Ivan Vasilievich affectionately received Yermak's ambassadors:
Thanks to the dashing Cossack, Yermak Timofeevich, for his faithful service, I release him and his comrades their former guilt! ..
But Yermak did not have to get back to Quiet Don where the old Cossack could live: they attacked dark night on his small camp, the Tatar traitors killed all his comrades, and Yermak himself, fleeing from them, jumped into the Irtysh River and found his grave at the bottom of it.
EXAMPLE FAIRY TALES BY RUSSIAN WRITERS
Until the time of Kiy, the prince of Kyiv, there lived and was in Rus' a tsar - a kind man who loved the truth and wished well to all people; he often traveled around his regions to see what it was like for people to live, and everywhere he scouted whether they lived in truth.
The king had a queen. The king and queen lived in harmony, the queen went with the king and did not like to be separated from him.
The king and queen came to a city built on high mountain in the middle of the forest. Here a son of wondrous beauty was born to the king; he was given the name Chlorine. But in the midst of this joy and a three-day celebration, the king received unpleasant news that his neighbors were living restlessly, they were entering his land and doing various insults to the border residents. The king took the army that was stationed nearby in the camp, and went with him to protect the border. The queen went with the king. The prince remained in the city and house where he was born. The tsar assigned to him seven sensible nannies and skillful in children's upbringing. The king ordered to strengthen the city with a wall of wild stone, with towers at the corners; according to the old custom, no cannons were placed on the towers, since then there were no cannons anywhere. The house in which Tsarevich Khlor remained, although not built of Siberian marble and porphyry, was very good and calmly situated.
Behind the chambers were gardens with fruit trees, and in the gardens there were fish ponds and pavilions in taste. different peoples from where there was an extensive view of the surrounding fields and valleys.
When the prince began to grow up, the nurse and nannies began to notice that he was becoming more and more beautiful, and even smarter and livelier; and a rumor spread everywhere about the beauty, mind and great talents of the prince. Some Kirghiz khan, who roamed with wagons across the wild steppe, also heard about it; he was curious to see such a wonderful child, and when he saw, he wished to take him away with him; began to ask the nannies to go with the prince to him in the steppe. The nannies said with all courtesy that they could not do this without the permission of the king, that they did not have the honor of knowing Mr. Khan and did not go to visit strangers with the prince. Khan was not pleased with that courteous answer, stuck more than ever, as if hungry for dough; but, having received a firm refusal, he finally realized that he would not succeed in his intention with requests, and sent a gift to them. Thanking them, they sent the gifts back and told them to say that they did not need anything. Khan was stubborn and, without leaving his intention, began to think about what to do? He came up with, dressed up in tattered clothes and, sitting at the gates of the garden, as if an old and sick man, began to beg for alms from those passing by. The prince was walking that day in the garden, seeing that some old man was sitting at the gate, he sent to ask: what kind of old man? They ran and asked: what kind of person? They returned with the answer that the sick beggar. Chlorine, like a curious child, asked to see the sick beggar. The nannies, taking Chlorine down, said that there was nothing to see and that he should send alms to him. Chlorine wanted to give the money himself, ran ahead. The nannies ran after him, but the faster the nannies ran, the faster the baby ran; running out of the gate and running up to the imaginary beggar, he caught his foot on a pebble and fell on his face. The beggar jumped up, picked up the child under his arms and set off with him down the mountain. There were gilded dissolutions, upholstered in velvet. The khan sat down at the dissolutions and galloped away with the prince to the steppe.
The nannies, as they ran to the gate, did not find either the beggar, or the child, they did not see a trace of them, and there was no road here, where the khan descended from the mountain. Sitting, he held the prince in front of him with one hand, as if holding a chicken by the wing, with the other hand he waved his cap over his head and shouted three times “Hurrah!” At the voice of his nannies, they ran to the slope, but it was too late, they could not catch up.
Khan safely drove Chlor to his camp and entered with him into the wagon, where the Khan was met by his nobles. Khan appointed the best of the foremen to the prince. He took Chlor in his arms and carried him to a richly decorated wagon, covered with Chinese red damask and Persian carpets; he put the child on a brocade pillow and began to amuse him. But Chlorine wept greatly and regretted that he had run ahead of the nannies, and kept asking: where was he being taken? For what? for what? where is he? The foreman and the Kirghiz who were with him told him many fables: one said that it was so determined by the course of the stars; the other - as if it is better to live here than at home; everything was punished, except for the truth; but, seeing that nothing calms Chlorine's tears, they decided to frighten him with an unbelievable thing, saying: “Stop crying! Or we will turn you into a bat or a kite; and there a wolf or a frog will eat you.” The prince was not fearful: in the midst of tears, he burst out laughing at such an absurdity. The foreman, seeing that the child had stopped crying, ordered the table to be laid. Covered and brought food. The prince ate. Then they served jam in sugar and various fruits that they had; after supper they undressed him and put him to bed.
federal education agency
State educational institution
Higher professional education
"Altai State Pedagogical Academy"
Department of Theory, History and Methods of Teaching Literature
COURSE WORK
Tales of Catherine II
Completed by a student
Faculty of Philology
4 courses OZO
Lutsina S.S.
Scientific adviser:
Sinelnikova G.P.
Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor
Barnaul 2010.
Introduction
Chapter 1. Fairy tale genre.
1.1. Folklore and literary tale
1.2. Literary fairy tale in the XVIII century
Chapter 2. Tales of Catherine II.
2.1.Literary activity of Catherine II
2.2. Tales of Catherine II
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
This course work is dedicated to Catherine II, her fairy tales. Catherine II outstanding personality. It is difficult to underestimate her role in Russian history. But few people know that Catherine II was also one of the most prolific writers. According to the calculations of Academician P.P. Pekarsky, everything written by her (including various business and government documents) could amount to about five thousand volumes. Catherine II developed a whole system of education for her grandchildren. So, she showed herself as a teacher. The works that came out from under her pen are of considerable interest to modern literary critics and philologists. Catherine's passion for writing did not in the least correspond to her literary talent, about the degree of which there can be no two opinions. Catherine had no writing talent. Nevertheless, Catherine's work is not without a peculiar interest, both for the history of literature and for the history of Russian society in general. Firstly, it is interesting precisely because it is the work of the Empress, that it is the real and official literary policy of the government, that it is the sum of works containing, so to speak, royal directives, both of a general ideological and specifically literary nature.
People who supported power and revered it, caught every word of the empress as an indication and instruction; the advanced elements of society, opposed to the government, carefully looked at the work of the queen, as if studying the enemy, honing the weapon of attack on him; but everyone was interested in everything that the queen would write and publish.
The object of study of the course work is the literary work of Catherine II.
The subject of the research is the fairy tales of Catherine II.
The aim of the work is an attempt to analyze the tales of Catherine II.
The tasks of this work are the following:
1) define the concept of a fairy tale, identify distinctive features folklore and literary fairy tale.
2) determine the place of the fairy tale in the literature of the 18th century.
3) to analyze the "fairy tale" activities of Catherine II.
The methods of course work are cultural-historical and typological. In this course work, an attempt is made to identify the typology of the tales of Catherine II.
The novelty of the work lies in the fact that there is not a single complete study on the theme of the fairy tales of Catherine II. There are only a few remarks about fairy tales.
