Funny and sad, scary and funny, they are familiar to us from childhood. Our first ideas about the world, good and evil, and justice are associated with them.

Both children and adults love fairy tales. They inspire writers and poets, composers and artists. Based on fairy tales, plays and films are staged, operas and ballets are created. Fairy tales came to us from ancient times. They were told by poor wanderers, tailors, and retired soldiers.

Fairy tale- one of the main types of oral folk art. Fictional storytelling fantastic, adventure or everyday character.

Folk tales are divided into three groups:

Tales about animals - the most ancient look fairy tales They have their own circle of heroes. Animals talk and behave like people. The fox is always cunning, the wolf is stupid and greedy, the hare is cowardly.

Everyday fairy tales - the heroes of these fairy tales - a peasant, a soldier, a shoemaker - live in the real world and usually fight with a gentleman, a priest, a general. They win thanks to resourcefulness, intelligence and courage.

Fairy tales - heroes fairy tales they fight tooth and nail, defeat enemies, save friends when faced with evil spirits. Most of these tales involve the search for a bride or a kidnapped wife.

Fairy tale composition:

1. Beginning. (“In a certain kingdom, in a certain state there lived…”).

2. Main part.

3. Ending. (“They began to live - to live well and make good things” or “They arranged a feast for the whole world...”).

Heroes of fairy tales:

The favorite hero of Russian fairy tales is Ivan the Tsarevich, Ivan the Fool, Ivan the Peasant Son. This is a fearless, kind and noble hero who defeats all enemies, helps the weak and wins happiness for himself.

An important place in Russian fairy tales is given to women - beautiful, kind, smart and hardworking. This is Vasilisa the Wise, Elena the Beautiful, Marya Morevna or Sineglazka.

The embodiment of evil in Russian fairy tales is most often Koschey the Immortal, the Serpent Gorynych and Baba Yaga.

Baba Yaga is one of the most ancient characters in Russian fairy tales. This is a scary and evil old woman. She lives in the forest in a hut on chicken legs, rides in a mortar. Most often it harms the heroes, but sometimes it helps.

Serpent Gorynych - a fire-breathing monster with several heads, flying high above the ground - is also very famous character Russian folklore. When the Serpent appears, the sun goes out, a storm rises, lightning flashes, the earth trembles.

Features of Russians folk tales:

In Russian fairy tales there are often repeated definitions: good horse; gray wolf; red maiden; good fellow, as well as combinations of words: a feast for the whole world; go wherever your eyes take you; the riotous man hung his head; neither to say in a fairy tale, nor to describe with a pen; soon the tale is told, but not soon the deed is done; whether long or short...

Often in Russian fairy tales the definition is placed after the word being defined, which creates a special melodiousness: my dear sons; the sun is red; written beauty...
Short and truncated forms of adjectives are characteristic of Russian fairy tales: the sun is red; the riotous man hung his head; - and the verbs: grab instead of grabbed, go instead of go.

The language of fairy tales is characterized by the use of nouns and adjectives with various suffixes, which give them a diminutive and affectionate meaning: little-y, brother-et, cock-ok, sun-ysh-o... All this makes the presentation smooth, melodious, emotional . Various intensifying-excretory particles also serve the same purpose: this, that, what, what... (What a miracle! Let me go to the right. What a miracle!)

Since ancient times, fairy tales have been close and understandable to the common people. Fiction intertwined with reality in them. Living in poverty, people dreamed of flying carpets, palaces, and self-assembled tablecloths. And justice has always triumphed in Russian fairy tales, and good has triumphed over evil. It is no coincidence that A.S. Pushkin wrote: “What a delight these fairy tales are! Each one is a poem!”

It is difficult to imagine childhood without fairy tales. At any time, even the most difficult time, in every country, mothers are sure to tell their children legends, traditions and fictional stories. It should be noted that fairy tale folklore is most widespread in the poorest countries.

Fairy tales help not only pass the time. They develop the child’s imagination and simulate situations that can occur in real life. It is from these, sometimes simple, stories that we first learn about good and evil, learn to feel and empathize, gradually preparing to enter adulthood.

What kind of fairy tales are there?

Writers distinguish 2 main types: folk and author's. Folklore was passed down from mouth to mouth and came to us from ancient times. But an author's fairy tale is a full-fledged literary work written by a certain person. Such tales are relatively young. However, they are often based on folk art. Let us consider these flows in more detail.

Folk tale

Since ancient times, legends have been a way to escape from the hard work of everyday life, to brighten up a long winter evening or monotonous work, and to express one’s attitude towards life. Passed from mouth to mouth, fairy tales were transformed, enriched with new ones. storylines and heroes.

Getting acquainted with folk art, you can notice a desperate desire for justice. Here, truth will always triumph over falsehood, reason will prevail over stupidity, courage and hard work are emphatically superior to laziness and cowardice. Ancient folklore allows you to fully feel the connection with your ancestors, becoming familiar with the origins of culture.

There are three types of folk tales:

• tales about animals.

These are the very fairy tales that should be read very first (up to 5-6 years). They involve permanent characters (bear, wolf, fox, hare, hedgehog, etc.). Mainly indicated constant signs animals (fox - cunning, bear - strong, cat - smart, hare - timid, etc.). Of these fairy tales, the most notable ones are the covulative ones - selected according to the principle of plot connection (“Turnip”, “Kolobok”, “Teremok”). Many of them have a childish language connotation (mouse-norushka, cat-little white tummy);

• everyday tales.

