Name the distinguishing features of the epic. epics

Information sheet.

Get acquainted with the theoretical materials in your information card. Listen to the teacher's message. Complete the card with the information you need.

Bylina is a work of oral folk art, glorifying …………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The epic consists of the following parts:

1) sing-along (introduces the reader into the world of folk art);

2) beginning (the place of action, the name of the protagonist are indicated);

3) start (important event);

4) culmination (central event);

5) denouement (victory of the positive hero);

6) ending (glory to the hero).

Artistic features of the epic:

1) repetitions of words, expressions, episodes;

2) appeals;

3) trinity (the number three or multiples of three is often found).

An epic verse is a special verse based on an equal number of stresses in lines (more often in line 3 stresses) and the same arrangement of stressed syllables at the end of each line (more often the stress is the 3rd syllable from the end of the line).

Application №2

Epics. Artistic features of epics.

Oral folk poetry arose many centuries ago, when people could neither read nor write. (Slide 2 ends here)

Rich and varied folk art. In fairy tales, songs, people talked about important historical events, about his work, about his worries and sorrows, dreamed of a happy, just life. (Slide 3 ends here)

Folk wisdom, observation, accuracy and expressiveness of folk speech are embodied in proverbs, sayings, riddles. (Slide 4 ends here)

Of exceptional interest among the works of folk art are epics - artistic and historical songs about heroes, folk heroes. (Slide 5 ends here)

The main cycles of epics: Novgorod and Kyiv (Slide 6 ends here)

The action in most epics is timed to Kyiv. Some epics tell about the life, events and people of another largest city ancient Russia - Novgorod (epics about Sadko, about Vasily Buslaev). (Slide 7 ends here)

Kyiv epics are heroic (or heroic) epics. Heroic epics tell about the courageous defense of the motherland, about the heroes, their struggle against the nomadic enemies who attacked the country. (Slide 8 ends here)

Epics are built according to a certain plan.

Most epics begin with a beginning. It usually talks about the place of action or where and from where the hero went (Slide 9 ends here)

From that city from Murom, From that village and Karacharov, A remote, burly, kind fellow was leaving. glorious to the city to Chernigov, Whether that city of Chernigov is overtaken by something black-black, And black-black, like a black crow. (Slide 10 ends here)

Events in epics are presented in a strict order, sequentially. The story is told slowly, slowly. (Slide 11 ends here) Since epics lived in oral transmission, their performer said to focus the attention of listeners on places that were especially important, in his opinion. For this, repetitions are widely used in epics, usually three times. So, in the epic about Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber, the description of the power of the Nightingale the Robber is repeated three times. (Slide 12 ends here)

In order to give melodiousness to the epic, to make its presentation more expressive, musical, individual words are often repeated in the epics.

The straight road is jammed,

The path was choked up, muddied.

In the capital city in Kyiv,

At the affectionate prince at Vladimir. (Slide 13 ends here)

Repetitions are found not only in the text of the same epic. Similar actions and phenomena are described in different epics in the same way, for example, saddling a heroic horse, a feast at Prince Vladimir, enemy strength, the battle of heroes with enemies, etc. Such similar descriptions found in different epics (and in fairy tales) are called common places. (Slide 14 ends here)

Sometimes epics end with a special ending - a conclusion from the entire content of the epics:

Either old, or deed,

that is, it was so in the old days, this is a true story. (Slide 15 ends here)

Main character bylin - Russian hero. To more clearly represent the strength of the hero, the technique of hyperbole (exaggeration) is used. For example, this is how the battle of the hero with the enemy force is described. If the hero waves his right hand, a street is formed among the enemy camp, and an alley is formed with his left. The club (sword) of the hero weighs forty or even ninety pounds. (Slide 16 ends here)

If the hero falls asleep, then "a heroic dream for twelve days" (days). To match the hero and his horse: "the first lope of the horse - for many miles, and the second lope - and you can not find it." To emphasize the strength of the Russian hero, his enemy is depicted hyperbolically. The innumerable forces of the enemy "a gray wolf ... can't jump a day, a black crow can't fly around a day." (Slide 17 ends here)

In epics, as well as in the works of oral folk poetry in general, every word is precise and expressive. For centuries, folk singers and poets have improved the language of their poetic works, achieving the most accurate and vivid, expressive disclosure through the word of the most essential qualities of heroes and their actions. So, epithets are very rich and diverse in oral poetry - colorful definitions that indicate the most significant feature of people, objects, phenomena of life. (Slide 18 ends here)

Often the same epithets constantly characterize certain heroes, objects, phenomena of life, nature, etc. Therefore, they are called permanent epithets. In epics, for example, there are such constant epithets: a burly good fellow, great strength, glorious capital Kyiv-grad, a tight bow, a silk string, red-hot arrows. (Slide 19 ends here)

Comparisons are often used in epics:

Caught up with something black-black,

Black-black, like a black crow.

Pike-fish walk Volga in the blue seas,

Volga fly like a falcon under the shells,

Scour the open fields like a wolf. (Slide 20 ends here)

Negative comparisons are used:

Not a damp oak bends to the ground,

Not paper leaves spread out,

The son bows before the priest ... (Slide 21 ends here)

Wishing to emphasize any shade of the meaning of the word, which, according to the folk singer, is important for understanding the narrative, the narrators of epics widely use synonyms: “Volga began to grow and mother”; "And to yell and plow and peasant,"; “Here Ilya felt offended, for great annoyance it seemed ...” (Slide 22 ends here)

An important role in the language of epics is played by nouns with diminutive and endearing suffixes. They express the people's assessment of the heroes of epics. Bogatyrs are often called affectionate names: Ilyushenka, Dobrynushka Nikitich, Mikulushka Selyaninovich, etc. (Slide 23 ends here) Affectionate suffixes are also used in words denoting objects belonging to the hero. He has “hot arrows”, “saddle”, “bridles”, “felt”, “sweatshirts”, etc. (Slide 24 ends here)

The epic is pronounced in a singsong voice. Obeying the tune, the narrator puts stresses on certain words, while other words, without stresses, seem to merge into one word (“mother earth”, “field clear”). In this regard, sometimes the word has different stresses in the same epic (“Nightingale-Nightingale”, “young”, “young”, “young”). (Slide 25 ends here)

In ancient oral folk poetry there are epics telling about the peaceful, working life of the Russian people. These are household epics. The most important of them is the epic about Volga and Mikul. It glorifies people's work. In Ilya Muromets, the people sang the peasant-warrior, the hero - the defender of the motherland. In the image of Mikula, he glorified the peasant farmer, the hero - the breadwinner of the country.

Epics were created by tonic (it is also called epic, folk) verse. In works created by tonic verse, in poetic lines there may be different amount syllables, but there should be a relatively equal number of stresses. In an epic verse, the first stress, as a rule, falls on the third syllable from the beginning, and the last stress on the third syllable from the end.

Epics are characterized by a combination of real images that have a clear historical meaning and are conditioned by reality (the image of Kyiv, the capital prince Vladimir), with fantastic images (the Serpent Gorynych, the Nightingale the Robber). But the leading ones in epics are images generated by historical reality.

Often the epic begins with singsong. It is not connected with the content of the epic, but represents an independent picture that precedes the main epic story. Exodus- this is the ending of the epic, a brief conclusion summing up, or a joke (“there is an old thing, then an act”, “that’s where the old thing ended”).