Chapter 1 - Fairy tale genre
1.1-Folklore and literary tale
As early as the first third of the 19th century scientific literature about the fairy tale was not too rich. In addition to the fact that few works were published, bibliographic reports showed the following picture: most texts were published, there were quite a lot of works on particular issues and relatively few works of a general nature. If they were, then in most cases "they were not strictly research, but philosophical and amateurish in nature" [Propp, 1998: 34].
The study of the fairy tale was carried out mainly only genetically, for the most part without attempting a preliminary systematic description. [Propp, 1998:34]
What is a fairy tale? At first glance, it may seem that everyone knows this.
First of all, you should get as clear as possible about the term "fairy tale" itself. The definition of the concept of "fairy tale" is logical to begin with the study of the word "fairy tale" itself, from how this concept is designated in different languages, and, therefore, from what the people themselves understand by the word "fairy tale".
Let us turn to the research of one of the most famous specialists in fairy tales V.Ya. Propp. His results were somewhat unexpected. European peoples, as a rule, do not designate this species in any way. folk poetry, using the most different words. There are only two European languages who created special words to denote this concept. These are Russian and German.
In Latin, the word "fairy tale" is transmitted through fabula. But this word is not specific to a fairy tale, it has many different values: conversation, gossip, subject of conversation, etc. (cf. our "plot" - "plot, subject of narration), as well as a story, including a fairy tale and a fable. In the meaning of "fable" it passed into German In German, Fabel is "fable" and the verb fabulieren is "to tell with a lie." German the tale is denoted by the word Marchen. The root Mar- means "news", "news", -chen is a diminutive suffix. Thus, Marchen is “a small, interesting story.” This word has been found since the 13th century and gradually became fixed in the meaning of “fairy tale”.
From this we can draw the following conclusions:
1. A fairy tale is recognized as a narrative genre (raconter - "to tell", Mar- news, "news", which is also associated with the fact of telling)
2. A fairy tale is considered fiction.
3. The purpose of a fairy tale is to entertain listeners.
Many scholars have dispensed with the definition of a fairy tale. However, there were those who defined this concept.
The scientific understanding of the term "fairy tale" has its own very interesting story, but the scope of this work does not allow us to dwell on it in detail. Therefore, the most common definition of a fairy tale should be given.
According to V.Ya. Proppa tale is determined, above all, art form. "Each genre has a special, inherent to him, and in some cases only to him, artistry. The totality of historically established artistic techniques can be called poetics." This is how the primary, most general definition is obtained: “a fairy tale is a story that differs from all other types of narration by the specificity of its poetics.” [Propp, 1984:35].
This definition, made in accordance with all the rules of logic, still does not fully reveal the essence of the tale and requires further additions.
It was on this path of defining the concept of "fairy tale" that the largest collector and researcher of fairy tales, A. I. Nikiforov, began. The definition given by Nikiforov reads: "Fairy tales are oral stories, existing among the people for the purpose of entertainment, having the content of events unusual in the everyday sense (fantastic, wonderful or worldly) and distinguished by a special compositional and stylistic construction ”[Nikiforov, 1930: 7]
There are some inaccuracies in the definition given by Nikiforov, namely, in highlighting the main features of a folk tale.
Fairy tale, folk tale is narrative folk genre. It is characterized by its form of existence. It is a story passed down from generation to generation only through oral transmission. In this, the existence of a folk tale differs from the existence of a literary tale, which is transmitted by writing and reading and does not change. However, the form of existence is not a genre-forming feature (novel, story, drama, comedy, etc. are also transmitted by writing and also do not change).
According to Nikiforov, a fairy tale is characterized as a story, that is, it belongs to the narrative genres. This sign is also not yet decisive, since there are other narrative genres (epic, ballad) that do not belong to fairy tales. As has already been pointed out, the very word "fairy tale" denotes something that is being told. This means that people perceive the fairy tale as narrative genre par excellence. This feature remains unchanged even in the understanding of a literary tale.
Another sign, pointed out by V. G. Belinsky, is that the tale is told for the purpose of entertainment. It belongs to the entertainment genre. However, there are different points of view on this matter. So, for example, V.P. Anikin believes that the fairy tale pursues educational goals. [Anikin, 1984:34]. What does she have educational value- this is undoubtedly, but that it is created for the purpose of education - this, according to V.Ya. Propp is definitely wrong. The entertaining nature does not in the least contradict the deep ideological nature of the tale. When we talk about the entertaining meaning of a fairy tale, this means that it has mainly aesthetic functions.
A literary fairy tale can be created precisely for educational purposes, and aesthetic functions will fade into the background. If in a folk tale its educational meaning is so closely intertwined with entertaining functions that sometimes, being carried away by the plot, you will not immediately unravel the deep hidden meaning folklore work, then in a literary fairy tale one of the main tasks of the author is to convey his idea to readers, show his vision of the world and to some extent influence readers.
The sign of entertainment causes serious controversy in science, and there is no single point of view on this issue. In addition, the presence of this feature to some extent depends on the reader (or listener) of the tale, on how ready (or not ready) he is to perceive the educational value of the work, for what purpose he himself reads or listens to the tale.
The sign of entertainment stands in connection with another sign of a fairy tale put forward by Nikiforov, namely, the extraordinary event (fantastic, miraculous or worldly) that constitutes the content of the fairy tale. This sign of a fairy tale has been noted in science for a long time, but the essential addition made by Nikiforov is that extraordinaryness is understood not only as fantastic extraordinaryness (which is true for a fairy tale), but also as everyday extraordinaryness, which makes it possible to bring under this definition and novelistic stories.
Thus, in fairy tales not only fantastic persons and objects are depicted, but also real phenomena are presented in a fantastic aspect.
The unreality, the fantastic nature of a fairy tale not only does not exclude its conditionality from reality, but also does not contradict its appeal to reality, its desire to influence it. The dependence of fictitious situations and images on the idea underlying the tale convinces us that it is dominated by the desire of storytellers to express their thought.
Vladimir Prokopievich Anikin shares the above point of view. In his opinion, fiction, of course, makes fairy tales a special poetic genre, but it is not it as such that is the main feature of the fairy tale genre, but "a special disclosure of real life topics carried out with its help" [Anikin, 1984: 54]. noted, V.P. Anikin wanted to emphasize the educational functions of a fairy tale, its role in shaping a person's personality and worldview. It is this function, as already mentioned, that to some extent distinguishes literary and folk tales.
Another important sign is that they do not believe in the reality of what is told. The people themselves understand the fairy tale as fiction. They do not believe in the reality of the events described by the fairy tale, and this is one of the main features of the fairy tale. It was also noticed by V. G. Belinsky, who, comparing an epic and a fairy tale, wrote: laughs at his own story. This is especially true of Russian fairy tales" [Belinsky, 1954:354].
K.S. Aksakov, who made an attempt to distinguish a fairy tale from other types of folklore more than a hundred years ago, wrote that fiction affects both the content of fairy tales, the depiction of the place of action in them, and the characters of the characters. Moreover, the most characteristic of fairy tales is their focus on conscious fiction. A number of folklorists, such as E.V. Pomerantseva, V.Ya. Propp, T.G. Leonov also define the setting for fiction as the main genre-forming feature of a fairy tale.
In a literary fairy tale, the setting for fiction can be deliberately blurred.
