Propp the morphology of a fairy tale is short. Fairy tale morphology

28.04.2019

The image of Katerina in Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" (School compositions) The image of Katerina in Ostrovsky's play

Characteristics of Famusov in the comedy "Woe from Wit" by Griboyedov: Description of the Character in Quotes Famusov's Worldview in Woe from Wit

Biography of Tatiana Tolstoy

The image of Chatsky in the comedy "Woe from Wit" by Griboyedov: the character and life of the hero (Alexander Andreevich Chatsky)

Morphology fairy tale

Vladimir Propp
The morphology of the "fairy" tale
(Collected Works)
Fairy tale morphology
Historical roots fairy tale
Russian fairy tale
Russian heroic epic
Russian agrarian holidays
Poetics of folklore
The problems of comic and laughter
Stories. Diary. Memories
Moscow Labyrinth
V.Ya.Propp
(Collected Works)

[to see the text on the net I had to replace some characters in the book:
1) I replaced the up arrow with an open curly brace (
2) I replaced the down arrow with a closed curly brace)
3) I replaced the underscore of characters with an upper line in one case with an ordinary underscore,
in another case, he also added a high-frequency (upper line) in the upper index of the high-frequency.
In graphic files, respectively, everything is like in a book.
All comments on the first and second work are at the end of the second work (ie, in "The Historical Roots of the Fairy Tale").
The insert with the diagrams is at the end of the first one (i.e. here).
I will repeat it in this book (as in homo ludens) that the graphic files in the browser "ah look worse than they are, therefore, having saved the html in Word.doc, you can safely look at them. Write about errors either in my guestbook or [email protected], because. Maxim already has enough worries]
Table of contents
MORPHOLOGY OF A MAGIC TALE 5
Foreword 5
I. To the history of the issue 6
II. Method and material 18
III. Functions actors 23
IV. Assimilation. Cases of double morphological significance of one function 51
V. Some other elements of the tale 54
A. Auxiliary elements for linking functions to each other 54
B. Auxiliary Elements for Triples 56
C. Motivation 57
Vi. Distribution of functions by actors 60
Vii. Ways to include new faces in the course of action 64
VIII. Character Attributes and Their Meanings 66
IX. Fairy tale as a whole 69
A. Ways to combine stories 69
B. Example Analysis 73
C. Question about classification 75
D. On the relationship of particular forms of structure to the general system 79
E. The question of composition and plot, plots and options 87
Conclusion 89
APPENDIX I 91
APPENDIX II 97
APPENDIX III 103
NOTES ON SEPARATE DIAGRAMS 104
ANNEX IV 108
INSERT
Appendix V Translation of the numbering of the pre-revolutionary editions of Afanasyev's fairy tales to the numbering of the post-revolutionary editions
Schemes for parsing fairy tales Beginning End
Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp. The morphology of a fairy tale. The historical roots of the fairy tale. (Collected works of V. Ya. Propp.) Comments by E. M. Meletinsky, A. V. Rafaeva. Compilation, scientific edition, textual commentary by I. V. Peshkov. - Publishing house "Labyrinth", M., 1998. - 512 p.
For the first time, the famous dilogy about a fairy tale is published as a single (according to the author's idea) work. Extensive commenting articles, a bibliography, a personal index, an index of characters turn the book into an educational and reference manual for fairy tales, and an unusually wide scope of humanitarian material, the depth of its development and an intelligible style of presentation have long introduced its constituent works in the world cultural fund modern educated person.
Morphology of a MAGIC TALE
Foreword
Morphology must still be legitimized as a special science, making its main subject what others interpret on occasion and in passing, collecting what is scattered there, and establishing a new point of view that makes it easy and convenient to consider things of nature. The phenomena she deals with in the highest degree significant; those mental operations with which she compares phenomena are consistent with human nature and are pleasant to her, so that even a failed experience will nevertheless combine benefit and beauty.
Goethe.
The word morphology means the study of forms. In botany, morphology is understood as the teaching about the constituent parts of a plant, about their relationship to each other and to the whole, in other words, the teaching about the structure of a plant.
Nobody thought about the possibility of the concept and term morphology of a fairy tale. Meanwhile, in the field of the people, folk tale consideration of the forms and the establishment of the regularities of the order is possible with the same precision with which the morphology of organic formations is possible.
If this cannot be asserted about the tale as a whole, in all its volume, then in any case it can be asserted about the so-called fairy tales, about fairy tales "in the proper sense of the word." This work is devoted only to them.
The experience offered is the result of rather painstaking work. Such comparisons require some patience from the researcher. But we tried to find a form of presentation that would not tempt the patience of the reader too much, simplifying and shortening where possible.
The work has gone through three phases. This was originally an extensive study with big amount tables, diagrams, analyzes. It turned out to be impossible to publish such a work due to its large volume. A reduction was undertaken calculated for a minimum volume at a maximum content. But such an abbreviated, succinct exposition would be too much for a series of
5
to the right reader: it was like a grammar or a harmony textbook. The presentation had to be changed. True, there are things that cannot be stated in a popular way. They also exist in this work. But still, it seems that in its present form, work is available to every lover of a fairy tale, if only he himself wants to follow us into the labyrinth of fabulous diversity, which in the end will appear before him as a wonderful uniformity.
In the interests of a more concise and lively presentation, it was necessary to sacrifice much that a specialist would value. In its original form, the work covered, in addition to those parts that are given below, also the exploration of a rich area of attributes of characters (ie, characters as such); she dealt in detail with the questions of metamorphosis, that is, the transformation of a fairy tale; included large comparison tables(only their titles remained in the appendix), the whole work was preceded by a more rigorous methodological outline. It was supposed to give a study of not only the morphological, but also a very special logical structure of the tale, which prepared the historical study of the tale. The presentation itself was more detailed. Elements that are only highlighted here as such have been subjected to detailed consideration and comparison. But the selection of elements is the axis of all work and predetermines conclusions. An experienced reader will be able to finish the sketches himself.

