Bogatyreva Irina Sergeevna

writer, member of the Moscow Writers' Union and Pen Club, master's student at the Center for Typology and Semiotics of Folklore of the Russian State University for the Humanities

This article talks about folklore elements present in modern Russian short stories, namely: fairy-tale motifs and architectonics in modern children's literature, motifs of urban legends, children's horror stories, fairy tales, etc., folk songs, mythology different nations, which can be shown either from the “outside view” or from the “inside view”. The article provides examples of analysis of some novels by modern Russian authors, published in 2008-2015.

This article is a summary of a report given as part of the International round table“Modern Literature: Points of Intersection” at the Institute of Art Education and Cultural Studies of the Russian Academy of Education, and is an introduction to a topic that in itself requires not only more detailed development, but also constant monitoring. For “modern literature” is a stream in which changes occur constantly, so that even those texts that were published in the previous decade are a reflection of processes other than those occurring now. Therefore, in my opinion, for a truly passionate researcher, the analysis of any processes in the current literature can never be completed and risks turning into constant monitoring and recording of certain changes. So this article does not claim any completeness or objectivity of the picture, but can be called a digest of those motifs and elements of folklore that appear in texts familiar to the author of this study from publications in recent years.

Of course, the enrichment of literature with folklore elements always occurs; there is nothing unusual or fundamentally new in this: in fact, literature largely grew out of folklore and does not interrupt this contact to this day. Borrowings can be direct or indirect, sometimes manifested in the form of quotes or captured only at the level of inspiring motives. The purposes for which authors turn to the folklore heritage are different, but the main one, as I see it, is the subconscious desire of writers to find support in material tested by time and confirmed by tradition. In addition, this simplifies the process of entering a new text and becoming acquainted with a new artistic world for the reader: seeing familiar characters, recognizing plots, even just intuitively anticipating genre laws, he overcomes the first threshold of acquaintance, which guarantees loyalty to the text in the future.

Therefore - and for a number of other reasons - modern authors like to draw inspiration from folklore, but, as I emphasized above, this in itself cannot be called a trend. In my opinion, something else deserves analysis: what exactly from folklore gets into literature (plots, characters, motive and typological composition, etc.), how these elements are introduced into the text, for what purpose and result, and is it possible to this captures something in common. It seems to me that here it is already possible to trace certain trends that characterize modern literature, and their own for different genres.

Of course, when we talk about folklore origin, children's literature and especially fairy tales come to mind first. This genre has been especially well studied in folklore, but it is also very popular in fiction to this day. However, if we try to conduct a cursory analysis of texts written in this genre in last years, we will unexpectedly discover that there are not many direct coincidences with the folk tale in the modern literary fairy tale. What can be considered the main, genre-forming beginning for a folk tale? First of all, it's functionality plot construction. As is known from the famous postulates of V. Propp, folk tale is constructed in such a way that we are not interested in the characters as such with their characteristics and individual traits, but what they do and how they behave is much more important. The composition of the characters and their roles in the classic folk tale is also well studied, as is the motive composition assigned to each of them. Moreover, if we think about it, we will find that in our perception it is the motive composition that turns into the characteristics of the character: nowhere in fairy tales will you find indications of what Koschey the Immortal looked like, whether he was evil or good, but we perceive him as negative character in accordance with the actions and role of the protagonist in relation to the main character. The formal structure of fairy tale narration has also been well studied: traditional speech beginnings, endings and medial formulas, rhythmic insertions and other elements that help the oral transmission, memorization and narration of the text.

Of course, a typical folk tale existed orally, and this explains all the listed features, and in addition, its extreme fixation on the plot: it is the plot that makes the fairy tale, firstly, interesting, and secondly, dynamic and easy to understand. Imagine for yourself: if you retell the content of a film, what will you focus on - on the psychological rationale for the actions of the characters or on the events that took place on the screen? A fairy tale is also a kind of retelling of events: it was its extreme effectiveness that ensured the genre a long life, while the psychology of the characters, as well as the ornate language of the narrative, always remained on the conscience of the storyteller, more or less talented in his field.

However, if you read a sufficient number of modern literary fairy tales, it is easy to notice the following trend: the plot as the basis is not prevalent, it is replaced by descriptions, the invention of unusual characters or worlds, as well as the psychology and rationale for the behavior of the heroes. In fact, modern fairy tale is just as difficult to retell as a text of any other genre, regardless of the age of the reader it is intended for. We can say that it is drifting towards psychological prose, and this is the main thing that distinguishes a modern literary fairy tale from a folklore one. Strange as it may seem, the functionality of the plot - this basis of the fairy tale as such - is almost never included in the modern literary fairy tale. However, all the external, formal markers of the genre are borrowed with pleasure: typical characters (the same Koschey the Immortal, Baba Yaga, Ivan Tsarevich, etc.), verbal formulas, the fairy-tale setting itself and stylistics. In addition, it is not uncommon for an author, vaguely understanding that different folklore material has a different nature, and therefore a different sphere of existence, to add to a fairy tale characters of such genres that in tradition under no circumstances could be found within the same genre. text: for example, goblin, pagan gods, otherworldly creatures of other nationalities... Needless to say, the result in such cases is more than dubious.

While preparing for this report, I realized that finding an example of a good literary fairy tale is very difficult. And yet, as an illustration, I can cite A. Oleinikov’s text “The History of the Knight Eltart, or Tales of the Blue Forest” (2015). In itself, the material on which the narrative is built cannot be called traditional: the characters in this tale are either fictional or taken from various European mythological traditions. The same applies in general art world text. However good knowledge folklore laws allows the author to create an original, but tightly stitched text: there is also bright characters with its own motive composition, whose actions are determined by plot necessity, and not psychologism, and a well-thought-out functional plot (the grief that befalls the hero at the very beginning requires resolution and becomes the driving motive of his journey), along the way he is accompanied by both assistants and antagonists - one in a word, a classic set of roles. All this brings the text closer to folklore prototypes.