Finally, the last feature put forward by Nikiforov is a special compositional and stylistic construction. It is this feature that is decisive for determining what a fairy tale is.
T.G. Leonov in the book "Russian literary fairy tale of the 19th century in its relation to the folk tale" substantiates another essential feature of a fairy tale - a special imagery. She calls the special fairy-tale figurativeness conditionally fantastic and considers it a genre-forming feature of a fairy tale.
So, all these features distinguish fairy tales from other folklore genres. In the aggregate of all these features, a fairy tale can be defined as a genre as follows:
A fairy tale is an epic, most often prose work with a focus on fiction, a work with a fantastic plot, conventionally fantastic imagery, a stable plot and compositional structure, and a listener-oriented form of narration [Leonova, 1982:198].
So, having a clear definition of a folk tale, it is possible to identify the features that distinguish it from a literary one. Some of the differences have already been mentioned.
As already mentioned, there are a number of features that are characteristic of both folk and literary tales. It is necessary to highlight the criteria by which a literary fairy tale differs from a folk one:
1) Ideological or ideological-thematic content;
2) Composition;
3) figurative system;
4) Language (speech style)
Comparing the literary and folk tales according to these criteria, we can put forward some assumptions regarding specific traits literary fairy tale.
The ideological or ideological-thematic content of a literary tale is primarily determined by the author of the work, in contrast to a folk tale. In this regard, the question of individual and collective principles in folk and literary tales should be raised. In folklore, creativity, of course, belongs to individuals, but it conveys a mass worldview. The signs of individual creativity are the least valuable in folklore and, as a rule, are not retained by it, while in assessing the author's creativity, features that characterize the works of this or that author are of particular importance. Personal, subjective can be expressed in different ways: in style, in the characteristics of the characters, etc.
In addition, a literary fairy tale, as the fruit of the labors of a certain person belonging to a certain time, carries in itself ideas modern for this era, reflects modern ideas. public relations, while the folk tale, passed down from generation to generation and living for many centuries, retains the imprint of archaic forms of worldview (tales are associated primarily with myth) and archaic socio-economic relations.
Speaking about the plot-compositional structure of folk tales, it is necessary to dwell on the patterns of construction of folk tales. fairy tales, derived by V.Ya. Propp. Based on the understanding of the plot as a complex of motives or repetitive elements-functions of characters, Propp singled out 31 functions of characters, the combination of which fits into any fairy tale. Elements-functions of characters in a fairy tale are not necessarily present in every fairy tale, due to the law of displacement, about which Vl. Propp mentions in his work "The Morphology of the Tale". "Fairy tales have one feature - the components of one fairy tale can be placed in another fairy tale without any change. This is the law of relocation, a specific feature of each fairy tale" [Propp, 1998: 168]; but any of these functions is necessarily present in some of the fairy tales.
However, we will not find such a strictly defined scenario in a literary fairy tale, which differs from a folk tale in that it has a specific author and no longer belongs to folklore genres. In literary tales, we find in a peculiar interweaving the clarity and mystery characteristic of folk fairy tales, manifestations of the miraculous in different forms, and not only in the tangible world. The miraculous can indicate the psychological and moral complexity of a person, the miraculous can be given spiritual meaning. Thus, for the creative imagination of the creator of a literary fairy tale, full scope is provided, which does not prevent the authors from using the traditional functions of heroes.
As for the plots of folk and literary tales, there are also serious differences. As you know, for a long time, attempts have been made to classify all known folk tales, grouping them into groups based on the similarity of plots. These attempts were successful, and as a result, modern science has indicators fairy tales(pointer Aarne - Andreeva). Thus, the plots of folk tales are traditional and to some extent given, while the plot of a literary tale depends entirely on the author's fiction, which, as already indicated, does not prevent writers from turning to folk tradition as a source of inspiration.
As already mentioned, one of the genre-forming features of a folk tale is an orientation towards conscious fiction. The presence of fiction determines the special properties of figurativeness in folk tales. At every step, we are faced with the unusual properties of the most ordinary people who, by the will of fate, find themselves in incredible situations. Fictional creatures, animals endowed human qualities, and wonderful objects do not leave the pages that excite the imagination.
special structure fabulous image manifested in folk tales:
1) in the tendency to reveal the typical content and images of characters through generalization;
2) in the constancy of the functions of the characters;
3) in the brevity of the portrait and psychological characteristics of the characters, which are revealed more fully in dialogues and actions;
4) a limited number of heroes, the plot is based on two or three main characters.
An important role is played by the setting of the character in a fantastic situation, the performance by the character of fantastic, fabulous actions. It is the action that can be called the basic law of a fairy tale, and the movement of the plot in the actions and dialogues of the characters - its structural core.
The structure of the fairy-tale image of the heroes of a literary fairy tale differs sharply from the imagery in folk tales in all of the above points. The following trends are reflected in the literary fairy tale:
1. individualization of a fairy-tale hero. Often he has a full name (that is, a given name and a surname), the author of the tale tells the readers the details of his life;
2. there are countless characters in literary fairy tales, while in the folk tradition it is customary to transfer characters from one fairy tale to another, often even with the function of a hero preserved;
3. the constancy of functions in a literary fairy tale is also violated. The hero in the course of action can move from the category of positive to the category of negative and vice versa;
4. portrait and psychological characteristics in literary fairy tales play important role to understand the character. The author tries to substantiate the actions of the characters, explaining them by their character traits.
5. The system and hierarchy of heroes becomes much more complicated, many “side”, secondary heroes appear;
Thus, the structure of a fairy tale image in a literary fairy tale differs significantly from the structure of a fairy tale image in a folk tale.
One of the main elements of the structure of a literary work is language, or speech style. Style is specific way implementation of the target setting, the most typical for a particular type of communication. In the field of literary communication, the target setting is represented by the aesthetic intention of the writer, which, embodied in artistic structure works, turns out to be the basis of his aesthetic function. The way to implement the aesthetic function includes the use of all available means, starting from a system of artistic images and general construction works, and ending with the use of linguistic means.
Based on this, it can be argued that in folk tale style is practically absent, since it is a form of collective creativity, and an important role is assigned to literary style.
Thus, a folk tale, as a representative of the epic genre, has the following stylistic features:
The presence of traditional formulas for the beginning and ending;
The presence of repetitive structures;
Colloquial speech;
Repetitive narrative techniques;
Three-step plot construction.
The literary tale mostly borrows from the folk tale. stylistic features. But, as has been repeatedly repeated, the degree of stylization of his work depends only on the will of the author. Most often, the author of a literary fairy tale sacrifices the colloquiality of speech, complicating the structure of phrases and giving great importance the correctness of their construction. As for the other features, they can also be painlessly absent in the author's work, although their presence creates a special fairy-tale atmosphere.
1.2-Literary tale in the XVIII century
The Russian literary fairy tale took what was developed by traditional folklore (the spiritual experience of the people, ideals and hopes, ideas about the world and man, good and evil, truth and justice - in a perfect, harmonious, capacious, developed form for centuries), combining moral values and artistic achievements of the people with the author's talent.
The fairy tale has become an integral part of the spiritual culture of the people, the fairy tale principles of understanding and depicting the world and man are universal and recognizable in art. The history of the author's fairy tale as a whole reflects the peculiarities of the literary process, as well as the originality of literary and folklore interaction in different historical and cultural periods.
