) or the male union (among Indians). In some myths, the rainbow serpent accompanies the "big mother" on her wanderings.
In the Yirkalla tribal group, there is a myth about Jangavul wandering with his sisters, with whom he is in incestuous relationship. Among Murinbat, the rainbow serpent under the name Kunmangur itself acts as an ancestor, the father of the father of one and the father of the mother of the other half of the tribe. He allegedly "made us all" and also "watches the people" 17 . Kunmangur's son rapes his sisters and then mortally wounds his father. Kunmangur wanders in search of a quiet place where he can heal. In desperation, he collects all the fire that belonged to people and puts it out by throwing it into the sea. Another mythical character makes fire again (the idea of renewal).
The myths about the rainbow serpent, and especially about mothers-progenitors, are closely connected with the complex ritual mystery arranged before the start of the rainy season in honor of the earth mother Kunapipi, who embodies fertility.
Let us now turn to the image of the tribal "great father" among the southeastern tribes, well studied by Howit. S.A. Tokarev quite correctly traces its origin from somewhat more primitive images: the personification of the sky of the Altier type by the Arand, the totem of the phratry, the cultural hero, the patron of initiation and the fearsome spirit that turns boys into adult men (only the uninitiated believe in it) 18. In these characters there is only the germ of a proper religious idea of a creator god. Almost all of them appear as great ancestors and teachers of people who lived on earth and were subsequently transferred to heaven.
Such a transfer to heaven of earthly mythological heroes in the mythology of other peoples often corresponds to the process of deification of folklore characters.
Bundzhil among the Kulin tribe was drawn by an old tribal leader, married to two representatives of the totem of black swans. Its very name means "long-tailed eagle" and at the same time serves as the designation of one of the two phratries (the second is Vaang, that is, the raven). Bunjil is portrayed as the creator of the earth, trees and people. He warmed the sun with his hands, the sun warmed the earth, people came out of the earth and began to dance the corroboree. Thus, in Bunjil, the features of the phratrian ancestor - the demiurge - the cultural hero predominate.
Daramulun among the tribes of the southeast coast (Yuin and others) was considered the highest being, and among the Kamilaroi, Viradjuri and Yualaya he occupied a subordinate position in relation to Bayama. According to some myths, Daramulun, together with his mother (emu), planted trees, gave people laws and taught them the rites of initiation. During these rites, Daramulun is drawn on the ground or on the bark, the sound of the buzzer depicts his voice, he is perceived as a spirit that turns boys into men.
The name Bayame in the Kamilaroi language is associated with the verb "to do" 19 , which seems to correspond to the idea of a demiurge and a cultural hero. Matthew connects the etymology of this name with the idea of the seed of man and animal 20 , and Langlo-Parker argues that in the Yualayi language this word is understood only in the sense of "great" 21 . The Yualai speak of the time of Bayame, as the Aranda speak of the "age of dreams." In ancient times, when there were only animals and birds on earth, Bayame came from the northeast with his two wives and created people partly from wood and clay, partly turning animals into them, gave them laws and customs (the ultimate motivation for everything is "so Bayame said). Matthew recounts the Viradjuri and Wongabong myth that Baiame went on a journey in search of wild honey following a bee to whose leg he tied a bird's feather. (Let's recall the most important cultural act of the Old Norse Odin - the extraction of sacred honey.) Four hundred and sixty kilometers from Sydney, in an outcrop of granite rock, there was allegedly the residence of Byame in ancient times. Among a number of tribes, Bayame is the center of all initiatory rites (the so-called bora), the main teacher of beginners who undergo severe initiatory tests.
So far we have been talking about myths. Already from the previous presentation it is clear that the myths of the Australians are closely connected with rituals. This connection is very clear; a variety of myths are reproduced in theatrical form, dramatized during the initiation ceremonies of youths as a means of familiarizing young people with the "sacred history" of the tribe, as a transmission of tribal wisdom. On the other hand, some myths and rites have the same heroes, myths largely serve to explain the ritual mystery, the rite makes extensive use of the language of myth. Such a direct connection exists between totemic myths and intichium rites, between myths about a heavenly phratrian ancestor - a cultural hero (Bayam) and ritual tests of boron; between myths about ancestor mothers and the cult of Kunapipi, etc. From this, however, one should not conclude that the role of myth among the Australians is reduced to commenting on the rite and that the myth is simply a rite translated into narrative form. There is no closer interweaving of myth and ritual than in the theme of Kunapipi and the rainbow serpent. However, there are legends about the rainbow serpent that do not have a ritual equivalent; the myth of the Vauwaluk sisters is closely connected with the ritual, but not with one, but with three different ritual ceremonies 22 . None of them match this myth. According to Stanner 23, along with the myth about Muting, which has a ritual equivalent in the form of the punja rite, the Murinbat has myths about Kunmangur and Kukpi (the father of one and the mother of the other half of the tribe) that do not have a ritual equivalent, and rituals of circumcision and burial that do not have a mythological equivalent.
Another thing is that, as Stanner quite convincingly shows, the rituals and myths of the murinbat are isomorphic, have an identical structure of the mystery type. Here and there, the balance of life is voluntarily or involuntarily disturbed by death, the onset of puberty in boys, the departure of parents, small children or daughters of Kunmangur in search of food, the dissatisfaction of Kukpi looking for a place, etc.). The lack of food in the Mutinga myth is adequate to the lack of wisdom (spiritual food) among young men in the corresponding ritual (punj). The disturbed balance is gradually restored, and at the highest level, as a result of a spiral movement. This spiral movement includes the same stages: the subject is taken out of the ordinary normal (boys are taken into the forest or left in the care of Mutinga, a dead body is carried out of the village, Kunmangur's children leave home, Kukpi leaves old places, etc.), the subject of the myth-rite is thus, as it were, isolated and then partially destroyed (the sacrifice of the foreskin of the boys, the destruction of the rotting body of the dead man, the infliction of ritual beatings on the initiates, their swallowing by the old woman, the murder of men thanks to the cunning of Kukpi, the violence of the son of Kunmangur over the sisters and an attempt to kill father, the destruction of the emblems of the old social statute).
This is followed by a transformation - saving the subject and returning him to a normal track at the highest level (the children are saved or returned to the village as initiators and received a new social status; the wise old man solves and neutralizes Kukpi, receiving a buzzer; the spirit of the dead is released from the body and becomes an object reverence, etc.). The final way out of the conflict situation is also dual; rise to the highest level is achieved at the cost of losses, life is renewed with the help of death, sacrifice, suffering: the fire is preserved thanks to the death of Kunmangur (father), and the life of children and their dedication is bought not only at the cost of painful trials, but also by the death of Mutinga (mother).
Of course, Stanner's interesting analysis does not lead to a conclusion about the genetic dependence of myth on ritual. Much here explains the ideological syncretism characteristic of primitive culture, which has already been pointed out above. In addition, the material cited by Stanner can also be used to identify the specific differences between myth and ritual that he left unattended, which exist even if myth and ritual are directly interconnected (as in punj). It goes without saying that the cyclically repeated ritual actions in the present correspond to a single mythical event that took place in the distant (prehistoric) past. The time of the ritual and the time of the myth exist outside the normal, ordinary frame of reference and idea of time, but the ritual is focused on a kind of break in the flow of time, and the myth - on the era before the beginning of this flow of time and its countdown. The chance and sometimes unintentionality of a mythical event is opposed to the strict obligatoriness and premeditation, the organization of the ritual on the part of the tribal authorities. The parents left their children to Mutinge, prompted by hunger and as if unaware of the danger. In an appropriate ritual, the children were deliberately and forcibly taken into the forest at the mercy of the old woman. In Australian myths, the initial situation is often associated with the search for food, while the premise of the initiation rites is the need to introduce young men to tribal wisdom, that is, to saturate them with spiritual food. The difference between the myth and the punj ritual can be additionally caused in the genesis of the gap between the esoteric and exoteric versions: the patron of initiation is presented to the uninitiated as a demonic creature that kidnaps children. It is curious that the obvious evil emanating from Mutinga and similar characters (Kukpi and others) corresponds in the ritual to the secret good 24 . The imaginary friend of myth turns out to be the imaginary enemy of ritual. An imaginary friend - Mutinga - calms the children to make them easy prey, and the leaders of the ritual intimidate the young men with the voice of a buzzer. The myth of Muting ends with revenge on the old woman, and the ritual ends with the young men gaining wisdom.
Further analysis of the differences between Australian myths and rituals could lead to a more rigorous establishment of the differential features according to which myth and ritual oppose each other. It is necessary to add to what has been said that even in the case of maximum closeness, the connection of individual myths and rites, the performance of a myth is not necessarily a part of the rite, it may not accompany the rite at all or accompany it only partially, because the ritual action itself, with which it is associated, is not sacred in myth. , but the verbally expressed content, certain information, names, etc. The myth, as it were, authorizes, reinforces the rite and explains its meaning, but in its performance, the myth is relatively freer than dance, music, and even song, often directly constituting a sacred act. This largely determines the originality of the myth. But the specificity of myth as the embryo of narrative art is determined, of course, not only by the degree of freedom from ritual at the moment of performance. Among Australians and beyond the rite, there is a close thematic connection between the various arts and genres of poetry. They tell, sing, dance and make drawings with ocher on the sand and rocks about the same hero of the "time of dreams", and not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily within the framework of one ritual action. Specificity various arts and types of poetry are well revealed, for example, in a comparative analysis of the myths, songs, and dances of the aranda recorded by K. Strelov, as well as Spencer and Gillen, or the myths, songs and dances recorded by Berndt from the "Kunapipi" circle.