They show real life, social content, ridicule negative human qualities. High moral qualities belong not to the rich and people of high rank, but to representatives of the people (soldier, old man). It is not money and strength that win, but intelligence and skills. Sharp negative characteristics are given to the master, priest, king and others. Such tales appeared when there was a desire to change the social system, and they expressed the democratic spirit of the people (the author). In social fairy tales, puns, humor, reversals, laughter, and satire are widely used;

• fairy tales.

They involve romantic heroes who embody the most best qualities person. Required for this tale: image positive hero+ helpers + magic items. The main thing in such fairy tales is: the struggle for love, for truth, for good. They are characterized by rich language, colorful definitions, negative characters - fantastic (Baba Yaga, Leshy, Kikimora, Zmey-Gorynych). As for the structure of fairy tales, there must be a fairytale beginning (once upon a time), a middle (the morning is wiser than the evening, how long is it short) and an ending (and I was there, I drank honey and beer);

Animals have been an integral part of human life from time immemorial.

It is thanks to animals that humanity has survived throughout its thousands of years of history. Therefore, it is not surprising that four-legged and feathered animals are very often found in folk tales. Animals may be the only characters in a fairy tale, or they may coexist with humans, and on equal terms. A distinctive feature is that the action takes place in the real world.

A fairy tale is called a fairy tale, the action of which is transferred to a fictional world.

They have their own laws, different from those on earth. This fable is replete with magical events and adventures.

A feature of an everyday fairy tale is an attempt to reflect the essence everyday life and everyday folk life. Social problems are usually raised here and negative human qualities are condemned. However, these stories may contain fairy tale elements. As a rule, greedy priests are ridiculed here, and the hero is a man or a soldier who will definitely emerge victorious from all troubles.

Literary fairy tale

Literary fairy tales are more varied in plot, the narrative is more intense.

By genre literary tales:

• a fairy tale about animals;
• fairy tale;
• short story tale;
• anecdotal tale;
• fable.

The most famous storytellers are A.S. Pushkin, K.D. Ushinsky, H.K. Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, E. Schwartz, V. Bianchi, J.R.R. Tolkien and many other wonderful fairy tale authors.

Regardless of the type and genre of fairy tales, they all have a unifying principle - goodness. Therefore, read fairy tales to your children, even if it seems to you that they have long since passed this age.

Fairy tales are different:
Told and not told...

Let's start with the fact that I will give you the most famous classifications of fairy tales.

So, There are fairy tales: folk and . Folk tales are those that do not have a specific author; the tale was passed down among the people by word of mouth and no one will say who it was originally written by. An author's tale is a fairy tale that has a specific author. For example, "Black chicken or Underground inhabitants"is copyrighted because its author is known. This is Antony Pogorelsky.

Next classification concerns not the authorship, but the content of fairy tales. According to this characteristic fairy tales are divided into:

1. Tales about animals;

2. Magical;

3. Social and everyday (satirical and everyday).

Animal Tales

These are the very fairy tales that should be read very first (up to 5-6 years). They involve permanent characters (wolf, fox, etc.). Basically, the constant characteristics of animals are indicated (fox - cunning, bear - strong, cat - smart, hare - timid, etc.). Of these fairy tales, the most notable ones are the covulative ones - selected according to the principle of plot connection (“Turnip”, “Kolobok”, “Teremok”). Many of them have a childish language connotation (mouse-norushka, cat-little belly).

Fairy tales

They involve romantic heroes who embody the best qualities of a person. Required for this fairy tale: the image of a positive hero + helpers +. The main thing in such fairy tales is: the struggle for love, for truth, for good. They are characterized by rich language, colorful definitions, negative characters - fantastic (Baba Yaga, Leshy, Kikimora, Zmey-Gorynych). As for the structure of fairy tales, a fairytale beginning (once upon a time), a middle (the morning is wiser than the evening, how long is it short) and an ending (and I was there, honey, drank beer) are required.

Social and everyday tales

They show real life, social content, and ridicule negative human qualities. High moral qualities do not belong to the rich and people of high rank, but to representatives of the people (soldiers, old people). It is not strength that wins, but intelligence and skills. Sharp negative characteristics are given to the master, priest, king and others. Such tales appeared when there was a desire to change the social system, and they expressed the democratic spirit of the people (the author). In social fairy tales, puns, humor, reversals, laughter, and satire are widely used.

In addition to all of the above, other types of fairy tales appear: personalized- about a specific person who is not invented by the author, but actually exists. Therapeutic– which help correct children’s behavior and habits (for example, stop biting nails).

It is possible that there are other types of fairy tales, but these are the only ones I know. If you know more about what kind of fairy tales there are, I ask you to add to this list in the comments.

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Elkina Maria

Scientific and practical conference research work students "Youth. Science. Culture"

Scientific direction: Literary studies

Genre classification of Russian folk tales

student of Municipal Educational Institution Secondary School No. 2

Scientific supervisor: Shitova I.G.,

teacher of Russian language and literature

Noyabrsk, 2009
Content

Introduction

Magic world Russian folk tales... He worried me from early childhood, when, as a very little girl, they were read to me at night. Time passed, but the passion for fairy tales remained. Only the perception has changed. Previously, it was exclusively emotional and evaluative (I plunged into this world and lived in it together with the characters, feeling the vicissitudes of their fate), now it has become analytical (I looked at the fairy tale as special genre, which I wanted to explore). That is why I chose fairy tales as the object of my research. But it would seem that a lot of research has been written about fairy tales, what else can be discovered in them? A long study of literature led me to this controversial issue- this is the problem of genre classification of fairy tales.

So, reasons for turning to the research topic:

1. The controversial issue of genre classification of fairy tales, the conventionality of each of the currently known ones, the dissatisfaction of folklorists and literary scholars with the classifications existing in at the moment.

