Distinctive features of the epic as a genre. The concept of epic

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 and songs, people talked about important historical events, about their work, about their 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 Kiev (Slide 6 ends here)

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

Kiev 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 Kiev,

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)

The main character of the epics is a 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 perfected 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 Kiev-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-clean”). 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.

Bylina is a folk-epic song written in tonic verse. Each work consists of a verse, a beginning and an ending. The first part of the epic was rarely associated with the main plot, mostly the introduction was written to attract attention. The beginning is the main event to which the epic is dedicated. The ending is the last part of the epic, in which, as a rule, there is a solemn feast dedicated to the victory over enemies.

There are several types of melodies of epics - strict, stately, fast, cheerful, calm and even buffoonish.

Each legend was distinguished by a patriotic character, its plots were always laudatory and told about the invincibility of Russia, the virtues of the prince and brave defenders who immediately came to the rescue if trouble threatened the population. The term "epic" itself began to be used only from the 1830s, it was introduced by the scientist Ivan Sakharov. The real name of the songs about heroes is “old times”.

The main characters in were mighty heroes. The characters were endowed with superhuman strength, courage and courage. The hero, even alone, could cope with anyone. The main task of these characters is to protect Russia from the encroachments of enemies.

Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich and Vladimir the Red Sun - these can be found in almost every legend. Prince Vladimir was the ruler of the Russian lands, and the heroes were the hope and protection of the Russian people.

Authors of epics

Many facts concerning the authors of epics, the time and territory of their writing remain a mystery until our days. Most researchers have come to the conclusion that the most ancient legends were written no more than three hundred years ago. On Wikipedia, for example, you can explore several different theories and facts that scientists have identified.

The prevailing number of epics was recorded by scholar-collectors from the words of the inhabitants of certain areas. In total, there are about forty plots of legends, but the number of texts already reaches one and a half thousand copies. Each epic is of particular value for Russian culture, folk, as well as for folklorists.

Narrators could be people of different professions, so in the texts they mentioned comparisons that were more understandable and close to them. According to the narrator-tailor, for example, a severed head was compared to a button.

Epics were not written by one author. These are the legends that the Russian people made up, and the lyrics were passed down from generation to generation. Songs were performed by certain people who were called "narrators". This one had special qualities. The fact is that bylinas were never memorized by narrators, so the narrator had to independently connect plots, select comparisons, memorize important facts and be able to retell them without distorting the meaning.

Epics created 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 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 Kiev, 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. is devoted to understanding the artistic originality of Russian epics, their poetics. Skaftymov "Poetics and Genesis of Epics". The researcher believed that “The 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.” 1

D.S. Likhachev in the book "The Poetics of Old Russian Literature" writes that the time of action in epics refers to conditional era of the Russian past. For some epics, this is the idealized era of Prince Vladimir of Kiev, 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

) Problems of the historical study of folklore in the works of Propp "Russian Heroic Epic", Rybakov "Ancient Russia. Tales, epics, chronicles"

Folklore and history are inseparable from each other. The historical school was engaged in the connection of Russian folklore with national history, the preservation of historical memory in folklore. I.sh. was one of the most influential trends in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is actually a Russian direction. Even in the preface to the collection of Kirsha Danilov (1818), we see a comparison of folk heroes with chronicles (Sadko and V. Buslaev - with the heroes of the Novgorod chronicles). At a time when the myth school dominated folkloristics, Maikov's book "On the epics of the Vladimir cycle" was published. 1885 - Khalansky's work "Great Russian epics of the Kiev cycle", where he proved that these epics date back to the 15-16th centuries. Veselovsky "South Russian epics" - a lot from the historical school. The principles of the school were finally formed by V. Miller in "Essays on Russian Folk Literature". 1) The difference from the migration theory is the nationalization, and not the universalization of plots. Rarely uses the comparative method. 2) He insisted on a deep study of the names of the characters - he believed that they could not be introduced by chance, there is always a connection between the epic name and the historical name. "Names are stronger than plots." 3) conclusion about that. that epics were created in the princely squad and 4) epics were carefully developed and transmitted among professional singers and were preserved through training. 4 questions about the epic: where? when was it created? in connection with what? what a poetic sources? The result - the systematization of epics, the creation of "historical. geography" of the Russian epic. The traditions of the Miller School continued to evolve into the 20th century. Often there was a controversy between representatives of different schools. The representative, Rybakov, insisted on clarifying the connections with the history of Dr. Russia and widely used. Chronicles, facts of history and archeology.

The problem of the historicism of the Russian heroic epic was posed in the collective work “Russian Folk Poetic Creativity” (vol. I, M., 1953) in the articles of D. S. Likhachev, V. P. Adrianov-Peretz and other scientists who paid attention to the reflection of folk consciousness of historical reality, on the ideological content of epics. Decisive rejection of the principles of the historical school given by V. Ya. Propp in the work "Russian Heroic Epic", where the author deeply substantiated the position that the Russian people did not reproduce so much in his epic historical reality, how much did he express his aspirations and ideals, and the epics themselves arose long before the beginning of the Kievan state. The relationship between myth and heroic epic was considered in the works of E. M. Meletinsky "The Origin of the Heroic Epic" (M., 1963) and V. M. Zhirmunsky "Epic Work of the Slavic Peoples and Questions of Comparative Study of the Epos" (M., 1953).