In principle, both dances, and songs, and myths depict the wanderings of the heroes of the "epoch of dreams." However, the specificity of the myth about the totemic ancestors of the Arandas is primarily in the communication about the places they visited during their wanderings, and in explaining the features of the landscape. The specificity of the songs (in principle, dedicated to the same wanderings) is in a kind of "exaltation" of mythical heroes. In the songs, the entire "geography" of wanderings is greatly reduced or even omitted; in the songs about the journey of the great mother, only one old woman appears, and not several (as in myths), a very general story is told about her arrival, accompanied by a rainbow serpent, about how she makes food grow with the magical touch of a digging stick, about how she it scatters the souls of people and animals, etc. First of all, its power is emphasized 25 . Of course, the songs lack all sorts of plot details that are found in individual versions of myths. Songs are very different from prose myths in form. Strelow describes in detail the performance of the songs by the Aranda and gives many examples.
The songs are performed by the old men in chorus in the form of a nasal chant. One or two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed syllable, regardless of the stresses adopted in these words in ordinary speech. All the words in the stanza are pronounced as one word. There are many words in the songs that are archaic or borrowed from the language of neighboring tribes and therefore obscure. In them, the semantic-syntactic parallelism of two lines appears extremely clearly, of which the second repeats and explains the first. As is known, such parallelism is widely found in the songs of various peoples of the world, in particular in epic songs, for example, in Karelian-Finnish runes. Australian songs about the exploits of mythical ancestors have a pronounced lyrical-epic character. They produce a strong emotional impact on listeners and performers. Sometimes the old people themselves cry with delight (as the great singer Väinämeinen cried in Kalevala). It is understood that the song has a magical meaning and should help to realize the purpose of the ritual. Such a strict poetic organization of the song largely depends on its simultaneity, coordination with the dance.
The dance also has its own specifics. Although the dancers' running or trampling on the sacred ground near the totem center depicts the wanderings of totem ancestors over a vast territory in ancient times, a certain moment comes to the fore in the dance - imitation of totem animals, their appearance and habits. For the same purpose, actors paint their bodies with ocher, blood and charcoal, arrange complex hairstyles from their own hair, bird fluff and branches. The naturalism of direct imitation is combined with the wearing of ritual objects (knatanya, kalgaranga, vaninga) symbolizing some part of the ancestor's body (heart, stomach, spine, and sometimes the ear of a kangaroo, a bat's wing, a spider's web, falling raindrops). The same purpose is served by wearing churingas decorated with spiral circles and connecting these circles with parallel lines or a chain of circles. This ornament is also interpreted as an image of parts of the body of a totem animal or as a camp of a totem ancestor and the path of his wanderings (parts of the animal's body are also depicted in a stylized manner on the ground and on the rocks).
Songs and dances, therefore, do for the most part appear in a syncretic unity, but this does not extend to the prosaic exposition of myths. Myths in prose are sometimes told in parts, sometimes in full. Something is really told by the old people during the ritual, but not with a magical purpose, but to clarify what is depicted, in the form of a kind of commentary. Parts of the myths are also expounded when visiting secret caves, inaccessible to the uninitiated, where churingas are kept 27, or during initiation trials of young men to pass on tribal wisdom to them, out of direct connection with the initiation ritual itself. Myths are presented in ordinary language, devoid of a strictly prescribed stylistic structure. Thus, in terms of the form of performance, myths are much freer than songs and less ritualized. But their main content, especially the description of the mythical paths of the heroes of the "age of dreams", is sacred and must be kept secret from the uninitiated, that is, women and children. It is sacred secret knowledge, and not rituality, that constitutes an important feature of Australian myths. Comparison of various versions of the same myths in the publications of K. Strelova, Spencer and Gillen reveals a certain freedom of invention in the field of plot details in comparison with songs, since songs are more shackled by ritualized performance. But the sacred content hinders the further development of plot fiction. From this point of view, it is of great interest to record myths from the uninitiated, for example, from old women. The content of myths in one way or another penetrates the environment of the uninitiated. The exception is the especially sacred part of myths - information about mythical paths, about the ways of wandering heroes. At the same time, myths told by the uninitiated and not in connection with the transmission of wisdom, but rather for entertainment, are enriched by a freer plot fiction. This is one of the ways of forming a fabulous epic.
However, myth, even if it has partially lost its sacred meaning, retains other specific features of myth for a long time - the image of the world in the form of a story about the origin of its elements. We find good illustrations of what has been said in the already mentioned collection of Munkan myths, written down by Ursula McConnell to a large extent from women. We have already noted that in this collection there are few stories about the wanderings of totem heroes, and even where there is a fact of wandering, the route does not appear, since it is the subject of secret knowledge of the initiates.
In McConnell's collection there are many stories about the formation of totemic centers and about the emergence of various characteristic features of animals (examples were given above), that is, real etiological myths. The characteristic tendency of these tales is that the fantasy of the narrators is directed towards depicting the family life of totemic ancestors, and in this area the narrators, or rather the narrators, show no less observation than in describing the habits of animals. Totemic animals act as family groups (which is absolutely not in the sacred myths of the Aranda, recorded by K. Shtrelov). Even parts of the same plant - a water lily (stem, large root, small roots) - turn out to be husband, wife, children. Yams' totem ancestor's wife refused to bring him water, leading to a quarrel; in the same way, the ancestor of the oyster totem quarrels with his wife - the ancestor of the turtle totem - because the wife refused to dig a source of clean water in the sand; because of the refusal to fulfill the request, two sisters quarrel - pulwaya of the sea and land turtles.
Difficult relationships and fatal quarrels arise between families of totems of various fish, ants, owls due to the infidelity of wives; betrayal of wives and persecution of the seducer take place among the ancestors of bird totems, etc. All this family theme gradually undermines the myth, because main interest myth is focused not on personal destinies (which is rather typical for a fairy tale), but on the origin of the world, man, animals, customs. Here a well-known contradiction arises, which in the future may be resolved by the fact that recently born stories about family relationships and social conflicts will break away from the images of mythical ancestors and the "time of dreams" and become a real fairy tale (animal, if totemic names are preserved, or magical).
However, Australian folklore, due to its archaism, knows almost no cases of the completion of such a process; he knows only the relevant tendencies. Here it should immediately be noted that secularization, the secularization of myth is not the only source of the formation of a fairy tale. Another ancestor fairy tale- primitive bylichki, i.e., stories about people meeting in the recent past with various spirits, "masters" that bring them evil or good. Such stories may be based on real cases (were), interpreted in the light of the prevailing mythological ideas. Among such bylichkas one should also include stories with which mothers "frighten" children - about evil cannibal spirits, including spirits that kidnap (according to the ideas of the uninitiated) boys who have reached maturity to turn them into adult men - full members tribe.
In Australian folklore, the Aborigines themselves distinguish between myths and fairy tales. Tales are devoid of sacred meaning, accessible to the uninitiated, and can be told for entertainment as well as for intimidation to keep the uninitiated in obedience. In the latter case, fairy tales play the role of myths for the uninitiated. This is a specifically Australian trait. Fairy tales, however, are recorded very little (apparently, they are much less quantitatively than myths), which naturally makes their analysis difficult. Several fairy tales are given by K. Shtrelov in his capital work; Fairy tales in Arnhemland's folklore records are very distinctly identified by A. Capell 28 .
In the notes of K. Shtrelov, a number of fairy tales are dedicated to wonderful creatures (tneera and indatoa), which are mentioned in myths, but are not the subject of special reverence. Fairy tales tell about the struggle of these creatures with evil spirits. One of the tales tells of little Tuanyiraka creatures that torment boys during their initiation (initiates do not believe in these creatures). A. Capell cites a number of fairy tales that just belong to the type of mythologized bylichki. The main characters are not mythical creatures, but ordinary people who, while hunting turtles (if we are talking about men) or collecting snails (if we are talking about women), experience various adventures: they meet with evil spirits, become victims of an old woman-eater, die as a result of breaking taboos.
Cultural heroes and mythological rogues are the central characters of primitive narrative folklore.
Within the framework of this work, it is not possible to dwell on a review of the folklore of various culturally backward peoples 29 . Let's look at some of the most common questions.