In the field of fairy tales, the interaction of folklore and literature was the closest, longest and most fruitful. A fairy tale as a kind of folk epic creativity lived not only in a traditional, natural existence or existed in the form of texts fixing oral tradition, but also entered Russian literature on an equal footing - in the form of a literary fairy tale. Thus, one of the most authoritative Russian folklore scholars V.P. Anikin notes: “The tales of writers have merged in the minds of people of all generations with the tales of the people. This is because every writer, no matter how original his own creativity, felt its connection with folklore. [Anikin, 1985:22]
Moral philosophy and psychological basis, the laws of poetics and the style of a fairy tale as one of the oldest types of folk art are such that writers, poets and playwrights have always turned to it in search of answers to the most important questions of our time and for the purpose of artistic understanding of the "eternal" problems of human existence. A fairy tale (as a kind of folk art) is also unique because it is able to transform into literary works without being destroyed.
Many of the features inherent in the fairy tale as a type of literature have already taken shape early stages its development. The first stage in the history of the Russian literary fairy tale can be called "pre-Pushkin" (a fairy tale in literature XVIII-beginning 19th century). Its result was the final consolidation of the fairy tale in the system of literary genres.
Medieval culture knew two opposite tendencies in relation to the fairy tale: the condemnation of the fairy tale, along with other pagan forms of culture, as a "harmful fable", the recognition of the fairy tale as entertaining, instructive fictional history- necessary in the life of any person (from the king to the peasant). genre system medieval domestic literature is such that author's fairy tale cannot include.
In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the first book and literary adaptations of folk tales and translated Western European and Oriental stories and novels “in a fairy-tale style” appear. Folklorism as a feature of literature and an integral feature of a literary fairy tale is just beginning to take shape.
The general rise of national self-consciousness, especially in the 60-90s. XVIII century, the desire of literature for originality, the revival of traditions led to an interest in folk poetry and its active penetration into fiction. The first steps towards the creation of an original literary fairy tale are often associated with the “pre-romantic” movement, which is understood quite broadly. [Troitsky, 1985:23]
Approximately in the 60-70s. 18th century two main directions in the development of literary and folklore synthesis are formed, which later influenced the design of a fairy tale in literature: “composing a literary fairy tale based on a folk tale, borrowing from the latter individual specific elements of content and form” and “retelling a folk tale with a clear desire to keep it in as much as possible of its characteristic features ... " [Novikov, 1971:24] Entertaining and unusual borrowed works of that time also received a "fairy tale-like" form of written consolidation, as appropriate. national tradition entertaining and educational literature.
The first fairy-tale experiences in literature were of a magical heroic or magical adventure nature, based on the traditions of everyday life. satirical tales And stories XVII V. At the same time, professional literary-fairy-tale works and popular-mass ones appear. In professional literature, the second half of XVIII V. the genre of the “fairy tale” poem (“Darling” by I.F. Bogdanovich, “Bakharian” by M.M. Kheraskov, poems by N.M. Karamzin) is born. The fabulous beginning in literature is also manifested in the allegorical moralizing "tales" of Catherine II.
Chapter 2.-Tales of Catherine II
2.1-Literary activity of Catherine II
The literary activity of Catherine II lasted for about a quarter of a century and was unusually plentiful, more plentiful than the writings of Frederick II, with whom Catherine competed both as a “philosopher on the throne” and as a monarch-writer. In this rivalry, she undoubtedly had an advantage also because she wrote her works mostly by herself, without significant outside help. Catherine wrote down a truly monstrous amount of paper in her life. She herself, not without boastful coquetry, spoke of her inherent graphomania. At the same time, one should not forget about the huge amount of official documents and business papers, as well as private letters that came out from under her pen. She wrote laws, extremely long laws, whole volumes of legislative regulations, she herself wrote rescripts to nobles, generals, clergy, with her own hand she wrote a huge number of letters to her employees, friends, girlfriends, lovers and many, many others.
The literary work of Catherine II was very diverse in nature, in genres, although it was united in its ideological orientation, according to the political tendency sharply expressed in all her works.
It should be pointed out that, despite the anonymity of all the speeches of Catherine II in print and on stage, contemporaries knew very well who was the author of these works. In the XVIII century. the very widespread anonymity of literary publications did not in the least interfere with the awareness of the reading public about the authorship of anonymous works. Catherine, except for isolated cases, did not at all seek to hide her authorship and, on the contrary, flaunted it somewhat, which could only contribute to public interest in her works.
Catherine appeared for the first time in print in 1767-1768. The first publication of her work was the publication of "Instruction", a book not so much journalistic as having the character of an official state act, however, purely declarative, and not practical, but still not individual literary. However, Catherine systematically took up Russian literature and took direct part in it a little later, precisely when the question arose of the need for government guardianship over the minds, government leadership of the social movement and open pressure on it both by measures of administrative influence and by measures of persuasion, through print. Thus, Vsyakaya Vyachina, a weekly magazine published in 1769 under the editorship and with the active participation of Catherine, whose assistant, most likely technical, was her secretary, writer and philologist G.V. Kozitsky, arose.
By the time Catherine entered the field of dramaturgy, Russian comedy had already passed, albeit brief, but plentiful. creative pursuits path.
Her first comedy, About Time! is a remake of Gellert's play "Praying Mantis". In 1772, Catherine published, in addition to the comedy "On Time!", also "Name Day of Mrs. Vorchalkina", "Entrance of a noble boyar" and "Mrs. Vestnikova with her family"; apparently, the writing of the comedy "The Questioner" belongs to the same time. Starting in 1786, Catherine worked on a series comic operas, in which she sought to use folklore, thereby responding to the pre-romantic trend that also embraced Russian literature. In the spirit of this trend, her operas are stage tales that allow for the grotesque and fantasy, claiming to be a play of the imagination, colorfulness and a variety of fiction. There is nothing truly folklore in them. On the other hand, they have a political meaning, which emerges quite distinctly from under a cheerful joke. Thus, the opera Fevey (1786), built on the basis of a fairy tale by Catherine herself, concludes with an admonition to Pavel Petrovich to obey the mother empress, not to go beyond her will and not to strive to go abroad; in other words, this opera was one of the tactical moves in Catherine's struggle with her son. The opera The Novgorod Bogatyr Boeslavich (1786), that is, Vasily Buslaevich, interprets the well-known epic story in a peculiar way. Vasily is represented in it as the prince of Novgorod, who by force taught a lesson to the impudent Novgorodians who dared not obey the autocrat, who refused him slavish obedience; Vasily makes them obsequiously bow before the saving cruelty of the autocracy. The opera about the Woe-bogatyr Kosometovich, which was prefaced by a fairy tale of the same content, composed by Catherine (1789), is a satire on the Swedish king Gustav III. In Catherine’s operas, as well as in her “historical performances”, many arias and choirs are inserted into the prose text, partly taken from the poems of Trediakovsky, Lomonosov, Sumarokov, partly composed by the secretary of the Empress A. V. Khrapovitsky, partly assembled by him from folk songs.
The opera "Fedul with children" is almost entirely composed of other people's poems, that is, it almost did not require the author's work of Catherine herself.
Catherine did not write at all and could not, did not know how to write poetry.