B. A. Rybakov, taking as a basis the thesis of B. D. Grekov “Epic is a story told by the people themselves”, in his famous book “Ancient Russia. Legends. Epics. Chronicles" (M., 1963) considers epic tales as the first form of historical narrative. The purpose of the epic is the education of young people, their preparation for real trials. The author emphasizes the progressive orientation of epics, the glorification of the fundamentally new. However, B. A. Rybakov sees a split in the development of the heroic epic: one direction glorifies the princes, the other remains popular. According to the author, epics do not restore the actual canvas, but in their totality they give a reliable history. “Being historically comprehended,” writes B. A. Rybakov, “the Russian epic epic can become an invaluable historical source, but, of course, not to restore the outline of events, but to study people's ratings certain periods, individual events and persons".

In the monograph "Ancient Russia. Legends. Epics. Chronicles" Rybakov spent parallels between epic stories and Russian chronicles. B. A. Rybakov in his analysis of Russian chronicles (“Ancient Russia. Legends. Epics. Chronicles”) drew attention to the subjectivity of the chroniclers - the authors of The Tale of Bygone Years. Along with a careful attitude to the source, the chronicler, who was at the same time an author, compiler, compiler and editor, was strongly influenced by church and princely circles. It is their involvement that explains the contradictions of the annalistic text and some deliberate omissions of the Tale, in which attempts are visible to justify the existing system and its representatives. If epics give a folk one, then the chronicle gives a court assessment of events. B. A. Rybakov sees in The Tale of Bygone Years the desire to smooth out life's contradictions through broad social demagogy in the church spirit. In some cases, the "Tale" comes to the actuality of the depiction of events, in particular in stories about the rivalry between the older and younger squads, in the polemic against Svyatopolk and in the idealized image of Monomakh. A number of important observations and conclusions of the historiographic plan were made by B. A. Rybakov in later works: "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and His Contemporaries (M., 1971), "Russian Chroniclers and the Author of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"" (M., 1972) and others.

PROPP

Primitive communal system. V.Ya. Propp is convinced that the heroic epic began to take shape long before the start of feudal relations. Since there are no direct traces of the existence of such a phenomenon, he cites as an example the numerous peoples who inhabited the territory of the USSR, who were delayed in development at the level of decomposition of the primitive communal system. All of them have a heroic epic. Using the comparison method, the scientist reveals the development of the epic from mythology in the epic songs of the peoples of Siberia and the Far North; the transition of heroic deeds from the struggle for the family unit (lyrical feelings do not play a role) to the protection of the native people or battles against the oppressors; transformation of elemental hosts into hostile monsters; high morale common to all heroes and willingness to forget their interests for the common good (often they are leaders); exaggerated appearance and actions of heroes and their enemies. The epic testifies to the beginning of the struggle for a new social order: so the family is a factor that destroys tribal relations, and the chivalry of the hero is not a sign of the past, where support was implied by itself, but a reaction to the emergence of class inequality and exploitation.

Kievan Rus and the period of feudal fragmentation. The epic of Kievan Rus is not considered as a continuation of the epic that developed in the era of the tribal system. State relations required not the development of previous ideas, but the approval of new ones, therefore, the epic shows not the remnants of the old in the new, but a conflict of worldviews belonging to these two always opposing times. In new and reworked old songs, the people reflected the intense struggle against foreign invaders, created images of heroes-defenders of the fatherland. Epics of the Kiev or Vladimir cycle are united by a common center - Kiev, the head of which, Prince Vladimir ("Red Sun"), are the heroes. The image of Vladimir is twofold. From the period of the progressive development of the state, he inherited the role of the people's leader, while class stratification later creates a social conflict between the heroes and the prince, who has become the head of his class. The secondary image of Vladimir's wife, Princess Eupraxia (Opraksa) changes somewhat differently. From the tribal system, she, as a woman, can get the role of the enemy’s handyman, as, for example, in the epic about Alyosha and Tugarin, in the future she is endowed with the features of a heroic woman, in particular, saving Ilya Muromets from the wrath of her husband. Epic Kiev served the people as a banner of unity, although it was not one. Bogatyrs from various regions become heroes of the epic only from the moment they arrive in Kiev. They serve the Motherland and always come to the prince of Kiev voluntarily. Specific wars are not reflected at all in the Russian epic, because they were not popular. The service of the heroes to the specific princes is also not reflected.