The most important phenomenon of narrative folklore in the primitive communal system is the tales of the first ancestors - demiurges - cultural heroes, genetically associated with etiological myths (and more widely with the myths of creation) about the origin of various elements of nature and culture, but later, in the process of cyclization, included stories of a fabulous nature (animals , magical, proto-heroic). Despite the inclusion of genre-heterogeneous elements in these legends, they can rightly be called a mythological epic, since the center of cyclization in them is a mythical character. It should be emphasized that in a primitive society only a mythical character could be a hero, for only he possessed in the eyes of the members of the primitive community the necessary freedom of self-activity. At the same time, only a character could be a hero who modeled not the forces of nature (like, say, various master spirits), but the tribal collective itself.
Such is the tribal ancestor (conceived also as a universal human one, since tribal boundaries under the primitive communal system subjectively coincide with universal human ones) and a cultural hero.
Ideas about the first ancestors, cultural heroes and demiurges are closely intertwined, and sometimes identical in primitive folklore. Apparently, at first, the images of the first ancestors acquire distinct outlines, as if evidenced by the Australian material.
In more archaic cultures, cultural heroes are almost always ancestral, phratrial and ancestral ancestors (Australians, Papuans, Gunantuna Melanesians, Northeast Paleo-Asians, Paleo-African primitive tribes of Central and South Africa). In less archaic (part of the Indians of North America, Polynesia), the features of the first ancestor in the image of a cultural hero are relic.
On the islands of Oceania, cycles of legends about cultural heroes are ubiquitous, who are often thought of as ancestors (but not as gods). In various parts of Melanesia, these are Kat, Tangaro, Varohunuka, To Kabinana.
In Polynesia, the brothers Tangaroa and Rongo are endowed with the traits of culture heroes, but, unlike the Melanesian Tangaro, Tangaroa has become one of the great gods of the Polynesian pantheon.
However, in Polynesia, next to him, the undeified Maui is well known - a favorite character in Polynesian narrative folklore. Maui is a premature foundling thrown into the bush or into the sea. Of the many feats of Maui, the most famous are catching fish islands from the bottom of the sea, catching the sun and stealing fire, vigilantly kept in the underworld by an old ancestor. Maui even tried to overcome death, but he himself was defeated. Among the North American Indians, such popular characters as Raven, Mink, Hare or Rabbit (Manaboso), Coyote, Old Man, and others (names, apparently, of totemic origin) have distinct features of cultural heroes. The raven, for example, produces light, fresh water, sets the ebb and flow, creates certain types of fish, and participates in the creation of people. To accomplish his cultural deeds, Raven often resorts to magical transformations and cunning tricks. So, he turns into a coniferous needle, which is swallowed by the daughter of the owner of the heavenly bodies. She gives birth to a Raven from this needle. The newborn screams heart-rendingly until he is given the sun, moon and stars to play with. Putting the keeper of fresh water to sleep, Raven then falsely accuses him of soiling his bed and, as compensation, drinks water from a stone vessel, and then spits it out in the form of rivers and lakes. There are countless etiological motifs in the Raven cycle. The Raven cycle also includes anecdotal stories about how the gluttonous Raven takes prey from other animals or turns them into prey. There are similar anecdotes in the legends about Mink, Coyote, and others (see below).
The raven is also the central figure in the folklore of the northeastern Paleo-Asians (Chukchi, Koryaks, Itelmens). In many ways it is similar to the Raven Ekva-Pyrishch - the hero of the folklore of the Ob Ugrians.
The traits of cultural heroes, but not so pronounced, sometimes in a relic form are the favorite heroes of African folklore. Some of them are zoomorphic (Hare, Spider, Jackal, Praying Mantis, Chameleon, Turtle) or semi-zoomorphic (Pu, Uhlakanyana). In African folklore, the features of cultural heroes and wonderful blacksmiths are sometimes combined.
Sometimes the cultural hero is one of many brothers (as, for example, Kat, Tangaro, Maui in Oceania); very often cultural heroes are two twin brothers who compete or are at enmity with each other (Ioskega and Taviskaron among the Iroquois, To Kabinana and To Karvuvu among the Gunantuna Melanesians and many others), less often they help each other ("the boy from the wigwam" and "the boy from bushes" defeating monsters among the Indians of the south of North America). Such twins are often both phraterial ancestors. The "twinship" itself is an additional proof of the original identity of the ancestors and cultural heroes. According to the well-reasoned interpretation of A.M. Zolotarev and S.P. Tolstov, cultural twin heroes, as well as other twin pairs in mythology (Ashvins - Dioscuri, Romulus and Remus, etc.), ultimately go back to the ubiquitous at a certain stage primitive society dual-clan organization 30 .
The specific field of activity of a cultural hero is the production of fire, useful cereals, the invention of various cultural objects necessary for a person in his struggle with nature. Already due to the non-differentiation of nature and culture in the primitive worldview (for example, the idea of making fire by friction, the origin of thunder and lightning, sunlight, etc.) is not sharp, there is no sharp line between the cultural hero and the demiurge.
In older versions, reflecting the specifics of the appropriating economy, the hero obtains the benefits of culture, and sometimes elements of nature, thanks to a simple find or by stealing them from the original custodian. Later, the idea arises of the manufacture of all these objects by the demiurge with the help of pottery or blacksmith tools; at the dawn of the metal age, for example, among the Paleo-African peoples, the cultural hero often appeared in the guise of a wonderful blacksmith.
These myths to a certain extent represent the chronicle of the victories of human labor and technical invention over nature, but this chronicle (partly due to the slowness of technological progress) is projected into mythical times of first creation such as the "time of dreams" of the Australians.
The model of a cultural hero - this central character of primitive mythology and folklore - is specifically associated with primitive ideological syncretism. This image can also evolve towards a creator god (then the primitive myth turns into an exclusively religious myth-legend). But in most cases, he does not become a genuine object of religious veneration, but turns into a beloved fairy-tale epic hero. Culture heroes are not generally classified as gods by the natives themselves; they usually belong to the same group with the spirits and prominent people of the past, to a certain extent in order to separate them from the gods and at the same time emphasize their magical power (mana) and significance. A striking example of the difference between non-deified and deified cultural heroes is the Polynesian god Tangaroa and the Melanesian hero Tangaro. Tangaroa, unlike Tangaro, does not occupy a significant place in folklore, and the favorite folklore hero throughout Polynesia is Maui, who never entered the supreme pantheon of Polynesian gods. Recall that the famous Prometheus was not allowed to Olympus, remained outside the Olympic pantheon.
The specific sphere of activity of the first ancestors - cultural heroes - demiurges coincides with the boundaries of creation myths, that is, etiological myths in the broad sense of the word. On the border of etiological myths proper, there are such deeds, often associated with cultural heroes, such as the fight against monsters that interfere with the peaceful life of people and gods. The fight against monsters can be one of the sides of overcoming the forces of chaos and organization - the ordering of the world order, that is, part of the process of creating the modern world. Sometimes a world is created from the body of the most defeated chthonic monster. In the latter case, the rite of sacrifice becomes a model of creation. In addition, the fight against monsters is sometimes associated with the mythical concept of the historical generational change of gods or spirits. Such myths of creation are not characteristic of primitive mythology proper, they are typical of developed mythologies such as Babylonian (the myth of the struggle of Enlil or Marduk with Tiamat), Indian (the creation of the world from the body of Purusha), Chinese (Pangu), Scandinavian (the world from the body of Ymir, Thor's struggle with the world serpent), Maya (the world from the body of the earth goddess), etc. However, a more primitive struggle with monsters, without connection with the concept of generations and not always with a clear etiological result, is found quite widely in primitive folklore, in particular , in legends about cultural heroes (Indian twin brothers from the "wigwam" and "bush", Maui in some regions of Polynesia, Raven among the Koryaks and many others).
In the plastically clear ancient Greek mythology, this new aspect of the cultural hero is well represented in Heracles (unlike Prometheus).
In monster-fighting myths, the idea of overcoming chaos takes on a new direction - not just the ordering of the light of the sun, the ebb and flow, the seasons, the relationships of various animals, the prohibition of incest and other taboos, the introduction of marriage classes and rituals necessary to maintain a normal natural and life cycle. ; but also a constant struggle with natural forces that threaten to sweep away "order". This double pathos of overcoming chaos is typical of mythology as a whole; it also explains a lot in the genesis of verbal art. In essence, almost every work of art is aimed at overcoming the chaos of life through the artistic reorganization of reality.
Ideas about the elemental forces of nature (due to the identification of nature and culture, as well as one's tribe as "real people" with humanity as a whole) are often very close and even merge with the images of foreigners. Thus, the cultural hero acquires, as it were, an epic mission and the features of a hero, and the tales themselves, having gone beyond the limits of etiological myths, become a kind of heroic tales.
Legends about cultural heroes are characterized by archaic forms of idealization, in which heroic traits are not so much physical strength and courage as intelligence and cunning, magical, witchcraft abilities.
