RussianFairyTales1
Terms
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- Folklore
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The traditional beliefs, legends, customs, etc. of a people; lore of a people; collected wisdom of a people (oral, ritualistic; associated with nature, agrarian aspects of a given
culture; associated with calendar feasts and
rites of passage). *Can include fairytales - Fairytale
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*Some are NOT apart of folklore. A story involving supernatural people or events (not necessarily fairies). Narrowly defined,fairy tale refers to folk or popular fairy tales, which lack a specific author or time of composition. Texts similar to folk fairy tales but written by a specific
author are qualified as literary fairy tales. - Animism
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*Soul* 1. The belief that natural objects, natural phenomena, and the universe itself possess souls
or consciousness. 2. The belief that souls may exist apart from bodies. - Anthropomorphic
- Ascribing human form or attributes to a being or thing not human, esp. to a deity.
- Ritual
- Any practice or pattern of behavior repeated in a prescribed manner (e.g., religious ritual).
- Re mythologize (e.g. Christmas tree)
-
The reinterpretation of rituals belonging to one system as belonging t
o another. The
pagan winter solstice celebration became Christmas after the christianization of Rus
⬲(the early East Slavic state, centered in Kiev). After the institution of state atheism in the
Soviet Union, traditional features of Christmas were recast as a celebration of the New
Year (e.g., Santa Claus became Father Frost). - Dvoeverie
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“Double faith†or “double belief.†The simultaneous subscription to two different, and
possibly even contradictory, belief systems. Characteristic of early Russian Christianity,
where people observed Christian rites but nonetheless continued to adhere to certain
pagan beliefs and practices. - Metamorphosis
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A complete change of form, structure, or substance as transformation by magic or
witchcraft. - Constant/Fixed Epithet
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e.g. 'Ivan the fool' A descriptive adjective used unvaryingly to qualify a noun, frequent in Homer’s epics
and in folklore genres, e.g., oxen
-eyed Hera, wine
-red sea, open field, bright falcon, beauteous maiden. Note also fixed formulae, such as “run as a gray wolf†in Russian
- Magic Numbers
- 1,2,esp. 3 & 7, and their multiples (e.g. 3x3)
- The Number 3
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Triad: A group of three, esp. of three closely related or associated persons or things.
Trebling: Repetition in groups of three (e.g., three siblings, three tasks). - Magic Objects and elements
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Examples from Ivanits, chapter 1: Cyclicity (ring, egg, drawing or walking in circles around something, circle dances), fertility (egg, seed, tree), purity (fire, water), bounty
(livestock, grain, fruits and vegetables, bread, feasting), return of the sun after winter (fire, birds, pussy willows, early bloomers), personifications of holidays (effigies), etc - 988
- Baptism of Rus' *Prince Vladimir the Great threw all of the Pagan gods into the River
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4 categories of stories about domovoi
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1)Those concerning relations between the spirit and his peasant family
2)Stories of relations between the domovoi and the livestock
3)Stories concerning the transfer of the domovoi and a
new home
4)Stories about the relations between the domovoi and other spirits -
Yuletite
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-Originally occured at winter and summer solstices
Christmas to the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi
-singing of ritual songs
-eating of certain foods
-processions
-mock funerals
-invited dead ancestors to share -
Shrovetide
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-carnival season preceding Lent
-characterized by gluttony
-mock battles, pancakes
-rituals with returning sun: lighting bonfire
-funeral meal was held for dead
/Mardi Gras
-Depended on yearly cycle of the sun
-fire=ritualistic purification and expelling the spirits
-Excessive eating=plentiful harvest and bounty -
Trinity Week
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Pentacost (50 Days after Easter)
The week preceding Palm Sunday
-baking of pastries
-Welcoming of Spring
-Pussy Willows=icons for early vegetation (Palm Sunday) - Ivan Kupalo
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St. John's Eve
- Summer Solstice
-Occurred on the longest day when vegetation was at its peak
-marked by lighting of bonfires
-Ritually destroyed a doll or scarecrow
!ST CYCLE-ENSURING HARVEST - Perun
- god of war/thunder god, Prince Vladimir’s god….more venerated by nobility than peasantry (who needed success in war)
- Khors
- sun god
- Dazhbog
- sun god, "god of blessing" cultural hero, found in all slavic cultures
- Stribog
- god of wind
- Simargl
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fertility god of vegetation
- Mokosh
- female, vegetative and human fertility
- Volos
- god of cattle
- Svarog
- blacksmith god/tools
- Leshii
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master of the forest and guardian of the beasts within; anthropomorphic, -Caused people to get lost in the forest
-multiple versions
-Beast protector⬦wolves ward off cows
-Interacted with with woodcutters, herdsman, and huntsman
- Vodianoi
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Purpose: to drown people
-blue color:when people drowned they were covered in this color
-referred to as “water devilâ€
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Miller
- -regarded as sorcerer because of relationship with the spirit—ratified friendship with special offerings such as bread & salt & vodka..mills are usually by rivers to turn the mills
- Polevoi
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spirit of the field, body=color of soil, not considered particularly evil in some areas, if he makes himself visible it makes for misfortune⬦moreso of a trickster, -Favorite time=noon, when peasants saw them
- poludnitsa
- female spirit of the fields, tall beautiful girl in white, appears around noon, could appear as a widow, can appear as a whirlwind of dust
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Rusalka
- Associated with the unclean dead, naked girls who left their homes to dance the khorovod (circle dance), Forms: Drowned maiden, The sign of a cross, a magic circle, incense, garlic, wormwood, a pin or poker, and certain verbal charms were adopted to render the rusalki harmless
- Domevoi
- related to the house specifically, active at night, peasants relied heavily on him to do chores, changed the color of their livestock, didn’t like to be seen. If you didn’t keep your house up, he could be mischevious, can be helpful.
