S. G. Lazutin. Poetics of Russian folklore. Tutorial. Other books on similar topics
Fiction represents a significant part of the spiritual culture of the people. She gives us joy, delights us, awakens us best sides human soul, helps us in the struggle for the highest goals of existence.
But literature fulfills this role only when it possesses artistic perfection, when it gives us aesthetic pleasure. Weak, gray, insincere works do not perform social functions, even if they have a high ideological level.
Readers for the most part, in general, correctly evaluate and perceive works fiction. They do this instinctively, with flair, with an innate sense of beauty and truth. However, we cannot be content with simple “likes” and “dislikes”, emotional praise and blame. The reader wants to know why the work is liked or not. He wants to understand him and justify his judgment about him. Poetics is designed to help the reader understand literary works.
In order to avoid various misunderstandings, we must define what is meant by poetics, since this is not immediately clear. The word "poetics" can have two meanings. Poetics is understood as the totality of those means, techniques, methods, the use of which gives works of verbal art their specific character. In this sense, we can talk about the poetics of Pushkin in contrast to the poetics of Derzhavin, Nekrasov or Mayakovsky.
But the word “poetics” can have another meaning. It may not mean a totality artistic means literature, but science devoted to the study of these means. In this sense, we can talk about the poetics of Aristotle, the poetics of Veselovsky, etc.
In this work, the word “poetics” will be used in both senses. In relation to works of verbal art, poetics as a science is the same as grammar in relation to language. As you know, grammar can be historical, descriptive and normative. Historical grammar covers the process of formation and development of a language throughout its existence. Descriptive grammar covers one period, usually the period of grammar contemporary to the author.
Descriptive grammar may resort to the data of historical grammar to explain the phenomena being studied, but may not do this, limiting himself to the characteristics of the language for the period under study. Finally, normative grammar, based on scientific descriptive grammar, determines the norms for the correct use of oral and written language, teaches how to speak and write correctly. It is not always possible to draw a line between descriptive and normative grammar, and it is not always necessary. The difference here is primarily in the purposes for which the description is made. What is said about grammar also applies to poetics.
The creation of historical poetics is the ultimate goal of the science of literary creativity. Historical poetics there is a science about the patterns of development of artistic forms. The most famous attempt to create such poetics belongs to A. N. Veselovsky. Veselovsky did not finish his work.
He didn't finish it not because he didn't have time. “Three Chapters from Historical Poetics” was published in 1898, i.e. 8 years before his death. This work could not be completed because historical poetics as a science must cover the entire period of the development of literature from its beginnings to the present.
It is impossible for one person to master all this material. Even such an expert as Veselovsky would not have enough erudition here. The Poetics of Plots that remained after his death consists mainly of sketches, scattered ideas and a rich annotated bibliography, from which it is clear how Veselovsky expanded his horizons until his death. This is perhaps the most valuable part of everything that Veselovsky created in the field of historical poetics. But the work was not completed not only because the material was not yet fully collected and prepared. It was not completed primarily because the very process of development of literary forms was not completely clear to Veselovsky.
To the end he was in a stage of painful creative quest, and these quests are more valuable to us than many works completed abroad on the evolution of the artistic process, in which there are neither the author’s doubts nor the author’s torments.
There are quite a lot of such lightweight scholarly poetics. It is essentially impossible for one person to create historical poetics. This could be done by a close-knit team, in which everyone would work on one area.
Now we can only talk about descriptive poetics, about private poetics, the totality of which will someday lead to the creation of historical poetics. Descriptive private poetics can relate to certain periods, types, genres, styles and give their complete scientific description.
This work is devoted poetics of Russian folklore. Folklore is considered according to its state in the 19th-20th centuries; scientifically reliable dates back to this period and make records of it. In cases where we can talk about more early periods, when there are materials for this or more or less convincing assumptions are possible, we will consider our material historically. In cases where the materials do not allow this, we will limit ourselves to the description.