In the folklore of many peoples, as already noted, a pair image in the form of twin brothers often appears. Such two twin brothers sometimes represent a heroic pair of monster fighters. But more often, only one of the brothers retains his high essence, while the other is endowed with demonic and at the same time (paradoxically) comic features. If both brothers appear in the myths of creation, then one of them performs serious and useful deeds, while the other either consciously creates harmful and useless objects and phenomena, or does it involuntarily as a result of unsuccessful imitation (for example, To Kabinana and To Karvuvu in Melanesia; cf. Prometheus and Epimetheus in ancient Greek mythology). In non-creation episodes, the culture hero's brother or brothers often act as miserable and malevolent envious people (for example, the Maui brothers). When the hero does not have a brother, then often, along with serious cultural deeds, mischievous tricks are attributed to him, sometimes being a parody rethinking of his own serious deeds (among the Indians of the western part of North America, etc.).
Sometimes a mythological rogue does not coincide with a serious cultural hero. The mischievous tricks of the mythological rogue (trickster, in the terminology of American ethnographers who studied the folklore of the Indians) 31 serve to satisfy his greed or lust. Some tricksters are dominated by greed, others by lust. Thus, in the folklore of the Indians of the Pacific Northwest, Raven is a specifically gluttonous trickster, and Mink is lustful. Similarly, in the folklore of Dahomey, Legba is distinguished by hypereroticism, and Io by gluttony. In an effort to satisfy his insatiable desires (or simple hunger), the trickster resorts to deceit, violates the most stringent norms of customary law and communal morality. Tricksters commit incest with their daughter or sister, treacherously enjoy cordial hospitality, deprive their closest relatives and members of their family of food, devour communal supplies for the winter, etc. In other cases, their violation of taboos and any kind of profaning of shrines has, as it were, the character of disinterested mischief. . Wakdyunkaga - a trickster among the Winnebago Indians - during the sacred ceremony of preparing for a military campaign, he enters into a relationship with a woman (which is a violation of the most important taboo), destroys the boat into which he previously invited the participants of the campaign, destroys ritual objects - he does all this as a leader tribe. The explicit profanation of the shrine acquires here the character of a parody of the ritual preparation for the campaign. In another case, he parodies the most important ritual of acquiring a guardian spirit. The Raven among the Eastern Paleo-Asians often performs tricks that are obvious parodies of the actions of shamans, not to mention the fact that many of the tricks of the Raven are buffoonish imitations of his own serious creative deeds.
Acting in principle asocially and frankly profaning the shrines, the trickster nevertheless often triumphs and mercilessly cracks down on those who succumbed to his deception. Sometimes, however, the trickster himself fails. The raven, for example, experiences failure when it violates communal norms of morality or perverts human nature itself, but from this it is not yet possible to derive a rule that is binding on all tricksters.
It is noteworthy that the trickster combines the features of a triumphant rogue (acting for self-interest), an unbridled mischief and a madman; and at the same time, he often continues to be thought of as a cultural hero who has benefited humanity. True, native storytellers are able to distinguish between serious creation myths that tell about the deeds of cultural heroes, and anecdotes that serve for entertainment (with a partial zoomorphism of the trickster, they merge with fairy tales about animals). But the identification of the cultural hero and the trickster is not questioned. The question arises, how did such a combination of a cultural hero and a trickster, myths of creation and anecdotes with picaresque tricks, shamanic legends and rituals with their buffoonish profanity, sometimes reaching satirical poignancy, become possible?
A purely formal moment has a certain significance: during the cyclization of primitive narrative folklore, various plots and genre formations were combined around the cultural hero, everything was attributed to the first and only folklore hero. Various properties seemed to be forced to coexist in one image, creating its inconsistency and quirkiness. However, such a formal consideration is not enough. There must be deeper reasons for this 32 .
The figure of the trickster - this distant predecessor of medieval jesters, heroes of picaresque novels, colorful comic characters in Renaissance literature, etc. - is extremely archaic. However, the most archaic mythologies still do not know it (Australians, Papuans). The original syncretism of the cultural hero and the trickster can only be recognized in in a certain sense, with significant reservations.
The most ancient mythical heroes (totem ancestors, cultural heroes, demiurges) often act by cunning and cunning simply due to the fact that the mind in the primitive consciousness is not separated from cunning and witchcraft, the moral criteria themselves are very archaic and peculiar. Even in the Homeric epic or the Edda, the gods are much less selective in their means than the epic heroes. Of course, we are talking about illegibility from the point of view of later moral assessments. The most ancient mythical heroes participate in the creation of the world, almost every step they take has etiological consequences. Not only their purposeful activity, but also their random actions contribute to the ordering and organization of the world order. Their very behavior is often devoid of conscious purposefulness, the Promethean pathos of serving people. Sometimes, in an effort to satisfy their own needs, they produce fire, light, etc.
Such primitive heroes of myth, however, are not yet tricksters. Only as the idea of the opposition of cunning and reason, deceit and noble frankness, lofty spiritualism and base instincts, pathos of conscious service to tribal interests and selfish asociality, organization and chaos arises in the very minds of folklore bearers, only as the awareness of these differences develops the figure of a mythological rogue as a counterpart of a cultural hero (his brother or "second person"). Many tricks of this character (but by no means all) go back genetically to the serious mythical deeds of cultural heroes and demiurges, to some rituals, shamanic miracles and tricks. But all these deeds and actions are rethought in a parodic way or even directly ridiculed.
Along with the parodic rethinking of old mythical plots, many new, purely anecdotal ones arise or are attached to the image of the trickster. If the trickster retains its semi-zoomorphism, as it mostly does, the jokes about him approach the type of animal tales.
Awareness of the differences between serious mythical deeds and tricks, myths and fairy tales, cultural heroes and tricksters gives particular sharpness, emphasizes the duality of the mythical character, who is at the same time a serious creator of the organized world order (natural and social) and a mischievous rogue, continuously bringing chaos into that very the organization he created, breaking taboos, deceiving or killing other beings to satisfy his baser instincts. Such a combination in one person of a cultural hero and a trickster, the elements that organize and bring chaos, is possible only because the action in the fabulous mythological cycles is related to the time before the establishment of a strict world order. This reference to mythical time largely legalizes the mischief of the trickster. Apparently, stories about the trickster are a kind of outlet (legalized due to reference to mythical times) in a strictly regulated society, which, of course, is a tribal society.
The protrusion of base instincts, all sorts of "dirty" details associated with greed, eroticism, defecation, opposes, in particular, primitive spiritualism, which received a significant, albeit primitive, embodiment in shamanism. The mockery of shamanic practice, of obligatory rituals, sometimes goes very far and is devoid of any kindness, even contains elements social criticism. However, this does not mean that disbelief in shamanism, the rejection of the ritual life of the tribe, etc. are expressed here. Of course, jokes about tricksters exist in the same environment as serious myths, shamanic legends, etc.
The mockery in stories about tricksters is universal enough, it is merciless to the victims fooled by the trickster, and to the trickster himself when he gets into a mess. It is directed both at shamanic spiritualism, and at the base intemperance of the trickster himself, and at his attempts to change nature, to violate primitive communal morality, that is, to the manifestation of his anti-social nature. This universal comedy is akin to the carnivalism that was also manifested in the elements of self-parody that were present in the rituals of the Australians, Roman saturnalia, medieval "feasts of fools" with overturning the hierarchical order, clownish reproduction of church services, etc. M.M. Bakhtin considers this kind " carnival" is the most important feature of folk culture, widely reflected in the literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance 33.
The most ancient ancestors - cultural heroes, whom we should rightfully consider as the first literary characters, appear in archaic folklore as syncretic images, often (but, of course, not always) combining three aspects - a mythical creator, a comic trickster and an archaic hero who cleanses the earth of monsters. These three aspects correspond to the well-known genre syncretism: creation myths are animal tales and anecdotes about tricksters are proto-heroic tales. This genre syncretism is outwardly expressed in the existence of single cycles of a kind of mythological epic.
Along with the gradual differentiation of narrative genres within the framework of this mythological epic about cultural heroes, etc., the development of genre varieties, even at the earliest stages, proceeds along the same paths and outside these cycles (the aforementioned bylichki, local traditions and legends, etc.) . A significant difference arises only when the impersonal character of the primitive bylichka is replaced by the active and powerful hero of the heroic tale.
So far, we have considered archaic narrative folklore based mainly on the images of the central characters. Let us now turn to our material in terms of the historical morphology of the genre. In view of the fact that the process of genre differentiation is intertwined with the change of stages in the development of genre and style, the study of the history of oral literature of primitive society cannot be separated from the genesis of narrative genres, which in primitive folklore are in a state of formation, development, have not yet spun off completely from primary syncretism under the auspices of myth. The analysis of this dual process presents great difficulties.
From myth to fairy tale
Myth was the hegemon in that only partially dissected genre syncretism, which is characteristic of the state of narrative art in archaic societies. The point is not only that myths and fairy tales were combined into single cycles around popular mythical heroes. Myths and fairy tales were just beginning to differentiate, and some kind of intermediate forms practically prevailed. Experts such as F. Boas or S. Thompson 34 repeatedly spoke about the difficulties of distinguishing between myth and fairy tale in primitive folklore.