Period of the centralized state. With the creation in the tenth century. new powerful state, the aspirations of the people for unification and national independence came true. Former epics began to receive the names of "stars", but they are not forgotten, but belong to the area of ​​the heroic past. Military functions are transferred to the historical song. With the growth of class antagonism, epics about the social struggle come to the fore. We have met such songs before, but now they are losing their monumentality, winning at the same time in realism, they describe life and estates more widely, class conflicts become the main theme. Women begin to play a new role, their new positive images arise. Types of mighty heroes stop in their development, ceasing to enter new songs. The epic begins to approach the ballad, but its spirit remains heroic.

Soviet time. The expeditions of Soviet scientists showed not only the existence of the epic in its last stronghold, the Russian North, but also the gradual cessation of the epic tradition [see. details: pp. 546-548]. Nevertheless, we can talk about a new epic epic. The author discusses this problem on the example of the famous singer M.S. Kryukova. Her talent was discovered in 1934. In Soviet times, she was actually the only performer who consciously devoted herself not only to preserving the existing heritage, but also to creating songs with a qualitatively new content. Kryukova creates new topics herself on the material of old epics and fairy tales, draws from fiction, popular science literature and the media. She overcame the isolation of the old epic, but the life of her contemporaries did not become the subject of chanting. The new content did not fit well into the old forms, often influencing the transmitted information. The epic form of the epic has outlived its own, it has become part of the heritage of national culture. The epic continues to exist in a different form, its best achievements have an impact on the heroic poetry and literature of the tradition.

(from ready tickets)

Historical periodization, specifics:

1) mythological period(based on the collision of epics and mythology, epic stories are born) - the time of distribution and initial development of epic songs. The end of this period falls on the ninth century. Ancient: epics about Svyatogor (the embodiment of gigantic clouds in the imagination of people; an epic about the adventure of Ilya Muromets with his wife Svyatogor (and she is cheating on him) - a parallel with the Arabian tales "A Thousand and One Nights"; Svyatogor was deprived of strength after cutting his hair (parallel with the history of the Old Testament Samson and Delilah); the image of Svyatogor could reflect ideas about mountain giants (Ilya Muromets saw him asleep on a horse among the mountains)), about Volkh Vseslavevich ((werewolves, sorcerers, wizards) epic Volkh - a warrior-hero, possesses prophetic knowledge and the ability to turn into different animals and birds, he is the son of a snake and a woman, his birth is accompanied by formidable phenomena - the earth shook; he can turn into a gray wolf; in later revisions, Volkh turned into Prince Volga, the defender of Kievan Rus, connection with Oleg), the Danube and Potyka .

2)Kiev period- from the ninth century. until the middle of the twelfth century (epic songs focused the action around Kiev and the capital prince of Kiev). Separately existing epic songs received an impetus for unification (cyclization - the unification of plots around individual characters and places of action); in their generalizations, epics gradually acquired historical concreteness (a change in historical consciousness in the conditions of modern times); the concept of the significance of the great Kievan power (in the face of the threat of attack); they sang about Kiev as the center of Russian glory; the epic made the object of the image the social life of Russia - historicization (traditional generalizations with a specific

assessment of his era); almost all epics are about Vladimir, Dobryn Nikitich. (Epic about the battle of Dobrynya with the Danube); the main feature of epics is historicism; heroes do not seek personal gain; the gradual conversion of epics into a purely historical genre.

3) Vladimir-Suzdal period - from the middle of the XII to the end of the XIII. (at this time, epics were formed with Ilya Muromets at the head) (associated with the development of the North-East.). In the north and northwest - Novgorod epics. After the loss of power by Kiev in the north-east of Russia - in the Rostov, Murom and Vladimir-Suzdal lands, a new state formation arises. In the minds of the people of North-Eastern Russia, the idea that they are the successor to the history of Kievan Rus is growing stronger. This view determined the originality of the epic. North-Eastern Russia introduces its heroes into the epic - people from these lands - Ilya Muromets (in the city of Muromets) (he replaced Dobrynya Nikitich in the title role). The epic of the formative era includes epics about matchmaking: epic songs about Sadko, about Mikhail Potyk, Kozarin, Ivan Godinovich, the Danube, Nightingale Budimirovich, they are associated with songs about getting a wife in the other world or in foreign lands (Sadko goes to the underwater world; in the epic about Potyk, the hero meets, but does not get his wife; the struggle for the bride is replaced by the struggle against the bride (“Dobrynya and Marinka”); the real hero is only Kozarin, who saves the girl from the kidnappers). There are epic songs about the fight against monsters (epics about Dobrynya the snake fighter - it is characteristic that now the hero becomes the liberator of the entire Russian land, and not only fights with the snake for the liberation of a woman, about Alyosha and Tutarin, about Ilya and Nightingale). The heroes in these epics have a real appearance, and their antagonists are zoomorphic and hyperbolic combinations. This also includes epics of a fabulous nature (“Dobrynya and Alyosha”, “Ilya Muromets and Son”), epics about the struggle of the Russian people with the Mongol-Tatar invasion (this is a new formation). With regard to the latter: specific realities are increasingly penetrating into traditional forms, as the narrative is more and more consistent with the ist. in reality - a historical reflection of the ancient Russian belief in signs, a picture of city walls with coal towers, a clear organization of the enemy army (the name of the invader is most often Kalin, which can be replaced by Batu and Mamai), the tactics of the Tatars are historical - a long siege of the city; the tradition of the hero's single combat with the enemy is overcome by including the realities associated with organizing a rebuff to the historical enemy (Muromets reveals the number of troops, determines the nature of the danger, asks for a delay in the surrender of the city). However, the epic has not yet developed means to describe the actions of large military operations and their command, they will appear only in the East. songs in the 16th century. BUT the epic still diverges from history (there is a single state in it, storytellers sing about a victory that has not yet happened, in fact).