The epic usually begins with conception, which determines the place and time of action. Following him is given exposition, in which the hero of the work stands out, most often using the contrast technique.

The image of the hero is at the center of the whole story. The epic grandeur of the image of the epic hero is created by revealing his noble feelings and experiences, the qualities of the hero are revealed in his actions.

triple or trinity in epics is one of the main methods of depiction (three heroes stand at the heroic outpost, the hero makes three trips - “Three trips of Ilya”, Sadko three times the Novgorod merchants are not invited to the feast, he also casts lots three times, etc. ). All these elements (trinity of persons, triplicity of action, verbal repetitions) are present in all epics. Hyperbole used to describe the hero and his deeds also play an important role in them. The description of the enemies (Tugarin, the Nightingale the Robber) is hyperbolic, as well as the description of the strength of the warrior-hero. There are fantastic elements in this.

In the main narrative part of the epic, the techniques of parallelism, stepwise narrowing of images, and antitheses are widely used.

The text of the epic is divided into permanent and transitional places. Transitional places are parts of the text created or improvised by the narrators during performance; permanent places - stable, slightly changeable, repeated in various epics (heroic battle, hero’s trips, horse saddle, etc.). Narrators usually learn with more or less accuracy and repeat them in the course of action. The narrator speaks freely in transitional places, changing the text, partially improvising it. The combination of constant and transitional places in the singing of epics is one of the genre features of the Old Russian epic.

The work of the Saratov scientist A.P. Skaftymov “Poetics and Genesis of Epics” is devoted to understanding the artistic originality of Russian epics, their poetics. The researcher believed that "epic knows how to create interest, knows how to excite the listener with the anxiety of expectation, infect with the delight of surprise and capture the winner with an ambitious triumph." one

D. S. Likhachev in the book “Poetics of Old Russian Literature” writes that the time of action in epics refers to the conditional era of the Russian past. For some epics, this is the idealized era of Prince Vladimir of Kyiv, for others, this is the era of Novgorod liberty. The action of epics takes place in the era of Russian independence, glory and power of Russia. In this era, Prince Vladimir reigns “forever”, heroes live “forever”. In epics, all the time of the action is attributed to the conditional era of Russian antiquity. 2

3. Bylina "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber"

Ilya Muromets - the main character Kyiv cycle epics. The most important of them: "Healing Ilya Muromets"," Ilya and the Nightingale the Robber", "Ilya and the Sokolnik", "Ilya in a quarrel with Prince Vladimir", "Ilya and Kalin the Tsar", "Ilya and the filthy Idolishche". The most ancient are the epics about the battle of Ilya Muromets with the Nightingale -a robber and about the fight with Sokolnik (his son).

Back in the 19th century, scientists thought about who was behind the epic image of the enemy of the Russian hero - the Nightingale the Robber. Some saw in him a mythical creature - the personification of the forces of nature, a beekeeper-dart frog, others expressed the opinion that this image was borrowed from the folklore of other peoples. Still others held the view that Nightingale is an ordinary person engaged in robbery. For his ability to whistle loudly, he was nicknamed the Nightingale. In the epic narrative, the Nightingale the Robber is depicted as a creature living in the forests with all its brood.

The epic tells about the military exploits of Elijah. He leaves home, from the village of Karacharovo, near Murom, to the capital city of Kyiv to serve Prince Vladimir. Along the way, Ilya accomplishes his first feat. At Chernigov, he defeats the enemy army that besieged the city.

Is it near the city of Chernihiv

Caught up with something black-black,

And it's black-black, like a black crow.

So no one walks around here as infantry,

No one rides on a good horse here,

The black raven bird does not fly,

The gray beast does not roar.

And Ilya, "a portly good fellow", began to trample this great force with a horse and stab with a spear. And he beat this great power. For this, the Chernigov peasants invited him to Chernigov as governor, but the hero did not agree, since he was going to serve the entire Russian land.

He is warned that the road to Kyiv is restless and dangerous:

Blocked up the path, muddied,

Like that one at the Dirt, at the Black one,

Yes, at that birch at the curse ...

Nightingale the Robber sits with oak cheese,

Sitting Nightingale the Robber Odikhmantiev 1 son. 2

The enemy of Ilya is depicted in the epic in an exaggerated way, his formidable strength is exaggerated. This is a rogue villain. He "whistles like a nightingale", "shouts like a beast". From this, "grass-ants gobble up, all the azure flowers crumble, the dark woods all bow to the ground, and that there are people, then everyone lies dead."

However, Ilya was not frightened by the warning of the peasants of Chernigov. He chooses the "straight road". The good heroic horse of Ilya, having heard the whistling of the Nightingale, "rests, stumbles on the baskets." But the hero is fearless. He is ready to make his second feat. The duel is described succinctly, in the epic tradition. Ilya takes a tight "explosive" bow, pulls on a "silk string", puts on a "hot arrow" and shoots. He fastens the defeated Nightingale to the "damask stirrup" and takes him to Kyiv. This is the first visit of the hero to Kyiv, no one here knows him yet. The prince himself turns to Ilya with questions:

"Tell me, you're off the hook,

Dear good fellow,

You somehow, well done, but the name is called,

Magnify, remote, in the fatherland?

The prince does not believe Ilya's story, he doubts that it is possible to drive along that road where many forces are overtaken and the Nightingale the Robber rules. Then Ilya leads the prince to the Nightingale. But the robber recognizes only the power of Elijah over himself, seeing in him a worthy opponent and winner, honors him above the prince. To the order of Vladimir to demonstrate his art, Nightingale replies:

"It's not with you that I'm having lunch today, prince,

And I don't want to listen to you.

I dined at the old Cossack Ilya Muromets,

Yes, I want to listen to him. "3

Then Ilya Muromets orders him to whistle "half a nightingale's whistle" and "half a beast's cry." But the Nightingale disobeyed and whistled with all his might. "The domes on the towers crooked, and the knees in the towers crumbled from him, the whistle of Nightingale, that there are little people, then everyone is dead." And Prince Vladimir "covers himself with a marten coat." Only Ilya stood on his feet. With the words: "It's enough for you to whistle and like a nightingale, it's enough for you to cry and fathers and mothers, it's enough for you to widow and young wives, it's enough for you to let little children go orphaned!" he cuts off the Nightingale's head.

The feat of Ilya was filled with special meaning for contemporaries who advocated the unification of Russian lands, for the integrity ancient Russian state. The epic affirms the idea of serving Russia, of accomplishing a national feat in its name.

The epic "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber" has features characteristic of the artistic originality of epics. This is a story genre. Events are depicted in development, characters in action. The bylina is characterized by peculiar expressive and pictorial means: triple repetitions (in the description of the silushka near Chernigov, the heroic whistle), hyperbole (the image of the Nightingale the Robber, the heroic horse Ilya), comparisons, metaphors, epithets (dark forest, grass-ants, azure flowers), diminutive suffixes, etc. Fantastic and real images are intertwined in the epic (Nightingale - Ilya).

4. Epic "Dobrynya and the Serpent"

Dobrynya Nikitich - the second most important epic hero Kyiv cycle. He came to replace the ancient Danube, but he is not only a hero-serpent fighter, but also a hero-diplomat. In a number of epics, Dobrynya performs various diplomatic missions for Prince Vladimir.