2. Personal interest in fairy tales, the desire to study and systematize them for the convenience of further comprehension.

3. There is also a reason of a universal human nature, which lies in the formula: “The fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it...”. Will I not find answers to the questions that concern me among this whole world of magic and transformations?!

So the main purpose of work is an attempt to create our own version of the genre classification of Russian fairy tales. To achieve the goal, the following were set tasks:

1. Study the currently existing classification options, identifying their pros and cons.

2. Determine the tools (select criteria) to create a classification option.

3. Offer your version of classification.

4. Distribute Russian folk tales from Afanasyev’s collection into categories using the created classification.

So, object of study- Russian folk tales. The key reason for contacting them: personal interest and passion. Subject of research- classification of fairy tales. The key reason for the appeal: the lack of a complete, complete and indisputable classification in folklore studies at the moment.

Hypothesis: An indisputable classification can be created provided that successful criteria are chosen to help distribute texts into groups, and taking into account the disadvantages of known genre classifications.

Stages of work:

1. Statement of the problem, choice of topic, formulation of a hypothesis.

2. Collection of material:

A) bibliographic search on the problem of genre classifications of fairy tales;

B) analysis of existing classifications;

B)reading Russian folk tales in order to identify
criteria for creating your own classification.

3. Confirmation of the hypothesis by distributing fairy tales according to the classification compiled.

4. Conclusions.

Chapter 1. The problem of genre classification of fairy tales

Currently, there are several variants of classifications of fairy tales proposed by various literary scholars and researchers. For the sake of completeness and objectivity of the work, I present them in my research:

Classification 1.

Sreznevsky sets out his point of view in “A Look at the Monuments of Ukrainian Folk Literature.” According to the nature of the content, he divides them into:

· mythical (epic);

· tales about persons, historical events and privacy;

· fantastic and humorous.

Classification 2.

In the 60s of the 19th century, Snegirev in connection with Afanasyev’s collection in “ Popular prints Russian people in the Moscow world" is divided into:

· mythical;

· heroic;

· everyday.

Classification 3.

Bessonov in “Notes to Kireyevsky’s Songs” divides it into:

· former, heroic;

· historical, but not heroic;

· popular prints;

· household (this also includes animals).

Classification 4.

Mythologists, having interpreted Afanasyev’s collection in their own way, are trying to create a different classification. Orest Miller proposes the following division into:

· mythical tales (he also divides 343 of them from Afanasyev’s collection into 10 plot circles);

· moral and mythical (about the soul, fate, truth);

· about animals;

· on heroic subjects;

· arose under the influence of books;

· “Purely morally descriptive of the character of a particular protester... in the form of satire.”

In fact, this is the first scientific classification. But, although Miller considered it historical, it is, in general, formal.

Classification 5.

M.P. Drahomanov in "Little Russians" folk legends and stories” identifies 13 headings. Veselovsky accuses Drahomanov of not maintaining the stated principle: the past is original, ancient, pagan and new Christian.

Classification 6.

Romanov divides fairy tales into:

· about animals;

· mythical;

· humorous;

· household;

· cosmogonic;

· cultural.

Classification 7.

V.P. Vladimirov in his “Introduction to the History of Russian Literature” tries to use the principle of motive when dividing fairy tales. He reveals three types of motives:

· motives of the animal epic;

· mythological character;

· ancient cultural character.

Classification 8.

In 1908, Khalansky divided fairy tales and plots without definition into general headings.

Classification 9.

A.M. Smirnov in his “Systematic Index of Themes and Variants of Russian Folk Tales” divides them into:

· tales about animals;

· about animals and humans;

· about the fight against evil spirits.

Classification 10.

An unconventional approach to classification was used by Wundt in The Psychology of Nations. He divides fairy tales according to forms of development from the most ancient to the latest formations:

Later education: comic tale, moral fable.

Classification 11.

It was proposed by Afanasyev himself, forming the collection, then by N.P. Andreev in 1927-28. compiled the “Index fairy tales" Fairy tales are divided into:

· about animals;

· magical;

· household.

This classification is now the most common, but in the future in my work I will point out all its disadvantages. In addition, the authors of numerous textbooks on oral folk art themselves note that a unified classification of fairy tales has not been developed at the present time, that is, there is no correct classification today.

Before I get to detailed description 11th classification, I would like to note the disadvantages of all the above classifications.

Thus, according to Sreznevsky’s classification (1), the second block seems overly extensive and unclear: tales about persons, historical events and private life. In addition, it is not clear where, in his opinion, animal epic should be classified. The same question can be addressed to Snegirev’s classification (2). Error
Bessonov (3) can be considered to include fairy tales about animals into the category of everyday ones, since a contradiction “fantasy-non-fiction” arises. In Miller's classification (4), the emphasis on form leaves aside diverse heroes as actors. Violation of the basic principle by Drahomanov (5)
Veselovsky also discovers.

It is difficult to establish the fundamental principle in Romanov's classification (6). Vladimirov (7) when dividing fractionally according to motives takes into account only 40 of them, and there are much more of them (so Sumtsev calls 400). Kholansky's classification (8) sins of dividing into subjects without defining a general rubric, and in general, almost all researchers are currently considered outdated. A.M. Smirnov (9) creates even more confusion without even finishing his work. Wundt's classification is interesting for its unconventional approach, but, unfortunately, not all fairy tales fall into it.

Chapter 2. Analysis of the Afanasyev classification

2.1 Tales of animals

Tales about animals are divided into the following thematic groups: about wild animals, about wild and domestic animals, about domestic animals, about humans and wild animals

The origins of fiction are due to the ancient views of man, which endowed animals with intelligence. The consequence of this is that the behavior of animals in fairy tales is similar to that of humans.