There can be no normative poetics in relation to the folk poetry of the past: it is impossible to prescribe or establish rules for what a folk song should have been or should be in the future. Only the people themselves can decide this.
This descriptive poetics in our time must at the same time be a poetics evaluative and explanatory. We can talk about what determines and explains the artistic perfection or artistic shortcomings of certain types or monuments of folk poetry, but nothing can be prescribed.
This question is quite complicated, because not everything that we consider aesthetically perfect will be appreciated in the same way by bearers of folklore; the beauty of classical odes, or idylls, or sonnets will not reach them.
On the other hand, the artistic tastes of folklore speakers may seem strange to modern man. But these oddities must be explained by science. Wherever possible, we will define folk aesthetics, even if it does not always coincide with our aesthetic requirements. These are the main objectives of the study. We will try to specifically explore and study the techniques of folk poetics. The use of concepts such as realism, typification, imagery and others will become possible only when the phenomena of folk poetics are studied inductively, that is, from material to conclusions, and not from application or subordination general concepts to specific cases.
Issues of poetics in Soviet literary criticism were of current interest in the 20s. But then this interest was of a specific nature. Formal analysis was carried out without regard to history social development and to the ideological content of the works. Currently, we know that form is a derivative of content, that it cannot be absolutized and considered as something self-sufficient. When studying drama, we cannot talk only about the dramatic situation, the nature of the plot, the twists and turns in a dramatic conflict, and development.
We will have to talk about the character of the characters, about the internal content of the drama, about the worldview expressed in it, about the connection of this worldview with the era in which the drama was written, and with the worldview of the author. All this falls within the realm of the study of poetics. We cannot study the poetics of Pushkin, Nekrasov or Mayakovsky without knowing anything about the authors and the era in which they lived.
The word "poetics" is sometimes understood as a set of linguistic devices artistic creativity. In some textbooks, genres are studied from different points of view, in the latter - from the point of view of poetics. Thus, in the textbook by S. F. Baranov, riddles are studied from the perspective of origin, content and poetics. When presenting the section devoted to fairy tales, special mention is made of the heroes fairy tale and separately about its poetics. The merit of S. F. Baranov is that he generally included questions of poetics in his study.
But poetics is understood too narrowly - as a set of certain technical techniques and, above all, the features of poetic language. These features are best classified as style. “Poetics” is a broader concept than style. All means that are used in the creation of works of art are subject to its study, including issues of composition, methods of depicting characters, etc. Thus, “heroes” cannot be considered separately from poetics.
This especially applies to folklore. The difference between the heroes of a fairy tale, epic, ballad, legend, spiritual verse is primarily determined by the difference in the poetics of these genres. By poetics we will understand the unity of structural (compositional) and stylistic-linguistic devices as a form of expression of the ideological world of a work of art. Further study will be conducted from this point of view.
V.Ya. Propp. Poetics of folklore - M., 1998
By “genre” we will understand a set of works united by a common poetic system, everyday purpose, forms of performance and musical structure 2 . Not all of these aspects will always be necessary to define genres; Thus, taking into account musical forms is necessary only for the study of those types of folk poetry that are sung. Taking into account everyday purposes will be important when studying ritual poetry, but may not be significant for other types of folklore, etc.
Based on these theoretical premises, we will try to establish exactly what genres exist in Russian folklore. We are currently limiting ourselves to the most difficult areas for such study of folk art - narrative and lyrical poetry. Dramatic poetry, as well as ditties, proverbs, sayings, riddles and conspiracies, may be the subject of another work. We do not set ourselves the goal of giving a complete catalog of all genres. But we will try to give at least a preliminary outline, which in the future can be modified, supplemented and improved.
2 This position is developed in more detail in the article “Principles of classification of folklore genres” // Soviet ethnography, 1964. No. 4.
The easiest area to study is narrative poetry. According to its form, it is naturally divided into two large sections: prosaic and poetic poetry.