However, not only children's literature is enriched with folklore elements. And not only fairy tales become their sources. Other genres of folklore that are gaining popularity in our time, feeding literature, are fables, children's horror stories, urban legends - all those texts whose pragmatics can be defined as the deliberate creation of emotional tension, the desire to scare the listener (reader), as well as convey information about the characters to the actual mythology - brownies, goblins, mermaids, drummers, UFOs, etc., their habits, contacts with people and ways of communicating with them. If we talk about the elements that come from these texts into literature, it is, first of all, the named pragmatic feature - fear, emotional tension with different goals and different ways of resolution. The rest - the characters of current mythology themselves, motives, plots, etc. - also passes into literature, but not so often, and most importantly, not always with the same functions.

As can be seen from a quick review of borrowed elements, in in this case authors have a lot of freedom: while taking some elements, they can ignore others, and still let the reader understand with what folklore sources he's dealing. It is also not difficult to guess what genres of literature we are talking about: first of all, it is science fiction, fantasy, horror... At first glance, it seems that this material itself dictates strict genre laws to the authors who turn to it, however, how will it become as can be seen below, when skillfully working with it, authors can move away from rigid genre forms (so-called formulaic literature) and feel artistically liberated. Thus, these elements fall into texts that are transitional between commercial and non-commercial genres. So, for example, M. Galina feels very free in the novel “Autochthons” (2015), saturating her text with urban legends of a certain real Ukrainian city, sometimes with a very specific geographical reference (or stylizing the text as similar oral examples), updating the characters of European mythology, creating the necessary emotional environment - mystical, intense, mysterious - and at the same time, without falling into a rigid genre form. On the other hand, N. Izmailov writes a duology (positioned as novels for teenagers) “Ubyr” (2013) and “Nobody Dies” (2015) in a genre very close to classic horror, filling the text national flavor not only due to the language, but also due to the current Tatar mythology and the very construction of the plot, close to a fairy tale in V. Propp’s interpretation as the story of the initiation rite of adolescents. As we can see, this folklore material gives the authors wide artistic opportunities.

A rare folklore genre that finds its way into fiction is folk song. Actually, I know of only one example of working with this material not as a source for quoting, but as a source of borrowing, but it is so vivid that it deserves special mention: this is A. Ivanov’s novel “Bad Weather” (2016). The author, who is no stranger to either formulaic narratives or folklore in general, in this novel found a non-trivial way to create something recognizable to the Russian reader. artistic reality: the entire text - both the body of the main characters, the plot, and even the chronotope - was compiled based on Russian folk songs different genres (ballads, romances, historical, lyrical, bandit, etc. songs), on their motivic composition and imagery. I will not delve into the analysis of the novel from this point of view, my separate article is devoted to it, I just want to say that such work with folklore material, even if it was not done by the author intentionally, but was the result of his attempt to find something archetypal in the Russian character, achieved the goal: the world of the novel is recognizable, and the necessary emotional relationship is immediately established with the characters.

Finally, the most extensive - and perhaps the most non-literary genre of folklore that penetrates modern literature is mythology. Why, in fact, unliterary? Because mythology itself is based not only and not so much on texts. In culture, it can also be manifested non-verbally, in the form of patterns on clothing, everyday behavior, cultural codes; beliefs and mythological ideas may not be formalized textually, but represent a baggage of general knowledge available to representatives of a particular culture. Therefore, an author who draws inspiration from this or that mythology can act in two ways: on the one hand, to recreate using artistic means tradition, social structure and the general worldview of people, knowing their mythology; on the other hand, to recreate mythology based on cultural material. In addition, such basic phenomena as worldview or social structure may not necessarily become the subject of interest of modern authors. Sometimes individual mythological elements appear in the text in the form of constructs, images, basic ideas or systems; they do not form the basis of the text, but represent an important artistic detail, symbol, allusion, etc., opening a dialogue with other texts and expanding the boundaries text as such.

Such cases are not rare; many are probably familiar with them. As an example of such work with mythological material in a purely realistic (with historical references) text, I would like to name L. Yuzefovich’s novel “Cranes and Dwarfs” (2008). Two typical mythological motifs can be found in it. The first is duality and the associated motive of impostor, known from world folklore in various genres, from fairy tales to epic tales (if an impostor is a devil posing as a person). The second, a little less obvious, but which became the basis of the artistic series of the novel, is the image of the trickster, basic for world folklore and mythology of different peoples, his behavior, which unbalances other characters, his life itself with risks, adventures, contact with another world so much so that even death eventually becomes inaccessible to him. Thus, main character novel, Zhokhov, continues the line of other literary tricksters, from Till Eulenspiegel to Ostap Bender.

If we turn to mythology itself and texts written based on this material, we will find that the author’s gaze can be directed at it in two ways: placed inside the tradition, and also located outside, outside the described world. A significant difference will be in the light in which this or that mythology and the culture generated by it will appear: as one’s own, understandable and attractive, or alien, unpleasant and repulsive. This difference in approaches is known from anthropological studies, in which initially there are two tendencies in describing cultures: with attempts to understand it or with comparison with a known one, i.e. own (in this case, the foreign culture always loses).

