What genres of fairy tales exist? What kinds of fairy tales are there (classification of fairy tales)

A fairy tale is a miracle! A wonderful world, familiar from childhood, where good always triumphs over evil. On the pages of fairy-tale books live talking animals and dragons, brave heroes and beautiful princesses, good fairies and evil sorcerers. Fairy tales encourage not only to believe in miracles, but also teach kindness, compassion, not giving in to difficulties, listening to parents and not judging others by appearance.

What kind of fairy tales are there?

A fairy tale is a story with fictional characters and a plot that is of an everyday, heroic or magical nature. They are folklore (composed by the people), literary (include features of folk tales, but belong to one author) and author's (written by one specific author). Folklore tales are divided into magical, everyday and about animals.

Folklore

Before reaching the reader, they go through a long way. They are passed down orally from generation to generation until some collector of legends writes them down on paper. It is believed that the heroes of the first stories were the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and others natural phenomena, and images of people and animals began to be used later.

Folk tales have a fairly simple structure: a saying, a beginning and an end. The text is easy to read and does not contain complex words. But despite its apparent simplicity, it retains all the richness of the Russian language. Folklore tales are easily understood even by little ones, which makes them the best choice for reading before bed. This will not only prepare the child for sleep, but also unobtrusively teach life values.

The main features of a fairy tale:

1. Fairy-tale cliches “Once upon a time,” “In a certain kingdom.”
2. Use of proverbs and sayings.
3. Obligatory victory of good in the final.
4. The tests that the heroes go through are educational and moral character.
5. The animals saved by the hero help him get out of difficult situations.

Household

The action takes place in everyday life, not in far away kingdom”, but in an ordinary city or village. The life of that time, features and habits are described. The heroes are the poor and merchants, spouses, soldiers, servants and masters. The plot is based on ordinary life situations and conflicts that the heroes have to resolve with the help of skill, ingenuity and even cunning.

Everyday fairy tales ridicule human vices: greed, stupidity, ignorance. The main message of such stories is that one should not be afraid of work, not be lazy and confidently overcome obstacles. Treat others kindly, be responsive to the grief of others, do not lie or be stingy. For example, “Porridge from an axe,” “Turnip,” “Seven-year-old daughter.”

About animals

Often the characters are animals. They live and communicate like people, talk and play pranks, quarrel and make peace. There is no clear character among the characters division into positive and negative heroes. Each of them is endowed with one distinctive feature, which is played out in the plot of the fairy tale. A cunning fox, an angry wolf, a hardworking hare, and a wise owl. Such images are understandable to children and give ideas about intelligence and stupidity, cowardice and courage, greed and kindness.

Magical

What is a fairy tale? This is a mysterious world filled with magic and enchantment. Where animals, nature and even objects can speak. The composition is more complex, it includes an introduction, a plot, a central plot, a climax and a denouement. The plot is based on overcoming a difficult situation or regaining a loss. For example, “Morozko”, “Finist Clear Falcon”, “Cinderella”.

The world of characters is incredibly diverse. G The main heroes have all the positive qualities, that is, such as kindness, generosity, responsiveness, courage. They are opposed by evil, greedy and selfish negative heroes. In the fight against enemies, the positive heroes are helped by wonderful helpers and magical objects. The ending is certainly happy. The hero returns home with honors, having overcome all adversity and obstacles.

Literary

Has a specific author, but is closely related to folklore. A literary fairy tale reflects the author's view of the world, his ideas and desires, while folk tales demonstrate generalized values. The writer empathizes with the main characters, expresses sympathy for individual characters and openly ridicules the negative characters.

The basis is often the plots of folk tales.

• the hero’s belonging to the world of magic;
• hostility between adoptive parents and children;
• the hero is helped by nature, living creatures and magical attributes.

To imitate folk tales, the same principles are applied: fairy-tale setting, talking animals, triplicate repetitions and vernacular. The images of the main characters of folk tales are often used: Ivan the Fool, Baba Yaga, Tsar Koschei and others. The author strives for greater detail, characters and personal qualities The characters are described in detail, the environment is close to reality, and two generations are always present: the older (parents) and the younger (children).

TO striking examples Literary fairy tales include the work of A. Pushkin “Goldfish”, G. Andersen “The Snow Queen” and C. Perrault “Puss in Boots”.

Whatever the fairy tale, its goal is to teach a child not to despair, to boldly take on tasks, and to respect other people’s opinions. Looking at the bright illustrations, it’s easy to come up with your own plot based on an already familiar story. Even an adult will find it useful to break away from the usual cycle of days and plunge into the wonderful world of magic.