The natives themselves often distinguish between two forms, for example, adaox and malesk among the Tsimshians, pynyl and lymnyl among the Chukchi, Khvenokho and Kheho among the von (Dahomeans), liliu and kukvanebu among the Kirivin in Melanesia, etc., etc. Only very conditionally, these two forms can be correlated with myths and fairy tales. They mainly differ along the lines of "sacredness-non-sacredness" and "strict certainty-non-strict certainty" (that is, the admissibility of some relative freedom of fiction). F. Boas shows that the first form, i.e. myth, is rigidly associated with the attribution of action to mythical times. In addition, there is no doubt that myths are characterized by a fundamental etiological plot, while in fairy tales, if etiological endings are preserved, they acquire a purely ornamental character. Initial formulas pointing to mythical times - "this was when people were still animals" or, conversely, "when animals were still people" - and the final formulas of an etiological nature in primitive folklore are widespread both in myths and in fairy tales.
These stylistic clichés are genetically derived from myth and therefore, in primitive folklore, they are more often found in real myths, but also penetrate into fairy tales. Let us note that in European folklore it is just the opposite - etiological legends are artless, and the fairy tale sparkles with its stylistic ritualism.
In primitive folklore, myth and fairy tale undoubtedly have the same morphological structure in the form of a chain of losses and gains of certain cosmic or social values. This is also acknowledged by the structuralists (Dundes, the Marandas 35). The difference, however, lies, firstly, in the fact that in myth acquisition is usually the initial origin, origin, i.e., etiology in the broadest sense, and in a fairy tale it is the redistribution of some benefits obtained by the hero or for himself, or for their limited community. Secondly, these acquisitions themselves in the myth are of a cosmic nature: light, fresh water, fire, etc.; the acquisition can also act in a negative form as a decrease in the number of heavenly bodies, an end to the flood, etc., but this does not change the matter. In a fairy tale, the objects obtained and the goals achieved are not elements of nature and culture, but food, wonderful objects, women, etc., which make up the well-being of the hero. These differences - etiologism in the core of the plot or, at best, in the form of a decorative pendant, cosmic or family-generic, collective or individual - are even more essential for distinguishing between myth and fairy tale than sacredness - non-sacredness.
The mythical cultural hero obtains fire or fresh water by stealing it from the original custodian (an old woman, a frog, a snake). We are talking about the origin of fresh water on the earth inhabited by people. A fairy-tale hero steals the living water needed to heal a sick father (for example, Hawaii), or uses animals to make fire for his hearth (for example, Dahomey). A fairy-tale zoomorphic rogue (Hare) steals water from a well dug by other animals (in the folklore of many African peoples) by cunning. Between the "shortage" and the "acquisition of values" stands the creative act of the demiurge - a cultural hero, or the feat-test of a fairy-tale hero, or the cunning trick of a trickster. The true difference, however (within the framework of primitive folklore), is not in the very nature of the act. The demiurge, for example, often resorts to clever tricks. It was mentioned above how Raven turns into a child and, crying, demands luminary balls for the game; or Maui puts out the fire on purpose and coaxes it out of his great-grandmother again. But in these cases, we are talking about the origin of fire and the good for everyone, in contrast to the seekers of living water, fresh water, fire in the above tales. The altruism of the Hawaiian kind son, who obtained water for Kane for his father, and the selfishness of the Hare are equally opposed to the collectivism and etiologism of the myth. However, here in practice we find many intermediate cases. Most of the stories about the tricks of mythological rogues are among them, since these rogues are still mythical characters, moreover, they also perform serious creative deeds. The Indians, however, are able to distinguish between the serious deeds of the Crow-demiurge and the clownish tricks of the Crow-trickster. But among the Dahomeans, the Legba trickster cycle, associated with the pantheon of higher gods, is attributed to hvenoho (sacred myths), and the Io trickster cycle to heho (fairy tales).
It is very significant that primitive tales, although somewhat freer than myths in terms of individual invention and ritual performance, are also connected with actual beliefs, with concrete mythology, their fantasy has a strictly ethnographic, not at all conditional character. The point is not only in the difficulty of distinguishing between myth and fairy tale, but in the same syncretism, which has already been repeatedly mentioned above. One and the same text can be interpreted by one tribe or a group within a tribe as a myth, and by another group as a fairy tale, included in some kind of sacral ritual system or excluded from it. Moreover, the same text in the same audience can act both in the function of myth and in the function of a fairy tale, for example, simultaneously describe some link in cosmogenesis, sanction a well-known ritual, demonstrate the bad consequences of breaking a taboo and at the same time delight and entertain listeners with the bold or cunning tricks of a mythical hero. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a methodology for a multifaceted analysis of primitive texts - narrative-syntagmatic and symbolic-paradigmatic.
If we move from synchrony to diachrony, that is, to the historical perspective of the formation of a fairy tale, then it is quite obvious that the transformation of a myth into a fairy tale is facilitated by its deritualization (if the myth was attached to a ritual), desacralization (for example, sacred information about the routes of ancestors is omitted or declassified). in Australian folklore), the demythologization of the hero himself (the rejection of the totem or semi-divine hero, sometimes with the loss of his name), the demythologization of the time of action (the appearance of a fabulous uncertainty of time); the transition from a cosmic scale to the depiction of personal destinies, the weakening or destruction of etiologism; the separation of conditional fairy tale fiction from actual beliefs, the weakening of authenticity and the conscious assumption of poetic fiction. This transformation within the framework of primitive culture is not yet completely completed, but nevertheless a significant degree of genre differentiation is achieved.
Tales of mythological rogues, as already noted, are closely connected with the formation of fairy tales about animals. Practically in the folklore of the indigenous population of Africa and America, the trickster is the main character of such tales, and the antics of zoomorphic rogues are the main elements of most animal tales. The prerequisite for the development of this genre is the desacralization of totem characters while maintaining their zoomorphism. As totemic beliefs are forgotten, animal tales are enriched with everyday motifs, including anecdotal ones. Observations on the habits of animals are combined with the depiction of family and social relationships. Above, the great importance of the selfishness of the trickster, his hyperbolic greed and readiness to violate any social norms for the sake of personal gain was noted.
The classic form of animal tales is found in Africa. There (unlike the Indians, Melanesians, etc.) these tales are quite clearly differentiated from myths. Etiological motives, and even more so cultural deeds, were preserved there only in the form of rudiments. The tricksters' tricks are a manifestation of their cunning, but no longer witchcraft; episodes in which tricksters act like madmen are very rare. Most of the tricks (feigning death, frightening with non-existent forces, persuading other animals to agree to be tied or boiled for the sake of imaginary benefits, offering to nurture other people's children) are an attempt on common or other people's prey and, just like in the folklore of the American Indians, usually serves to satisfy hunger. But in African tales, the moralizing tendency is strengthened: the actions of the trickster destroy the initial friendship of the animals, they are evaluated as ingratitude. Etiological endings are most often replaced by moralizing ones. Elements of moralizing open the way for the fable, so popular in Eastern literatures, and partly in Europe. However, African animal tales do not yet have frozen masks corresponding to certain human characters, there is no pure allegorism and didacticism.
The classic fairy tale about animals is the forerunner not only of the fable, but also of the everyday fairy tale. It is very likely that the tradition of folklore "tricteryads" and the animal tale (and the ancient fable, of course) had a decisive influence on the literary animal epic of the type of the medieval fox novel.
A necessary prerequisite for the development of a magical and magical-heroic fairy tale is, firstly, complete anthropomorphization and a certain degree of idealization of the hero, and secondly, his demythologization. Here, apparently, it is necessary to take into account the interaction of myths, bylichka, local legends. The hero of the tale is no longer thought of as a demigod or a totemic ancestor, although he often retains divine parents (his peculiar, of course, archaic form of idealization). The above-mentioned heroic twin brothers - fighters of chthonic monsters in the folklore of the American Indians - are a transitional stage. Along with the peculiar mythological epic about the Crow, the Mink, and the wandering twins, the northwestern Indians also have tales strongly colored by mythological fantasy about extraordinary trials that the son-in-law of the Sun or a young man pursued by an envious uncle triumphantly undergoes. These are a kind of heroic tales, but heroism here still has a witchcraft, shamanic character. The future son-in-law of the Sun was found in the belly of a pike, he himself can turn into a pike, he receives help from a pike (totemic motif). With the help of a bag of wind given to him by an old woman, the hero extinguishes the fire sent by the Sun, hunts for the daughters of the Sun, who have taken the form of goats or birds, and flies to the earth with the daughters of the Sun. Likewise, the persecuted nephew escapes his uncle's persecution with the help of miraculous objects, eventually marries the leader's daughter and takes revenge on the evil uncle.
The Polynesian legends about Tafaki and his family, which go back to some heavenly cannibal who descended to earth, have a similar character. Her son Hema, his children Tafaki and Kariki, grandson Rata and other characters of this cycle are fundamentally different from the cultural hero - the trickster Maui. Tafaki is perceived as an ideal example of a Polynesian sacralized leader, acting with his witchcraft power or the magical help of ancestors, spirits, etc. revenge, for the sake of which one has to ascend to heaven and descend into the underworld, overcoming insidious spirits and monsters.