This “look from the outside” is translated into literature when the author wants to create an image of a “backward” people. Even if the text is not biased, the “look from the outside” will not add the reader’s understanding and empathy to the characters. As an example, we can recall the already mentioned A. Ivanov with his early novels“The Heart of Parma” (2003) and “The Gold of Rebellion” (2005), where traditional Ural cultures are presented from the point of view of an outside observer, and only their external elements and attributes of the sacred are shown - shamanic rituals, ritualized behavior, fetish figures etc., which does not bring the reader closer to understanding these cultures and does not create an idea of ​​their mythology.

Another option, “a view from the inside,” allows the author to show the mythology of a particular people in its entirety, even with a minimum of knowledge about its external manifestations, rituals and the system of relationships within society. The technique of immersion itself allows the author to enter himself and let the reader into the world of people whose culture is distant and incomprehensible, but thanks to this approach does not require translation - it becomes intuitively accessible. Among the texts where such a threshold of immersion in alien mythology was passed, I can name A. Grigorenko’s novel “Mabet” (2011), based on Nenets mythology, as well as my novel “Kadyn” (2015) about the Scythians of Altai. Both texts are written on different materials: ethnographic and archaeological, therefore the degree of artistic permission in them is different. However, both of them are written with immersion in a foreign culture and allow you not only to learn about the way of life, life and social structure of society, but most importantly - to penetrate into their mythological representation, to feel a different way of thinking, different from the thinking of a modern urban person, and to understand what in people's lives could become the basis for certain mythological motifs, and vice versa - gave rise to behavioral patterns based on mythological ideas.

Of course, the presented analysis is quite cursory and does not pretend to cover the situation completely - this requires more extensive work. However, I hope that I was able to show trends in modern literature that are obvious to me not only as a folklorist, but also as a professional reader, and the article will help everyone who wants to adjust their reading optics in a new way and more clearly distinguish elements of folklore in modern Russian literature.

1. V. Propp. Morphology of a fairy tale. M., 1969

2. V. Propp. Historical roots fairy tale. L., 1986.

3. J. Cavelti. "Adventure, mystery and love story: Formulaic Narratives as Art and Popular Culture", 1976.

4. I. Bogatyreva. "Folklore motifs as constructs of recognizable reality." – “October”, 2017, 4.

5. A. Oleinikov. "The Story of the Knight Eltart, or Tales of the Blue Forest." M., 2015

6. M. Galina “Autochthons”. M., 2015

7. N. Izmailov. "Ubyr." St. Petersburg, 2013

8. N. Izmailov. "No one will die." St. Petersburg, 2015

9. A. Ivanov. "Bad weather". M., 2016

10. L. Yuzefovich. "Cranes and dwarfs." M., 2008

11. A. Ivanov. "The Heart of Parma" M., 2003

12. A. Ivanov. "Gold of Rebellion" M., 2005

13. A. Grigorenko. "Mabeth." M., 2011

14. I. Bogatyreva. "Kadyn". M., 2015

The Slavic epic has not reached us, but fairy tales have been preserved, which to a certain extent reflect the ideas of our ancestors about the world, life and death, about man and his opponents. Baba Yaga is such a famous character in Russian fairy tales that she requires no introduction. In cinema best image The “evil” Baba Yaga was created by actor Georgy Millyar, who himself invented a costume from a pile of rags and a frightening makeup with a hooked nose, warts and protruding teeth.

There is no clear opinion about the origin of this character's name. Yaga, Yaga-baba, Yagaya, Yagaya baba, Yagikha, Yagabikha, Yagabova, Yagishna, Yaginishna - that’s what they call her in fairy tales. There are many possible etymologies. The German linguist and Slavist Max Vasmer finds a root similar in sound in many Indo-European languages, meaning “to be sick, to waste away, to be angry, to be irritated, to mourn.” Some derive “yaga” from “ancestor” (ancestor), but this is rather doubtful. In the Komi language, the word “yag” can mean pine forest, forest. In the mythology of this people you can find a story about Yagmorta, a forest man the size of a young pine tree, who kidnapped livestock, children and women. When he kidnapped the elder's only daughter, her fiancé and the entire settlement finally decided to do something. They found the devil's cave, where they found the dead girl. After which they killed the monster, took the treasures, and filled up the cave.

Baba Yaga, although a forest creature, never lived in a cave. Everyone knows her “hut about a chicken leg, about one window, with a covered red porch.” What kind of “architectural excess” is this? In the dry language of an engineer, this is a pile structure. It is used in areas with regular spills or in swamps. In some regions of Russia, village log houses were placed on stumps to prevent rotting. Among the Finno-Ugric peoples, barns on stilts were common (to protect against mice), which stood at a distance from human habitation (to avoid fire). They are still found in Siberia and the Urals saves- log cabins on poles in the forest where hunters store supplies. If you are not in dire need, you should not take anything from there; but you can put it on your own. It is possible that these supplies will save someone's life.

The prototype of Baba Yaga's hut could have been bdyn. The ancient Slavs cremated their dead. In some regions, a vessel with ashes was placed in a small house or booth on a pillar - a bdyn. It is likely that the grave crosses that have survived to this day and are very common among the Old Believers stuffed cabbage(decorative roof) originated from here. Being fumigated with incense, they were called smoky.

Old Believers. Russian North. Late XIX- beginning XX centuries

What does Baba Yaga do? The prominent Soviet folklorist Vladimir Propp counted three functions: child abductor (“Swan Geese”); donor (hands the hero a horse or a magic ball); warrior (by defeating her, the hero gains wisdom). According to the scientist, she was once a deity who led the initiation rite. At the same time, each function takes on meaning: the child, ready to transition to a new state, is “kidnapped” from his parents, fights the monster physically or intellectually, proves his independence and returns as an adult. In mythological consciousness, such a transition was associated with the death of the old “I” and the birth of a new one. Thus, Baba Yaga is directly connected with the afterlife. She is a guide, a creature who lives on the border.