In the epic "Dobrynya and the Serpent" he performs a feat of arms - he defeats the Serpent, who brought a lot of grief to the Russian land. The plot of the epic came out of ancient fairy-tale folklore. The epic begins with a story about how the mother does not tell Dobrynya to go to the Puchay River to swim:

Mother said to Dobrynushka,

Yes, mother punished Nikitich:

"Don't you go far into the open field,

On that mountain and Sorochinskaya,

Do not trample on the young serpents,

Don't help out the Russians,

Do not swim, Dobrynya, in the Puchay River -

Puchay-river is very ferocious,

The middle trickle cuts like fire. "2

Fairy tales usually begin with this fabulous prohibition. Just like in a fairy tale, Dobrynya does not listen to her mother's advice and swims far. At this moment, the Serpent flies at him:

There is no wind, but a cloud has fallen,

There are no clouds, but if it rains,

And there is no rain, but only thunder rumbles,

Thunder rumbles and lightning whistles.

How the Serpent Gorynishche flies

And tyeh twelve about trunks. 3

The battle of the hero with the Serpent is depicted briefly: Dobrynya the Serpent hit, knocked off all his "trunks" and took his word not to fly to Russia anymore. Returning to Kyiv, Dobrynya learns that the Serpent again flew through Kyiv and carried away the niece of Prince Vladimir - Zabava Putyatichna.

Dobrynya sets off on a long journey to the Zmeya Caves. But, unlike fairy tale hero, who fights the monster for his own personal interests (liberation of the bride), he introduces a new hero who advocates public interests in the struggle for the integrity of Russia and its borders. The fairy-tale motif of the struggle for a woman becomes the motif of the struggle for the Russian polonyanka. In the epic, Dobrynya appears as a liberator Russian land. The bylina sings the glory of the hero, who freed not only Vladimir's niece, but also many other prisoners who languished in the Serpent's dungeon:

Then Dobrynya went into the hole,

In those holes and deep.

There sits forty kings, forty princes,

Forty kings and queens

And a simple force - that and the estimate is not.

Then Dobrynushka Nikitinich

He said to the kings, yes he to the princes

And to those kings and queens:

"You go there now, the cells have been brought.

And you, young Zabava daughter of Putyatichna,

For you, I have now wandered,

You'll go to the city to Kyiv,

And to the affectionate prince to Vladimir. "4

Dobrynya in all epics expresses his heroic qualities, jealously protects the dignity of the Russian warrior, he is reasonable in speeches, restrained, tactful, caring son and faithful husband. In all epics, these features of his appearance are revealed.

5. Epic "Volga and Mikula"

Bylina "Volga and Mikula" refers to Novgorod cycle epics. Already the first researchers drew attention to the sharp social sounding of the epic, where the image of the peasant-plowman Mikula Selyaninovich is clearly opposed to the image of Prince Volga Svyatoslavich, the nephew of Prince Vladimir of Kyiv. At the same time, other assumptions were made, according to which the images of not just a peasant and a prince, but two pagan gods were recreated in the epic: the god of agriculture - Mikula and the god of hunting - Volga. This is the interpretation of the famous 19th-century mythologist Orest Miller, who saw Mikul Selyaninovich as the "patron of agriculture in Russia." At the same time, Vsevolod Miller drew attention to everyday features in the epic, reflecting the features of agricultural labor in the north:

Yelling in the ratai field, urging,

The bipod at the ratai creaks,

Omeshiki underline pebbles,

That roots, stones twists,

Yes, he brings down great stones into the furrow.

“This is an accurate picture of northern plowing,” wrote V.F. Miller. 2

The plot of the epic is based on the story of the meeting of Prince Volga and his squad with the plowman-peasant Mikula. The epic opens with a story about the birth of Volga, about his maturity:

How Volga began to grow and swear here,

Volga wanted a lot of wisdom:

Pike-fish he walks in the deep seas,

He will fly like a falcon under the shell,

Like a gray wolf to scour and through open fields.

Volga collected a brave warrior for himself. The nephew of the Kyiv prince received three cities as a gift from Vladimir: Gurchevets, Orekhovets, Krestyanovets. He goes for tribute and in the open field he sees the plowman Mikula, who, working on the field, shows remarkable strength: "he twists the stump-roots, knocks large stones into the furrow." The plowman asks the prince how far he is on his way, and, having learned where he and his retinue are going, tells him what robbery people live in these cities. Volga, seeing his strength, offers the plowman to go with him "in comrades." The plowman agrees, his participation in the trip is necessary - the fight against robbery alone is beyond the power of the princely squad.

Mikula asks the prince's warriors to pull his plow out of the ground and throw it under a willow bush. However, it turns out that neither the squad nor Volga can do this work. And only the heroic strength of Mikula allows him to effortlessly, with one hand, pull the bipod out of the ground.

This is the end of some variants of the epic. According to others, Volga and Mikula come to the cities in which the prince appoints Mikula as governor, the townspeople ambush Volga, and Mikula saves his life.

Mikula is folk hero. He, like a hero-hero, expresses best qualities simple person. Bylina affirms respect for the hard work of the tiller, in which one must also show strength and heroism. Mikula's strength is in connection with the land, with the common people.

This epic is characterized by its artistic features. Element vernacular is striking. It is characterized by repetitions, epithets. With the help of epithets, a special poetic world is created. For example, the unusual plow that Mikula plows:

The bipod is maple,

Omeshiki on the bipod damask,

The bipod is silver,

And the horn on the bipod is red and gold. 3

With the help of epithets, a portrait of the hero is created:

And the orata's curls sway,

Isn't the sloping pearl crumbling;

In the orata's eyes, yes, the falcon is clear,

And his eyebrows are black sable. four

The storytellers describe the clothes of the hero: green morocco boots, a downy hat, a black velvet caftan.

Allegorically, Mikula reveals his folk roots. To Volga's question: "What is your name, are you called by your fatherland?" spoke oratay-oratayushko:

Oh, you Volga Svyatoslavovich!

I’ll plow something like rye and put it in stacks,

I'll put it in stacks and drag it home,

I’ll drag you home and thresh at home,

And I'll make beer and drink the peasants,

And then the peasants will praise me:

Young Mikula Selyaninovich!" 5

Artistic media in the epic are aimed at most vividly capturing the characters and their actions, the situation, expressing their attitude towards them.

6. Epic "Sadko"

Events in the epic unfold in the city of Novgorod. It breaks up into two parts (Sadko receives wealth and Sadko from the Sea Tsar). The main character is Sadko the harpist. At the beginning of the epic, he was neglected by the Novgorod boyars, they stopped inviting him to feasts. Offended, Sadko goes to Ilmen Lake, sits down on the "white-flammable stone" and begins to play "guselki yarovchaty". The Sea King liked his game:

How then in the lake the water stirred,

The king of the sea appeared

I left Ilmen from the lake,

He himself said these words:

"Ah, you, Sadko Novgorodsky!

I don't know how to welcome you

For your joys for the great,

For your gentle game." 1

The Sea King decided to help Sadko, to give him untold wealth. He ordered him to bet with Novgorod merchants that he would catch fish in the lake - golden feather. The king will send this fish to Sadko in nets.