- Kikimora/Shishimora:
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Associated with home (married to domovoi) A female spirit that, in some regions, was believed to be the wife of the domovoi. Chicken legs, scraggly hair, domestic protection/security. Oracle associated with disaster. Would tangle needlework at night if it wasn’t put away properly (work associated with women). Caused damage in the chicken yard, steals chicken eggs.
- Dvorovoi
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spirit of the courtyard, associated with livestock, could help or harm, more distant with people in home, indifferent to people who live there (more concerned ewith animals)
- Banik
- spirit of the bathouse, considered to be an unclean place, unclean dead wer thought to gather there, have to reserve 3rd or 4th steaming for the banik, there would be offerings, if the thing burned burned dow⬦they would make an offering. Bad things: burn down bathouse, could suffocate someone with steam, cause skin to burn/peel off **most dangerous spirt so far
- Avinik
- The most evil and dangerous, lives in the threshing barn, forbid fires from furnace on a windy day, known to burn down the barns, Made barn EXPLODE (grain-flammable)
- The Rule of Proximity
- The further a spirit is away from the home, the more dangerous he/she becomes
- Luthi
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Argued that fairy tales are dominated by *repitition*, rather than originality
Literary/stylistic approach to fairytales
(1D, multiD, depthlesness) -
One Dimensionality
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The natural and the supernatural are part of the
same world
e.g. magic helpers/magic objects such as Dreams are no different from reality
- Example of One Dimensionality
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Ivan the Peasant and the Thumb Sized Man
•Dragons are as matter of
fact as horses
•Rivers of fire are as unremarkable as rivers of
water
•Ivan doesn’t change his clothes, but he changes
himself effortlessly into a cat
•That a man can be “as big as a thumb†is not
surprising
•“Otherness†is the forest, not the dragons in it - Depthlesness
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People: no psychological depth, alienation from injury and violence
Objects: No stable presence, magic objects used once and then forgotten - Example of Depthlesness
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van has no meaningful family relationships
⬢
Ivan ages three years in one sentence with no visible
change
⬢
Magic helpers (old man at the beginning; amputee;
three assistants) have little biography, appear when
needed and then vanish forever
⬢
Amputation is not psychologically traumatic
⬢
Ivan marries the princess, but is never described as
being in love with her - Abstract Style
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Means of achieving Depthlessness
–Only the essential is mentioned
–Naming, rather than description
–Usually only one adjective at a time
–People and objects are described as simple substances
–Simple sequences of events
–Simple tasks
–Magic objects are perfectly suited to specific tasks
–Everything happens at just the right time
–Formulaic numbering - Example of Abstract Style
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Gold, silver, and copper pillars
⬢Small cast of characters, each of whom
performs only one function
⬢Plot driven: obtain means to achieve goal, achieve goal with minimal fuss, then move
on to next goal - naive realism
- The language of the individual (idolect) is real language
- idiolect
- Only a specific person at a given time represents reality, while everything else is only a theoretical, sceintific abstraction
- When does the existence of a folklorist construct begin?
- When is is accepted by a certain community
- Parole
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Concrete instances of the use of langue
-Set towards literature - Problems/Solution with motif classification system
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⬢ The solution: Morphology
⬢ Identification of primitive compositional
elements.
⬢ These elements occur in a specific order
(syntactic).
⬢ Specific actors change; their actions
(functions) are constant.
⬢ Number of specific actors is infinite, number
of functions is limited. - Examples of morphology
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Examples from Tales
⬢ A tsar gives an eagle to a hero. The eagle
carries the hero away to another kingdom.
⬢ An old man gives Suchenko a horse. The horse
carries Suchenko away to another kingdom.
⬢ A sorcerer gives Ivan a little boat. The boat
takes Ivan to another kingdom.
⬢ A princess gives Ivan a ring. Young men
appearing from out of the ring carry Ivan away
into another kingdom. - Features of Functions
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⬢ A function is an act of a character, defined
from the point of view of its significance for
the course of the action.
⬢ Functions are the stable, constant features of
tales, independent of how and by whom they
are fulfilled. Functions are the fundamental
features of tales.
⬢ There are only 31 Functions
⬢ Sequence of functions is always identical. - Tales and Functions
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• All fairy tales are of one type in regard to their
structure:
– Sequence of functions is always identical.
– No function excludes the possibility of any other
function.
– Some Functions occur in sets.