She is a rather unfriendly gatekeeper: “On the stove, on the ninth brick, lies Baba Yaga, a bone leg, her nose has grown into the ceiling, snot is hanging over the threshold, her tits are wrapped on a hook, she is sharpening her teeth.” It’s easy to get angry if your home is cramped. The house is surrounded by a wall of bones, and on them are animal or human skulls with flaming eye sockets. The hut itself is sometimes covered with a pancake, propped up with a pie - here this means a funeral meal. When a hero comes from the world of the living, he commands the hut to turn its face to him, and to the kingdom of the dead to turn its back. The hostess does not see him, but recognizes him by his smell (“ugh, ugh, it smells like the Russian spirit!”).

There is no point in walking here, the places are reserved, so Baba Yaga drives away the uninvited guest. However, he does not leave, but demands maximum attention: heat the bathhouse, feed and drink, put him to sleep. By this he demonstrates the seriousness of his intentions. The hero is going to Far Far Away kingdom, that is afterworld. To do this, he himself needs to die for a while. He performs a ritual ablution and eats the food of the dead, after which he boldly goes to save the princess or get rejuvenating apples.

The girls also come to Baba Yaga. She loads them with back-breaking work (which small animals often help do) and seriously promises to eat them, so that sometimes they have to flee. The girl learns to work hard and be attentive to all creatures, even tiny ones. She also learns to trust her intuition.

In addition to the fairy tale, there is also a popular print image of Baba Yaga. Two popular prints are known late XVII – early XVIII centuries , where she appears in an unusual role for us - comedy. The inscription on the first one reads: “Yaga Baba and a man, with a bald old man, jump, play bagpipes, but don’t know the harmony.” The second is accompanied by the phrase: “Baba Yaga is riding with a crocodile to fight on a pig with a pestle, and they have a bottle of wine under a bush.” In addition to the unusual nature of the plot, the appearance of the old woman is striking. She's not nearly that old; however, she is nosed and hunchbacked, but at the same time she is dressed well and even smartly, on her head is a dress of a married or widowed woman, with kolts attached to it. In one case, a spinning wheel and a bottom are tucked into the belt, in the other - a spinning wheel and an ax. On the second splint, she holds the reins and pestle in her hands.

The comic effect is achieved by contrasting details: a spinning wheel and a bottom can hardly be worn in a belt, a pestle and an ax are masculine attributes, with a spectacular appearance Baba Yaga looks pretty crazy with her tongue hanging out; and flowers around. The crocodile fight is especially good. In the popular consciousness, the crocodile was associated with dragons and snakes and endowed with demonic traits. Heroes on horseback usually fight monsters, but here a woman (!) rushes at a creature that doesn’t look at all like a crocodile, rides a pig, and from right to left (a hero on horseback usually gallops from left to right), and in the bushes the shkalik waits. We don’t know how the fight will end, but the winner will obviously be pleased.

As we see, Baba Yaga has long ago transformed from a mythical character into a folklore character and, at this everyday level, has acquired new qualities. No wonder it remains one of the most popular fairy-tale heroes and in our time. And even though she has lost her border post, she still takes part in raising children through fairy tales, plays and films.

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Nekrasov's poem is a treasure trove folk wisdom.
The first lines of the “Prologue” resemble a fairy-tale beginning. The beginning is the traditional beginning of a fairy tale: In what year - count...
Almost all the characters are named by name, but surnames are not indicated: Roman, Demyan, Luka,
Ivan and Mitrodor, Pakhom, Prov.
Folklore flavor is enhanced with the help of sacred numbers: 7.
on the sidewalk
Seven men came together:
Seven temporarily obliged...

Seven eagle owls flew together,
Admiring the carnage
From seven big trees,

The plot seems fabulous when Pakhom picks up a chick and talks with it, and then with a warbler, who gives a self-assembled tablecloth as a ransom for the chick, secret place with a “magic box”:
It contains a self-assembled tablecloth,
Whenever you wish,
He will feed you and give you something to drink!
Just say quietly:
"Hey! self-assembled tablecloth!
Treat the men! “
According to your wishes,
At my command
conventional form of address to the tablecloth
“Look, mind you, one thing!
How much food can he bear?
Womb - then ask,
And you can ask for vodka
Exactly a bucket a day.
If you ask more,
And once and twice - it will come true
At your request,
And the third time there will be trouble! »
- the basis of many Russian folk tales
This sparkling stream of words captivates and captivates... The secret of the eternal strength and youth of Nekrasov’s muse lies in introducing her to the inexhaustible source of Russian folk poetry. And could Nekrasov have written a book differently, in his words “useful, understandable to the people and truthful”? Brisk, sweeping folk word, apt and witty, “which you can’t think of even if you swallow a pen,” is the basis of all Nekrasov’s poetry.
In addition to fairy tale motifs, in the “Prologue” great amount signs, sayings, riddles that not only reflect the intelligence, beauty, and wisdom of the speech of the Russian people, but also give the poem extreme folklore richness. Proverbs. “A man, what a bull...” The proverb characterizes the character quality of a simple man, his stubbornness, perseverance, and perseverance. In modern speech, stubborn as a bull. “The bird is small, but its claw is sharp” - (“Small, but distant”), etc.
Riddles - only you, black shadows,
You can't catch - hug! -shadows
Without a body - but it lives,
Without a tongue - screams! -echo
Belief is a belief that comes from antiquity and lives among the people, belief in a sign. A sign is a phenomenon, an incident, which among the people is a harbinger of something.
“Well, the goblin played a nice joke on us.”
Nowadays you can hear the following expressions: the devil has confused you, go to the devil (go away), what devil? (expression of annoyance), the devil knows him (who knows) - they are all used in a colloquial style.
“Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!
The bread will begin to spike,
You'll choke on an ear of corn -
You won't cuckoo. »

Analysis of folklore elements of “The Tale of Woe-Misfortune”

everyday story folklore

Among everyday stories XVII one of the most significant is “The Tale of the Mountain of Misfortune”, which was discovered by academician A.N. Pypin in 1856 among the manuscripts of the collection of M. N. Pogodin (State Public Library named after Saltykov-Shchedrin). Its full title is “The Tale of Grief and Misfortune, how Grief-Misfortune brought a young man into the monastic rank.” The story is based on a fairy-tale motif - the animation of Grief, however, its theme is far from fairy-tale - topical for that time, about parents who adhere to the old days, and about children striving to live according to their own will.