Catherine also wrote a series of pedagogical essays. At the center of her pedagogical system is the idea of the happiness of the child, on whose future deeds the well-being of the people and the state depends. In addition to instructions for the education of her grandchildren Alexander and Konstantin, Catherine also wrote "Civil Primary Teaching", "Elected Russian Proverbs" and two fairy tales for children. The first of these works is a pamphlet, consisting of two hundred sayings and brief propositions, claiming to provide the child with basic information about morality, about life, about the world; along with the calculation of months, days of the week, seasons, etc., it is said here, for example: “Good deeds bring rewards by themselves” or “There is nothing perfect in the world”, etc. Catherine’s “Russian proverbs” have nothing in common with folklore; these are sayings compiled by her, such as: “Always new, but rarely correct”, “It’s no good to swear at people”, “Money can do a lot, but truth reigns”, etc. External imitation of folk proverbs cannot hide the artificiality and tendentiousness of the imperial creativity; does not change matters and the fact that Catherine introduces several genuine folk sayings into her collection.
Not possessing a special literary gift, Catherine II tried to write two fairy tales for children: "The Tale of Tsarevich Fevey" (1783) and "The Tale of Tsarevich Chlor" (1781).
2.2-Tales of Catherine II
Tales of Catherine II, which can be considered the first literary fairy tales in the history of Russian literature. It is remarkable that, not possessing a special literary talent and not being an expert in Russian literature, Catherine II wrote fairy tales in accordance with all the criteria of this genre.
There is no doubt that folklore influenced Catherine II and she took folk tales as a basis, but in general these tales differ from folk tales.
The ideological and thematic content of fairy tales corresponds to the laws of the 18th century, the century of the Enlightenment. These tales are artistic expression educational ideas about the need to educate an honest, virtuous, just person.
As for the plot and compositional features of fairy tales, for example, "The Tales of Tsarevich Chlorus", here the regularities of the compositional structure of folk tales are very clearly manifested. It is noteworthy that Catherine II built the composition of her work according to the law of fairy tales, which was revealed as a result of special studies by V.Ya. Propp only in the 20th century. Catherine in "The Tale of Prince Chlorus" used the main functions of the characters identified by Propp.
For example, the first function that occurs in the text is the absence of elders and Chlorine remains at home alone, without parents. “The king took the troops, which were in the vicinity of the camp, and went with regiments to protect the border. The queen went with the king. The prince remained in the city and house that he was born” [EkaterinaII, 1994:13].
Inferring the next function actor that occurs in the story. “It occurred to him (Khan) to dress up in tattered clothes and sit at the gate of the garden, as if an old and sick man.”
Thus, it becomes clear that Catherine tried to build a coherent composition, based on the traditions of fairy tales. However, the plot of the tale is devoid of any entertainment and is based on moralizing, which you will not find in a folk tale. And this is the peculiarity of a literary fairy tale, that everything depends on the will of the author. Here the storyteller does not care about the logic and harmony of the plot: it is not clear why the Kirghiz Khan kidnaps Chlor and takes him to the steppe. The fairy-tale color is also destroyed by many everyday details: it is told where the boy was brought, in which wagon they settled, what they fed. The image of the protagonist, Prince Chlor, differs from the traditional depiction of children in the 18th century, both in literature and in folklore. And here Catherine II showed herself as an innovator. The reader is presented with a living boy, smart and well-mannered, and not a reduced copy of an adult, as children were traditionally depicted in the 18th century. Here is the plot plot: the prince is walking in the garden and sees a beggar sitting at the gate (Kyrgyz Khan in disguise) “Chlorine, like a curious child, asked to see a sick beggar; the nannies calmed Chlor, they said that there was nothing to watch ... Chlor wanted to give the money himself, ran ahead, the nannies ran after him, but the faster the nannies ran, the faster the baby started running ..., ran for the gate, caught his foot on a pebble and fell on his face ... [Catherine II, 1994:14]. “We have before us just a child who cries for a long time when he finds out that he was kidnapped, but at the same time this is an extraordinary child: he is smart and quick-witted beyond his years, full of feeling dignity, amazes Khan with his good manners. [Sinelnikova, 2008:69] “…went into the khan’s wagon, he bowed to everyone; firstly, to Khan, then standing around to the right and left, after which he stood in front of Khan with a respectful, courteous and decent look that surprised all the Kirghiz and Khan himself ”[Ekaterina II, 1994: 14]. Catherine manages to describe what is not fabulous hero, but to create the image of a living boy, an ideal child, as she paints him in her Instructions.
Little Chlor is helped by the suddenly appeared daughter of Khan Felitsa. She gives her son, Reason, as an assistant to Chlorine. Reason helps the prince to escape from the gathering of young people lying in idleness on the grass, to get away from Lazy Murza, who tempts Chlor with a soft sofa and a quiet life. Catherine does not hold back from an idyllic description peasant life: “Not in the far distance they saw a peasant house and
several acres of highly fertilized land, on which all kinds of bread, such as rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, etc., were sown ...; farther off they saw meadows where sheep, cows and horses were grazing. They found the owner with a watering can in his hands, dousing the cucumbers and cabbage planted by his wife; the children were exercising in another place - they plucked the unusable grass. [Catherine II, 1994:16].
The prince meets different people, makes mistakes (goes to the sound of the bagpipes and gets to the “drunks”), but in the end Reason leads him to the mountain, where they meet two elders, Honesty and Truth, who help them find a rose without thorns, which does not prick.
Catherine II, when writing her fairy tale, borrows its stylistic features from the folk tale.
For example, she introduces the traditional fairy-tale beginning and ending into the Tale of Prince Chlorine. Zachin: “Until the time of Kiy, the prince of Kyiv, there lived and was in Russia a tsar - a kind man ...” [Catherine II, 1994: 13]. And the ending: "Here the fairy tale will end, and whoever knows more will tell another." [Catherine II, 1994:18].
Catherine II uses a fabulous three-stage plot structure, introduces into a fairy tale colloquial speech. Featured folklore magic numbers: three and seven. When the son of “wonderful beauty” was born to the king, there was a three-day celebration, and then the child was under the supervision of seven nannies.
In her fairy tale, Catherine uses solid allegories, and makes her unravel the allegories of an educational and moral plan. The daughter of Khan Felitsa is the bearer of happiness, and her son Reason in general speaking name, he is the embodiment of the mind, prudence.
A rose without thorns is a classical allegory of the 18th century - virtue.
The whole fairy tale is undoubtedly an illustration of the treatises of Catherine II on education. Its idea is transparent: no matter how smart and handsome the Tsarevich is, in order to become worthy person and ruler, he must acquire virtue by making friends with reason, honesty, and truth.
The second tale of Catherine II - "The Tale of Tsarevich Thebes" - is even more moralizing, and the main conversation in it is about the upbringing of the heir to the throne. The conversation begins with parenting. The author's position in the tale is expressed very clearly: this is the position of the ruling empress, who is concerned about the future of her state. At the beginning, an image of an ideal ruler is given, and this is not a folklore hero, as a rule, in fairy tales a little funny, kind. Before the reader is a real ruler sitting on a throne: “... The king, a smart and virtuous man who loved his subjects as a father loves children: he did not burden anyone with excessive taxes and, in any case, saved people as much as he could. He greatly despised splendor, pomp and luxury ... ”[Catherine II, 1990: 126].