Along with the heroes who have retained the mythical halo, already in archaic folklore there appear heroes "not promising", who are the victims of social injustice. Such, for example, is a poor orphan who is mistreated by her closest relatives and fellow tribesmen, thereby violating the covenants of tribal mutual assistance. Tales of the poor orphan girl are popular among Melanesians, mountain Tibeto-Burman tribes, Eskimos, Paleo-Asians, North American Indians, etc.
In Melanesia, an orphan is the victim of the wives of her uncle (mother's brother), who, according to tribal morality, should have been his main protector. Among the Indians, a dirty orphan "burnt belly", who lives with her grandmother on the edge of the village, eating leftovers along with dogs, is an object of contempt and ridicule of the entire village. However, with the help of spirits, a witch grandmother or deceased parents, an orphan becomes an outstanding hunter, warrior and shaman (among the Indians), reaches high degrees in a secret male union (in Melanesia).
Intervention mythical creatures into the fate of a poor orphan - not so much the result of his strict observance of ritual prescriptions, but the result of sympathy for the socially disadvantaged, who became a victim of the decline of tribal norms of customary law and morality. If fairy tales about the son or son-in-law of the Sun and similar "high" heroes are archaic analogues of Russian fairy tales about Ivan Tsarevich, then the poor orphan - "dirty guy" - resembles Ivan the Fool and Cinderella.
The plots of the archaic magical-heroic tale, on the one hand, reveal a clear connection with primitive myths, rituals, tribal customs, and on the other hand, they anticipate the main plot types of European and Asian fairy tales. Such, for example, are the mentioned plots of obtaining curiosities, elixirs and miraculous objects, going back to the myths about the theft of cultural goods by a mythical hero (No. miraculous totem creature, temporarily shedding the animal shell. A wonderful wife (in later versions - a husband) gives the chosen one hunting luck, but leaves him due to violation of marriage prohibitions, after which the hero seeks and finds a wife in her country and, in order to return the fugitive, is forced to undergo a series of traditional marriage trials (cf. No. 400 , 425 and some others according to the Aarne-Thompson system).
Other examples: apparently reflecting the customs of initiation, a story about a group of children who fell into the power of a cannibal and escaped thanks to the resourcefulness of one of them (cf. no. 327); the plot of the murder of a mighty serpent, originally to master its magical power or to get rid of chthonic demons (cf. No. 300 and others); the plot of visiting "other" worlds or realms of the dead to free the captives who are there, by analogy with the wandering of a sorcerer or shaman in search of the soul of the sick or deceased (cf. No. 301), etc. Subsequently, motifs of family and clan relations are added to these ancient plots. Fairy-tale family - certainly a generalized image of the genus or " big family", and the plots of family strife to a certain extent reflect the socio-historical process of the decomposition of the tribal system, the transition from communal distribution to family isolation. However, in archaic folklore, as we have seen, the family theme is just emerging. The classical form of a fairy tale took shape much later than the classical form of the animal tale, already far beyond the boundaries of primitive culture.We know this classical form only from the folklore of the civilized peoples of Europe and Asia.
The formation of the classical form of the fairy tale was prepared by the decline (albeit incomplete) of the mythological worldview, the separation of fairy tale fantasy from concrete tribal ethnography.
Noteworthy is the characteristic gap in European folklore between a special conditional fairy-tale mythology and the prevailing superstitions reflected in the bylichkas. Related to this is the frank recognition of fiction in a fairy tale, in contrast to both the European bylichka (synchronously) and the primitive fairy tale (diachronically). This setting for fiction is formalized in the beginnings (pointing to an indefinite place and time) and in the endings (pointing to fiction through the category of the impossible). The beginnings and endings of a classic fairy tale are polar opposites of the initial and final formulas of a primitive (syncretic) tale that go back to myth. Fairy-tale poetization of mythology captures not only the images of mythical creatures (typical for the fairy tale Baba Yaga, Serpents, Kashchei, etc.), but also magical transformations and witchcraft actions. The success and failure of the hero is no longer a direct consequence of the observance of magical prescriptions and shamanic skill, kinship or marriage with spirits, but only the result of the favor of miraculous forces as a result of observing certain rather abstract rules of behavior or a direct manifestation of kindness to miraculous persons and objects. Miraculous helpers and objects, having taken the hero under protection, to a certain extent already act instead of him.
Correspondingly, structural differences arise between the primitive syncretic tale and the classical fairy tale. The structure of the archaic mythological tale acts as a kind of metastructure in relation to the fairy tale itself. In an archaic tale, the chain of gains and losses may consist of an indefinite number of links, and a positive, happy ending (acquisition), although more common than an unhappy ending (loss), is not necessary. All links are more or less equal. In a classic fairy tale, a rigid hierarchical structure is formed of two or more often three trials of the hero. The first test (preliminary - checking behavior, knowledge of the rules), leading to obtaining a miraculous remedy, is a step to the main one, which concludes the main feat - the elimination of misfortune-lack. The third step is sometimes an additional identification test (it turns out who performed the feat, followed by the shaming of rivals and impostors). The obligatory happy ending, as a rule, concludes with marriage to the princess and receiving half the kingdom.
So far, we have been talking about the morphology of a fairy tale at the plot level. Questions of historical poetics and stylistics of a fairy tale, stylistic features of narrative folklore in archaic societies have been studied extremely insufficiently.
The style of narrative folklore of the Indians of the Northwest is illuminated in the works of Franz Boas, whose observations on the folklore of the Kwakiutl and Tsimshian tribes are used by him to characterize the primitive art of the word in his classic work, Primitive Art (1927), mentioned above. Interesting results of the study of style on the example of the Chinook are given in the monograph by Melville Jacobs "The Content and Style of an Oral Literature" (1959). Jacobs strongly emphasizes the theatrical elements in the performance of Chinook tales. The stylistic features of myths and fairy tales are the same, but myths are more polished, they necessarily include beginnings and endings. The beginning includes an indication of the name and place of residence of the hero, sometimes a mention of his relatives. The sign of the myth is the addition "I don't know how long ago..." - a hint of an appeal to mythical times. The ending includes the formula "now let's part" (it means - with the characters of the mythical time), it is reported which of the characters turned into whom or what (into stars, animals, etc.). The ending ends with the words "myth, myth" or "fairy tale, fairy tale." Jacobs lists in detail numerous "common places" in Chinook narrative folklore. Such, for example, are ways of localizing or expressing distance, indicating time, symbolizing various themes, simple emotions, describing typical characters. For example, we are talking about the entrance to the last house in the village where a poor young man or an old woman lives, or, conversely, a traveler asks the children a question about the leader's house, which always turns out to be in the center of the village. The village is described from above; there are either a lot of people in it, or not a single one. The number five is used to express the multitude: "five villages" or "five mountains" indicates a large space or a long stay of a traveler on the way. Breakage of a bow or digging stick indicates misfortune; anger or depression is stylized by the message that the hero could not eat or could not speak, etc. In addition to identically expressed verbally " common places", Jacobs registers a significant number of recurring motifs, situations, etc.
Subtle observations on the poetics of the Chukchi fairy tale, moreover, in an evolutionary context, are found in the classical works of V. G. Bogoraz and especially in the articles of A. I. Nikiforov 38 .
The "real fairy tales" of the Chukchi are extremely colorful. Their richest fantasy, on the one hand, is based on the Chukchi-Eskimo sea demonology, numerous images of sea master spirits, etc., and on the other hand, shamanic mythology with its complex cosmology, animal helper spirits, and magical transformations. V.G. Bogoraz emphasized the striking difference between the sea monsters of the Chukchi fairy tale (dolphins-werewolves, the Kochatko bear with a body made of mammoth bone, the shaman Kit, overseas cannibal giants, etc.) from the "Ural-Altai" one-eyed, one-armed iron demons 39 .
A.I. Nikiforov correctly notes that transformations, i.e., transformations, of heroes into various objects and creatures, as well as movements in a multi-tiered universe (which creates the possibility of a multi-linear action) are the main springs, methods of constructing a plot in a Chukchi fairy tale. From the point of view of historical poetics, the same Nikiforov singles out examples of three stages of evolution in the Chukchi fairy tale: 1) narrative-magic incantatory stories with the absence of the structure of a primitive fairy tale (according to V. G. Bogoraz, the plot of "magical flight" - with throwing stones and grass, turning into mountains, seas, forests - gets magical use in the funeral rite); 2) "telling", in which there is no magical function, but also artistic poetics is barely outlined, as in "bylshchina"; 3) a fairy tale with more or less developed artistic means (among the more "cultured" storytellers known to Bogoraz, such as Chene, Ivan, Keutebyn). The formula, obligatory for the beginning of cosmogonic myths, with the verb "was" ("Once upon a time it was dark", etc.), indicating mythical times, is found in fairy tales only at the third step. As an ending, fairy tales know the formula: "I killed the wind" (a relic of the magical function of a fairy tale) and "began to live." In fairy tales there are a number of common places, such as, for example, the dialogue on the way of the hero with the one he meets. The developed Chukchi fairy tale is characterized by repeated moves and the law of five.