Folk prose is a defined and easily distinguishable area folk art, although this term is not used either in works on the theory and history of folklore or in textbooks. “Folk prose,” however, is not yet a genre. Prose is one of the areas of folk art.
What genera and species are included in this area and which of them can be called genres?
It is quite obvious that one of these types of folk prose is a fairy tale. It is less clear on what grounds the identification of a fairy tale can be justified scientifically.
The main feature of a fairy tale was defined by Belinsky. This sign is that neither the performer nor the listener believes in the reality of what is being told. At first glance, it may seem that this feature is not significant, since it does not determine the nature of the fairy tale in itself. It may even seem that this property is not a fairy tale, but of listeners who are free to believe it or not. But this is still not true. The fairy tale is based on deliberate fiction, and this feature is not secondary or accidental. It largely determines the entire poetics of the tale. From the formally logical side, it is established correctly, since all other types of folk prose (tradition, legend, tale, fairy tale) are based on attempts to convey reality. In these cases, people believe in the reality of what is being told.
Without going into the question of the concept of genre as applied to fairy tales, let us consider how their types, groups or categories can be established.
Of the many types of fairy tales, fairy tales naturally stand out. The word “magical” is a purely conventional designation for this type of fairy tale, since other types of them can also have a magical character, where fantastic characters (for example, the devil) also act and events impossible in life occur. Fairy tales are distinguished not by their magic or miraculousness (as Aarne thought), but by their absolutely clear composition, by their structural features, by their, so to speak, syntax, which is established scientifically with absolute precision 3 . Unity
Biography
Born on April 17 (29), 1895 in St. Petersburg in a family of Volga Germans. In 1914–1918 studied Russian and German philology in . Subsequently taught German at universities in Leningrad.
Since 1932 he taught and conducted scientific work in. In 1937 he became an associate professor, from 1938 - a professor at Leningrad State University, successively in the departments of Romance-Germanic philology, folklore and, until 1969, Russian literature; in 1963-64 served as acting head of the department.
Scientific activity
In his work “Morphology of a Fairy Tale” (Leningrad,), Propp identifies repeating constant elements - actor(31 in total), marking the beginning of structural-typological study. Propp's work had a significant influence on the development of studies of mythological, folklore, and literary texts.
In his work “Historical Roots of the Fairy Tale” (Leningrad, 2010), Propp develops the hypothesis developed by Sentivo. Propp sees in folk a reminder of totemic rituals. It is quite obvious that the structure of fairy tales has the character of initiation. But the whole problem is to find out whether the fairy tale describes a system of rituals relating to any particular stage of culture, or whether its initiation scenario turns out to be “imaginary”, in the sense that it is not associated with any historical and cultural context , but rather expresses the ahistorical archetypal behavior of the psyche. As an example, Propp refers to totemic initiations; this type of initiation was categorically inaccessible to women, but the main character of Slavic fairy tales turns out to be just a woman: an old witch,. However, he acts as an initiating elder from the point of view of the hypothesis about the ritual origin of the fairy tale. And the initiator, although always a man, had symbolic characteristics of both sexes, or even only female.
In other words, fairy tales do not provide an exact reminder of any specific stage of culture: here various historical cycles and cultural styles mix and collide with each other. Only patterns of behavior that could exist in many cultural cycles and at different historical moments have been preserved here.
The assumption that fairy tales originate from oral traditions told during initiation is confirmed by the similarity of motives and functions of characters in fairy tales of various peoples. In addition, Propp provides ethnographic data showing the process of decomposition of the ancient totemic religion and the transformation of once sacred oral traditions into fairy tales. Considering ethnic groups that have not yet parted with totemism (and do not have fairy tales as such), which are in the process of its decomposition and modern fairy tales of “cultured” peoples, Propp comes to the conclusion about the unity of the origin of the fairy tale.
Bibliography
- Propp V.Ya. “Folklore and reality” - M.: Nauka, 1989. – 233s.