Third fairy tales - story about how parents should prepare for the birth of a child. The disease of the Queen, described in the fairy tale, because of which there were no children, turns out to be that she led the wrong way of life. Following the doctor's instructions, the Queen recovers without any medication and gives birth to a beautiful child, Prince Thebes, which means the Red Sun.
It should be noted that the image of Thebes, in contrast to the image of Chlorine, is too positive. But this is a feature of a literary fairy tale - everything is the will of the author. Prince Thebes is obedient, smart, patient, knows no pride, hardworking. According to Catherine, he is the standard of the sovereign.
So, after analyzing the "Tale of Tsarevich Chlorus", as well as "The Tale of Tsarevich Thebes", we can draw the following conclusions: Catherine II undoubtedly imitated the famous folk tales. But this imitation was due to the fact that her fairy tales were the first in this genre in the history of Russian literature, it was a kind of test of the pen, laying the foundations in this genre.
Conclusion
The tales of Catherine II are unique in their kind. These are the first literary tales in the history of Russian literature. And meanwhile, they are built according to all the laws of the genre, which are relevant to this day. This showed the talent of Catherine II as a writer.
Firstly, Catherine II maintained in her fairy tales the plot-compositional structure characteristic of literary fairy tales.
Secondly, she built a system of images corresponding to a literary fairy tale.
Thirdly, she used in her fairy tales the stylistic features of a folk tale, which also characterizes literary tales.
The ideological and thematic content of the tales of Catherine II completely depends on the will of the author.
It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that Catherine II independently comprehended the laws of the genre, being a pioneer in this area, and this emphasizes the uniqueness of the personality of Catherine II.
References:
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2. Belinsky V.G. Articles on folk poetry. - Complete collection of works in 13 volumes, T V.-M.: Enlightenment, 1954.-863 p.
3. Catherine II, Empress. The Tale of Tsarevich Chlorus // Russian Literature, 1994, No. 2. pp11-18.
4. Catherine II. The Tale of Tsarevich Thebes // Catherine II. Works-M.: 1990, p.126-127.
5. Klyuchevsky V.O. Empress Catherine II: her studies. Trials and successes.//The World of the Museum. -1994, No. 4. p.44-49.
6. Leonova T.G. Russian literary fairy tale of the 19th century in its relation to the folk tale.-Tomsk, Tomsk University Publishing House, 1982.-198p.
7. Lenz F. Figurative language of folk tales. -M.: 2000.-345 p.
8. Lipovetsky M.N. Poetics of a literary fairy tale. - Sverdlovsk.: Publishing House of the Ural University, 1992.-282 p.
9. Mikhailova O.N. Ekaterina II-Empress, writer, memoirist//
Works of Catherine II.-M.: 1990, pp. 3-20.
10. Nikiforov A.I. Fairy tale, its existence and carriers // Kapitsa O.I. Russian folk tale. M.; L.: 1930.p.7.
11. Novikov N.V. Russian fairy tales in early records and publications (XVI-XVIII centuries). - L., 1971, pp. 23-24.
12. Pomerantseva E.V. Russian oral prose.- M.: Enlightenment, 1985.-272p.
13. Propp V.Ya. Folklore and reality.-M.: Publishing house of the Leningrad University, 1976.-325 p.
14. Propp V.Ya. Morphology of a fairy tale.-M.: Labyrinth, 1998.-512 p.
15. Propp V.Ya. Russian fairy tale.-M.: Labyrinth, 2000.-413 p.
16. Sipovsky V.V. Historical reader on the history of Russian literature: textbook. T 1,-vol. 2. Russian literature from the 11th to the 18th centuries. - St. Petersburg: 1910.-268 p.
17. Sinelnikova G.P. Catherine II and literature for children.//Text: problems and research methods.-Barnaul, 2008.-p.64-73
18. Troitsky V.Yu. Artistic discoveries of the Russian romantic prose 20-30s of the XIX century (chapter "At the origins of Russian romantic prose"). - M., 1985.-274s
19. Internet resource. Access mode: http://feb-web.ru/
Catherine the Great (her birth name was Sophia August Frederick) was born in the city of Stetin (Prussia), where her father, Christian-August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbsky, Field Marshal of the Prussian Service, was the governor. A simple and stern warrior, one of those who were many under the banner of Frederick, King of Prussia, paid little attention to his domestic life and even less to the upbringing of children, leaving the care of the younger generation to John Elizabeth, his wife. She came from the Holstein house, passionately loved social life and shine. She did not seriously deal with the issues of upbringing and education of her daughter.
Catherine owes to herself the development of her famous character and the extensive education that she had.
At that time, French secular customs and French began to spread in the upper strata of German society, so Catherine's initial upbringing was also given a French direction.
Her first mentors were the French émigré Laurent and the French governess Gardel. But these mentors could not give much; the most advantageous side of her upbringing was that from childhood and early youth was not spoiled by any luxury, grew up in a modest environment and learned to understand people early.
In 1744, fifteen years old, Catherine and her mother came to Russia and never left it. From the beginning of her arrival, she actively began to study the Russian language and very soon managed to get used to it so much that she could not only speak it, but also write. Her first teacher in Russian was a famous scientist, adjutant of the Academy of Sciences Adadurov. Life future empress Catherine the Great in Russia at first proceeded in solitude, and she developed a desire to read.
She has read many essays different directions modern French, English, Italian and German literature. Being under the strong influence of a new philosophical direction emanating from France and being already an empress, Catherine fully sympathized with the new trends. Supported by a correspondence with Voltaire, which lasted from 1763 to 1777, and by relationships with Diderot and Dalamberg, she decided to make new knowledge the basis of those important reforms with which she planned to mark her activity. This knowledge concerns two important aspects: public legislation and education, in which she saw the main means to improve living standards.
In 1768, Catherine issued the famous “Instruction of the commission on the drafting of a new code” and at the same time she took up issues of improving the moral and material conditions for the education of Russian youth. Beyond the many remarkable reforms in educational institutions, Catherine established one of the most charitable institutions in the Empire in 1763 - the Orphanage in Moscow, and soon an educational society for girls of the nobility and petty-bourgeois class was founded at the Resurrection Smolny Monastery in St. Petersburg. And thus laid the first foundation for youthful education in Russia.
Until the end of her life, Catherine the Great took care of her upbringing, and a significant part of her literary works dedicated to it. These include her moralizing tales: “About Tsarevich Fevey”, “About Tsarevich Chlorus”, pedagogical essays, “Collection of applications for elementary teaching”, “Notes compiled from stories and conversations of a father or mother with his son”. They briefly and clearly present an analysis of the general moral issues. In addition, Catherine, as a European-educated woman, was fully aware of the importance of literature as a powerful tool for disseminating new ideas in society, and soon after writing the “Instruction”, she appeared in the field of journalism polemics in the satirical magazine “Vskhodyaschina”. Catherine wrote comedies for the court theater, operas, historical plays, and satirical essays.
The age of Catherine is not without dubious events, but it remains a brilliant page in the history of our literature, and in general political history XVIII century.
Possessing literary talent, Catherine the Great was aware of the importance of literature as a powerful tool for the dissemination of new ideas in society, necessary for the good and prosperity of Russia.