Guslyar did just that and won three shops of red goods in a dispute with merchants, got rich, erected magnificent chambers, decorating them with marvelous paintings:

Sadke arranged everything in a heavenly way:

The sun is in the sky and the sun is in the chambers,

There is a month in the sky - and a month in the wards,

Stars in the sky - and stars in the chambers. 2

Sadko "invited noble guests to an honorable feast," who ate at the feast, got drunk and boasted of everything. Sadko boasted of buying up all the goods in Novgorod, bet richly with him. shops, in the morning more and more brought from all over Russia appeared in them. And Sadko realized that he was not a rich Novgorod merchant - richer than his glorious Novgorod. And if at the beginning of the epic the people's consciousness was on the side of the poor gusler, that he is richer and stronger than the whole trading city, deprived of the sympathy of the people. Bylina forces him to recognize the victory of Novgorod. It clearly expresses the idea of the trading power of the great city of northern Russia.

In the second part of the epic, Sadko, a rich merchant, equips ships and sets off with his comrades to trade overseas:

Strong weather converged on the blue sea,

Blackened ships stagnated on the blue sea:

And it beats with a wave, tears the sails,

Breaks blackened boats;

And the ships do not move from their place on the blue sea. 3

So the landscape is introduced into the epic. The ships stood on the sea - the Sea King does not let Sadko in, demands a ransom from him. At first, shipbuilders try to pay off with a barrel of pure silver, red gold, and everything beats with a wave, the sails break, and "the ships do not move from their place on the blue sea." Sadko guesses that the Tsar of the Sea demands "a living head in the blue sea." Three times they cast lots, who should go to the Sea King. And no matter how bad Sadko was, the lot fell on him. Taking only the harp, Sadko rushes into the depths of the sea.

The image of the underwater kingdom in the epic is real, the landscape is realistic:

In the deep blue sea.

Through the water I saw the red sun baking,

Evening dawn, morning dawn.

I saw Sadko: in the blue sea

There is a white-stone chamber ...

Before us is not fantasy, but a certain amount of conventionality. The king of the Sea himself is also depicted. In the epic, only one detail of his portrait is given: "the king's head is like a heap of hay." The singers use the technique of hyperbolization: the head of the king is compared with a pile of hay, which indicates its significant size and introduces an element of comedy.

How Sadko began to play in the gooselets of the yarovchata,

As the king of the sea began to dance in the blue sea,

How the king of the sea danced.

Sadka played for a day, played others,

Yes, Sadke and others also played,

And the king is dancing in the blue sea. 5

Grateful for the fun, the Sea King began to persuade Sadko to marry one of his thirty daughters. Meanwhile, in the blue sea, the water sways, ships crash, righteous people drown.

An Orthodox person in reality, in search of deliverance from misfortunes, always turns to Christian saints, which is also reflected in the bylina: "the people began to pray to Mykola Mozhaisk." It is no coincidence that the image of the Christian intercessor Mikola, the patron of all seafarers and sailors, is introduced into the epic. This shows the general Christian idea of Russian folklore:

The saint appeared before Sadko on the seabed:

He turned around and looked at Sadka Novgorodsky:

A grey-haired old man is already standing.

Sadka Novgorodsky said:

"I don't have my own will in the blue sea,

Ordered to play guselki yarovchata".

The old man says these words:

"And you pluck the strings,

And you break the pins.

Say: "I didn't have strings,

And the pegs were not useful,

Nothing else to play:

The yarovchatye gusels have broken." 6

Saint Mykola teaches the hapless guslar how to return to Novgorod. As a bride, he must choose the last daughter of the Sea Tsar - the girl Chernavushka. Following wise advice, in the morning Sadko found himself on land, and the girl he chose turned out to be the Novgorod river. In gratitude, Sadko built the cathedral church of Mykola Mozhaisky.

In the Novgorod chronicle, under 1167, the name of a certain Sadko Sytinets, who founded the church, is mentioned. Bylinny Sadko coincides with a real historical person.

V. G. Belinsky wrote about the Novgorod epics that all the rest of Russian fairy-tale poetry is visible in front of them. A new and special world is visible, which served as a source of forms and the very spirit of Russian life, and consequently of Russian poetry. About "Sadko" he writes: "The whole poem is imbued with extraordinary animation and full of poetry. This is one of the pearls of Russian folk poetry."

test questions for self-training of students

History of Russian epics (practical review of opinions and the time of the composition of the epic).
Scientific schools in Russian folklore about the origins of epics (mythological school, borrowing theory, historical school).
The problem of the historicism of Russian epics (use the plots of the epics "Volkh Vseslavevich", "Ilya and Svyatogor", "Dobrynya and Marinka", "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber", "Ilya's quarrel with Vladimir").
Socio-political structure, economy, culture and life of Russia in the depiction of epics (work on texts).

a) main:

1. Anikin, V.P. Russian oral folk art [Text]: Proc. / V. P. Anikin. - M .: Higher. school, 2009. - 735 p. (30 copies).

2. Karpukhin, I. E. Russian oral folk art [Text]: Educational and methodical allowance. / I. E. Karpukhin. - M., Higher. school, 2005. - 280 p. (75 copies).

3. Shafranskaya, E.F. Oral folk art [Text]: a textbook for higher education. Ped. educational institutions / E.F. Saffron. - M.: Publishing Center "Akadenmiya", 2008. - 352 p. (1 copy)

b) additional:

1. Anikin, V.P. Theory of folklore. Course of lectures [Text] / V. P. Anikin. - M. : KDU, 2004. - 432 p. (1 copy).

2. Buslaev, F. I. Folk epic and mythology [Text] / F. I. Buslaev. - M .: Higher. school, 2003 - 400 p. (6 copies).

3. Zhirmunsky, V. M. Folklore of the West and East [Text] / I. M. Zhirmunsky. - M. : OGI, 2004. - 464 p. (1 copy).

4. Meletinsky, E. M. The hero of a fairy tale [Text] / E. M. Meletinsky. - M. - St. Petersburg. : Academy of Cultural Studies¸Traditions, 2005. - 240 p. (1 copy).

5. Morokhin, V. N. Methods of collecting folklore [Text] / V. N. Morokhin. – M.: graduate School, 1990. - 86 p. (5 copies).

6. Pomerantseva, E.V. Russian oral prose [Text] / E.V. Pomerantsev. - M.: Enlightenment, 1975.- 271 p. (10 copies).

7. Propp, V. Ya. Russian fairy tale [Text] / V. Ya. Propp. - M. : Labyrinth, 2005. - 384 p. (3 copies).

8. Propp, V. Ya. Poetics of folklore [Text] / V. Ya. Propp. - M. : Labyrinth, 1998. - 352 p. (8 copies).

9. Propp, V. Ya. Morphology of a fairy tale [Text] / V. Ya. Propp. - Leningrad: Academia, 1928. - 152 p. Or any other publication (2 copies), or: [Electronic resource] - 1 electron. opt disk (CD-POM).

10. Propp, V. Ya. Historical roots of a fairy tale [Text] / V. Ya. Propp. - M. : Labyrinth, 2002. - 336 p. (5 copies).

11. Propp, V. Ya. Russian heroic epic [Text] / V. Ya. Propp. - M. : Labyrinth, 1999. - 640 p. Or any other edition (3 copies).