This is how they are determined poetic features tales about animals:

1. Fiction in them arises as a result of the combination of contradictions: the human world and the animal world - the water space, in one sphere. A special, grotesque world of mixed real ideas arises, in which the incredible must be perceived as probable.

2. There is no idealized hero. The mind is opposed to brute force and wins, but there is no single bearer of this quality.

3. Not all fairy tales about animals end happily, but despite this, there is no tragic sound.

4. Fairy tales about animals have a potential allegorical ability; human everyday situations are easily guessed in them.

5. The plot in fairy tales about animals is simple. There are few events in them. Most often it is developed based on a meeting. The duration of action is indicated by a system of repetitions. A fairy tale can consist of one episode, several episodes, or a chain of episodes in which one moment is repeated. In compositional terms, one can distinguish between single-plot fairy tales, multi-plot tales, and those built on the principle of a chain, with the repetition of all episodes - cumulative (a + ab + abc + abvg + ...).

6. The most common form of fairy tales about animals is narrative-dialogical.

7. The didactic, edifying plan of the tale is very clear. At the end of a fairy tale, a conclusion is always summed up, expressed either by a proverb or a general phrase.

8. In fairy tales about animals, traditional fairy tale formulas are used during the narration, less often at the beginning and middle of the tale, more often at the end.

2.2.Fairy tales

The fairy tale took shape in its main features during the period when ideas primitive man about the world developed simultaneously in two dimensions: there was a visible, real world, in which a person lived, and an imaginary, unreal world, inhabited by evil and good forces that, as it seemed to him, had a direct impact on life. Both of them in the consciousness of primitive man constituted a single reality.

Based on the nature of the conflict, there are two groups of fairy tales: in one, the hero comes into conflict with magical powers, in the other - with social ones.

Here is how the poetic features of fairy tales are determined:

1. A conflict in a fairy tale is always resolved with the help of miraculous forces, miraculous helpers, with the relative passivity of the hero.

2. The action unfolds in two space-time planes. From the beginning of the hero's action to his feat and marriage, many events take place; the hero crosses large spaces, but time does not concern him; he is forever young; sometimes epic time is at hand To real: year, month, week and so on. This is one plan that reveals the life of the hero. In another, spatial plane, the hero’s opponents and wonderful helpers live. Here time flows slowly for the hero, but quickly for opponents and wonderful helpers. Fairy tale time is associated with the perception of fairy tale rhythm. The “one-act” or “multi-act” nature of an action is measured by a system of repetitions. They create the rhythm of fairy-tale time. Rhythm organizes anticipation and includes the listener in the tale. The rhythm creates tension until the moment the hero performs a feat. Until this point, time passes slowly, repetitions maintaining a state of anticipation in the listener. After the hero accomplishes a feat, a rhythmic decline begins - the tension of expectation is relieved, and the fairy tale ends.

3. In fairy tales there are two types of heroes: a “high” hero, endowed with magical power from birth or who received it from a magical assistant (Ivan the Fool) and a “low” hero (Ivan the Fool).

4. In a fairy tale, description is replaced by poetic formulas. Knowing these formulas makes it incredibly easy to “construct” a fairy tale. A mandatory feature of the formula is repetition in a number of fairy tales. There are initial formulas (sayings), final (endings), and narrative ones, which are in turn divided into formulas of time (“Is it close, is it far, briefly, soon the tale is told, but the deed is not done soon”), into formulas-characteristics (“Such beauty , what cannot be said in a fairy tale, nor described with a pen"), on etiquette formulas(“he laid the cross in a written way, bowed in a learned way”).

2.3.Everyday tales

The term "everyday tale" combines several
intra-genre varieties: adventure fairy tales, short stories (adventurous-novelistic), social and everyday (satirical), family and everyday (comic).

Here are the poetic features that are generally characteristic of everyday fairy tales:

1. The conflict in everyday fairy tales is resolved thanks to the activity of the hero himself. A fairy tale makes the hero the master of his own destiny. This is the essence of idealizing the hero of an everyday fairy tale.

2. Fairy-tale space and time in an everyday fairy tale are close to the listener and the storyteller. In them important role plays a moment of empathy.

3. Fiction in everyday fairy tales is based on the depiction of illogicality. Up to a certain point, a fairy tale is perceived as an everyday, completely plausible story, and its realism is aggravated by specific descriptions. Alogism is achieved by a hyperbolic depiction of any quality negative hero: extreme stupidity, greed, stubbornness and so on.

4. An everyday fairy tale can have a different composition: novelistic and adventurous fairy tales, which are based on adventure motifs, are large in volume and have many episodes. Comic and satirical tales always develop one episode - an anecdotal or sharply satirical everyday situation. Multi-episode and comic tales are combined into a cycle according to the principle of increasing comic or satirical effect.

2.4.Discrepancy in ranks

Let me remind you once again that these characteristics of the three fairy tale genres were written according to the textbook “Russian Folk Poetry” edited by A.M. Novikova, but if you take and look at the same question in the textbook by Anikin V.P. and Kruglova Yu.L., then with a similar typology a number of contradictions can be detected. I'll point out a few. Thus, when characterizing fairy tales about animals, Anikin, unlike Novikova, places emphasis on humor and a satirical element. If Novikova talks about the absence of an idealized hero in these fairy tales, then Anikin writes that a sharp distinction between positive and negative is in the nature of fairy tales about animals. And when characterizing fairy tales, even different interpretations of the same lexical content are revealed. So, according to Novikova’s textbook, the expression “soon the tale is told, but not soon the deed is done” is presented as a poetic formula, and according to Anikin, as the presence of signs of the everyday in a fantasy world.