A special place in the work of Catherine II is occupied by her fairy tales. Ekaterina knew the soul of a child well and knew how to become at the level of a young, fresh and naive child's mind. However, her stories are very specific. Firstly, Catherine wrote primarily for her grandchildren, future Russian emperors, which determined the didactic specifics of fairy tales. Secondly, Catherine is known to have been influenced by European enlightenment which could not but be reflected in her work. So, "The Tale of Tsarevich Chlorine" and "The Tale of Tsarevich Fevey" are philosophical tales, in the spirit of Voltaire, with allegories and moralizing. Their idea was borrowed by Catherine from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Locke, but, nevertheless, they are original and original.
"The Tale of Tsarevich Chlor"
Its structure is similar to traditional Russian folk tales. It begins with the beginning: “Until the time of Kiy, Prince of Kiev, there lived and was in Russia the Tsar, a good man ...” Hereinafter, the text is quoted from: Collected Works of the Russian Empress Catherine II in 4 volumes; M., 1986. Such a beginning is very reminiscent of the traditional one: “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there once lived ...”, but Catherine uses a literary approach to the beginning. It not only specifies the place where the events described in the fairy tale will take place, but also expands the beginning, turns it into a kind of “prehistory”. However, the narrative itself in the "prehistory" - short story about the life of the Tsar and the Queen before birth before the birth of a child and after this event, about the earliest childhood and the upbringing of Chlorine - is kept in a simple, laconic manner of an oral folk tale.
It should also be noted that Catherine pays great attention to the description of the city and the house in which Tsarevich Chlor was born and where he spent his early childhood. So, the City was surrounded by “a wall of wild stone, with towers at the corners according to the old custom,” and the prince’s house, “although it was not built of Siberian marble and porphyry, was very good and calmly located; gardens with fruitful trees were planted behind the chambers, near which ponds with fish were dug, adorned the location, pavilions of different peoples of taste<...>gave pleasure to that dwelling. Such deliberately detailed descriptions are characteristic of magical folk tales. They are especially common when talking about overseas countries and distant lands, about beautiful unprecedented palaces and miracles. Thus, already in the beginning there is a merger of purely everyday and fabulous, which can be observed in the future, throughout the entire tale.
The immediate action of the tale begins with the fact that “some Khan of the Kirghiz” heard “about the beauty, intelligence and good talents of the Tsarevich”, “he was curious to see such a wonderful child and, having seen it, wished to take the child with him to the steppe.” But this is the beginning of only one storyline, besides not the main one, but a side one. But it is precisely this plot that is framed by another, central, main character in which is no longer Khan, who obtained the child by cunning, but Tsarevich Khlor himself.
Initially, Prince Chlor is passive, like most heroes of traditional fairy tales. But the reason for this passivity is not the personal qualities of Chlorine (quite the contrary: the Tsarevich was "smart and alive"), but his young age. Khan takes Chlor away as a completely dependent "baby". However, even this passivity is overcome by the hero. If at first Chlorine is carried around the "chambers" of the Khan in his arms, then he himself comes to him on his orders.
And yet, the hero’s truly active actions begin from the moment he receives the task to find “a rose flower without thorns that does not prick.” To complete this task, Prince Chlor must go through the gate to the great menagerie, ”and here one of the central motives of the vast majority of traditional fairy tales arises - the motive of the path. Everything related to it also appears. First, the Tsarevich goes on a campaign with a specific goal - a unique, wonderful flower. Thus, his path is not just a path, but a search. Secondly, Chlorine must pass through the "gate", that is, through a special door that connects two worlds: the world of everyday life and the world of fairy tales. However, the "classical" fairy-tale dual world is not respected by Catherine. In the everyday world, there are fairy-tale elements (for example, the same Tsarevich Chlor is a completely real, but at the same time far from an ordinary character), and in fairy world reality invades: it is enough to recall the idle pastime of the former seekers of a wonderful flower at the court of the “benefactor” Lentyag-Murza. Therefore, we can conclude that the "gate" in the context of the fairy tale has an exclusively symbolic meaning. Thirdly, as soon as Tsarevich Chlor enters the "menagerie", he finds himself at a crossroads. “Here I saw a lot of roads in front of me: some straight lying, some with curvatures, others mixed up ...” The motive for choosing the main character of the road is also traditional. And, of course, not a single path-search can be without obstacles that the hero must overcome in order to achieve his goal.
Tsarevich Felitsa, "Khan's daughter," warns that Chlorine is going to be tested and what they will be. Her role in the tale can be interpreted as the role of a traditional magical assistant, just like the role of her son Reason, who was sent to her to meet Chlorus. At the same time, it is interesting to note that Felitsa wears the features ordinary woman trying to help a child. It belongs to the "real" world and does not cross its borders. On the other hand, Reason operates only in the "fabulous" world and does not appear in the "real" world. But Reason, despite its "speaking" name, is not so much a fairy-tale character as an allegorical character. This is evidenced by his behavior during those trials that fall to the lot of the young Tsarevich. So, he saves Chlorus three times: he “pulls” him out of the round dance of idle people at the first test, makes him come to his senses and leave the palace of Lentyag-Murza at the second, and takes him out of the “obscene place” at the third. This is exactly what the true mind would do. Thus, there is a traditional threefold repetition of tests and the role of a magical assistant in overcoming them on the one hand and the use of purely literary device when creating a character.
From the point of view of such a synthesis, the episode of the quarrel between Tsarevich Chlor and his faithful assistant Reason before the last test is interesting. Ekaterina uses a trick traditional in fairy folk tales - retardation before the climax and denouement of the plot. But then a literary tendency is also manifested, which is characteristic of author's fairy tales and works for children in general - at the climax, the strength of the hero's character, his ability to make friends and the ability to trust his friend are tested. Interestingly, at the same time, Catherine does not idealize her hero. Chlorine, despite the remarkable features of his character, is not alien to mistakes and delusions. The didactic orientation of the tale is manifested in the fact that Chlorine nevertheless repents of his behavior and admits that he was wrong.
The following episodes are also retardations. Firstly, this is an episode of "deciphering" the allegory that underlies the entire tale. So, “a rose flower without thorns, which does not prick,” “means nothing more than virtue; some think to reach by slanting roads, but no one will reach except by a straight road; happy is he who with sincerity and firmness overcomes all the difficulties of that path ... "
Secondly, artistic time slows down and stretches when Tsarevich Chlor and his companion Reason “with difficulty” climb the narrow path to the mountain, on top of which the cherished flower grows. On the way, they meet "an old man and an old woman in a white dress, equally respectable in appearance," who give them their staves. The interpretation of these two allegorical images is given by Catherine right there: “the first name is Honesty, and the other is Truth.”
The culmination of the tale is that brief moment when Tsarevich Khlor plucks a wonderful flower from a bush. The denouement of both plots - both central and framing - is just as quick and natural, in the style of folk tales. “Chlorine found in such a young age a rose without thorns, which does not prick. He hurried to Khan with a flower, while Khan sent Chlorus with a flower to the Tsar. This is followed by a brief conclusion, which tells about the events that took place after the return of Tsarevich Chlor home. Catherine maintains it in a humanistic mood, characteristic of magical folk tales: Khan, who kidnapped the royal son, is not punished, because the Tsar "was so happy about the arrival of the Tsarevich and his successes that he forgot all the melancholy and sadness."