It is simply impossible to imagine our life without fairy tales. We get to know them back in early childhood. From fairy tales we learn for the first time that there is good and bad, good and evil in the world. Fairy tales awaken and develop the imagination, teach the little man to distinguish good from bad, think, feel and empathize, gradually preparing him to enter into adult life. First, my mother reads to us “Turnip” and “Ryaba the Hen,” then introduces us to the magical world of fairy tales by Pushkin and Charles Perrault. And there we already read it ourselves amazing tales Nikolai Nosov, Vitaly Bianki and Evgeniy Schwartz. What kind of fairy tales are there?

Fairy tales happen

• folk, or folklore;
• literary, or copyright.

The folk tale came to us from time immemorial. After a hard day at work or long winter evenings With a torch lit in the hut, people told and listened to fairy tales. Then they retold them to each other, simplifying or embellishing, enriching them with new characters and events. So they were passed on from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation. But fairy tales were written not only for entertainment; in them people wanted to express their attitude to life. In folk tales we see faith in reason, goodness and justice, the triumph of truth over falsehood, the glorification of courage and bravery, disdain for stupidity, hatred of enemies or ridicule of them. A folk tale allows you to feel a connection with the past and provides an opportunity to join the origins of folk culture.

Folk tales, in turn, are divided into three types:

• tales about animals;
• fairy tales;
• everyday tales.

Animals have lived alongside humans since time immemorial, so it is not surprising that they are often the main characters in folk tales. Moreover, in fairy tales, animals often have human qualities. Such a fairy-tale character immediately becomes more understandable to the reader. And the role of a person in the plot of a fairy tale can be primary, secondary or equal. By genre, there are fairy tales about animals and cumulative tales (repetition fairy tales). A distinctive feature of a cumulative fairy tale is the repeated repetition of a plot unit, as, for example, in “The Turnip” and “The Ryaba Hen”.

Fairy tales are distinguished by the fact that their heroes act in a fantastic, unreal world, which lives and acts according to its own special laws, different from human ones. Such a fairy tale is replete with magical events and adventures, exciting the imagination. Fairy tales are classified by plot:

• heroic tales involving the struggle and victory over a magical creature - a snake, an ogre, a giant, a witch, a monster or an evil wizard;
• tales related to the search or use of some magical object;
• tales related to wedding trials;
• tales about the oppressed in the family (for example, about a stepdaughter and an evil stepmother).

A feature of everyday fairy tales is the reflection of everyday folk life And everyday life. They rise in them social problems, negative human qualities and actions are ridiculed. An everyday fairy tale may also contain elements of a fairy tale. In everyday fairy tales, as a rule, greedy priests and stupid landowners are ridiculed, and the hero of the fairy tale (a man, a soldier) emerges victorious from all troubles.

What is a literary fairy tale?

A literary fairy tale has an author, which is why it is also called an author's fairy tale. This is a work of fiction that can be written in prose or poetic form. The plot of a literary fairy tale can be based on folklore sources, or it can be exclusively the original idea of ​​the author. A literary fairy tale is more diverse in plot, the narrative in it is more intense, it is replete with various literary devices. It, like a folk tale, also contains fiction and magic. But the predecessor author's fairy tale, of course, it was a folk tale; it was too connected with the folklore that gave birth to it. The author, the author's individual imagination, the selection from the treasury of folklore only of what the author needs to express and formulate his thoughts and feelings - this is the main difference between a literary fairy tale and a folklore one.

Excellent examples of literary fairy tales are the tales of A.S. Pushkina, K.D. Ushinsky, G.Kh. Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, E. Schwartz, V. Bianchi, J.R.R. Tolkien and many other wonderful fairy tale authors.

Despite the differences in types and genres, all fairy tales have one unifying principle - good. After all the twists and turns and untruths in a fairy tale, goodness and justice always win. There are no evil fairy tales. There are only good fairy tales. That's why they are fairy tales.

Fairy tales are an integral part of childhood. There is hardly a person who, when he was little, did not listen to many different stories. Having matured, he retells them to his children, who understand them in their own way, imagining images of the characters and experiencing the emotions that the fairy tale conveys.

What kind of fairy tales are there? We will try to answer these questions further.

Definition

According to the scientific definition in literature, a fairy tale is “an epic literary genre, a narrative about some magical or adventurous events, which has a clear structure: a beginning, a middle and an ending.” From any fairy tale the reader must learn some lesson, a moral. Depending on the type, the fairy tale also performs other functions. There are many classifications of the genre.

Main types of fairy tales

What kind of fairy tales are there? Each of us will agree that in separate species It is worth highlighting tales about animals. The second type is fairy tales. And finally, there are so-called everyday fairy tales. All types have their own characteristics, which become clear through comparative analysis. Let's try to understand each of them in more detail.