12. Putilov, B. I. Excursions into the theory and history of the Slavic epic [Text] / B. I. Putilov. - St. Petersburg. : Nauka, 1999. - 288 p. (1 copy).

13. Savushkina, N.I. Russian folk drama / N. I. Savushkina.- M .: Publishing House of Moscow. state un-ta, 1988. - 232 p. (2 copies)

in) Information Support disciplines FEB: Fundamental electronic library "Russian literature and folklore: http:///feb-web.ru/ Open Russian Electronic Library (Open Russian Electronic Library): http://orel/rsl/ru/ Student E-library: yttp://studlib/ru/ Folklore and post-folklore: structure, typology, semiotics: www/ruthenia/ru/folrlore/avantext/html/ Russian folklore in modern records: http://www.folk.ru/

Topic 3. HISTORICAL SONGS

The purpose of the lecture is to familiarize future culturologists with oral folk art as one of the foundations of Russian national culture.

Course objectives:

1. To help the student understand the basic patterns of the functioning of folklore as part of the national spiritual culture in the process of its emergence and development.

2. Develop skills in working with scientific literature, teach students to actively use the scientific apparatus in the process of theoretical understanding of the patterns of development of folklore.

3. To reveal the significance of folk poetry as one of the foundations of Russian national culture, its artistic and ethical value.

4. Promote awareness of the possibilities of using the moral potential of folk poetry in the subsequent cultural and educational activities of future specialists.

Plan

1. Song "Avdotya Ryazanochka".

2. Historical songs about Yermak and Ivan the Terrible. "Pravezh".

3. Songs about Stenka Razin. "Esaul reports the execution of Razin."

1. Song "Avdotya Ryazanochka".

Historical songs depict events related to Russian history. In the XIII-XV centuries, they are thematically connected with the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the struggle of the people against the foreign yoke. These include songs about Avdotya Ryazanochka, Shchelkan, Tatar captivity. They are patriotic.

The song "Avdotya Ryazanochka" reflects the episode Tatar-Mongol invasion, the capture of Ryazan. Ryazan was destroyed, its inhabitants were killed and driven into slavery:

Yes, I ruined Kazan 1 - a city under the forest,

Ruined Kazan de city to empty

He cut down all the princes of the boyars in Kazan,

Yes, and the princesses of the boyar -

He took those alive in full.

He captivated the people many thousands,

He led the Turkish to his land ... 2

The song tells about how the Turkish king Bakhmet took away all the surviving residents from the city. Only Avdotya remained in Ryazan, and she went to Bakhmet to help her loved ones out of trouble. Her path was hard and difficult. The conquerors left three great outposts on the roads:

The first great outpost -

Let rivers, deep lakes;

Another great outpost -

The open field is wide,

Became thieves-robbers;

And the third outpost - dark forests,

Unleashed fierce beasts.

And Avdotya went to the Turkish land.

She walked not by the way, not by the road,

Yes, the rivers are deep, the lakes are wide

Those she sailed,

And small rivers, wide lakes

Those she sailed,

And small rivers, wide lakes,

Yes, whether she wandered the ford. four

Finally Avdotya came to the king. He was struck by the woman's unheard-of courage, her love for loved ones, her patriotic feeling of love for her native land. In Avdotya's conversation with the king, elements of allegory, a kind of riddle, appear. Bahmet says:

"Yes, she was able with the king speech speak,

Yes, know how to ask the king for a full de head,

Yes, which head for more than a century will not make (-t) ".

This sounds like a riddle, and Avdotya Ryazanochka answers him that she will have a husband, and a father-in-law, and a son, and a daughter-in-law, and a mother-in-law, but there will be no beloved brother. The king, amazed by her wisdom, not only presented her with a golden treasury, but also returned all the captive Ryazanians. And they all returned home, and built the city of Ryazan in a new place. And this is a real fact.

The plot of the song, and possibly the image of Avdotya, are fictitious. Artistic fiction is based on epic and fairy-tale traditions. Graphic means, a hyperbolic image of the enemy (a description of Avdotya's path), and solving a riddle are associated with them. In the song, the life story of Avdotya and her family appears as an expression of a folk national tragedy.

2. Historical songs about Yermak and Ivan the Terrible. "Pravezh"

Other songs tell about events in the personal life of Ivan the Terrible, his struggle with treason. One of these songs is a song about Grozny's murder of his son.

The contradictory image of the tsar is presented in different ways in these songs, which is revealed in everyday conditions as well. So, in the song "Pravezh" (in Ancient Russia this was the name of the court, accompanied by physical punishments) the king is a witness to the massacre in the square over a good fellow, who is beaten on the right, putting on a "white combustible stone naked, barefoot and barefoot". The description of the poor fellow is repeated three times, which enhances the tragic moment of the massacre:

Well done is standing - he will not shake himself,

The Russians of his curls will not toss,

Only from the eyes of burning tears.

This picture is seen by the king passing by. He stops and asks the question: "Why are you torturing the good fellow?" And, having received an answer, he does not agree with the decision of the court to punish the young man for stealing the golden treasury and the “colored” dress, which he did not steal himself, but recaptured from robber thieves. The king believed the young man. He was also satisfied with the answer that he carried all these riches to drinking houses and watered all the tavern’s home: “And I watered all the tavern’s home, and dressed all our barefoot people in colored clothes.” The king made a right decision:

"Oh, you are a goy, kissing burghers!

Pay him fifty rubles for each hit,

And for dishonor, pay him five hundred rubles! ". 1

And this decision was really fair, since the young man did not spend these riches on himself, but clothed the people. The tsar was not only formidable, but also Orthodox (he judged in truth). These epithets are repeated in the song repeatedly.

3. Songs about Stenka Razin. "Esaul reports the execution of Razin"

In the 17th century, songs told about the events of the Time of Troubles (foreign intervention) and about peasant uprising under the direction of Stepan Razin. The songs, first of all, reflect the image of Razin himself with the real features of the historical prototype. According to the traditions of oral poetry, he is depicted as a good fellow: blond curls, a beautiful face with falcon eyes and sable eyebrows, a caftan belted with a wide belt, plush pants, morocco boots. In songs, the people call him a good fellow, a daring Cossack, a daring atamanushka. Epithets emphasize the love of the people for Razin. The songs of this cycle are characterized by the use of constant epithets: open field, dark forests, clear eyes, white hands. The image of Razin influenced contemporary folklore. These songs are filled with specific content. In describing individual episodes of the uprising, they are close to the truth of life. The songs tell about campaigns, about the capture of cities, about defeats and failures. The people mourn the death of Razin.

In the song "Esaul reports the execution of Razin" one feels sympathy and heartache:

At the dawn it was, brothers, at the morning,

At the rising of the red sun

At the sunset of a bright month.

Not a falcon flew through the sky

Yasaul walked around the garden...

We no longer have Ataman,

No Stepan Timofeevich,

Nicknamed Stenka Razin.

Caught a good young man

Tied up white hands,

They took me to stone Moscow

And on the glorious Red Square

Chopped off a wild head. one

A special place in Razin's folklore is occupied by songs about Razin's "son", i.e. about his scout, the envoy of the chieftain. They were distributed everywhere, including in the Volga region, and differed artistic expressiveness, capacity and dynamism. It is believed that the historical basis of the songs about the "son" are real facts. So, in the song “Sonny” of Razin in Astrakhan "it is sung:

Like in a city in Astrakhan

An unknown person showed up here.