4) from the fourteenth to the beginning of the seventeenth century. Almost no new epics were created during this period. Creative processing of old epics in relation to the historical conditions of Moscow Russia. The function of the old military epic passes to the historical song, which, having originated in the 14th century, reaches its peak by the 16th. After the 13th century, the epics entered a state of conservation: the epic plot is based on a story about some grandiose event, the epic begins with a sing-along that is not directly related to the plot action, but precedes the general tone of the epic. The sing-along has an ornamental function, ends with epic outcomes in the same ornamental function (either old or deed), the plot situation is reproduced at the beginning, the main character is introduced, its resolution is given at the ending-ending, common places are stylistic formulas of the usual depiction of repetitive situations ( galloping hero through the wall) (the formula for the flow of time: like day after day - as if it rains, week after week - like grass grows, and year after year - like a river runs), numerous repetitions, slowness of action - retardation is carried out through the repetition of individual episodes, through the use of synonymy (song nature), tonic versification (the same number of stresses), colloquial intonation, first

scientific collection of epics - a collection of epics appeared in 1804 - Kirsha Danilov's collection "Ancient Russian Poems" (Kirsha Danilov wrote them down in the Urals in the middle of the 18th century).

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 storytellers 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 than the beginning of the 17th 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 “layerings” 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 even 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 B. entry 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 Kiev 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 of the 18th and early 19th 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 heroic epics, the movement is distinguished by centripetal movement towards the main character - the hero. 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. For example, such pairs as Ilya and Idolishche, Potanya and Kostruk, Dobrynya and Serpent, etc. are depicted in contrast. For the heroic epic, various forms of hyperbolization of both the appearance of epic heroes and their attributes, and their actions and feats are extremely characteristic.

B. short stories (Churila and Katerina, Alyosha and Dobrynya, Khoten Bludovich, and others), in contrast to heroic short stories, include much 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 dialogic 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

Kiev and Novgorod cycles

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

Plots of epics. The number of epic stories, 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:

Kiev.

Epic Kiev 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 Kiev. 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 Kiev. 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.

Incurred the wrath of Vladimir Monomakh, and he was drowned for having robbed two citizens of Novgorod; in another version of the same chronicle, it is said that he was exiled. Danube Ivanovich is often mentioned in the annals of the 13th century as one of the servants of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich, and Sukhman Dolmantievich (Odikhmantievich) was identified with the Pskov prince Domant (Dovmont).

Origin of epics

There are several theories to explain the origin and composition of epics:

1. The mythological theory sees in epics stories about natural phenomena, in heroes - the personification of these phenomena and their identification with the gods of the ancient Slavs (Orest Miller, Afanasiev).
2. The historical theory explains epics as a trace of historical events, sometimes confused in people's memory (Leonid Maikov, Kvashnin-Samarin).
3. The theory of borrowing points to the literary origin of epics (Theodor Benfey, Vladimir Stasov, Veselovsky, Ignatiy Yagich), and some tend to see borrowing through the influence of the East (Stasov, Vsevolod Miller), others - the West (Veselovskiy, Sozonovich).

As a result, one-sided theories gave way to a mixed one, which allows for the presence of elements of folk life, history, literature, Eastern and Western borrowings in the epics. Initially, it was assumed that the epics, which are grouped according to the place of action into the Kiev and Novgorod cycles, are mainly of southern Russian origin and only later transferred to the north; according to other epics, a local phenomenon (Khalansky). Over the centuries, epics underwent various changes, and were constantly influenced by books and borrowed much from medieval Russian literature and oral legends of the West and East. Adherents of the mythological theory divided the heroes of the Russian epic into older and younger ones; later it was proposed (Khalansky) division into the pre-Tatar, the times of the Tatar region and the post-Tatar era.

Reading epics

Epics are written in tonic verse, which may have a different number of syllables, but approximately the same number of stresses. Some stressed syllables are pronounced with the stress removed. At the same time, it is not necessary that in all verses of one epic an equal number of stresses be preserved: in one group there may be four, in another - three, in the third - two. 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.