What kinds of fairy tales about animals are there?

The existence of such stories is quite justified, because animals are creatures that live in close proximity to us. It is this fact that influenced the fact that folk art uses images of animals, the most diverse: both wild and domestic. At the same time, it should be noted that the animals found in fairy tales are not presented as typical animals, but as special animals endowed with human traits. They live, communicate and behave like real people. Such artistic techniques make it possible to make an image understandable and interesting, while filling it with a certain meaning.

In turn, tales about animals can also be divided into tales involving wild or domestic animals, objects or objects of inanimate nature. Often literary scholars, when talking about what genres of fairy tales there are, classify them into magical, cumulative and satirical. This classification also includes the fable genre. You can divide fairy tales about animals into works for children and for adults. Often in a fairy tale there is a person who can perform the dominant or minor role.

Children are usually introduced to fairy tales about animals between the ages of three and six years. They are most understandable to young readers, since they meet constant characters: the cunning fox, the cowardly hare, gray wolf, smart cat and so on. As a rule, the main feature of each animal is its characteristic feature.

What are the different constructions of a fairy tale about animals? The answer is very different. Cumulative fairy tales, for example, are selected according to the principle of plot connection, where the same characters meet, just in different circumstances. Often stories have names in a diminutive form (Fox-Sister, Bunny-Runaway, Frog-Frog, and so on).

The second type is a fairy tale

What types of literary tales about magic are there? The main characteristic feature of this species is magical, fantasy world, in which the main characters live and act. The laws of this world are different from the usual ones, everything in it is not as it really is, which attracts young readers and makes this type of fairy tales undoubtedly the most beloved among children. The magical setting and plot allow the author to use all his imagination and use as many relevant artistic techniques, with the goal of creating a work specifically for a children's audience. It's no secret that children's imagination is limitless, and satisfying it is very, very difficult.

In most cases, this type of fairy tale has a typical plot, certain characters and happy ending. What kinds of fairy tales about magic are there? These can be stories about heroes and fantastic creatures, tales of unusual objects and various trials that are overcome thanks to magic. As a rule, in the finale the heroes get married and live happily ever after.

Note that the heroes fairy tales embody many of the main themes of this literary genre - the struggle between good and evil, the struggle for love, truth and other ideals. The one who will be defeated in the final must be present. The structure of a fairy tale is usual - beginning, main part and ending.

Everyday tales

Such stories tell about events ordinary life, highlighting various social issues and human characters. In them, the author ridicules the negative. Such tales can be social and satirical, with elements of a fairy tale and many others. Here they are ridiculed negative qualities rich and vain people, while the representatives of the people embody positive features. Everyday tales show that the main thing is not money and power, but kindness, honesty and intelligence. Literary scholars claim - and this is a fact - that they were written at a time when people were experiencing social crises and sought to change the structure of society. Among the popular artistic techniques here, satire, humor, and laughter stand out.

What types of fairy tales are there?

In addition to the above classification, fairy tales are also divided into author's and folk. Already from the names it is clear that author's tales are those that were written by a specific famous writer-storyteller, and folk tales are those that do not have one author. Folk tales are passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, and the original author is no one. Let's consider each type separately.

Folk tales

Folk tales are rightfully considered a powerful source historical facts, information about everyday life and social order a certain people. Over the course of their history, each of the nations has come up with a huge number of instructive stories for adults and children, passing on their experience and wisdom to the next generations.

Folk tales reflect human relationships and change moral principles, show that the basic values ​​remain unchanged, teach to draw a clear line between good and evil, joy and grief, love and hate, truth and falsehood.

The peculiarity of folk tales is that the deepest social meaning is hidden in a simple and easy to read text. Plus, they preserve wealth. vernacular. What kind of folk tales are there? They can be both magical and everyday. Many folk tales tell about animals.

The question often arises about when the first Russian folk tale was invented. This will probably remain a mystery, and one can only speculate. It is believed that the first “heroes” of fairy tales were natural phenomena - the Sun, Moon, Earth, etc. Later they began to obey humans, and images of people and animals entered fairy tales. There is an assumption that all Russian folk narratives have a basis in reality. In other words, some event was retold in the form of a fairy tale, changed over the centuries and came to us in the form to which we are accustomed. We figured out what kind of Russian folk tales there are. It's time to talk about fairy tales whose authors are well known to readers.

Author's fairy tales

Usually a work of authorship is a subjective treatment folk plot, however, new stories are found quite often. The characteristic features of the author's fairy tale are psychologism, sublime speech, bright characters, the use of fairy tale cliches.