Purely, scurrying around Astrakhan,

Smur caftan, black zipper open, walking,

Plat Persian sash in right hand bears...

This kid does not bow to anyone,

He doesn’t hit the headquarters or the officers with his forehead,

The Astrakhan governor will not be sued. 2

And even when they catch the "son" and bring him to the governor, he also holds on independently:

"I'm not from St. Petersburg, not from Kazan and not from Astrakhan,

In the morning my father will visit you."

Historical songs about Peter I and Pugachev. "Peter I will be recognized in a Swedish city", "Trial of Pugachev. Panin"

Historical songs were also dedicated to the reformer of Russian life, Peter I. In the songs, Peter is shown as an outstanding commander. They express the sympathy of the people for his activities. In the songs, he is an ideal king who cares about the welfare of his subjects, a brilliant commander, organizer of military victories. So, in the song "Peter I is recognized in a Swedish city" it is said about one episode of the reign of Peter I. The king secretly goes to the Swedish kingdom under the guise of a merchant. The song says that no one knows about it and does not know. In order to appear as a wealthy merchant, he fills his ships with pure silver, decorates with pure gold, and takes "very little silushka" with him. Peter orders to call himself not a sovereign, but an overseas merchant.

However, he is recognized in the "glass state" (Stockholm). The Swedish queen shouts to her subjects:

"Oh, you are a goy, my Swedish generals!

Lock your gates tight

You catch the white king soon!"

Talking about this event, the song emphasizes the courage and resourcefulness of Peter:

He guessed all the Swedish plans,

He soon rushed to the peasant's yard:

"You take it, take it, peasant, plenty of money,

You take me to the edge of the blue sea."

On the ships, the king leaves the chase. Enemies try to capture him, but to no avail. In an effort to catch the Russian tsar, the queen sends chase twice. And the persecutors ask Peter to take them with him, since there is no way back for them:

"You take, take, white king, us with you,

And you will not take us, father, with you,

We must not be, bitter, alive in the world.

After the refusal of the king, "the whole pursuit in the blue sea rushed." one

The people call Peter "our father". In this appeal, people's love for the autocrat is visible.

There are much fewer historical songs about Pugachev, because in the minds of the people he was a legitimate king, and not a free Cossack robber. It was impossible to add bandit songs about him. In Pugachev's songs, the people idealized the image of Pugachev, saw him as a defender, a hero, depicted him as rebellious, proud even in difficult times. life situations. This is shown in the song "The Trial of Pugachev. Panin", in which the ataman behaves proudly, independently, answering the question of the royal nobleman Panin:

Here Count Panin judged the thief Pugachev:

Tell me, tell me, Pugachenko, Emelyan Ivanovich,

Did he hang many princes and boyars?

I hung your brother seven hundred and seven thousand.

Thank you, Panin, that you didn't get caught:

I would add something

Epics are epic songs in which heroic events or individual episodes of ancient Russian history are sung. In its original form, epics took shape and developed during the period of early Russian statehood (in Kievan Rus), expressing the national consciousness of the Eastern Slavs.

Epics artistically summarized the historical reality of the 11th-16th centuries, but they grew out of the archaic epic tradition, inheriting many features from it. The monumental images of heroes, their extraordinary exploits poetically connected the real vital basis with fantastic imagination. As in fairy tales, mythological images of enemies appear in epics, characters are reincarnated, animals help heroes. Nevertheless, fantasy in the epic turned out to be subordinated to the historicism of vision and reflection of reality.

“When a person doubts that a hero could carry a club of forty pounds or one put a whole army on the spot,” wrote A.F. Gilferding, “epic poetry is killed in him. And many signs convinced me that the North Russian peasant singing epics, and the vast majority of those who listen to him unconditionally believe in the truth of the miracles that are depicted in the epic. From the point of view of the people, the significance of epics was to preserve historical memory, so their reliability was not questioned.

Epics were recorded mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries. in the Russian North - their main custodian: in the former Arkhangelsk province, in Karelia (the former Olonets province), on the Mezen, Pechora, Pinega rivers, on the coast of the White Sea, in the Vologda region. In addition, since the XVIII century. epics were recorded among the old-timers of Siberia, in the Urals, on the Volga (Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Simbirsk, Samara provinces) and in the central Russian provinces (Novgorod, Vladimir, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Kaluga, Tula, Oryol, Voronezh). Echoes of epics preserved Cossack songs on the Don, Terek, Lower Volga, Urals.

The content of the epic is varied. About 100 stories are known to science (in total, more than 3,000 texts have been recorded with variants and versions, a significant part of which has been published). Usually epics have a heroic or short story character. The idea of heroic epics is the glorification of the unity and independence of the Russian land; in novelistic epics marital fidelity, true friendship were glorified, personal vices (boastfulness, arrogance) were condemned. Epics condemned social injustice, the arbitrariness of princely power. The purpose of the epics was to glorify the national, social, moral and ethical ideals of the people.

The people called epics "old men", "old men", "old women" - that is, songs about real events of the distant past. The term "epic" is purely scientific; it was proposed in the first half of the 19th century. I. P. Sakharov. The word "epic" was taken by him from "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" ("These hymns have begun according to the epics of this time ...") and artificially applied to designate the folklore genre in order to emphasize its historicism.

The tunes of epics are solemn and majestic. It is assumed that in ancient times epics were sung to the accompaniment of a gusli, a stringed musical instrument. Later they were performed without musical accompaniment.

The rhythm of the epic verse is associated with the melody. There are four main stresses in the epic line, the fourth falls on the last syllable, the third on the third from the end. For example: Prince Vladimir says yes these are the words. The number of syllables in the verse and the place of the first two stresses are unstable. The fixedness of the third and fourth stresses led to the fact that in the last word a stress transfer could occur (Ilya went to the open field). If a the last word had three syllables or more, then when singing, the last stress of the line turned out to be its third main stress - usually on the third syllable from the end (The standing one led the good horse out of the stable). During singing, the final syllables could be stretched out, and those missing in the verse could be filled in with additional prepositions or particles (And along all the wide streets, Yes, along all the alleys of the princes).

A. F. Hilferding wrote: "... The correct tonic foot position is a fundamental, normal property of the Russian folk epic<...>The predominant meter, which I will call the ordinary epic meter, is a pure trochee with a dactylic ending.<...>The number of stops is indefinite, so the verse is extensible. Extensibility with the correct tonic size is a distinctive feature of Russian epic verse. But at the same time, it should be borne in mind that good singers have a very moderate extensibility of verse. A decisive predominance belongs to the verse of 5 and 6 feet, which can then expand to 7 and narrow to 4 feet; verses longer or shorter than that are allowed only as the rarest anomaly.

Epics reflected many historical realities. As noted by D. F. Hilferding, the northern singers conveyed the unfamiliar geography and landscape of Kievan Rus (split clear field), depicted the real struggle of the ancient Russian state against the nomadic steppe. Individual details of everyday life were preserved with amazing accuracy.