The Tale has only one person as its hero. This is a monodrama. Other characters pushed into the shadows and characterized by the author through the plural, which is most clearly contrasted, albeit generalized, but at the same time, with the fundamental “uniqueness” of the main character (“father and mother”, “friends”, “good people”, “naked and barefoot” , "transporters"). Only at the beginning of the story is it said about one “dear friend” who deceived and robbed him. But this only concrete human character in the story, besides the Good Man, is depicted in such a generalized way that he is more likely perceived as a symbol of all his drinking companions than as a specific person. There is only one brightly lit character in the story - the unlucky and unhappy Well done.

True, in “The Tale”, besides the Well done, there is another clearly depicted character - this is Grief-Misfortune itself. With his introduction, the “Tale” takes on a fabulous quality. But this character, although fictitious, nevertheless represents the alter ego of the Well done himself. This is his individual destiny, a unique embodiment of his personality. Grief is inseparable from the very personality of the Well done. This is his fate, chosen by him of his own free will, although it subjugated him to itself, relentlessly following him, clinging to him. It does not pass to Molodets from his parents and does not appear to him at birth. Woe-Misfortune jumps out to the Young Man from behind a stone when he has already chosen his own path, has already left home, became a homeless drunkard, made friends with the “naked and barefoot”, dressed in a “tavern gunka”.

The work is permeated with folklore symbolism and imagery. The author makes extensive use of folk song language, common epithets and repetitions (“ Gray wolf", "damp earth", "valiant prowess").

It was the genres of folk songs and epics that determined the new things that this story introduced into Russian prose of the 17th century: the author’s lyrical sympathy for his hero and folk-poetic artistic elements.

However, it should be noted that the everyday descriptive element in the story is unique. In the narrative there are no precise ethnographic details indicating the location of the action, geographical concepts (list of cities, rivers), the time of action, the characters are not named, and no historical signs of time are found.

The everyday background is recreated by indicating the everyday rules of society, through a description of the parental sermon, the practical wisdom of merchants, household advice, and moral instructions. The moral covenants of good people and relatives create a moral atmosphere in everyday life, however, devoid of historical specificity.

The picture of everyday life is also complemented by individual ethnographic details, although not numerous enough - the “tavern yard” where the good fellow finds himself, “an honest feast”:

And in the yzbe there is a great feast of honor,

guests drink, eat, make fun...

In the story they are called individual elements clothes: “living room dress”, “tavern gunka”, “dragye ports”, “chiry” (shoes), bast shoes - “heating shoes”. There is no specific specificity in the description of the scene of action. Details of the surrounding world are drawn in the spirit of folk poetics: “a foreign country is distant, unfamiliar.” It is mentioned without specifications about the “hail”, the hut “with a high tower” in the yard.

On folk style and involvement in folklore is indicated by both constant elements and epithets folk tale. As, for example, in the scene of Grief’s pursuit of the Young Man: “clear falcon”, “white gyrfalcon”, “rock dove”, “feather grass”, “grass grass”, “sharp scythe”, “violent winds”, etc. In the description the specific dynamics of folk speech are conveyed:

Well done flew like a clear falcon,

And Grief follows him like a white merlin.

Well done, he flew like a rock dove,

And Woe follows him like a gray hawk.

Well done, he went into the field like a gray wolf,

And Woe is behind him and the greyhounds are polite.

Well done, the feather grass grass stood in the field,

And grief came with a scythe.

From folk poetry, with its characteristic repetitions emphasizing the intensification of the action, came the spell pronounced by Grief in the scene of the pursuit of the Molodets:

You, little grass, will be whipped,

You, little grass, lie cut down.

And the violent winds will be scattered for you.

In the spirit of folk poetry, lamentations are also given good fellow, addressed to Gore:

Oh, for me, Gorin’s misfortune!

I, the Young Man, was getting into trouble:

It starved me to death, a young fellow.

The techniques, formulas used in the story are typical for folk poetry, constant epithets epic style. So, for example, in the description of the custom according to which the Well done comes to the feast: he “baptized his white face, bowed in a wonderful way, he hit the good people on all four sides with his forehead.” A good fellow is sad at the feast: “at the feast he sits sadly, sad, sad, and joyless.” As in folklore poetics, Grief initially appears to the young man in a dream; elements of reincarnation are also present in the story (Grief takes the form of the Archangel Gabriel).

However, the work contains not only a folklore style, but also a bookish language, which is revealed primarily in the introduction to the story, which sets out the origin of sin on earth after Adam and Eve violated God’s commandment not to eat the fruit of the vine. He is also present in the last lines of the story. Both the introduction and the conclusion bring it closer to the works hagiographic genre. The book tradition is reflected both in some typical book epithets of the story and in its thematic proximity to book works on the topic of drunkenness.

Komarova A.

ON LITERATURE

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Introduction.