Another feature of this genre is that it can be read on different levels. Thus, the same story is perceived differently by representatives of different age groups. Children's fairy tales by Charles Perrault seem like an innocent story to a child, while an adult will find serious problems and morals in them. Often books that are initially aimed at young readers are interpreted by adults in their own way, just as fantasy stories for adults are enjoyed by children.

Who are they, the authors of fairy tales? Surely everyone has heard about “The Tales of My Mother Goose” by Charles Perrault, the fairy tales of the Italian Gozzi, the works of the German writer the Brothers Grimm and the Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. We must not forget about the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin! Their stories are loved by children and adults around the world. Entire generations grow up listening to these fairy tales. At the same time, all author's works are interesting from the point of view of literary criticism; they all fall under a certain classification and have their own artistic characteristics and author's techniques. The most famous and beloved fairy tales are used to make films and cartoons.

Conclusion

So, we figured out what kind of fairy tales there are. Whatever the fairy tale is - the author's, folk, social, everyday, magical or telling about animals - it will definitely teach the reader something. The most interesting thing is that it doesn’t matter who reads the story. Both adults and children will definitely learn something useful from it. A fairy tale will make everyone think, convey the wisdom of the people (or the author) and leave an indelible good impression in the minds of readers. The effect is not at all exaggerated. There are even so-called therapeutic tales who are able to re-educate and wean from a variety of bad habits!

Individual existence artistic creativity is a genre - a historically developing type literary work. One of the most difficult to define and identify common typical features is the fairy tale genre.

The concept of “fairy tale” is the subject of numerous scientific studies and debates. For a long time, scientists did not try to define a fairy tale and, accordingly, did not give its genre characteristics. For example, the definition of the concept and essence of a fairy tale is not in the works of such major domestic researchers folklore genres, like P.V. Vladimirov, A.N. Pypin.

V.Ya. Propp notes that most European languages ​​do not have a designation for this type of folklore, so a variety of words are used. Only two European languages ​​- Russian and German - have special words for fairy tales: “fairy tale” and “Märchen”. In Latin, the word “fairy tale” is conveyed using the word fabula, which has many other additional meanings: conversation, gossip, subject of conversation, etc. (“plot” in literary criticism is “the plot, the subject of the story”), as well as a story, including a fairy tale and a fable. In French, the word used for fairy tale is “story.”

Based on their meanings of words that are in different languages is designated “fairy tale”, several conclusions can be drawn:

• 1. The fairy tale is recognized as a narrative genre
• 2. A fairy tale is considered fiction.
• 3. The purpose of a fairy tale is to entertain listeners

One of the first scientific definitions of a fairy tale was given by European researchers J. Bolte and G. Polivka. Its meaning boils down to the following: a fairy tale is understood as a story based on poetic fantasy, especially from the magical world, a story not related to the conditions of real life, which is listened to with pleasure in all strata of society, even if they find it incredible or unreliable.

However, V. Propp finds a number of inaccuracies and weaknesses in this definition. Firstly, the definition of a fairy tale as “a story based on poetic fantasy” is too broad. Any literary and artistic work is based on poetic fantasy. Secondly, the words “especially from the magical world” exclude from this definition all non-magical tales (about animals, short stories). Propp also did not agree that the fairy tale “is not connected with the conditions of real life.” His opinion is shared by many other researchers who believe that a fairy tale is intended to reflect reality, to convey to listeners and readers some generalized idea that is closely related to life. Finally, the formula that a fairy tale provides aesthetic pleasure, even if listeners “find it incredible or unreliable,” is initially incorrect, since a fairy tale is always considered fictional. However, J. Bolte and G. Polivka are right in defining a fairy tale through the closest genus, that is, through a story, a narrative in general.

Based on the above, we will try to formulate the following definition: a fairy tale is one of oldest species folk literature, a narrative (usually prosaic) about fictitious, often fantastic events.

Speaking about the genre, it is important to pay special attention to the folk tale. By folk tale we mean “one of the main genres of oral folk art, an epic, predominantly prosaic work of art of a magical, adventurous or everyday nature with a focus on fiction”

According to V.Ya. Proppa, a fairy tale is determined, first of all, by its artistic form. “Each genre has a special, peculiar to it, and in some cases only to it, artistry. The set of historically established artistic techniques can be called poetics.” Based on this, the most general definition is obtained: “a fairy tale is a story that differs from all other types of narration by the specificity of its poetics.”

However, this definition also requires further additions. The largest collector and researcher of fairy tales A.I. Nikiforov gave this genre the following definition: “Fairy tales are oral histories, existing among the people for the purpose of entertainment, containing events that are unusual in the everyday sense (fantastic, miraculous or everyday) and distinguished by a special compositional and stylistic structure”, “a work with a fantastic plot, conventionally fantastic imagery, a stable plot-compositional structure, focused on listener through the form of storytelling."