In 1928, in the Pudozh district of the Karelian ASSR, F. A. Konashkov recorded a version of the epic "Duke Stepanovich". The incalculable wealth of this Galician boyar was spoken of with the help of hyperbole: “We should sell Kyiv with Tsernigov, And buy papers with cinnamon, So after all, you can’t describe Dyukov’s estate, But peel the ecu of birezanka according to Risi. " [Sokolov-Chicherov. - S. 395].

The Novgorod birch bark letters mentioned by the epic were discovered by archaeologists only two and a half decades later, in the early 1950s.

Singing in epics certain events, storytellers never became like chroniclers. They did not seek to convey the chronicle sequence of history, but depicted only its central moments, which were embodied in the central episodes of epics. The singers were attracted not by the exact recording of history, but by the expression of its people's assessments, the display of people's ideals.

Epics conveyed the names of real-life persons: Vladimir Svyatoslavovich and Vladimir Monomakh, Dobrynya, Sadko, Alexander Popovich, Ilya Muromets, Polovtsian and Tatar khans (Tugorkan, Batu). However, artistic fiction allowed the singers to attribute them to an earlier or later historical time, allowed the combination of names. In the people's memory there was a distortion of geographical distances, the names of ancient countries and cities. The historically established idea of the Tatars as the main enemy of Russia supplanted the mention of the Polovtsy and Pechenegs; even the Lithuanian princes, from whom Russia defended itself, were mixed in epics with the Horde khans, and Lithuania - with the Horde.

The epic prince Vladimir the Red Sun combined two great princes: Vladimir I - Svyatoslavovich (reigning years: 980-1015) and Vladimir II - Monomakh (reigning years: 1113-1125). V. F. Miller, considering the epic "Stavr Godinovich", inclined to the assumption that it was composed in Novgorod land. Stavr was a Novgorod boyar and Sotsky, lived in the first quarter of the 12th century. and once he was imprisoned by Vladimir Monomakh, angry with him. The plot of the epic is also based on the fact that Prince Vladimir imprisoned Stavr in deep cellars. V.F. Miller wrote: "... this Novgorod work with the name of Vladimir Monomakh subsequently entered the epic cycle of the" affectionate "prince of Stolnokievsky Vladimir Seslavich. In general, the epic about Stavra is among our other epics the most striking example of the assimilation of Vladimir Monomakh with Vladimir the Holy" .

Zueva T.V., Kirdan B.P. Russian folklore - M., 2002

epics- folk songs about exploits heroes, preserved in the north of Russia in the memory of singer-storytellers. Epic songs that sing of heroic events. Epics artistically summarized the reality of the 11th-16th centuries.

Epics were recorded mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries in the Russian North - their main keeper: in the former Arkhangelsk province, in Karelia, on the Mezen, Pechora, Pinega rivers, on the coast of the White Sea, in the Vologda region. In addition, starting from the 18th century, epics were recorded among the old-timers of Siberia, the Urals, the Volga and in the central Russian provinces. Echoes of epics have been preserved by Cossack songs on the Don, Terek, Lower Volga, and the Urals.

The content of the epic is varied. About 100 plots are known to science, more than 3,000 texts have been recorded with variants and versions, a significant part of which has been published. Usually epics have a heroic or short story character. The idea of heroic epics is the glorification of the unity and independence of the Russian land, in short story epics marital fidelity, true friendship were glorified, personal vices were condemned. Epics condemned social injustice, the arbitrariness of princely power. The people called epics "old men", "old men", "old women". The term "epic" is purely scientific; it was proposed in the first half of the 19th century by I.P. Sakharov. The word "epic" was taken by him from "The Tale of the Regiment" and artificially applied to designate the folklore genre in order to emphasize its historicism.

Singing certain events in epics, the narrators never became like chroniclers, they did not seek to convey the chronicle sequence of events, but depicted only the central moments. The singers were attracted not by the exact recording of history, but by the expression of its people's assessments, the display of people's ideals.

Epics conveyed the names of real-life persons: Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Vladimir Monomakh, Dobrynya, Sadko, Alexander Popovich, Ilya Muromets, Polovtsian and Tatar khans (Batu, Tugorkan). So the epic prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko combined Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Vladimir Monomakh. Dobrynya Nikitich, uncle of Vladimir Svyatoslavich, lived in the 10th-early 11th centuries. there are chronicles about him. For example, the epic Dobrynya is the matchmaker of Vladimir Svyatoslavich. Historical Dobrynya acted in this role in 980, when Vladimir decided to marry the Polotsk princess Rogneda.

In the 12th century In Novgorod there was a merchant named Sotko. Sadko is the hero of the Novgorod epics.

Ilya Muromets is mentioned in Russian written sources in the 16th century, and in the German oral tradition he has been known since the 13th century. According to some legends, in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra there was a tomb with the relics of Ilya Muromets. The rise of Ilya Muromets over other heroes was facilitated by the fact that he came from North-Eastern Russia, which from the 12th century began to play a leading role among the ancient Russian lands.

Putilov. Russian historical and song folklore.

Epics are works whose plots are the result of artistic fiction. This fiction is always based on historical reality, but not in the form of specific events and facts. The epic is an artistic generalization of the historical experience of the people of an entire era. In this generalization, the historical ideals of the people are in the foreground.

COLLECTION HISTORY. A significant difficulty is created by the fact that we have not reached, and perhaps did not have at all, records of epics earlier early XVII century. The oldest B. records are only 300 years old. Taking into account the inevitable variability of any folklore text in oral transmission from generation to generation, we have to admit that even our most ancient records of B. did not preserve B. in their original content and form. Later records of epics, made by scholarly collectors from the lips of the people in the 18th-20th centuries, quite naturally included a number of even further "layers" and underwent more or less changes and additions from a long series of generations of individual storytellers. The restoration of the original form of each B. and its further evolution can be (and only relatively) done only on the basis of a careful comparison and comparison of all B. variants that have come down to us, both old and new records.

This explains why scholars of folklore so cherish each old manuscript with an epic text and each new entry by B. on the same plot. B. plots, there are only about 40, while records of B. texts now have accumulated more than 1,500 numbers.

The oldest recording of Russian epic songs is a recording of historical songs, almost contemporary with the events sung in them, made for the Englishman Richard James, who lived in Russia in 1619-1620. Actually B. texts in the manuscripts of the XVII century. we got five. The oldest handwritten text is “The Tale of the Kyiv Bogatyrs, how they went to Constantinople and how they beat the Constantinople heroes and did themselves honor” (at the end of the text, this “Tale” is called the “Bogatyr Word”). This and similar handwritten texts of B. of the 17th century. should be considered together with other handwritten B. texts XVIII and early XIX centuries

From the middle of the XVIII century. A wonderful collection of epics has come down to us, compiled by the Cossack Kirsha Danilov for the rich Ural breeder Demidov and containing over 70 songs.

The discovery of the riches of the Russian epic epic falls on the 60-70s. 19th century In 1861-1867, “Songs collected by P. N. Rybnikov” (224 numbers of B.) were published, and in 1872 - “Onega B.”, recorded in 1871 by A. F. Gilferding (318 numbers).