Notes
1 Avdeev A.D. The origin of the theatre. M., 1959.
2 Bucher K. Work and rhythm. M., 1923. S. 264.
3 Veselovsky A.N. Historical poetics. M., 1940. S. 291.
4 Chadwick K.M., Chadwick M.K. The Growth of Literature. Vol. I-III. London, 1932-1940. Reissue: London, 1971.
5 Howra C.M. Primitive Song. London, 1962. P. 265.
6 See, in particular, the brief but brilliant characterization of "primitive" poetry in the classic work of Franz Boas (Boas F. Primitive Art. Oslo, 1927), as well as the introductory articles to the anthologies of Australian and American Indian poetry (Songs of the Songmen / Retold W. E. Harney and A. P. Elkin Melbourne, 1949; The Winged Serpent; an Anthology of Indian Prose and Poetry / Ed. M. Astrov. 1950; The Sky Clears; Poetry of the American Indians / Ed. A. G. Day. New York, 1951 ).
7 See on this in detail: Kluckhohn C. Myths and Rituals. A General Theory / Harvard Theological Review. 1942 Vol. XXXV. P. 145-179; Hyman S.E. The Ritual View of Myth and the Mythic / Journal of American Folklore. 1955. No. 270. P. 462-472; Raglan F.R.S. Myth and Ritual / Journal of American Folklore. 1955. No. 270. P. 454-461; James E.O. Myth and Ritual in the Ancient Near East. London, 1958.
8 Langer S. Feeling and Form. New York, 1953.
9 Tokarev S.A. Religion in the history of the peoples of the world. M., 1964.
10 Levi-Strauss C. La pensione sauvage. Paris, 1962.
11 Strehlow C. Die Aranda- und Loritja-Stämme in Zentral Australien. Bd I-II. Frankfurt am Main, 1907-1908; cf. exposition of totemic myths in the last monograph of the classics of Australian studies Spencer and Gillen (Spencer W.B., Gilen F. The Arunta. A Study of a Stone Age People. Vol. 2. London, 1927. P. 301-309).
12 Strehlow T.E.H. Aranda Traditions. Melbourne. 1957 Ch. I.
13 See: Howitt A.W. The Natives Tribes of Southeast Australia. London, 1904. P. 475-488, 779-806 (exposition of the relevant stories).
14 Macconel U. Myths of the Munkan. Melbourne, 1957.
15 See: Radcliff-Brown A. The Rainbow Serpent Myth in Australia / Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. London, 1926. Vol. 56; Berndt R.M. Kunapipi. A Study of an Aboriginal Religious Cult. Melbourne, 1951; Chaseling S. Julengor, Nomads of Arnhem Land. London, 1957; Stanner W.E.H. On Aboriginal Religion. Sydney, 1966.
16 Howitt A.W. The Natives Tribes of Southeast Australia. London, 1904; Mathews R.N. Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wells and Victoria. Sydney, 1905.
17 Stanner W.E.H. On Aboriginal Religion. Sydney, 1966.
18 See: Peoples of Australia and Oceania / Ed. S.A. Tokareva and S.P. Tolstov. M.; L., 1956. S. 240-244.
19 Howitt A.W. The Natives Tribes of Southeast Australia. London, 1904. P. 494.
20 Mathews R.H. Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wells and Victoria. Sidney, 1905. P. 138.
21 Langloh-Parker K. The Eullaye Tribe. A Study of Aboriginal Life in Australia. London, 1905. P. 6-7.
22 Berndt R.M. Kunapipi. A Study of an Aboriginal Religious Cult. Melbourne, 1951. P. 35.
23 Stanner W.E.H. On Aboriginal Religion. Sidney, 1966 (see chapters IV-V).
24 And in other myths and rituals, deliberate evil (for example, incest between the children of Kunmangur) is often a permitted, mandatory action in the ritual.
25 Songs of the songmen / Retold W.E. Harney, A.P. Elkin. Melbourne, 1949. P. 29-32.
26 Strehlow C. Die Aranda- und Loritja-Stämme in Zentral Australien. Dritter Teil (Die totemistischen Kulte). Frankfurt am Main, 1910.
27 Strehlow T.E.H. Aranda Traditions. Melbourne, 1947.
28 Capell A. Myth and Tales of the Nunguburuyn / Oceania. 1960 Vol. XXXI. No. 1. P. 31-62 (Sidney).
29 From the vast, mostly purely descriptive literature, Franz Boas' very valuable classics on the Northwest Indians should be singled out (especially Boas F. Tsimshian Mythology / 31 Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, 1916); Russian scientists V. Bogoraz, V. Yokhelson and L. Ya. 1929; Thompson S. The Folktale, New York, 1946). Of the post-war writings on the Indians, the following are of particular note: Radin P. The Evolution of an American Indian Prose Epic: A Study in Comparative Literature. Pt I-II. Basel, 1954-1956; Radin P. The Trickster. A Study in American Indian Mythology. London, 1956; Jacobs M. The Content and Style of Oral Literature. Clackamas Chinouk Myths and Tales. Chicago, 1959; Dundes A. The Morphology of the North American Indian Folktales. Helsinki, 1964 (FFC, no. 195); Levi-Strauss C. Mythologiques. I-IV. Paris, 1964-1971; Hultkrantz A. The North American Orpheus Traditions. Stockholm, 1957; Luomala K. Maui-of-a-thousand Tricks. Honolulu, 1949; Luomala K. Voices of the Wind. Honolulu, 1955; Lessa W.A. Tales from Ulithi Atoll. Berkeley; Los Angeles, 1961; as well as articles by Fischer; on various peoples - collections of Jacobs's articles (The Anthropologist Looks at Myth / Compiled by M. Jacobs. Austin; London, 1966). For North Asia, see the works of A.F. Anisimov, G.M. Vasilevich, M.G. Voskoboynikov, Z.N. Kupriyanova and others; interesting considerations on the material of the folklore of the Kets - in the works of Vyach. Sun. Ivanov, V.N. Toporova. Some information is contained in the author's works (Meletinsky E.M. The mythological and fairy tale epic of the Melanesians / Oceanic collection. M .; L., 1957; Meletinsky E.M. The hero of a fairy tale. M., 1958; Meletinsky E.M. The legend of the Raven among the peoples of the Far North (about ancient folklore Relations between Asia and America) / Bulletin of the history of world culture. 1959. No. 1; Meletinsky E.M. The origin of the heroic epic. Early forms and archaic monuments. M., 1963.
30 Zolotarev A.M. Tribal system and religion of the Ulchi. Khabarovsk, 1939; Zolotarev A.M. Tribal system and primitive mythology. M., 1964; Tolstov S.P. Ancient Khorezm. M., 1948.
31 See the fundamental work of Paul Radin on the folklore of the Winnebago and some other Prairie Indians (Radin P. The Trickster. A Study in American Indian Mythology. London, 1956).
32 P. Radin believed that the trickster from the very beginning represented the combination of the divine cultural hero and the divine jester, ever since man, as a social being, separated from the animal. In the story of a Winnebago trickster named Wakdyonkaga, Radin sees a conscious depiction of the evolution of man from natural spontaneity to heroic consciousness. It seems, however, that Radin exaggerates, on the one hand, the originality of this double figure, and on the other hand, a distinct intellectual concept in the Winnebago tales as a depiction of personality development. K. Kereni (Kerynui K. Prometheus. Zürich, 1946) also considers this figure to be very ancient, but at the same time connects it with late archaism, when, due to the peculiarities of not the content, but the style itself, strongly acting, brutal entertainment elements stick out. The connection between the arch-rogue and the arch-madman seems to Kereni to be primordial. At the same time, cunning emphasizes stupidity, including the stupidity of a cunning one. Jung, in accordance with his general theory archetypes sees in the trickster a "psychologeme" of exceptional antiquity - a copy of the undifferentiated human consciousness that has barely left the animal world, the embodiment of all the lower character traits in the individual. However, only overcoming the absolute psychological darkness, he believes, could cause such a look back of the "I" into the distant past of the collective consciousness. The trickster is a figure allegedly standing both above a person (supernatural forces) and below him (due to unconsciousness, spontaneity).
33 Bakhtin M.M. Creativity of Francois Rabelais and folk culture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. M., 1965.
34 See, for example, Thompson S. Myth and Folktale / Journal of american Folklore. 1955. No. 270.
35 Köngds E., Maranda P. Structural Models in Folklore and Transformational Essays. The Hague; Paris, 1971.
36 For an index of Aarne-Thompson stories, see Thompson S. The Types of the Folktale. Helsinki, 1973 (FFC, no. 184).
37 The presence of such structural discrepancies is striking, in particular, when comparing the structural description of the Russian fairy tale in V.Ya.
38 Nikiforov A.I. The structure of the Chukchi fairy tale as a phenomenon of primitive thinking / Soviet folklore. 1935. No. 2-3.