How Ilya galloped and from the good horse,
He fell down to his mother damp earth:
How mother earth is knocking
Yes, under the same eastern side.

Epics constitute one of the most remarkable phenomena of Russian folk literature; in terms of epic calmness, richness of details, liveliness of color, distinctness of the characters of the depicted persons, a variety of mythical, historical and everyday elements, they are not inferior to the German heroic epic and the epic folk works of all other peoples.

Epics are epic songs about Russian heroes; it is here that we find a reproduction of their common, typical properties and the history of their life, their exploits and aspirations, feelings and thoughts. Each of these songs speaks mainly about one episode in the life of one hero, and thus a series of songs of a fragmentary nature are obtained, grouped around the main representatives of Russian heroes. The number of songs also increases due to the fact that there are several versions, more or less different, of the same epic. All epics, except for the unity of the described subject, are also characterized by the unity of presentation: they are imbued with an element of the miraculous, a sense of freedom and (according to Orest Miller) the spirit of the community. Miller has no doubt that the independent spirit of the past Russian epic is a reflection of the old veche freedom, preserved by free Cossacks and free Olonets peasants, not captured by serfdom. According to the same scientist, the spirit of the community, embodied in epics, is an internal link that connects the Russian epic and the history of the Russian people.

Stylistics

In addition to the internal, the external unity of the epics is also noticed, in verse, syllable and language: the verse of the epic consists either of trochees with a dactylic ending, or of mixed trochees with dactyls, or, finally, of anapaests; there are no consonances at all and everything is based on the musicality of the verse; in that epics are written in verse, they differ from "visits", in which the verse has long been decomposed into a prose story. The syllable in epics is distinguished by the richness of poetic turns; it is replete with epithets, parallelisms, comparisons, examples, and other poetic figures, without losing at the same time its clarity and naturalness of presentation. Epics retain a fairly large number of archaisms, especially in typical parts. Hilferding divided each epic into two parts: one - changing according to the will of the "storyteller"; the other is typical, which the narrator must always convey as accurately as possible, without changing a single word. The typical part contains everything essential that is said about the hero; the rest is presented only as a background for the main drawing.

Formulas

Epics are composed on the basis of formulas, built either with the use of a stable epithet, or as narrative clichés of several lines. The latter are used in almost every situation. Some formulas:

He quickly jumped as if on frisky legs,
Kunya threw a fur coat over one shoulder,
A sable cap on one ear.

He shot geese, swans,
Shot small migratory ducks.

He began to trample on the horse,
He began to trample on a horse, prick with a spear,
He began to beat that great powerhouse.
And he beats the force - as if mowing the grass.

Oh, you, wolf's satiety, grass bag!
You don't want to go or you can't carry?

He comes to a wide yard,
Puts the horse in the middle of the yard
Yes, he goes to the white-stone chambers.

Another day after day after all, like the rain will rain,
And week after week, as the grass grows,
And year after year, like a river runs.

Everyone around the table fell silent.
The lesser is buried for the greater.
The greater is buried for the lesser,
And from the smaller the answer lives.

Number of epics

To give an idea of ​​the number of epics, we note their statistics given in Galakhov's History of Russian Literature. Some epics of the Kiev cycle were collected: in Moscow province - 3, in Nizhny Novgorod - 6, in Saratov - 10, in Simbirsk - 22, in Siberia - 29, in Arkhangelsk - 34, in Olonets - up to 300. All together about 400, not counting epics of the Novgorod cycle and later ones (Moscow and others). All epics known to us, according to their place of origin, are divided into: Kiev, Novgorod and all-Russian (later).

Chronologically, in the first place, according to Orest Miller, are epics telling about the heroes of the matchmakers (see the article Bogatyrs). Then come those that are called Kiev and Novgorod: apparently, they arose before the XIV century. Then come quite historical epics, relating to the Muscovite period of the Russian state. And, finally, epics relating to the events of recent times.

The last two categories of epics are not of particular interest and do not require extensive explanations. Therefore, until now, little has been done about them. But the epics of the so-called Novgorod and, in particular, the Kiev cycle are of great importance. Although one cannot look at these epics as stories about events that really took place at one time in the form in which they are presented in songs: the miraculous element completely contradicts this. If the epics do not seem to be a reliable history of people who really once lived on Russian soil, then their content must certainly be explained differently.

The study of epics

The scholarly researchers of the folk epic have resorted to two methods in these explanations: historical and comparative. Strictly speaking, both of these methods in most studies are reduced to one comparative method, and it is hardly correct to refer here to the historical method. In fact, the historical method consists in the fact that for a known, for example, linguistic, phenomenon, through archival searches or the theoretical selection of later elements, we look for an increasingly ancient form and thus arrive at the original, simplest form. The “historical” method was not applied to the study of epics in the same way. Here it was impossible to compare new editions with older ones, since we do not have these latter at all; on the other hand, literary criticism noted in the most general terms only the nature of the changes that B. underwent over time, without touching on very individual particulars. The so-called historical method in the study of epics, in fact, consisted in comparing the plots of epics with chronicles; and since the comparative method was the one in which the plots of epics were compared with the plots of other folk (mostly mythical) or foreign works, it turns out that the difference here is not at all in the method itself, but simply in the material of comparisons. So, in essence, it is only on the basis of the comparative method that the four main theories of the origin of epics are substantiated: historical and everyday, mythological, the theory of borrowings, and, finally, the mixed theory, which now enjoys the greatest credit.