The better we know the past, the easier it will be
the more deeply and joyfully
let's understand the great meaning
the present we create.
A. M. Gorky

“Tell me how the people lived, and I will tell you how they wrote” - these wonderful words of the great Russian scientist academician L.N. Veslovsky can also be attributed to oral creativity: as the people lived, so they sang and told stories. Therefore, folklore reveals folk philosophy, ethics and aesthetics. M. Gorky could say with full good humor that “ true story you cannot know the working people without knowing oral folk art.” The song serves as a source for studying the history, life and customs of the people, their spiritual make-up and character. The texts of songs from each era contain regional, historical, cultural, everyday, spiritual, value, and political information. The song reflects the lexical-semantic, morphological, word-formation and syntactic features of language development.

Everyone knows the captivating power of Russian folk songs. They have the ability not only to penetrate deeply into the soul, but also to evoke empathy.

This wonderful genre of folklore has become integral part our life, it confirmed its right to exist, having passed the long test of time. Sociocultural changes taking place in Russia in last decades, have a significant impact on speech and language processes and cannot but affect the song creativity of domestic authors, since song is one of the most dynamic genres of mass culture.

Work theme: folklore elements in a modern art song.

Relevance of the topic: Russian art song as a phenomenon that combines poetry, music and performance, and as a kind of social movement Russian intelligentsia belongs primarily to the world of folk culture.

Purpose of the study: to identify folk elements in modern art songs.

Object of study - modern art song.

Subject of study– text of a modern art song.

The practical significance of the work lies in the fact that this research can be used in further studying the phenomenon of the author's song, in the practice of school and university teaching of folklore and other disciplines studying ethnicity and folk culture.

In accordance with the purpose and hypothesis of the study, the following tasks were set:

Analyze the poetics of the texts of Russian folk songs;

Establish the degree of influence of folklore on modern art song.

Research materialThe texts of popular art songs from the last 20 years and Russian folk songs were used. The main criteria for selecting material were the presence of song lyrics in modern collections and periodicals of the last 20 years, repeated playing of songs in music radio and television programs, publication of song texts on Internet sites.

Material selection made subject to certain restrictions. The objects of study were not: 1) songs, the verbal part of which represents exemplary texts of classical and modern literature (songs based on poems by S. Yesenin, M. Tsvetaeva, B. Pasternak, E. Evtushenko, A. Voznesensky, B. Akhmadullina and other poets ); 2) " secondary works", i.e. songs written and performed earlier and now presented in a new musical arrangement, in a new performance; 3) texts of thieves, half-thieves, and yard songs; 4) lyrics of songs of modern informal groups containing profanity.

Main part.

1. Poetics of the texts of Russian folk songs.

Fairy tales, songs, epics, street performances - all this different genres folklore, folk oral and poetic creativity. You can't confuse them, they differ in their specific features, their role in folk life, they live differently in modern times. No people in Europe have such a wealth of songs and tunes, beautiful and original, as the Russian people. As far back as the 18th century, we have evidence of how our songs surprised foreign musicians with their freshness and musical beauty. For example, composer Paisiello, having heard Russian songs, could not believe “that they were a random creation ordinary people, but believed them to be the work of skilled musical composers"

Folk song- a musical and poetic work, the most common type of vocal folk music. Folk song is one of the oldest forms of musical and verbal creativity. In some ancient and partly modern types of folk music, it exists in unity with dance, playing, instrumental music, verbal and visual folklore. Its isolation is the result of a long historical development folklore

The famous expert and collector of Russian songs P. V. Shein divided his multi-volume collection of Great Russian songs (up to 3 thousand) into two main categories, on two sides of the life of a peasant - personal and public: a) songs reflecting the main moments of a person’s life - birth , marriage, death - but within one’s family, one’s own volost, and b) songs that express the transition to social, state life. Lopatin, excluding epics from them, divides all Russian songs into two categories: 1) lyrical songs, including most historical songs, and 2) ritual songs - weddings, round dances and games. This classification holds up less to criticism because the lyrical and personal element is to a certain extent inherent in ritual songs.

Folk song is distinguished by a wealth of genres, different in origin, character and function in folk life. An essential feature of most traditional genres is the direct connection of folk songs with everyday life, labor activity(for example, labor songs accompanying different kinds labor - barge hauling, mowing, weeding, reaping, threshing and others, rituals accompanying agricultural and family rites and celebrations - carols, Maslenitsa, vesnyanka, Kupala, wedding, funeral, game calendar, etc.). Historical folk songs are valuable because they reflect real events of past years. Passed from generation to generation without significant changes, they preserved their plots and characters, forms and means of expression for many centuries.

The themes of historical songs are varied and multifaceted: wars, campaigns, popular uprisings, incidents from the lives of kings, statesmen, leaders of the riots. From them one can judge the people’s attitude to what is happening, their priorities and moral values.

Dance folk songs are inseparable from various folk dances. The greatest musical development in the folklore of all nations was achieved by lyrical songs. They are sung solo, ensemble, choir. It was in this genre that they appeared higher forms polyphony, complex melodic and musical-poetic compositional structures. The diversity of the content of lyrical folk songs is primarily due to the diversity of social groups that create and perform them (farmers, artisans, workers and others). Each social group society has its own song lyrics.

The folk song is dominated by strophic and couplet form, often with a compositionally highlighted chorus. The poetic stanzas (verses) of each folk song, which differ in content, usually correspond to one tune, which varies with repeated repetition (throughout the entire song).

“WE SOWED MILLET”

And we hired the land, hired it.

Oh did-lado hired, hired.

And we sowed millet, sowed,

Oh dil-lado, they sowed, they sowed.

And we will trample down the millet, trample it down.