During 1862-1874, issues of the posthumous work “Songs collected by P. V. Kireevsky” were published (11 volumes in total).

two collections: N. S. Tikhonravova and V. F. Miller, Young then-scientific collectors made trips for B. to different parts of this vast province; as a result, science has been enriched by detailed collections of B.: A. V. Markova, “Belomorskie B.”, M., 1901 (116 issues); A. D. Grigorieva (total 424 issues), “Arkhangelsk B. and historical songs”, vol. I, M., 1904 and vol. III, M., 1910 (volume II was not released) and N. E. Onchukova, "Pechorsky B.", in the Saratov region (M. and B. Sokolov and others - 24 numbers), in Siberia (Tan-Bogoraz, Gulyaev and others - 27 numbers); quite significant B. material was recorded among the Cossacks of the Don, Terek, Ural, Orenburg (collections of Listopadov, Arefin, Dogadin, Zheleznov, Myakushin, Pankratiev, Karpinsky - information about all these records is combined in the article by V. F. Miller - “Cossack epic songs XVI and XVII centuries" in his "Essays on Folk Literature", vol. III, M., 1924).

Epic classification:

heroic epics will differ from B. short stories, as they have long been Sun. Miller distinguished by content. In the epics of the heroic movement is centripetal to the main acting person- a rich man. It does not always develop in a straight line, but very often with sudden shifts in the opposite direction. A favorite technique of heroic B. is the reception of antithesis (Ilya, contrary to the warning inscription at the crossroads of three roads, travels along them and refutes these warnings with his actions; Dobrynya does not obey the instructions of his mother and bathes in the Puchay River, etc.). Similarly to the method of antithesis in the development of action in heroic epics, we see the same method of contrast in the organization of the image of B. heroes. At the beginning of B., the hero is not underestimated, even slandered, the enemy seems to be more significant than him, stronger, then all this 13 is immediately refuted by the further, especially the final moment of the heroic battle: the hero alone cracks down on a hostile force of many thousands. In contrast, for example, such couples as Ilya and Idolishche, Potanya and Kostruk, Dobrynya and Serpent, etc. are depicted. various forms hyperbolization of both the appearance of epic heroes and their attributes, and their actions, exploits.

B. short stories (Churila and Katerina, Alyosha and Dobrynya, Khoten Bludovich, and others), in contrast to the heroic short stories, include significantly more elements of purely dramatic action. Various forms of dialogue play an important role in the poetics of B., and in heroic, military B. dialogue, or direct speech in general, is less common than in short story B., for which the dialogical form of presentation is largely a formal sign of a special B. .genre. Dialogue performs an essential dynamic function in the structure of B. - it largely moves the action in B.

Epics are also combined into cycles:

By time

By territory

By heroes

Kyiv and Novgorod cycles

Ticket 27. the main plots of Russian epics. Novgorod and Kyiv cycles.

Plots of epics. The number of epic plots, despite the many recorded versions of the same epic, is very limited: there are about 100 of them. There are epics based on matchmaking or the struggle of the hero for his wife ( Sadko, Mikhailo Potyk, Ivan Godinovich, Danube, Kozarin, Nightingale Budimirovich and later - Alyosha Popovich and Elena Petrovichna, Hoten Bludovich); fighting monsters Dobrynya and the snake, Alyosha and Tugarin, Ilya and Idolishche, Ilya and the Nightingale the Robber); fight against foreign invaders, including: repelling Tatar raids ( Ilya's quarrel with Vladimir, Ilya and Kalin, Dobrynya and Vasily Kazemirovich), wars with Lithuanians ( Bylina about the arrival of Lithuanians).

Stand apart are satirical epics or epics-parodies ( Duke Stepanovich, Competition with Churila).

The main epic heroes. Representatives of the Russian "mythological school" divided the heroes of epics into "senior" and "junior" heroes. In their opinion, the “elders” (Svyatogor, Danube, Volkh, Potyka) were the personification of elemental forces, epics about them in a peculiar way reflected the mythological views that existed in Ancient Russia. The “younger” heroes (Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich) are ordinary mortals, heroes of a new historical era, and therefore are endowed with mythological features to a minimal extent. Despite the fact that serious objections were subsequently raised against such a classification, such a division is still found in the scientific literature.

The images of heroes are the national standard of courage, justice, patriotism and strength (it was not for nothing that one of the first Russian aircraft, which had an exceptional carrying capacity for those times, was called the creators of "Ilya Muromets").

Epics are divided into:

Kyiv.

Epic Kyiv is a symbol of the unity and state independence of the Russian land. Here, in the court of Prince Vladimir, the events of many epics take place. The military power of Russia is personified by heroes. Among the heroic epics, those in which Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich act are put forward in the first place. These main defenders of the Russian land come from three estates: peasant, princely and priestly. Epics sought to present Russia as a united in the fight against enemies.

Ilya is a peasant son, originally from the village of Karacharova near the city of Murom. Until the age of thirty, he was ill - he could not control his arms or legs. The poor wanderers cured Ilya and endowed him with unprecedented strength. The enormous power of Ilya should benefit all of Russia, so he rushed to Kyiv. Along the way, he accomplished his first feats: he defeated the enemy troops near Chernigov, freed the road from the nightingale-robber.

After Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich is most loved by the people. This is a hero of princely origin, he lives in Kyiv. The main business of his life is the military service of Russia.

The heroic feat of Dobrynya is depicted by the epic “Dobrynya and the Serpent” - a story about how, on the Puchay River, Dobrynya fought off a snake with one hat, knocking off three trunks from it. The snake prayed and offered to make peace. Dobrynya released the snake, but then he saw how he grabbed the prince's daughter and went to rescue her. This time the battle was long, but Dobrynya won.

Epics were created by tonic (it is also called epic, folk) verse. In works created by tonic verse, the verse lines may have a different number of syllables, but there should be a relatively equal number of stresses. In an epic verse, the first stress, as a rule, falls on the third syllable from the beginning, and the last - on the third syllable from the end.

Often the epic begins with singsong. It is not connected with the content of the epic, but represents an independent picture that precedes the main epic story. Exodus- this is the ending of the epic, a brief conclusion, summing up, or a joke (“there is an old thing, then an act”, “that’s where the old thing ended”).

In the main narrative part of the epic, the techniques of parallelism, stepwise narrowing of images, and antitheses are widely used.

The text of the epic is divided into permanent and transitional places. Transitional places are parts of the text created or improvised by the narrators during performance; permanent places - stable, slightly changeable, repeated in various epics (heroic battle, hero's trips, horse saddle, etc.). Narrators usually learn with more or less accuracy and repeat them in the course of action. The narrator speaks freely in transitional places, changing the text, partially improvising it. The combination of constant and transitional places in the singing of epics is one of the genre features of the Old Russian epic.

The work of the Saratov scientist A.P. is devoted to understanding the artistic originality of Russian epics, their poetics. Skaftymov "Poetics and Genesis of Epics". The researcher believed that "epic knows how to create interest, knows how to excite the listener with the anxiety of expectation, infect with the delight of surprise and capture the winner with an ambitious triumph." one

D.S. Likhachev in the book "The Poetics of Old Russian Literature" writes that the time of action in the epics refers to the conditional era of the Russian past. For some epics, this is the idealized era of Prince Vladimir of Kyiv, for others, this is the era of Novgorod liberty. The action of epics takes place in the era of Russian independence, glory and power of Russia. In this era, Prince Vladimir reigns “forever”, heroes live “forever”. In epics, all the time of the action is attributed to the conditional era of Russian antiquity. 2

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Features of the epic genre