Epic stories

Before proceeding to a general outline of the theories themselves, a few words should be said about the meaning of epic stories. Any literary work can be decomposed into several main moments of the described action; The combination of these moments makes up the plot of this work. Thus, the plots are more or less complex. Several literary works can be based on the same plot, which even, due to the variety of secondary changing features, for example, motives of action, background, accompanying circumstances, etc., may seem completely dissimilar at first glance. One might even go further and say that every subject, without exception, always forms the basis of a greater or lesser number of literary works, and that very often there are fashionable subjects that are worked out almost at the same time in all parts of the globe. If now we find a common plot in two or more literary works, then three explanations are allowed here: either in these several localities the plots developed independently, independently of each other and thus constitute a reflection of real life or natural phenomena; either these plots were inherited by both peoples from common ancestors; or, finally, one people borrowed the plot from another. Already a priori one can say that cases of independent coincidence of plots should be very rare, and the more complex the plot, the more independent it should be. This is mainly based on the historical-everyday theory, which completely loses sight of the similarity of the plots of Russian epics with the works of other peoples or considers it to be an accidental phenomenon. According to this theory, the heroes are representatives of different classes of the Russian people, while epics are poetic and symbolic stories of historical incidents or pictures of the phenomena of folk life. The mythological theory is based on the first and second assumptions, according to which similar plots in the works of the Indo-European peoples are inherited from common pra-Aryan ancestors; the similarity between the plots of heterogeneous peoples is explained by the fact that in different countries the same natural phenomenon, which served as material for similar plots, was looked at by people in the same way and interpreted in the same way. Finally, the borrowing theory is based on the 3rd explanation, according to which the plots of Russian epics were transferred to Russia from the East and West.

All the above theories were distinguished by their extremeness; so, for example, on the one hand, Orest Miller in his "Experience" argued that the comparative method serves to ensure that in compared works belonging to different peoples, the sharper, the more definite differences appear; on the other hand, Stasov directly expressed the opinion that the epics were borrowed from the East. In the end, however, scientists came to the conclusion that epics are a very complex phenomenon, in which heterogeneous elements are mixed: historical, everyday, mythical and borrowed. A. N. Veselovsky gave some instructions that can guide the researcher and protect him from the arbitrariness of the theory of borrowings; namely, in the CCXXIII issue of the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, the learned professor writes: “In order to raise the question of the transfer of narrative plots, it is necessary to stock up on sufficient criteria. It is necessary to take into account the actual possibility of influence and its external traces in one's own names and in the remains of alien life and in the aggregate of similar signs, because each individually can be deceptive. Khalansky joined this opinion, and now the study of epics has been put on the correct point of view. At present, the main aspiration of scholarly researchers of epics is directed towards subjecting these works to the most thorough, if possible, analysis, which should finally indicate what exactly in epics is the indisputable property of the Russian people, as a symbolic picture of a natural, historical or everyday phenomenon. , and what is borrowed from other peoples.

The time of folding epics

Regarding the time of origin of the epics, Leonid Maikov expressed himself most definitely, writing: “Although there are those between the plots of the epics that can be traced back to the era of the prehistoric affinity of Indo-European traditions, nevertheless, the entire content of the epics, including these ancient legends, is presented in such a redaction , which can only be confined to a positive historical period. The content of epics was developed during and XII centuries, and was established in the second half of the specific veche period in the XIII and XIV centuries. To this we can add the words of Khalansky: “In the 14th century, border fortresses, prisons were set up, border guards were established, and at that time the image of heroes standing at the outpost, protecting the borders of the Svyatorusskaya land, was formed.” Finally, according to Orest Miller, the great antiquity of the epics is proved by the fact that they depict a policy that is still defensive, not offensive.