Thus, based on all these contradictions, we can once again be convinced that a problem with the typology of Russian folk tales really exists.

Chapter 3. Creating a new classification option

To create any classification, the basis and operation of two principles are necessary: ​​criteria and logic. So, based on all the above facts, I took Afanasyev’s classification as a basis, but specified it and expanded it, using two criteria: heroes and compositional features.

In total, I identified 17 categories:

1. Classic animals (“Fox the Midwife”, “Fox, Hare and Rooster”, “Fox the Confessor”, “Sheep, Fox and Wolf”, “Fox and Crane”, “Fox and Crayfish”, “Cat, Rooster” and the fox”, “Wolf and goat”, “Goat”, “Winter quarters of animals”, “Crane and heron”). The characters in such tales are exclusively animals, in which human behavior can be read, their volume is small, the composition is simple, and there is a good ending.

2. Tragic stories about animals (“The Pig and the Wolf”, “Mizgir”). Meets all the requirements of the first category in terms of heroic features, but has a tragic ending, which no longer allows us to call them classic animals.

3. About animals with everyday context (“Animals in the pit”, “Fox and black grouse”, “Frightened bear and wolves”). In these fairy tales, in contrast to the first category, it is not the compositional plan that becomes more complicated (as in the second category), but the heroic plan: people appear, but they are still only a background for the animal heroes, people are not participants in the events, they are only mentioned.

4. About animals with tragic everyday context (“Tower of the Flies”). As is already clear from the principle of division, this category includes fairy tales that meet the requirements for the third category, but with a tragic ending.

5. Animals (“Little Fox and the Wolf”, “For the Lapotok - a Chicken, for the Chicken - a Goose”, “A Man, a Bear and a Fox”, “Cat and a Fox”, “Fool Wolf”, “The Tale of a Goat” peeled”, “The Kochet and the Hen”, “The Hen”, “The Tale of Ruff Ershovich, Shchetinnikov’s son”, “The Tale of the Toothy Pike”, “Daughter and Stepdaughter”, “The Rooster and the Millstones”, “The Hunter and His Wife”). This category includes fairy tales with the compositional features of fairy tales about animals, but here, along with the main animal characters, people act on equal rights, sometimes even engaging in combat.

6. Animal-domestic tragedies (“Bear”, “Bear, Dog and Cat”). They meet the requirements of the 5th category, but have a tragic ending.

7. Animal-domestic tragic stories with magical elements (“Kolobok”, “The Little Cockerel”, “Kroshechka-Khavroshechka”). They meet the requirements of the 6th category, but the structure of these tales is even more complicated due to the appearance of magic (this can be either magical heroes secondary plan, or magic items).

8. Animals with magical elements (“Baba Yaga”, “Geese-Swans”, “Horse, Tablecloth and Horn”, “Tricky Science”, “The Little Princess”, “Magic Ring”). The composition of animal fairy tales here is complicated by the introduction of either magical heroes or magical objects.

9. Classical magic (“Marya Morevna”, “Ivan Tsarevich and Bely Polyanin”, “Legless and Armless Heroes”, “Fake Illness”, “ Wonderful shirt», « Sea king and Vasilisa the Wise”, “The Tsar Maiden”, “The Feather of Finist is a clear falcon”, “Elena the Wise”, “The Princess Solving Riddles”, “The Enchanted Princess”, “The Petrified Kingdom”, “Knee-deep in gold, up to the elbow of the arm in silver", "Golden Slipper". Fairy tales with a complicated compositional structure, which is based on Propp's well-known formula: there are symbolic numbers, the action of inanimate and magical objects, and magical heroes, a happy ending is required.

10. Classical everyday stories (“Treasure”, “Slandered Merchant’s Daughter”, “Soldier and Tsar in the Forest”, “Robbers”, “Medicine Man”, “Thief”, “Thieving Man”, “ Soldier's riddle”, “The Fool and the Birch”, “The Daring Farmhand”, “Foma Berennikov”, “The Proving Wife”, “Husband and Wife”, “Dear Leather”, “How a Man Weaned His Wife from Fairy Tales”, “The Miser”). Fairy tales with a simple composition of everyday stories, noted in the Afanasiev classification. A mandatory requirement is the complete absence of magic.

11. Magical-everyday ones (“The Witch and the Sun’s Sister”, “Morozko”, “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, “The Korolevich and His Uncle”, “Three Kingdoms” - copper, silver, and gold”, “Frolka-seat”, “Ivan-bykovich”, “Nikita-kozhemyaka”, “Koschei the Immortal”, “ Prophetic dream", "Arys-Field", "Night Dances", "Dashing One-Eyed", "Good Word", "The Wise Maiden and the Seven Thieves", "Doka on Doku" and others). Fairy tales in which, based on the Proppian formula, the structure is complicated by the introduction of everyday heroes.

12. Magical-everyday ones with animal characters (“Baba Yaga and Zamoryshek”, “Tereshechka”, “Crystal Mountain”, “Kozma Skorobogatiy”, “Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess”, “Sivko-Burko”, “Animal’s Milk” "). An even greater complication of the eleventh category due to the introduction of animal heroes.

13. Magical-pagan with everyday context (“Tales of the Dead”, “Tales of Witches”, “Death of the Miser”, “Fiddler in Hell”, “Leshy”, “Careless Word”). A special series of fairy tales that have a composition of everyday ones. Their peculiarity lies in the fact that they introduce heroes who personify evil spirits- echoes of paganism.

14. Domestic tragedies (“Ivanushka the Fool”, “The Stuffed Fool”, “Mena”, “The Wrangling Wife”, “The Prophetic Oak”). The composition and characters could classify these tales as being in the tenth category, but there is one feature - a tragic ending.