A number of features characteristic of folk tales can be identified:

1) Variability and specificity of the plot

Talking about plot structure folk tales, in my opinion, it is necessary to dwell on the patterns of construction of folk fairy tales, outlined by V.Ya. Proppom. Based on the understanding of the plot as a complex of motives or repeating elements - functions characters, V.Ya. Propp identified thirty-one functions of the characters, the combination of which determines the structure of any fairy tale. In his work “Morphology of a Fairy Tale,” V. Propp notes that fairy tales have one feature - the components of one fairy tale can be placed in another fairy tale without any changes. Thus, the plots of folk tales are traditional and, to some extent, given. It is important to note that this led to variability in the plots: the core of the plot remained intact, but was only supplemented with individual details.

2) Conscious orientation towards fiction

People initially understand a fairy tale as fiction. “Fairy tales are collectively created and traditionally preserved by the people oral prose artistic narratives of such real content, which necessarily requires the use of techniques for implausible depiction of reality. They are not repeated in any other genre of folklore,” argued V.P. Anikin.

The fact that they do not believe in the reality of the events described in the fairy tale was noted by V.G. Belinsky, who, comparing epics and fairy tales, wrote: “At the basis of a fairy tale, a hidden thought is always noticeable, it is noticeable that the narrator himself does not believe what he is telling, and internally laughs at his own story.” Aksakov, who made an attempt to distinguish fairy tales from other types of folklore more than a hundred years ago, wrote that the focus on conscious fiction affects the content of fairy tales, the depiction of the scene of action in them, and the characters of the characters.

Thus, characteristic feature fairy tales - in their fiction, in the fact that they are presented by the storyteller and are perceived by his listeners primarily as a poetic fiction, as a game of fantasy. The role of poetic fiction in a fairy tale, its function, its quality determine its main genre features.”

3) Techniques of poetics

Special techniques of poetics are, first of all, initial and final formulas, trinity, gradation, the absence of detailed descriptions of nature, the spiritual life of heroes, and so on. According to V.Ya. Propp, “each genre has a special, peculiar to it, and in some cases only to it, artistry.” Folklore tales usually begin with traditional initial formulas “once upon a time there was”: “Once upon a time there was a little peasant boy...”; “Once upon a time there was a king...”; “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, a long-awaited heir was born into the royal family...” Folk tales most often have a happy ending and an equally traditional final formula, testifying to the well-being of the heroes: “They had a wedding here, and they got half a kingdom in addition”; “They lived happily ever after, and died on the same day...”

The final formulas sometimes reveal a claim to the authenticity of what is happening: “And I was there, I drank honey and beer...”.

In folk tales, the number three “dominates”: “Once upon a time there was a woman, and she had three sons...”. "One king had three daughters." There are most often three children in a family, they have to overcome three trials, accomplish three feats (in literary criticism, this technique is usually called three-fold repetition, with the help of which an increase in tension is conveyed or attention is focused on the main character). Along with trinity, gradation is also observed. Every new test, every new feat is more difficult, and every treasure is more precious than the previous one; and if the hero first finds himself in a forest of silver, then the road leads him to a forest of gold, and in the end - to a forest of precious stones.

4) Traditional characters

In folk tales there are only a small number of recurring characters: kings, princes, princesses, magic birds, giants, craftsmen, and so on. The specificity of folklore characters lies in their generalized, abstract image, the constancy of their functions and the brevity of their characteristics.

5) Uncertainty of fairy-tale space and time

In folk tales there are almost no indications of time and place, when and where the action takes place. Everything is very vague: “Once upon a time there was a man who had three sons. And when they grew up, they matured...” Sometimes the time and place are specified in some vaguely vague form: “And they live there in joy day after day, west of the sun, east of the moon in the very wind.” If the location of the action is indicated, then it is most often the native village, or the “white world,” or a foreign state.

With the help of clichéd expressions used at the beginning, the folk tale emphasizes its timeless nature: “it etait une fjis”; "es war einmal"; "one day…".

5) Sociality, the eternal struggle against evil, truth against untruth.

Images positive hero, his beloved, and their assistants form a single system expressing people's ideals and dreams. This world is opposed to the evil of life. Good in a fairy tale always triumphs over evil.

All these features will be continued and developed literary fairy tale.

The origin of the genre of literary fairy tale is the result of the process of interaction between folklore and literature, penetration into the world of folk tales, into its artistic system of elements of literary creativity.