39 Bogoraz V.G. Materials on the study of the Chukchi language and folklore, collected in the Kolyma district. Part 1. St. Petersburg, 1900. S. 1.
The material is posted on the site with the support of grant No. 1015-1063 of the Ford Foundation.
The material carrier of the figurativeness of literary works is the word that has received a written incarnation. The word (including artistic) always denotes something, has an objective character. Literature, in other words, is one of the fine arts, in the broad sense of the subject, where single phenomena are recreated (persons, events, things, mindsets caused by something and people's impulses directed at something). In this respect, it is similar to painting and sculpture (in their dominant, “figurative” variety) and differs from the non-pictorial, non-objective arts. The latter are usually called expressive, they capture the general nature of the experience outside of its direct connections with any objects, facts, events. Such are music, dance (if it does not turn into pantomime - into the image of action through body movements), ornament, the so-called abstract painting, architecture.
Verbal pictures (images), unlike picturesque, sculptural, scenic, screen ones, are immaterial. That is, in the literature there is figurativeness (objectivity), but there is no direct visualization of images. Turning to visible reality, writers are able to give only its indirect, mediated reproduction. Literature masters the intelligible integrity of objects and phenomena, but not their sensually perceived appearance. Writers appeal to our imagination, not directly to visual perception.
The immateriality of the verbal fabric predetermines the pictorial richness and variety of literary works. Here, according to Lessing, the images "can be one next to the other in extraordinary quantity and variety, without mutually overlapping and without harming each other, which cannot be the case with real things or even with their material reproductions." Literature has infinitely wide pictorial (informative, cognitive) possibilities, because by means of a word one can designate everything that is in the horizon of a person. The universality of literature has been repeatedly discussed. Thus, Hegel called literature "a universal art capable of developing and expressing any content in any form." According to him, literature extends to everything that "one way or another interests and occupies the spirit."
Being immaterial and devoid of visualization, verbal and artistic images at the same time paint a fictional reality and appeal to the reader's vision. This side of literary works is called verbal plasticity. Depictions by means of words are organized more according to the laws of recollection of what is seen, rather than as a direct, instantaneous realization. visual perception. In this regard, literature is a kind of mirror of the "second life" of visible reality, namely, its presence in the human mind. Verbal works imprint to a greater extent subjective reactions to the objective world, rather than the objects themselves as directly visible.
Fiction is a multifaceted phenomenon. It consists of two main aspects. The first is fictional objectivity, images of "non-verbal" reality. The second is actually speech constructions, verbal structures. The actual verbal aspect of literature, in turn, is two-dimensional. Speech here appears, firstly, as a means of representation (the material carrier of imagery), as a way of evaluative illumination of extra-verbal reality; and, secondly, as a subject of the image - statements belonging to someone and someone characterizing them. Literature, in other words, is capable of recreating the speech activity of people, and this distinguishes it especially sharply from all other forms of art. Only in literature does a person appear as a speaker.
Literature has two forms of existence: it exists both as a one-component art (in the form of readable works), and as an invaluable component of synthetic arts. This applies to the greatest extent to dramatic works, which are essentially intended for the theater. But other types of literature are also involved in the synthesis of the arts: lyrics come into contact with music (song, romance), going beyond the book existence. Lyrical works are readily interpreted by actors-readers and directors (when creating stage compositions). Narrative prose also finds its way onto the stage and onto the screen. Yes, and the books themselves often appear as synthetic works of art: their composition also includes the writing of letters (especially in old handwritten texts), and ornaments, and illustrations. Participating in artistic synthesis, literature gives other types of art (primarily theater and cinema) rich food , being the most generous of them and acting as a conductor of the arts.
Literature is usually considered from two sides:
How activity
As a work (product of activity)
As a kind of activity: the semiotic nature of art, the aesthetic nature of art, the communicative nature of art.
Semiotic nature of art connected with the nature of the sign in general: signifier, signified and meaning (or conventionality, referentiality and conceptuality). Literature is a secondary sign system (primary - language).
Aesthetic nature of art: attitude and activity. Aesthetic attitude - emotional reflection, experience of experience. "Art is always the outsideness of the author in relation to the depicted" (Bakhtin). Chekhov example. Valuable activity is introduced. “The author must take such a lifeless position that will allow him to see the phenomenon as an integrity - an objective prerequisite for an aesthetic relationship” (Bakhtin).
Communicative nature of art formed spontaneously. L.N. Tolstoy kept constant diaries ("Childhood", "Military stories"). Art is a mechanism of communication, of finding one's own kind. Readers' empathy and complicity in creating an image: the union of creative (author's) and receptive (reader's) consciousness.
Literature as the art of the word is the dynamic nature of the verbal image. The first theorist who raised the problem of the nature of the verbal image, and, consequently, the place of literature among the arts, was Lessing, fixing that sculpture is a static spatial art. Every art form has its own purpose. The static arts have a focus on bodily beauty (capturing the eternally beautiful physicality), while literature has aesthetic and ethical values (Helen in Homer). If only the dynamic principle is put at the forefront, then music can also be attributed here. The signs in painting are natural, they are similar to what they depict, the signs of poetry are arbitrary, they have nothing to do with the subject. In music, the sequence of sounds affects, and in poetry - the sequence of meanings, it is marked by orderliness and a quick change of ideas. Poetry is the music of the soul.
Special language or special use of it? Does the verbal material, being part of the work, remain the same means of social communication, while receiving additional functions, or is this material included in the composition of the work only on the condition that it is organized by the author as a special language?
The poetic language is originally special (Potebnya). The theory of allegorical language as a source for art. Poetry is made from polysemantic words, which have both an inner meaning and an idea that can break away from it.
Formalists believed that the language has a natural poetic function, it is the main factor explaining the phenomenon of literaryness.
Jacobson spoke of the message's focus on itself, "the tangibility of the artistic form." The opacity of poetic language, speech with an emphasis on expression. Aesthetic effect of the difficult form. One of the 6 functions of language according to Jacobson is poetic.
Philosophical-linguistic approach (L. Wilgenstein, M. Bakhtin). According to Bakhtin, a linguistic whole and an archetypal whole. The process of transforming a linguistic whole into an archetypal one. The aesthetic object does not include an aesthetic form, but its value value. The author's aesthetic assessment is a reaction to a reaction, an attitude to the positions of the characters, an expression in how these positions are compared.
Type of speech: poetry and prose. Poetry is rhythmically ordered speech. There is white (without rhyme) and free (rhythmically not ordered) verse. Poetic? poetic.
The relationship between structure and semantics is called verbally. The largest group is poetic verbal images: ready-made - figures (paths), topoi, emblems and unfinished, which are the product of the author's world - symbolic images.
literary centrism
In different eras, preference was given to different types of art. In antiquity, sculpture was the most influential; as part of the aesthetics of the Renaissance and the 17th century. painting experience dominated. Subsequently (in the 18th, and even more so in the 19th century), literature moved to the forefront of art, and accordingly there was a shift in theory. Lessing, in his "Laocoön", in contrast to the traditional point of view, emphasized the advantages of poetry over painting and sculpture. According to Kant, "of all the arts, poetry holds the first place." With even greater energy, he elevated verbal art above all others V.G. Belinsky, who claims that poetry is "the highest kind of art", that it "contains all the elements of other arts" and therefore "represents the whole integrity of art". In the era of romanticism, music shared the role of a leader in the world of art with poetry. Such judgments (both “literary-centric” and “music-centric”), reflecting shifts in the artistic culture of the 19th and early 20th centuries, are at the same time one-sided and vulnerable. In contrast to the hierarchical rise of one kind of art above all others, theorists of our century emphasize the equality of artistic activity. It is no coincidence that the phrase "family of muses" is widely used. The 20th century (especially in its second half) was marked by serious shifts in the relationship between art forms. Artistic forms based on new means of mass communication arose, consolidated and gained influence: oral speech heard on the radio and, most importantly, the visual imagery of cinema and television began to successfully compete with the written and printed word. In this regard, concepts appeared that, in relation to the first half of the century, it is legitimate to call "cinema-centric", and to the second - "telecentric". In contrast to the extremes of traditional literary centrism and modern telecentrism, it is legitimate to say that fiction in our time is the first among arts equal to each other. The peculiar leadership of literature in the family of arts, clearly felt in the 19th-20th centuries, is associated not so much with its own aesthetic properties, but with its cognitive and communicative capabilities. After all, the word is a universal form of human consciousness and communication. And literary works are able to actively influence readers even in cases where they do not have brightness and scale as aesthetic values. thinkers of the 20th century. argue that poetry is to other arts, as metaphysics is to science, that it, being the focus of interpersonal understanding, is close to philosophy. At the same time, literature is characterized as "the materialization of self-consciousness" and "the memory of the spirit about itself." The fulfillment of non-artistic functions by literature turns out to be especially significant at moments and periods when social conditions and the political system is unfavorable for society. “Among a people deprived of public freedom,” wrote A.I. Herzen, “literature is the only platform from which he makes the cry of his indignation and his conscience heard.”