Literature
- Unknown V. Ya. Propp. "Tree of Life. Diary of old age. Correspondence" / Preface, compiled by A.N. Martynova; Prepared text, commentary by A.N. Martynova, N.A. Prozorova. - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2002. ISBN 5-89329-512-9
- Warner E. E. “Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp and Russian folklore studies..”, Publishing house: St. Petersburg State University. 2005. ISBN 5-8465-0092-7
- Vilmos Voigt: Propp, Vladimir Jakovlevich. In: Enzyklopädie des Märchens, volume 10 (2002), 1435-1442.
- Serena Grazzini: Der strukturalistische Zirkel. Theorien über Mythos und Märchen bei Propp, Lévi-Strauss, Meletinskij. Wiesbaden 1999 (DUV: Literaturwissenschaft).
- Reinhard Breymayer: Vladimir Jakovlevič Propp (1895-1970) - Leben, Wirken und Bedeutsamkeit. B: Linguistica Biblica 15/16 (1972), 36-77 (67-77 Bibliographie).
Links
- Olshansky D. The birth of structuralism from the analysis of a fairy tale / Toronto Slavic Quarterly, No. 25
- Vladimir Propp (1985-1970) / Literary Encyclopedia (2008)
- Biography of Vladimir Propp in the Gallery of Russian Thinkers ( International Society Filosofov, 2007)
Other books on similar topics:
| Author | Book | Description | Year | Price | Book type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. G. Lazutin | Poetics of Russian folklore. Tutorial | The manual examines the poetics of the main genres of Russian folklore (fairy tales, epics, songs, shepherdesses, proverbs, sayings and riddles). Plot and composition, language and poetic style are explored... - graduate School, (format: 84x108/32, 208 pages) | 1989 | 250 | paper book |
| Meletinsky E.M. | Poetics of myth | E. M. Meletinsky is an outstanding Russian literary critic, folklorist and cultural historian. Meletinsky's books have already become classics of modern scientific thought. The works collected in this publication are dedicated to... - Academic project, (format: 84x108/32, 208 pp.) - | 2012 | 327 | paper book |
| Poetics of myth | E. M. Meletinsky is an outstanding Russian literary critic, folklorist and cultural historian. Meletinsky's books have already become classics of modern scientific thought. The works collected in this publication are dedicated to... - Academic project, (format: 84x108/32, 208 pages) Technologies of culture | 2012 | 483 | paper book | |
| Meletinsky Eleazar Moiseevich | Poetics of myth | E. M. Meletinsky is an outstanding Russian literary critic, folklorist and cultural historian. Meletinsky's books have already become classics of modern scientific thought. The works collected in this publication are dedicated to... - WORLD, (format: 60x90/16, 331 pp.) Decline and fall of the Roman Empire. In seven volumes | 2012 | 423 | paper book |
| Z. K. Tarlanov | Poetics of the word | Collection of articles by a specialist in the field of linguistics (Russian and general linguistics, Caucasian studies), the language of Russian folklore - Tarlanov Zamir Kurbanovich - Karelia, (format: 84x108/32, 128 pages) | 1983 | 290 | paper book |
| Functional-structural method of P. G. Bogatyrev in modern studies of folklore | The collection, dedicated to the memory of the outstanding Russian folklorist, ethnographer and researcher of folk theater P. G. Bogatyrev, includes sections: `The formation of the functional-structural method and its... - State Institute art history, (format: 70x100/16, 456 pages) | 2015 | 512 | paper book | |
| Sorokina S. | Functional-structural method of P. G. Bogatyrev in modern studies of folklore. Collection of articles and materials | The collection, dedicated to the memory of the outstanding Russian folklorist, ethnographer and researcher of folk theater P. G. Bogatyrev, includes sections: “The formation of the functional-structural method and its ... - State Institute of Art History, (format: 70x100/16, 456 pages) - | 2015 | 705 | paper book |