Place of occurrence of epics

As for the place where the epics originated, opinions are divided: the most common theory suggests that the epics are of South Russian origin, that their original basis is South Russian. Only over time, due to the mass migration of people from South Russia to the Russian North, epics were transferred there, and then they were forgotten in their original homeland, due to the influence of other circumstances that caused Cossack thoughts. Khalansky opposed this theory, condemning at the same time the theory of the original all-Russian epic. He says: “The all-Russian ancient epic is the same fiction as the ancient all-Russian language. Each tribe had its own epic - Novgorod, Slovenian, Kiev, Polyansky, Rostov (cf. the indications of the Tver Chronicle), Chernigov (tales in the Nikon Chronicle). Everyone knew about Vladimir, as a reformer of all ancient Russian life, and everyone sang about him, and there was an exchange of poetic material between individual tribes. In the XIV and XV centuries, Moscow became a collector of Russian epic, which at the same time was more and more concentrated in the Kiev cycle, since Kiev epics had an assimilating influence on the rest, due to song tradition, religious relations, etc .; thus, at the end of the 16th century, the unification of epics into the Kiev circle was completed (although, however, not all epics joined it: these include the entire Novgorod cycle and some individual epics, for example, about Surovets Suzdalets and about Saul Levanidovich). Then, from the Muscovite kingdom, epics spread to all sides of Russia by means of an ordinary transfer, and not emigration to the north, which did not exist. Such, in general terms, are Khalansky's views on this subject. Maikov says that the activity of the squad, expressed in the exploits of its representatives, heroes, is the subject of epics. Just as the squad adjoined the prince, so the actions of the heroes are always connected with one main person. According to the same author, buffoons and buffoons sang epics, playing on the sonorous harp harp or whistle, but they were mostly listened to by the boyars, the retinue.

How far the study of epics is still imperfect and what contradictory results it has led some scientists to can be judged by at least one of the following facts: Orest Miller, an enemy of the theory of borrowings, who tried to find a purely folk Russian character everywhere in epics, says: “If reflected some oriental influence on Russian epics, so only on those that, in their entire household warehouse, differ from the Old Slavic warehouse; these include epics about Nightingale Budimirovich and Churil Plenkovich. And another Russian scientist, Khalansky, proves that the epic about Nightingale Budimirovich is in the closest connection with Great Russian wedding songs. What Orest Miller considered completely alien to the Russian people - that is, the self-marriage of a girl - according to Khalansky, still exists in some places in southern Russia.

Let us give here, however, at least in general terms, more or less reliable research results obtained by Russian scientists. That the epics have undergone many and, moreover, strong changes, there is no doubt; but it is extremely difficult at the present time to specify exactly what these changes were. Based on the fact that the heroic or heroic nature itself is everywhere distinguished by the same qualities - an excess of physical strength and rudeness inseparable from such an excess, Orest Miller argued that the Russian epic at the beginning of its existence should have been distinguished by the same rudeness; but since, along with the softening of folk customs, the same softening is also reflected in the folk epic, therefore, in his opinion, this softening process must certainly be allowed in the history of Russian epics. According to the same scientist, epics and fairy tales developed from the same foundation. If the essential property of epics is historical timing, then the less noticeable it is in the epics, the closer it comes to a fairy tale. Thus, the second process in the development of epics is clarified: timing. But, according to Miller, there are also such epics in which there is still no historical timing at all, and, however, he does not explain to us why he does not consider such works to be fairy tales (“Experience”). Then, according to Miller, the difference between a fairy tale and an epic lies in the fact that in the first the mythical meaning was forgotten earlier and it is confined to the earth in general; in the second, the mythical meaning has undergone changes, but not oblivion.

On the other hand, Maikov notices in epics the desire to smooth out the miraculous. The miraculous element in fairy tales plays a different role than in epics: there miraculous performances form the main plot of the plot, and in epics they only supplement the content taken from real life; their purpose is to give a more ideal character to the heroes. According to Volner, the content of epics is now mythical, and the form is historical, especially all typical places: names, names of localities, etc.; epithets correspond to the historical, and not the epic character of the persons to whom they refer. But initially the content of the epics was completely different, namely, really historical. This happened by transferring epics from the South to the North by Russian colonists: gradually these colonists began to forget the ancient content; they were carried away by new stories, which were more to their liking. Typical places remained inviolable, and everything else changed over time.

According to Yagich, the entire Russian folk epic is permeated through and through with Christian mythological tales, of an apocryphal and non-apocryphal nature; much in content and motives is borrowed from this source. New borrowings relegated ancient material to the background, and epics can therefore be divided into three categories:

1. to songs with obviously borrowed biblical content;
2. to songs with originally borrowed content, which, however, is processed more independently
3. on songs quite folk, but containing episodes, appeals, phrases, names borrowed from the Christian world.

Orest Miller does not quite agree with this, arguing that the Christian element in the epic concerns only appearance. In general, however, one can agree with Maikov that the epics were subjected to constant processing, according to new circumstances, as well as the influence of the singer's personal views.

Veselovsky says the same thing, arguing that epics are presented as material subjected not only to historical and everyday use, but also to all the accidents of oral retelling (“South Russian epics”).

Volner in the epic about Sukhman even sees the influence of the latest sentimental literature of the 18th century, and Veselovsky about the epic “How the heroes were transferred” says this: “The two halves of the epic are connected by a common place of a very suspicious nature, showing, as if, that the outer side of the epic was touched aesthetically correcting hand. Finally, in the content of individual epics, it is easy to notice layers of different times (the type of Alyosha Popovich), a mixture of several originally independent epics into one (Volga Svyatoslavich or Volkh Vseslavich), that is, the union of two plots, borrowing one epics from another (according to Volner, the beginning of epics about Dobrynya taken from epics about Volga, and the end from epics about Ivan Godinovich), extensions (epic about Nightingale Budimirovich from Kirsha), greater or lesser damage to the epic (Rybnikov’s common epic about Berin’s son, according to Veselovsky), etc.