Tales of Catherine II, which can be considered the first literary fairy tales in the history of Russian literature. It is remarkable that, not possessing a special literary talent and not being an expert in Russian literature, Catherine II wrote fairy tales in accordance with all the criteria of this genre.
There is no doubt that folklore influenced Catherine II and she took folk tales as a basis, but in general these tales differ from folk tales.
The ideological and thematic content of fairy tales corresponds to the laws of the 18th century, the century of the Enlightenment. These fairy tales are the artistic embodiment of educational ideas about the need to educate an honest, virtuous, just person.
As for the plot and compositional features of fairy tales, for example, "The Tales of Tsarevich Chlorus", here the regularities of the compositional structure of folk tales are very clearly manifested. It is noteworthy that Catherine II built the composition of her work according to the law of fairy tales, which was revealed as a result of special studies by V.Ya. Propp only in the 20th century. Catherine in "The Tale of Prince Chlorus" used the main functions of the characters identified by Propp.
For example, the first function that occurs in the text is the absence of elders and Chlorine remains at home alone, without parents. “The king took the troops, which were in the vicinity of the camp, and went with regiments to protect the border. The queen went with the king. The prince remained in the city and house that he was born” [EkaterinaII, 1994:13].
Finding out is the next function of the character that occurs in a fairy tale. “It occurred to him (Khan) to dress up in tattered clothes and sit at the gate of the garden, as if an old and sick man.”
Thus, it becomes clear that Catherine tried to build a coherent composition, based on the traditions of fairy tales. However, the plot of the tale is devoid of any entertainment and is based on moralizing, which you will not find in a folk tale. And this is the peculiarity of a literary fairy tale, that everything depends on the will of the author. Here the storyteller does not care about the logic and harmony of the plot: it is not clear why the Kirghiz Khan kidnaps Chlor and takes him to the steppe. The fairy-tale color is also destroyed by many everyday details: it is told where the boy was brought, in which wagon they settled, what they fed. The image of the protagonist, Prince Chlor, differs from the traditional depiction of children in the 18th century, both in literature and in folklore. And here Catherine II showed herself as an innovator. The reader is presented with a living boy, smart and well-mannered, and not a reduced copy of an adult, as children were traditionally depicted in the 18th century. Here is the plot plot: the prince is walking in the garden and sees a beggar sitting at the gate (Kyrgyz Khan in disguise) “Chlorine, like a curious child, asked to see a sick beggar; the nannies calmed Chlor, they said that there was nothing to watch ... Chlor wanted to give the money himself, ran ahead, the nannies ran after him, but the faster the nannies ran, the faster the baby started running ..., ran for the gate, caught his foot on a pebble and fell on his face ... [Catherine II, 1994:14]. “Before us is just a child who cries for a long time when he finds out that he was kidnapped, but at the same time this is an extraordinary child: he is smart and quick-witted beyond his years, full of self-esteem, amazes Khan with his good manners. [Sinelnikova, 2008:69] “…went into the khan’s wagon, he bowed to everyone; firstly, to Khan, then standing around to the right and left, after which he stood in front of Khan with a respectful, courteous and decent look that surprised all the Kirghiz and Khan himself ”[Ekaterina II, 1994: 14]. Catherine manages to describe what is not fabulous hero, but to create the image of a living boy, an ideal child, as she paints him in her Instructions.
In general, the main action of the tale is based on a small number of main characters, however, the system and hierarchy of characters become much more complicated, there are many secondary characters compared to folk tales.
Little Chlor is helped by the suddenly appeared daughter of Khan Felitsa. She gives her son, Reason, as an assistant to Chlorine. Reason helps the prince to escape from the gathering of young people lying in idleness on the grass, to get away from Lazy Murza, who tempts Chlor with a soft sofa and a quiet life. Catherine does not hold back from an idyllic description of peasant life: “Not in the distance they saw a peasant house and
several acres of highly fertilized land, on which all kinds of bread, such as rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, etc., were sown ...; farther off they saw meadows where sheep, cows and horses were grazing. They found the owner with a watering can in his hands, dousing the cucumbers and cabbage planted by his wife; the children were exercising in another place - they plucked the unusable grass. [Catherine II, 1994:16].
The prince meets with different people, makes mistakes (goes to the sound of the bagpipes and gets to the "drunks"), but in the end Reason leads him to the mountain, where they meet two elders - Honesty and Truth, who help them find a rose without thorns, which does not wobble.
Catherine II, when writing her fairy tale, borrows its stylistic features from the folk tale.
For example, she introduces the traditional fairy-tale beginning and ending into the Tale of Prince Chlorine. Zachin: “Until the time of Kiy, the prince of Kyiv, there lived and was in Russia a tsar - a kind man ...” [Catherine II, 1994: 13]. And the ending: "Here the fairy tale will end, and whoever knows more will tell another." [Catherine II, 1994:18].
Catherine II uses a fabulous three-stage structure of the plot, introduces colloquial speech into the fairy tale. Folklore magic numbers appear: three and seven. When the son of “wonderful beauty” was born to the king, there was a three-day celebration, and then the child was under the supervision of seven nannies.
In her fairy tale, Catherine uses solid allegories, and makes her unravel the allegories of an educational and moral plan. The daughter of Khan Felitsa is the bearer of happiness, and her son Reason has a generally speaking name, he is the embodiment of intelligence, prudence.
A rose without thorns is a classical allegory of the 18th century - virtue.
The whole tale is undoubtedly an illustration of the treatises of Catherine II on education. Its idea is transparent: no matter how smart and handsome the Tsarevich is, in order to become a worthy person and ruler, he must acquire virtue, making friends with reason, honesty and truth.
The second tale of Catherine II - "The Tale of Tsarevich Thebes" - is even more moralizing, and the main conversation in it is about the upbringing of the heir to the throne. The conversation begins with parenting. The author's position in the tale is expressed very clearly: this is the position of the ruling empress, who is concerned about the future of her state. At the beginning, an image of an ideal ruler is given, and this is not a folklore hero, as a rule, in fairy tales a little funny, kind. Before the reader is a real ruler sitting on a throne: “... The king, an intelligent and virtuous man who loved his subjects as a father loves children: he did not burden anyone with excessive taxes and, in any case, saved people as much as he could. He greatly despised splendor, pomp and luxury ... ”[Catherine II, 1990: 126].
One third of the tale is a story about how parents should prepare for the birth of a child. The disease of the Queen, described in the fairy tale, because of which there were no children, turns out to be that she led the wrong way of life. Following the doctor's instructions, the Queen recovers without any medication and gives birth to a beautiful child, Prince Thebes, which means the Red Sun.
It should be noted that the image of Thebes, in contrast to the image of Chlorine, is too positive. But this is a feature of a literary fairy tale - everything is the will of the author. Prince Thebes is obedient, smart, patient, knows no pride, hardworking. According to Catherine, he is the standard of the sovereign.
So, after analyzing the "Tale of Prince Chlorine", as well as "The Tale of Prince Thebes", we can draw the following conclusions: Catherine II undoubtedly imitated famous folk tales. But this imitation was due to the fact that her fairy tales were the first in this genre in the history of Russian literature, it was a kind of test of the pen, laying the foundations in this genre.