| I. V. Kulganek | Mongolian poetic folklore. Problems of study, collections, poetics | This monograph is devoted to small genres of Mongolian poetic folklore, among the lyrical and ritual works of which there are songs, hymns, prayers, teachings, doxologies, thanksgivings... - St. Petersburg Oriental Studies, (format: 60x90/16, 240 pp.) Orientalia | 2010 | 301 | paper book |
| Poetics: Volume 2 / Poetyka: Volume 2 / Poetics. Volume 2 | In 1961, we first published under the trilingual title Poetics, Poetyka, Poetics - a collection of articles devoted to the analysis of literary form. This was the result of the first international discussion about... - Mouton&Co., PWN Polish Scientific Publishers, (format: 175x250, 386 pages) | 1966 | 610 | paper book | |
| Alexander Veselovsky | Selected: Historical Poetics | Alexander Nikolaevich Veselovsky (1838–1906) – philologist, historian, cultural theorist. Veselovsky studied literary phenomena in the broad context of cultural development, considering the history of literature... - TsGI Print, (format: 175x250, 386 pp.) Russian Propylaea eBook | 2011 | 259 | eBook |
| Typology and relationships of folklore of the peoples of the USSR. Poetics and stylistics | The book develops the principles of typological analysis of national folklore traditions; explores the historical and poetic process of the formation of interethnic communities, the general and the special in... - Science, (format: 60x90/16, 342 pages) | 1980 | 150 | paper book | |
| Studies in Poetics and Stylistics | The collection “Studies on Poetics and Stylistics” publishes works prepared by the sector of poetics and stylistics of the Institute of Russian Literature of the USSR Academy of Sciences, created at the end of 1968 on the initiative of Academician. In... - Science. Leningrad branch, (format: 60x90/16, 275 pages) - (from the Greek poietike poetic art) a term that has two meanings: 1) a set of artistic, aesthetic and stylistic qualities that determine the originality of a particular literary phenomenon (less often cinema, theater ), his inner... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Poetics- (from the Greek poietike - poetic art) - a section of philology devoted to the description of the historical and literary process, the structure of literary works and the system of aesthetic means used in them; the science of poetic art, ... ... Stylistic encyclopedic Dictionary Russian language This article or section needs revision. Please improve the article in accordance with the rules for writing articles. Eleazar Mo ... Wikipedia - (October 22, 1918, Kharkov December 16, 2005, Moscow) Russian scientist philologist, cultural historian, Doctor of Philology, professor. Founder of the research school of theoretical folkloristics. Contents 1 Biography 2 Essays ... Wikipedia Meletinsky, Eleazar Moiseevich Eleazar Moiseevich Meletinsky (October 22, 1918, Kharkov December 16, 2005, Moscow) Russian scientist philologist, cultural historian, Doctor of Philology, professor. Founder of the research school of theoretical... ... Wikipedia Eleazar Moiseevich Meletinsky (October 22, 1918, Kharkov December 16, 2005, Moscow) Russian scientist philologist, cultural historian, Doctor of Philology, professor. Founder of the research school of theoretical folkloristics. Contents 1... ...Wikipedia Eleazar Moiseevich Meletinsky (October 22, 1918, Kharkov December 16, 2005, Moscow) Russian scientist philologist, cultural historian, Doctor of Philology, professor. Founder of the research school of theoretical folkloristics. Contents 1... ...Wikipedia Eleazar Moiseevich Meletinsky (October 22, 1918, Kharkov December 16, 2005, Moscow) Russian scientist philologist, cultural historian, Doctor of Philology, professor. Founder of the research school of theoretical folkloristics. Contents 1... ...Wikipedia Eleazar Moiseevich Meletinsky (October 22, 1918, Kharkov December 16, 2005, Moscow) Russian scientist philologist, cultural historian, Doctor of Philology, professor. Founder of the research school of theoretical folkloristics. Contents 1... ...Wikipedia |