It remains to be said about one side of the epics, namely, their present episodic, fragmentary nature. Orest Miller speaks about this in more detail than others, who believed that initially the epics were a number of independent songs, but over time, folk singers began to link these songs into large cycles: in a word, the same process took place that in Greece, India, Iran and Germany led to the creation of whole epics, for which individual folk songs served only as material. Miller recognizes the existence of a united, integral circle of Vladimirov, kept in the memory of the singers, who at one time formed, in all likelihood, closely united brotherhoods. Now there are no such brotherhoods, the singers are separated, and in the absence of reciprocity, no one between them is able to store in his memory all the links of the epic chain without exception. All this is very doubtful and not based on historical data; thanks to careful analysis, one can only assume, together with Veselovsky, that “some epics, for example Hilferding 27 and 127, are, firstly, the product of the separation of epics from the Kiev connection and a secondary attempt to bring them into this connection after development on the side” (“ South Russian epics).

Notes

Collections

The main collections of epics:

• Kirshi Danilova, Ancient Russian Poems (published in 1804, 1818 and 1878);
• Kireevsky, X editions, published in Moscow in 1860 and later; Rybnikov, four parts (1861-1867);
• A. F. Hilferding, ed. Giltebrant under the title: "Onega epics recorded by Alexander Fedorovich Hilferding in the summer of 1871". - St. Petersburg. : A type. Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1873. - 732 p.;
• Avenarius, "The Book of the Kiev Bogatyrs" (St. Petersburg, 1875);
• Khalansky (1885).
• Complete set of Kiev epics. Literary processing by A. Lelchuk. http://byliny.narod.ru Epics are built chronologically and in meaning into a single heroic story. The language is modern, but the rhythm and style of the original is preserved as much as possible. Characters and plots are sorted, duplicates and repetitions are removed. A conditional map of Epic Russia was compiled.

In addition, variants of epics are found:

• Shane in collections of Great Russian songs (“Readings of the Moscow Society of History and Antiquities” 1876 and 1877, etc.);
• Kostomarov and Mordovtseva (in the IV part of the Chronicle of Ancient Russian Literature by N. S. Tikhonravov);
• epics printed by E. V. Barsov in the Olonets Provincial Vedomosti after Rybnikov,
• and finally at Efimenko in 5 books. "Proceedings of the Ethnographic Department of the Moscow Society of Natural Science Lovers", 1878.

Editions

• Epics: Collection / Entry. Art., comp., prepared. texts and notes. B. N. Putilova. - Ed. 3rd. - L.: Soviet writer, 1986. - 552 p. - (Library of the poet. Large series).

Research

A number of works devoted to the study of epics:

• Article by Konstantin Aksakov: “On the heroes of Vladimirov” (“Works”, vol. I).
• Fyodor Buslaev, "Russian heroic epic" ("Russian Messenger", 1862);
• Leonid Maikova, "On the Epics of the Vladimir Cycle" (St. Petersburg, 1863);
• Vladimir Stasov, “The Origin of Russian Epics” (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1868; moreover, compare the criticism of Hilferding, Buslaev, V. Miller in “Conversations of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature”, book 3; Veselovsky, Kotlyarevsky and Rozov in the “Proceedings of the Kiev Spiritual Academy", 1871; finally, Stasov's answer: "Criticism of my critics");
• Orest Miller, “The experience of a historical review of Russian folk literature” (St. Petersburg, 1865) and “Ilya Muromets and the heroism of Kiev” (St. Petersburg, 1869, criticism of Buslaev in the “XIV award of the Uvarov awards” and the “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, 1871);
• K. D. Kvashnina-Samarina, “On Russian epics in historical and geographical terms” (“Conversation”, 1872);
• His own, "New sources for the study of the Russian epic" ("Russian Bulletin", 1874);
• Yagich, an article in "Archiv für Slav. Phil.";
• M. Carriera, "Die Kunst im Zusammenhange der Culturentwickelung und die Ideale der Menschheit" (second part, translated by E. Korshem);
• Rambaud, "La Russie épique" (1876);
• Wolner, "Untersuchungen über die Volksepik der Grossrussen" (Leipzig, 1879);
• Veselovsky in "Archiv für Slav. Phil." vols. III, VI, IX and in the “Journal of Min. People's Education "(December 1885, December 1886, May 1888, May 1889), and separately" South Russian epics "(Part I and II, 1884);
• Zhdanova, "On the literary history of Russian epic poetry" (Kiev, 1881);
• Khalansky, "Great Russian epics of the Kiev cycle" (Warsaw, 1885).