The literary fairy tale is a genre known already in antiquity. The tale is recognizable in the touching love of Cupid and Psyche, told by Apuleius in the second century AD in the novel The Golden Ass. This is a characteristic folklore beginning, as well as a motive for magical trials. But all traditional folk fairy tales are subject to the individual author’s artistic intention - to create irony (for example, the Olympian gods are endowed with the features of “mere mortals”; they argue and refer to Roman criminal law).

And yet, the true founders of the genre of literary fairy tales are considered to be the writers of the late Italian Renaissance. Motifs from folk tales were used by G. Straparola (short stories “Pleasant Nights”). Researchers call him partly a follower of G. Boccaccio, but Straparola goes further, borrowing motifs for his short stories and fairy tales from ancient Indian narrative prose, or creating them himself.

The tradition of literary fairy tales was continued in the seventeenth century by the Neapolitan G. Basile. His “Tale of Tales” (or “Pentameron”) simultaneously absorbed the rich folk fairy tale tradition, literary motifs, as well as the flavor of grace and irony that are inherent in Basile’s creative style.

A few decades later, “Tales of My Mother Goose, or Stories and Tales of Bygone Times with Teachings” (1697), authored by French writer C. Perrault. C. Perrault belongs to the baroque movement, hence the features of the literary fairy tales he created: gallantry, grace, moralizing and pretentiousness. In search of sources for his works, the author abandons ancient subjects and turns to folklore. He was looking for new content and new forms of art. Based on folk tradition, Perrault creatively approached the folklore plot, introduced into its development individual details, author's digressions, reflecting the customs and morals of contemporary reality. In literary fairy tales, C. Perrault reflected the beautiful literary language, vivid descriptions, details and images, even the accuracy of time references.

The courtly age was replaced by times that did not really favor fairy tales. It was an era of discovery and knowledge, which was called the Age of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment saw virtue in hard work and learning, rationality in the life of nature, and the undoubted benefit of art in the moral education of humanity. Inspired by discoveries natural sciences, the enlighteners decided that everything could be explained in terms of practical meaning. Many researchers call this period the “crisis of the genre” of the literary fairy tale.

In Rococo literature, the fairy tale turns into an autonomous literary genre. Here the tales are presented in a different, not folklore, but “literary” style. Rococo tales are assessed as courtly and aristocratic art; they analyze and reflect the mores and psychology of contemporary society, demonstrate the duality of human nature, and affirm the natural imperfection of man. The style of the Rococo fairy tale is “elegantly whimsical metonymic comparisons and emphasized fragmentation and ornamentation, ... virtuoso and graceful play.”

There is a fairly wide range of writers working in the vein of the rocaille literary fairy tale. First of all, this is K.P. Crebillon, Catherine Bernard, Countess d'Aunois, Charlotte Rose Colon Delaforce, Countess de Murat, Jean de Prechac and others. A. France called this period the "golden age" of conte (fairy tales) and short stories.

The literary fairy tale reached its true flowering in the era of romanticism, when the fairy tale genre became the basis of the literature of this period.

Literary fairy tales of the romantics are characterized by a combination of the magical, fantastic, ghostly and mystical with modern reality. The social issues of contemporary society for them (the romantics) are relevant. The Romantics sought to establish the element of the miraculous, which would resist the monotony of everyday life and romanticism.

Literary tales of this period are close to folk tradition. For example, L. Tick’s fairy tales and plays combine folklore elements with everyday family chronicles. Hoffmann's tales, where connections with folklore are least mediated, are based on a combination of the real and the surreal. For the first time, the writer transfers the setting of fairy tales, night sketches and other fantastic and mystical visions to modern times, to the real world.

Hans Christian (or Hans Christian) Andersen continues the tradition of the romantics Tieck, Hoffmann and others. His work ends the period of European classical romanticism. Andersen's literary fairy tale is based not only on folk tales, but also on legends, beliefs, proverbs, as well as on various literary sources. It has elements of novel, lyricism, drama and short story. Expanding the fairy tale, bringing it closer to real world, Andersen saturates it with enormous life material to such an extent that he himself begins to doubt whether it remains a fairy tale. From 1858 to 187, numerous issues of the collection “New Fairy Tales and Stories” appeared. The title of the collection indicated that the writer did not abandon the fairy tale genre. The concept of "history" also did not mean the radical fairy tales of his tales from one state to another. Andersen's “History,” on the one hand, is not a fairy tale in the usual sense of the word. There are no supernatural miraculous events that have almost nothing to do with reality, and mysterious, magical characters. On the other hand, Andersen’s “story” is a kind of fairy tale, but with a special, unique, unique fantasy.

