BETWEEN FOLKLORE AND FICTION: MAGPIE AND MERMAID TALES BY A.N. TOLSTOY
Journal Title: Проблеми сучасного літературознавства - Year 2015, Vol 0, Issue 20
Abstract
The present paper discusses early writings of A. N. Tolstoy from the point of view of their relation with the Russian folk works. Folklore was in the centre of Tolstoy’s interest from a very young age. He learnt it, collected fairy tales, legends, songs, sayings and proverbs. They provided very rich material for creating the volume of poems Beyond Blue Rivers (1910) and the book Magpie Tales (1910) which was then divided into cycles of poems Magpie Tales and Mermaid’s Tales (1923). The first of the aforementioned cycles is devoted, basically, to animals, the latter one — to fairy tales. Both cycles are designed, broadly speaking, for adults, yet some tales were widely enjoyed by children as well. The structure of Magpie cycle is rather varied. It consists of: typically folk fairy tales about animals (Magpie, Billy-goat, Vixen, Hedgehog, Mouse, Hare, Owl and Cat), where a reader is not meant to find any significant idea, tales-allegories with more complex structure (Wise Man, Camel, Painting, Gander, Ant) with implied meaning and lots of details, fairy tales about animated or personified objects (Greedy Sandal, Pot, Axe, Slacks) — designed basically for children, fairy tales about children and for children (Fofka, Fungs, Masha and Mice, Snowy House), tales with fantastic and mythological beings (Firebird, Hen’s God, Vas’ka the Cat, Petushki, Snowy House), and tales-jokes about domestic animals (Polkan, Cat the Creamy Mog). The folk stylistics is reflected in the aforementioned groups of fairy tales in varied ways and with diverse intensity. Only Tit — a tale from the Magpie Cycle displays different character. It tells the story of tragic fate of princess Natalya and her relatives. The tale’s content and artistic form allow us to include it to historical short stories, what can be the proof of A. N. Tolstoy’s interest in his motherland’s history. Mermaid’s Tales, as it has already been mentioned, can be classified as magical fairy tales. Slavic folk stylistics, viewpoint, and mythology play a vague role in this cycle. One of the most popular images of this mythology appears to be a mermaid. Interesting to mention — she is the main heroine of the tale that opens the cycle under investigation. Although she is not depicted exactly according to the folk viewpoint, the author follows the general folk tradition and depicts her fatal role in a human’s life (the life and death of the old man Semen). Pictures of mermaids can be also found in two more tales of this cycle (Ivan and Maria, Witcher), but the creatures are only peripheral characters there. Some other folk creatures from the cycle under investigation have been analysed: vodyanoy (Ivan and Maria, Vodyanoy), polevik, witcher, kikimora, wild rooster, animals’ tsar (from tales under the same titles), domovoy (Host), ovinnik (Sunny Bridegroom), serpent (Wonderer and Serpent) and zhizh (Ivan-Tsarevitch and Crimson Alice). Magpie Tales and Mermaid’s Tales present a mixture of folk and literary concepts, but their artistic value is based on a different aspect — the poetry of the cycles can be described as typically Tolstoyan in depicting and interpreting Russian folklore.
Authors and Affiliations
Khenryk Hzhys
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