Oh dil-lado, let's trample, trample.

What should you use to trample, trample?

Oh dil-lado, trample, trample?

And we are her horses, horses,

Oh dil-lado, horses, horses,

And we will take the horses captive, we will take them captive,

Oh dil-lado, we’ll take you prisoner, we’ll take you prisoner.

1. Genre – work, round dance, dance.

3. Verse form: strophic with repetition of one of the syllabic groups.

And we millet / sowed, sowed.

Oh, dil-ladoo, / sowed, sowed.

4. The key of the song is G major.

5. Rhythm – smooth, with a chant of each syllable.

6. The chant consists of a repeatedly repeated musical phrase. Each syllable in the song is sung, this gives it a playful, dance-like character.

1. Features of the author's song.

The author's song is a multifaceted, living, constantly evolving phenomenon. In the beginning, original songs were not called that way. It was called amateur until such people became involved in the process of understanding their role in culture famous artists words like B. Okudzhava, V. Vysotsky, A. Galich, N. Matveeva are true professionals.

The author's (bardic) song is an original cultural phenomenon of our country. Its origins lie in oral folk art. The author's song is modern folklore, a mirror of Russian life in different historical stages. Author's song - modern a genre of oral poetry (“singing poetry”), formed at the turn of the 50s - 60s. in the informal culture of students and young intellectuals. “Singing poetry” itself is the oldest form of creativity, known to cultures of almost all nations, and it is no coincidence that representatives of art songs are often called “bards”, compared with ancient Greek lyricists, Russian guslars, Ukrainian kobzars, etc., based primarily on the fact that the modern “bard”, like the ancient poet , usually sings his own poems to his own accompaniment on string instrument(most often - guitar). However, these are still external, and, moreover, not always obligatory, signs of the genre. The term “author’s song” was introduced (according to legend - by V.S. Vysotsky) in order to emphasize its personal character, in order to separate it, on the one hand, from the songs supplied by professional pop music, and on the other hand, from the urban folklore and unpretentious “homemade” songs that gave birth to it, composed, on occasion, for “their company”, “their institute”, and little anyone interested outside this narrow circle.The soil on which the author's song grew is, first of all, our Russian folklore: a ditty, laconic, metaphorical, witty; urban romance, soldiers' songs.

Author's song as part modern folklore in our country developed rapidly during the Khrushchev “thaw”. But against the background of the general confusion, young people noticed and picked up the first songs of Yuri Vizbor, Ada Yakusheva, Mikhail Ancharov, Alexander Gorodnitsky, Yuliy Kim...

With the traditional transmission of an author's song in oral form, an important feature characteristic of oral colloquial speech, – the ability of a person, within one text, to manifest himself as a subject of speech, action, to realize evaluative and emotional plans, which psychologically enriches the text. However, the lack important components, characteristic of oral colloquial speech - unpreparedness, spontaneity, dependence on the situation - does not allow us to identify it with an original song. Consequently, these texts are at the junction of oral (in form) and book (in content) speech.

The personal element permeates the author's song and determines everything in it - from the content to the manner of presentation, from the stage appearance of the author to the character lyrical hero. And in this sense, modern “sung poetry” is a deeply intimate, even confessional art. The level of trust and openness here significantly exceeds the norms acceptable in professional creativity.

It goes without saying that such a song, unlike mass pop production, is not addressed to everyone. It is addressed only to those whom the author trusts, who are in tune with him, are ready to share his thoughts and feelings, or, at least, are mentally disposed towards him. Therefore, the audience, its composition, its mood, even its size are an important component of the art song genre.

Musically, the author's song was based on that layer of common, easily recognizable and beloved intonations that existed in her environment and was formed from a wide variety of sources. Among them are everyday romance, student and courtyard folklore (including the criminal song), folk song, popular dance music, songs of Soviet composers, etc. Wartime lyrics played a special role in preparing the intonation ground for the author’s song.
The favorite heroes of their songs are climbers, geologists, sailors, pilots, soldiers, athletes, circus performers, troubled “kings” of city yards and their girlfriends - people are not just courageous and risky, but, above all, individuals.
Several stages can be distinguished in the development of an author's song. The first, the undisputed leader of which was the singer of the “Children of Arbat” B. Okudzhava, lasted until approximately the mid-60s. and was colored with genuine romanticism, in tune not only with the age of the audience, but also with the prevailing mood in society. Its content has not yet bothered the authorities, and they paid almost no attention to it, considering it a harmless manifestation of amateur creativity, an element of intellectual life. Nostalgia for the past, the bitterness of losses and betrayals, the desire to preserve oneself, one’s ideals, and a thinning circle of friends sounded more and more clearly in her. This lyrical-romantic line was continued in the works of S. Nikitin, A. Rosenbaum, V. Dolina, A. Dolsky, bard rockers (A. Makarevich, B. Grebenshchikov) and many others, but it did not determine the face of the author's song of her period heyday And if at the previous stage the leading role was played by the “song of wanderings,” then here the “song of protest” became such, the undisputed leader of which was V.S. Vysotsky, behind whom can be seen figures of varying importance: A. Galich, Y. Aleshkovsky, A. Bashlachev, V. Tsoi, Y. Shevchuk, K. Kinchev and many others. The aesthetics of a “protest song” - a protest against the absurdity of “Soviet” existence, against this sick society itself.