The most famous and prolific storyteller in France in the third quarter of the nineteenth century is considered to be Edouard Rene Laboulaye de Lefebvre. Laboulet created almost all of his fairy tales on a folk basis, but he reworked the plots and images in such a vivid and original way that in the end it was difficult to recognize a folklore source. The writer’s sources were not only fairy tales from all regions of France, but also Spanish, German, Finnish, and Czech fairy tales. In addition, in the fairy tales of the writer Laboule we can observe both satire and humor (edifying ridicule and everyday humor).

The evolution of the genre does not stop there. Romanticism is being replaced by aestheticism. Fairy tales by O. Wilde and fairy-tale short stories by T. Gautier appeared, focused on the principle of the “ideal”, an aesthetic model.

Thus, O. Wilde’s tales, in which the action takes place in magical lands or past centuries are called “fairy tales of the future.” “Fairy tales of the future” include a certain universal cosmic worldview. Wilde himself made a conclusion that was ahead of a whole stream of twentieth-century philosophy: real, true beauty is impossible without suffering.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the literary fairy tale ceased to be an apology for its era. In times of crisis European culture, moral and religious values, the fairy tale undergoes transformation. The form of consciousness and the condition for overcoming the crisis becomes a conscious renunciation of reason and rational orientation. Created in a magical literary fairy tale fairytale reality exists according to its own laws, the way of being is the process of co-creation and aesthetic experiences.

In the nineteenth century, the tendency to lose the “purity” of the genre and to transform the fairy tale into a synthetic genre, combining components of different genres, intensified. A literary fairy tale is presented as an original author's art system, fundamentally different from folklore and revealing with it only distant connections and commonality of the main genre features.

During the period of romanticism, many genres were created and developed. In France, for example, so-called confessional prose was widespread - novels that contain the hero’s self-exposure. IN lyrical genres the most important artistic discovery There was a romantic poem, which was almost the leading genre of romanticism, along with the short story. The literary fairy tale has also become widespread in literature.

The most significant representatives of this genre were Countess de Segur, de Lefebvre and George Sand in France, Novalis, Brentano, Hauff, Hoffmann in Germany.

The literary fairy tale owes its origin to the folk fairy tale, but in many ways it is fundamentally different from it. A significant difference between a literary fairy tale and a folk fairy tale lies in the constant presence of a storyteller - an intermediary between the world of the fairy tale of this author and its creator.

The narrators are individual characters (in the fairy tales of H.H. Andersen, for example, this is the merchant’s son, Ole Lukoje); wind, air, birds, Street light and so on. Sometimes the storyteller speaks from own name. In some fairy tales, the author and the narrator merge together, are identified, and this gives a touch of authenticity to what is happening.

According to N.A. The basket, content, and idea of ​​a literary fairy tale are adjusted not only by the author’s worldview, but also by a complex of philosophical and aesthetic problems of the era in which it was created. Its plot and composition have no variations and, unlike a folk tale, are rigidly fixed.” For example, in the literary fairy tales of the romantics there are practically no traditional initial and final formulas.

In a literary fairy tale, one of the main tasks of the author is to convey his thoughts to readers, show his vision of the world and, to some extent, influence readers.

Thus, a literary fairy tale is a fairy tale of its time, which is inextricably linked with socio-historical events and literary and aesthetic trends. Like the fruit of labor a certain person Belonging to a certain time, a literary fairy tale carries ideas contemporary to that era and reflects contemporary social relations.

Due to the individualization of the heroes' speech, their naming and other characteristics, fairy-tale types are transformed into characters. In addition, the literary fairy tale is distinguished by subtle psychological shades. The characters of a literary fairy tale are individual and artistically differentiated, and their relationships with each other are often complex. psychological connections. The individualization of the fairy-tale hero is reflected in a literary fairy tale.

To understand the image of the hero in both literary and folk tales, portrait and psychological characteristics of the heroes play an important role.

A literary fairy tale often includes components of the external world - natural phenomena, things and objects, elements of everyday life, scientific and technical achievements, historical events and characters, different realities and so on. Thanks to all of the above, the literary fairy tale is of a broadly educational nature. Her characters are not nameless; sometimes it contains geographical names that actually exist.

Folklorists and literary scholars note that there is still no unambiguous definition and consensus, even on what should be considered a literary fairy tale: a work that satisfies the ideological and aesthetic principles of a folk fairy tale; a prose or poetic work that actively uses elements of folk poetics (not necessarily fairy-tale, it can be a legend, an epic, and so on); any work in which there is a happy ending and an unrealistic (with elements of fantasy) plot or mentions fairy-tale characters; an author's work for which an exact indication of a folklore and fairy-tale source is possible, or something else.