15. Household with open ending(“Lutonyushko”). A special category of fairy tales that violates all traditional fairy tale structures - they have no ending.

16. Everyday story with a dialogic structure and inanimate characters (“Good, but bad”, “If you don’t like it, don’t listen”, “Mushrooms”). Fairy tales that have a special structure - a form of dialogue.

17. Everyday ones with inanimate heroes of a tragic tone (“Bubble, Straw and Bast Shot”). The structure of an everyday fairy tale, the heroes are inanimate objects.

Conclusion

Thus, I will summarize some results of the work done:

1. I analyzed the current classifications of Russian folk tales.

2. Russian folk tales were carefully read and inconsistencies with existing classifications were found.

3. The basis and principles for creating your own classification are determined.

4. A new classification has been created, and tales from Afanasyev’s collection are distributed according to it.

In general, during the process of work, I became interested in the problem of oral folk art. So, today I already see the imperfection of the classification of oral non-fairy prose. In the future I intend to address this very issue.

References

1. Russian folk tales by A.N. Afanasyeva. – M., 2004.

2. Fairy tales: Library of Russian folklore. Book 1-2. – M, 1988, 1989.

Research:

1. Anikin V.L., Kruglov Yu.L. Russian folk tale. – M., 2001.

2. Zueva T.V. The wonderful world of fairy tales and historical reality// East Slavic fairy tales. M., 1992. P. 3-28.

3. Korepova K.E. The Magic World // Russian Fairy Tale: An Anthology. M., 1992. P. 5-18.

4. Novikova A.M. Russian folk poetry. – M., 2002.

5. Propp V.Ya. Index of plots // Afanasyev A.N. Russian folk tales: In 3 volumes. M., 1957. T. 3. P. 454-502.

6. Pomerantseva E.V. The fate of a folk tale. – M., 2006.

7. Propp V.Ya. Historical roots fairy tale – L., 1976.

8. Comparative index of plots. East Slavic fairy tale. – L., 1979.

9. Streltsova L.E., Tamarchenko N.D. Verb and good: Magic and everyday tales. Tver, 2005.

The most important ideas, main problems, plot cores and - most importantly - the balance of forces that bring about good and evil are essentially the same in fairy tales different nations. In this sense, any fairy tale knows no boundaries; it is for all humanity.

Folklore studies have devoted a lot of research to the fairy tale, but defining it as one of the genres of oral folk art still remains an open problem. The heterogeneity of fairy tales, the wide thematic range, the variety of motives and characters contained in them, and the countless number of ways to resolve conflicts really make the task of defining a fairy tale by genre very difficult.

And yet, the divergence in views on a fairy tale is associated with what is regarded as the main thing in it: an orientation toward fiction or the desire to reflect reality through fiction.

The essence and vitality of a fairy tale, the secret of its magical existence is in the constant combination of two elements of meaning: fantasy and truth.

On this basis, a classification of types of fairy tales arises, although not entirely uniform. Thus, with a problem-thematic approach, fairy tales dedicated to animals, tales about unusual and supernatural events, adventure tales, social and everyday tales, anecdote tales, reversal tales and others.

The groups of fairy tales do not have sharply defined boundaries, but despite the fragility of the demarcation, such a classification allows you to start a substantive conversation with the child about fairy tales within the framework of a conventional “system” - which, of course, makes the work of parents and educators easier.
To date, the following classification of Russian folk tales has been accepted:

1. Tales about animals;
2. Fairy tales;
3. Everyday tales.

Let's take a closer look at each type.

Animal Tales

Folk poetry embraced the whole world, its object was not only humans, but also all living things on the planet. By depicting animals, the fairy tale gives them human traits, but at the same time it records and characterizes habits, “way of life,” etc. Hence the lively, intense text of fairy tales.
Man has long felt a kinship with nature; he truly was a part of it, fighting with it, seeking its protection, sympathizing and understanding. The later introduced fable, parable meaning of many fairy tales about animals is also obvious.

In fairy tales about animals, fish, animals, birds act, they talk to each other, declare war on each other, make peace. The basis of such tales is totemism (belief in a totem animal, the patron of the clan), which resulted in the cult of the animal. For example, the bear, which became the hero of fairy tales, according to the ideas of the ancient Slavs, could predict the future. He was often thought of as a terrible, vengeful beast, unforgiving of insults (the fairy tale “The Bear”). The further the belief in this goes, the more confident a person becomes in his abilities, the more possible is his power over the animal, the “victory” over him. This happens, for example, in the fairy tales “The Man and the Bear” and “The Bear, the Dog and the Cat.” Fairy tales differ significantly from beliefs about animals - in the latter, fiction associated with paganism plays a large role. The wolf is believed to be wise and cunning, the bear is terrible. The fairy tale loses its dependence on paganism and becomes a mockery of animals. Mythology in it turns into art. The fairy tale is transformed into a kind of artistic joke - a criticism of those creatures that are meant by animals. Hence the closeness of such tales to fables ("The Fox and the Crane", "Beasts in the Pit").

Tales about animals are allocated to a special group based on the nature of the characters. They are divided by type of animal. This also includes tales about plants, inanimate nature (frost, sun, wind), and objects (a bubble, a straw, a bast shoe).

In fairy tales about animals, man:
1) plays minor role(the old man from the fairy tale “The Fox Steals Fish from the Cart”);
2) occupies a position equivalent to an animal (the man from the fairy tale “The old bread and salt is forgotten”).

Possible classification of tales about animals.

