What is folklore in literature? Genres of folklore

Folklore is a kind of representation of the people's consciousness. And this distinguishes him from other forms of linguistic art, including literature, in which folk wisdom is expressed by the lonely personality of the author. Literary work can also reflect a purely personal perception of the environment, while folklore combines a collective, public vision. Modern literary criticism is increasingly turning to the phenomenon of mass literature and the peculiarities of its functioning within Russia. The authors of the 21st century have recently shown a tendency to actively interpret the extraction of traditional culture. The growing popularity of popular literature is provided through the use of writers' ability to reproduce on a subconscious level already known to him the images and stories presented in the work. Very often such a "base" is folklore.

Folklore motifs

Folklore motives sooner or later use all writers of both mass and elite literature, the difference lies in their functions at this level. In mass literature, folklore is primarily a "factor of the formation of national literature", that is, a guarantor of the correlation of the text with generally accepted standards of literature, which the reader is ready to consume. Under such circumstances, literary scholars try to determine what folklore is in literature, how folk motifs interact with the works of mass literature and what are the features of their influence on the author's text, as well as the transformations that the folklore text experiences as it enters the modern literary work and changes it Traditional values. Researchers establish the limits of the entry of folklore text into literary text and trace the transformation of universal folklore archetypes. One of the main tasks will be to find out what folklore is in the literature, to explore their mutual influence and connections in the works of mass literature.

Traditional folklore

The authors of popular literature pose the main task when writing a work of interest to the reader. For this, first of all, they are striving for a masterful depiction of intrigue. Zofia Mitosek in the article "End of Mimezis" writes that "the construction of intrigue is a game of traditions and innovations". And if by tradition we mean "passing from one generation to another the traditional forms of activity and communication, as well as the accompanying customs, rules, ideas, values," then for the reader folklore is a worthy representative of tradition in literature. In modern society, it is necessary to instill in the younger generation the need to study traditional folklore.

School program: literature (5th grade) - genres of folklore

The fifth class is an important phase in the development of language education for schoolchildren. The appeal to works with the use of folklore materials is conditioned by the need for self-affirmation, the essential receptivity of the fifth-grade pupils to folk art, the correspondence of folklore as an oral word to the active speech of a child who is at the stage of constant development. Such education in secondary school gives the student a lesson in literature.

Genres of folklore, which should be studied in modern school:

Ritual creativity

• Calendar-ritual poetry.
• Family-ritual poetry.
• The national drama.
• The heroic epic.
• The Duma.

Ballads and lyric songs

• Ballads.
• Family-household songs.
• Social and domestic songs.
• Shooting and rebel songs.
• Chastushki.
• Songs of literary origin.

Fantastic and unscientific historical prose

• Folk tales.
• Legends and legends.

Folk paremiography

• Proverbs and sayings.
• Puzzles.
• Folk beliefs.
• Fables.

Folklore - the "genetic" element of the worldview

Artistic action in the plot of works of literature is usually simple and understandable, designed to meet the ordinary consciousness of the reader. Folklore is a "genetic" element of the worldview and, as a rule, is put into consciousness with the first songs, fairy tales, riddles since childhood. Thus, in school, the features of folklore works give the pupil a lesson in literature (grade 5). Folklore makes the world understandable, tries to explain the unknown. Therefore, the interaction of the functions of folklore and literature creates a powerful resource for influencing the consciousness of the recipient, in which the text is able to mythologize the human consciousness and even cause a transformation of the rational sphere of human thought. The answer to the question "what is folklore in literature" is determined by the whole direction of integral creative judgment and use. In the works of folklore the ideas of creativity are often revealed on the verge of intersection with literature. Perhaps, this is influenced by native ritual folklore. Literature (Grade 5) in modern school is increasingly returning to the actual topic of spiritual and cultural revival today, to the primacy of the life of our people, one of the main carriers of information about which is folklore.

The tradition of analysis

Nowadays there is already a certain tradition of analyzing what is folklore in literature, according to which the equalization of creativity to the standards of mass culture is considered inappropriate: despite the label of "mass character" of novels, they have their own style, creative manner and, most importantly, themes of works. They "regenerated" from the depths of the soul the eternal themes, the interest to which was dormant to the reader from the beginning of a new era. Favorite themes of the ancient authors are the village and the city, the historical connection of generations, mystical stories with a lovingly erotic coloring. On the established historical images, a modern manner of "direct" description of events is built, traditional culture is served in a modified version. Heroes of works are characterized by breadth of comprehension of life and psychological experience, descriptions of their characters are emphasized by reminiscences to the history and culture of our people, which are most often manifested in authorial digressions and remarks.

Desacralization of folklore

Accents are made to visualize the pictures, which is carried out with the help of increased dynamic narration of events and the effect of understatement, which stimulates the reader to creative "cooperation." In every novel, the hero exists in the world created by the author, with its own geography, history, mythology. But when reading, the recipient perceives this space as already known, that is, it penetrates the atmosphere of the work from the first pages. This effect is achieved by the inclusion of various folklore schemes; That is, it is about "imitating the myth not by the mythological consciousness," according to which folklore elements act under their traditional context and acquire another semantic meaning, but at the same time fulfill the function of identifying the ancient meanings already known to him by the reader. Thus, in the texts of popular literature desacralization of traditions and folklore occurs.

The phenomenon of modification of the past and present

The phenomenon of the modification of the past and present can be traced even in the nature of the construction of almost all products. Texts abound in proverbs and sayings, which allows a compressed, condensed form to convey the centuries-old experience of the people. In the works the main thing is that they act as elements of the monologues and dialogues of the hero - most often in this are used the characters of the elderly, the bearers of wisdom and morals. Signs and sayings also fulfill the function of hinting at the tragic fate of the heroes of that time. They bear a deep meaning, one sign can tell the whole life path of the hero.

Folklore is the harmony of the inner world

So, a certain mythologization and attribution to folklore in works is a natural and equally integral part of the created world, like the specifics of the peasantry, ethnic coloring and live, real broadcasting. Mass literature is based on the "basic models" of the consciousness of the reader of a given people (based on "initial intentions"). In works such "initial intentions" are precisely folklore elements. With the help of folklore motifs, there is a proximity to nature, harmony of the inner world, and the remaining functions of folklore go to the background, simplification of sacredness takes place.