Y. Yarmysh defines a literary fairy tale as “a genre of literary work in which moral, ethical and aesthetic problems are solved in a magical, fantastic or allegorical development of events, and, as a rule, in original plots and images in prose, poetry or drama.” This interpretation of the genre does not seem entirely accurate, since allegory is also characteristic of fables and stories, and the fantastic principle is characteristic not only of the fairy tale genre, but also of ballads and romantic short stories.

FROM. Surat adheres to his own point of view and gives the following definition of a literary fairy tale: it is “a genre that combines the features of individual author’s creativity with the use of a larger or to a lesser extent some folklore canons - figurative, plot-compositional, stylistic." In my opinion, this definition reflects one of the main features of a literary fairy tale, however, “folklore canons” are inherent not only in a literary fairy tale, but also in a song, romance, ballad, tale, fable, story, and so on.

A fairly complete definition of a literary fairy tale was given by L.D. Braude: “A literary fairy tale is an author’s artistic prose or poetic work, based either on folklore sources, or invented by the writer himself, but in any case subordinate to his will; the work is predominantly fantastical, depicting the wonderful adventures of fictional or traditional fairy tale characters and in some cases aimed at children; a work in which magic, miracle plays the role of a plot-forming factor and helps to characterize the characters.”

In turn, T.G. Leonova defines the genre of literary fairy tale as “a narrative work of small epic form with a fantastic plot, with conventionally fantastic imagery, unmotivated miracles and miracles as a given, aimed at the reader who accepts the convention; a work that is correlated with a folk tale by a purely individual manifestation of folklorism and differs from it in the author’s concept of seeing the world, the ideological and aesthetic tasks of the time and the connection with artistic method writer."

Both researchers highlight such common features literary fairy tale as:

• - author's beginning;
• - fantastic, wonderful plot;
• - correlation with a folk tale.

In the concept of T.G. Leonova's most significant is the selection following features literary fairy tale:

• - conventionally fantastic imagery;
• - orientation towards the reader who accepts the convention;
• - connection with the writer’s artistic method;
• - the author's concept of vision of the world.

Thus, a literary fairy tale is understood as a narrative work of small, medium or large epic form with a fantastic plot, with conventionally fantastic imagery, aimed at the reader who accepts the convention; a work that is correlated with a folk tale by a purely individual manifestation of folklorism and differs from it in the author’s concept of seeing the world, the ideological and aesthetic tasks of the time and the connection with the writer’s artistic method.

When analyzing fairy tales and conducting lessons on fairy tales, the features of folk tales and literary tales should be taken into account.

Classification of fairy tales. Characteristics of each species

The most important ideas, main issues, 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 its definition as one of the genres of oral folk art still remains 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, upside-down tales and others are distinguished.

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 their 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 totemic 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 a 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 fairy tales world folklore, compiled by Arne-Thomson and in the "Comparative Index of Plots. East Slavic Fairy Tale":

1. Wild animals.

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.

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 as a special group of fairy tales. The cumulative (chain-like) composition is distinguished:

1. With endless repetition:

Boring 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 fairy tales 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 others fairy tale genres animal epic, especially the apology (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 modern fairy tale In animals, 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. The moral comes from the story 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 plots that have been known in literary fables since ancient times (Fox and sour grapes; The Crow and the Fox and many others). Apologist - a relatively late form of tales about animals. Refers to the time when moral standards They have already decided 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 tale is a story about unusual cases 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. Classic example 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 they themselves literary subjects are formed on a folklore basis.

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 in a 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 complex composition, which has exposition, plot development, climax and resolution.

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 characters), the linear sequence of these functions, as well as a set of roles distributed in a known way between specific characters and correlated with functions. Functions are distributed among seven characters:

Antagonist (pest),

Donor

Assistant

The princess or her father

Sender

False hero.

Meletinsky, identifying five groups of fairy tales, tries to resolve the issue of the historical development of the 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 wonderful “totemic” creature who 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”, “ The 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 mighty 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”). Socially disadvantaged hero ( younger brother, stepdaughter, fool) at the beginning of the fairy tale, endowed with all the negative characteristics from his environment, is endowed with beauty and intelligence at 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 one. Propp classifies the genre of fairy tales by the presence of “Battle - Victory” in the main test or by the presence of “Difficult task - Solution of a difficult problem.” 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 more significant element social and moral criticism, it is more definite in its social preferences. Praise and condemnation sound stronger in everyday fairy tales.

IN Lately In the methodological literature, information began to appear about a new type of fairy tales - fairy tales of a 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 both fairy tales with a wonderful world and everyday fairy tales. Elements of the miraculous also appear in the form of magical objects, around which the main action is grouped.

Fairy tales in different forms and scales strive 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.