First of all, a fairy tale about animals is classified according to the main character (thematic classification). This classification is given in the index of fairy-tale plots of world folklore compiled by Arne-Thomson and in the “Comparative Index of Plots. East Slavic Fairy Tale”:

1. Wild animals.
- Fox.
- Other wild animals.
2. Wild and domestic animals
3. Man and wild animals.
4. Pets.
5. Birds and fish.
6. Other animals, objects, plants and natural phenomena.

The next possible classification of a fairy tale about animals is a structural-semantic classification, which classifies the fairy tale according to genre. There are several genres in a fairy tale about animals. V. Ya. Propp identified such genres as:

1. Cumulative tale about animals.

3. Fable (apologist)
4. Satirical tale

E. A. Kostyukhin identified genres about animals as:

1. Comic (everyday) tale about animals
2. A fairy tale about animals
3. Cumulative tale about animals
4. A short story about animals
5. Apologist (fable)
6. Anecdote.
7. A satirical tale about animals
8. Legends, traditions, everyday stories about animals
9. Tales

Propp, in the basis of his classification of animal tales by genre, tried to put a formal feature. Kostyukhin, on the other hand, partly based his classification on a formal feature, but basically the researcher divides the genres of fairy tales about animals according to content. This allows us to better understand the diverse material of fairy tales about animals, which demonstrates the variety of structural structures, diversity of styles, and richness of content.

The third possible classification of a fairy tale about animals is a classification based on the target audience. Tales about animals are divided into:

1. Children's fairy tales.
- Fairy tales told for children.
- Fairy tales told by children.
2. Adult fairy tales.

This or that genre of animal tales has its own target audience. Modern Russian fairy tales about animals mainly belong to a children's audience. Thus, fairy tales told for children have a simplified structure. But there is a genre of fairy tales about animals that will never be addressed to children - this is the so-called. A "naughty" ("cherished" or "pornographic") tale.

About twenty plots of fairy tales about animals are cumulative fairy tales. The principle of such a composition is the repeated repetition of a plot unit. Thompson, S., Bolte, J. and Polivka, I., Propp identified fairy tales with cumulative composition into a special group of fairy tales. The cumulative (chain-like) composition is distinguished:

1. With endless repetition:
- Boring fairy tales like “About the White Bull.”
- A unit of text is included in another text (“The priest had a dog”).
2. With End Repetition:
- “Turnip” - plot units grow into a chain until the chain breaks.
- “The cockerel choked” - the chain unravels until the chain breaks.
- “For a rolling duck” - the previous unit of text is negated in the next episode.

Another genre form of a fairy tale about animals is the structure of a fairy tale ("The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats", "The Cat, the Rooster and the Fox").

The leading place in fairy tales about animals is occupied by comic tales - about the pranks of animals ("The fox steals fish from a sleigh (from a cart"), "The wolf at the ice hole", "The fox coats its head with dough (sour cream), "The beaten one carries the unbeaten", "The fox midwife ", etc.), which influence other fairy-tale genres of animal epic, especially the apologist (fable). The plot core of a comic tale about animals is a chance meeting and a trick (deception, according to Propp). Sometimes they combine several meetings and pranks. The hero of a comic fairy tale is a trickster (one who commits tricks). The main trickster of the Russian fairy tale is the fox (in the world epic - the hare). Its victims are usually a wolf and a bear. It has been noticed that if a fox acts against the weak, it loses, if against the strong, it wins. This comes from archaic folklore. In the modern animal tale, the victory and defeat of the trickster often receives a moral assessment. The trickster in the fairy tale is contrasted with the simpleton. It can be a predator (wolf, bear), or a person, or a simple animal, like a hare.

A significant part of fairy tales about animals is occupied by an apologist (fable), in which there is not a comic principle, but a moralizing, moralizing one. Moreover, the apologist does not necessarily have to have a moral in the form of an ending. Morality comes from plot situations. Situations must be unambiguous in order to easily form moral conclusions. Typical examples of an apologist are fairy tales where there is a clash of contrasting characters (Who is more cowardly than a hare?; Old bread and salt is forgotten; A splinter in the paw of a bear (lion). An apologist can also be considered such stories that were known in literary fable since ancient times (The Fox and the Sour Grapes; The Crow and the Fox and many others). The Apologist is a relatively late form of animal tales. Refers to a time when moral standards have already been determined and are looking for a suitable form for themselves. In fairy tales of this type, only a few plots with tricksters' tricks were transformed; the apologist (not without the influence of literature) developed some of the plots himself. The third way of development of the apologist is the growth of proverbs (proverbs and sayings. But unlike proverbs, in the apologist the allegory is not only rational, but also sensitive.

Next to the apologist stands the so-called short story tale about animals, highlighted by E. A. Kostyukhin. A short story in an animal fairy tale is a story about unusual events with a fairly developed intrigue, with sharp turns in the fate of the heroes. The tendency towards moralization determines the fate of the genre. It has a more definite moral than the apologist, the comic element is muted or completely removed. The mischief of a comic fairy tale about animals is replaced in the novella with a different content - entertaining. A classic example of a short story about animals is "Grateful Animals." Most of the plots of folklore short stories about animals develop in literature and then pass into folklore. The easy transition of these plots is due to the fact that the literary plots themselves are based on folklore.

Speaking about satire in fairy tales about animals, it must be said that literature once gave impetus to the development of the satirical fairy tale. The condition for the appearance of a satirical tale arises in late Middle Ages. The satirical effect folk tale is achieved by putting social terminology into the mouths of animals (Fox the Confessor; Cat and Wild Animals). The plot of “Ruff Ershovich”, which is a fairy tale of book origin, stands apart. Having appeared late in a folk tale, satire did not take hold in it, since in a satirical tale one can easily remove social terminology.