In the work of V. Vysotsky, the author's song has reached a level that remains the standard today. Since the mid-80s, after a short surge of general interest in the original song as everything that had recently been prohibited, its development has moved into a calm, now legal, professional direction. The number of “singing poets” and their performing skills are growing, the number of their organizations, concerts, and festivals is multiplying, numerous collections, cassettes and CDs are being published, but nothing fundamentally new is happening creatively. Both “veterans” and younger “bards”, among whom A. Sukhanov, K. Tarasov, G. Khomchik, L. Sergeev, duets of A. Ivashchenko and G. Vasiliev, Vadim and Valeria Mishukov, etc., gained popularity, exploit in his creativity, once found techniques, increasingly turning into ordinary pop singers. Creative crisis the author's song has become a fait accompli today.

1. The influence of folklore on modern art song

The author's song is an independent direction in art, which arose at the junction of two of its movements: folklore and song direction. modern stage. Distinctive features of the original song as a genre: a) a special trusting attitude towards the listener, b) personal coloring of the songs, c) the presence of social and civic motives. Folk poetic traditions are very strong in the original song.

In this work we tried to analyze the songs of A. Rosenbaum and I. Talkov from the point of view of the use of folk poetic means.

1. Creativity of A. Rosembaum

Rosenbaum actively invades life with his creativity, acting boldly, talentedly, and brightly. He helps people. He strives to educate them, appeals to their hearts, to the best that no system can kill. As an interpreter, he can be said to create an image of a song that penetrates the soul - and in this he is Vysotsky’s associate and heir.

The very names of the songs speak for themselves: “Kuban Cossack”, “Shackled”, “Oh, Dudari, Dudari” (“Scene at the Fair”), “On the Don, on the Don” and others. It should be noted

The girl went crazy and went into the chest:

He's dragging a white dress - maybe suddenly?

If we don't wash, we'll ride

She'll be lucky with the soldier.

Maybe he's wooing

Dear friend…

Elements corresponding to folk poetry:

1) doubled words (these elements are characteristic of skaz):

Far, far away, they go and go, they run and run;

2) connected words:

She screamed and began to fight, with fences and tines, mockingbirds, ladies and nobles;

3) epithets:

Black thought, good horses, daring riders, evil sadness, mind-mind, path-path, dog-soldier, girls-maidens.

However, the opposite is often observedword order (inversion), for example, the song “0y, dudari, dudari” full It was built using folk elements:

Oh dudari, dudari, lapotniks, guslars.

Mockingbirds!

Blessed heads, ring the Tsar Bell,

Have fun, ladies and gentlemen!...

4) The use of the conjunction “yes” in the meaning of “and” is typical:

Rus' is baggy, barefoot,

With towers and forts.

And in the steppe there is freedom...

5) Using magic numbers:

- “thirty-three fulfilled wishes”, “far away lands”;

6) use of folk signs. For example, in the same song “Oh, dudari, dudari” there are a number of signs indicating that there is trouble:

...If you don’t give birth in winter, they will take you away.

The turtledove screamed and started screaming

Yes, the horseshoe fell in the upper room.

An eagle owl flew into a clearing and sat down,

Voronoi crashed down from the cliff.

3.2. Creativity of I. Talkov.

Igor Talkoy occupies a special place among representatives of the art song, because. he is the author of social, journalistic, civil songs that are distinguished by their genre diversity; These are songs-screams, songs-protests, songs-confession, songs-ballads.

1. It should be noteda large number of elements characteristic of colloquial speech:

I don't dare to prophesy
But I know for sure that I will return
Even after a hundred centuries
To the country not of fools, but of geniuses

1. In paragraph 1 of the work, we noted that historical folk songs reflected real events of past years. I. Talkov reacted very sharply to the events taking place in Russia and reflected this in his work (“Mr. President” (1991), related to the political realities of August 1991, “I’ll be back”, etc.).

3)Use of epithets, metaphors,comparisons and especially repetitions:

The memory no longer stings,
Thoughts don't hit hands
I'll see you off
To other shores.
You are a migratory bird,
You look for happiness on the way,
You come to say goodbye
And leave again.

Summer rain, summer rain
Started early today.

Conclusion.

1. Folk song is distinguished by a wealth of genres, different in origin, character and function in folk life.
2. The author's song, being a sociocultural phenomenon of the 50s -70s of the XX century, expressed ideas and images different from official culture"Khrushchev era". This movement of youth and urban intelligentsia was characterized by individual self-expression, freedom of speech
3. A modern art song combines elements of folklore.
4. Widespread use of traditional folklore folk poetic artistic and visual means in modern art song

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………3

2. Poetics of the texts of Russian folk songs…………………………6

4. The influence of folklore on modern art song………..13

5. Conclusion………………………………………………………17

6. Literature……………………………………………………….18

MBOU secondary school in the village of Bolshoye Popovo

RESEARCH WORK

ON LITERATURE

“FOLK ELEMENTS IN A MODERN AUTHOR’S SONG”

Prepared

7th grade student

Komarova A.

Supervisor:

teacher of Russian language and literature

Konstantinova G.S.

2012

Literature

1. Literary encyclopedic Dictionary. - M., Soviet encyclopedia, 1987..
2. N.I. Kravtsov. Poetics of Russian folk lyrical songs. - M., 1974.
3. S.G. Lazutin. Russian folk lyrical songs, ditties and proverbs. - M., 1990.
4. T.V. Popova. About the songs of our days. - M., 1969.
5. Anthology of original songs. // Russian speech. - No. 1-12. – 1990.

Internet resources:

1. grushin. samara. ru - all about the Grushinsky Art Song Festival

2. www. bards. ru - all about bards, biographies, lyrics, audio recordings.

3. lib. ru/KSP/ - lyrics with chords, audio recordings

6. bardz. by. ru – all about bards, biographies, lyrics, audio recordings.

7. http://www. bardic. ru/ - history, biographies, PCB and much more

8. www. mityaev. ru – Oleg Mityaev’s website.