So in the 19th century, the satirical fairy tale was unpopular. Satire within a fairy tale about animals is only an accent in an extremely small group of stories about animals. And on satirical tale influenced by the laws of animal fairy tales with trickster tricks. The satirical sound was preserved in fairy tales where there was a trickster in the center, and where there was complete absurdity of what was happening, the fairy tale became a fable.

Fairy tales

Fairy tales of the fairy type include magical, adventure, and heroic. At the heart of such fairy tales is a wonderful world. The wonderful world is an objective, fantastic, unlimited world. Thanks to unlimited fantasy and a wonderful principle of organizing material in fairy tales with a wonderful world of possible “transformation”, amazing in their speed (children grow by leaps and bounds, every day they become stronger or more beautiful). Not only the speed of the process is unreal, but also its very character (from the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden.” “Look, the Snow Maiden’s lips turned pink, her eyes opened. Then she shook off the snow and a living girl came out of the snowdrift.” “Conversion” in fairy tales of the wonderful type, usually occur with the help of magical creatures or objects.

Basically, fairy tales are older than others; they bear traces of a person’s primary acquaintance with the world around him.

A fairy tale is based on a complex composition, which has an exposition, a plot, plot development, a climax and a denouement.

The plot of a fairy tale is based on a story about overcoming a loss or shortage with the help of miraculous means or magical helpers. In the exhibition of the fairy tale there are consistently 2 generations - the older (the king and the queen, etc.) and the younger - Ivan and his brothers or sisters. Also included in the exhibition is the absence of the older generation. An intensified form of absence is the death of the parents. The plot of the tale is that main character either the heroine discovers a loss or shortage, or there are motives of prohibition, violation of the prohibition and subsequent disaster. Here is the beginning of counteraction, i.e. sending the hero from home.

Plot development is a search for what is lost or missing.

The climax of a fairy tale is that the protagonist or heroine fights an opposing force and always defeats it (the equivalent of fighting is solving difficult problems that are always solved).

Denouement is overcoming a loss or lack. Usually the hero (heroine) “reigns” at the end - that is, acquires a higher social status than he had at the beginning.

V.Ya. Propp reveals the monotony of a fairy tale at the plot level in a purely syntagmatic sense. It reveals the invariance of a set of functions (the actions of actors), the linear sequence of these functions, as well as a set of roles, in a known manner distributed among specific characters and correlated with functions. Functions are distributed among seven characters:

Antagonist (pest),
donor
assistant
princess or her father
sender
hero
false hero.

Meletinsky, identifying five groups of fairy tales, tries to resolve the issue historical development genre in general, and plots in particular. The tale contains some motifs characteristic of totemic myths. The mythological origin of the universally widespread fairy tale about a marriage with a miraculous “totem” creature, which has temporarily shed its animal shell and taken on human form, is quite obvious (“A husband is looking for a missing or kidnapped wife (a wife is looking for a husband)”, “The Frog Princess”, “ Scarlet flower", etc.). A tale about visiting other worlds to free the captives there ("Three underground kingdoms", etc.). Popular tales about a group of children who fall into power evil spirit, a monster, a cannibal and those who are saved thanks to the resourcefulness of one of them (“The Witch’s Little Thumb”, etc.), or about the murder of a powerful serpent - a chthonic demon (“The Snake Conqueror,” etc.). In a fairy tale, we are actively developing family theme(“Cinderella”, etc.). For a fairy tale, a wedding becomes a symbol of compensation for the socially disadvantaged (“Sivko-Burko”). The socially disadvantaged hero (younger brother, stepdaughter, fool) at the beginning of the fairy tale, endowed with everything negative characteristics from his environment, is endowed with beauty and intelligence in the end (“The Little Humpbacked Horse”). The distinguished group of tales about wedding trials draws attention to the narrative of personal destinies. The novelistic theme in a fairy tale is no less interesting than the heroic theme. Propp classifies the genre of fairy tales by the presence of “Battle - Victory” in the main test or by the presence of a “Difficult task - Solution” difficult task"The logical development of the fairy tale was the everyday fairy tale.

Everyday tales

A characteristic feature of everyday fairy tales is the reproduction of everyday life in them. The conflict of an everyday fairy tale often consists in the fact that decency, honesty, nobility under the guise of simplicity and naivety is opposed to those personality qualities that have always caused sharp rejection among the people (greed, anger, envy).

As a rule, in everyday fairy tales there is more irony and self-irony, since Good triumphs, but the randomness or singularity of his victory is emphasized.

The variety of everyday fairy tales is characteristic: social-everyday, satirical-everyday, novelistic and others. Unlike fairy tales, everyday fairy tales contain a more significant element of social and moral criticism; they are more definite in their social preferences. Praise and condemnation sound stronger in everyday fairy tales.

Recently in methodological literature information began to appear about a new type of fairy tales - fairy tales mixed type. Of course, fairy tales of this type have existed for a long time, but they have not been given of great importance, because they forgot how much they can help in achieving educational, educational and developmental goals. In general, fairy tales of a mixed type are fairy tales of a transitional type.
They combine features inherent in fairy tales with a wonderful world, everyday tales. Elements of the miraculous also appear in the form of magical objects, around which the main action is grouped.

Fairy tale in different forms and scale strives to embody the ideal of human existence.
The fairy tale's belief in the intrinsic value of noble human qualities, the uncompromising preference for the Good, are also based on a call to wisdom, activity, and true humanity.

Fairy tales broaden one's horizons, awaken interest in the life and creativity of peoples, and foster a sense of trust in all the inhabitants of our Earth engaged in honest work.