I. TO THE HISTORY OF THE ISSUE
The history of science is always very important species at the point where we are; we appreciate, however, our predecessors and to a certain extent we thank them for the service they rendered us. But no one likes to regard them as martyrs who were led by an irrepressible attraction into dangerous, sometimes almost hopeless situations; and yet, the ancestors who laid the foundation for our existence often have more seriousness than the descendants who have lived out this legacy.
Goethe.
In the first third of our century scientific literature about the tale was not too rich. In addition to the fact that few works were published, bibliographic summaries showed the following picture: most of all were published texts, there were quite a lot of works on specific issues and relatively few works of a general nature. If they did exist, then in most cases they were not strictly research, but philosophical and amateurish.
6
They resembled the works of erudite natural philosophers of the last century, while we needed accurate observations, analyzes and conclusions. Here is how prof. M. Speransky: "Without dwelling on the findings, scientific ethnology continues to search, considering the collected material is still insufficient for general construction... Thus, science again turns to the collection of material and to the processing of this material in the interests of future generations, but what these generalizations will be, and when we will be able to make them is unknown "(Speransky 400).
What is the reason for this impotence, this dead end, into which the science of the fairy tale has buried itself in the 1920s?
Speransky blames the lack of material for this. But many years have passed since the above lines were written. During this time, completed the major work of I. Volte and G. Polivka, entitled "Notes on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm" (Bolte, Polivka). Here, for each fairy tale of this collection, options from all over the world are summed up. The last volume ends with a bibliography, where the sources are given, i.e. all known to authors collections of fairy tales and other materials containing fairy tales. This list covers about 1200 titles. True, among the materials there are also random, small materials, but there are also major collections, such as "A Thousand and One Nights" night or the Afanasyevsky collection with its 400 texts. But that is not all. Great amount fabulous material has not yet been published, some of it has not even been described. It is kept in the archives of various institutions and private individuals. Some of these collections are available to the specialist. Due to this, the material of Bolte and Polivka can be increased in some cases. But if this is so, then how many fairy tales do we have at our disposal at all? And further: are there many such researchers who have covered at least one printed material?
Under such conditions, it is completely unnecessary to say that "the collected material is still insufficient."
So, it's not about the amount of material. The point is different: the methods of study.
While the physical and mathematical sciences have a harmonious classification, a unified terminology adopted by special congresses, a methodology that has been improved by continuity from teachers to students, we do not have all of this. The variegation and colorful variety of the fairytale material lead to the fact that clarity, accuracy in the formulation and solution of questions is achieved only with great difficulty. This essay does not pursue the goal of giving a coherent account of the history of the study of a fairy tale. In a short introductory chapter, this is not possible, and it is not really necessary, since this story has already been told many times. We will try only to critically illuminate the attempts to solve several basic problems of the study of fairy tales and, along the way, introduce the reader into the circle of these problems.
It can hardly be doubted that the phenomena and objects around us can be studied either from the side of their composition and structure, or from the side of their origin, or from the side of those processes and changes to which they are subject. It is also quite obvious and does not require any proof that the origin of any phenomenon can only be spoken about after the phenomenon has been described.
Meanwhile, the study of the tale was carried out mainly only genetically, for the most part without attempting a preliminary systematic description. O historical study We will not talk about fairy tales yet, we will only talk about their description - for it is completely useless to talk about genetics without special coverage of the question of description, as is usually done. It is clear that before elucidating the question of where the tale comes from, it is necessary to answer the question of what it is.
Since the tale is extremely diverse and, apparently, cannot be studied at once over the entire volume, the material should be divided into parts, that is, it should be classified. Correct classification is one of the first steps scientific description... The correctness of further study depends on the correctness of the classification. But, although classification forms the basis of any study, it itself must be the result of a certain preliminary study. Meanwhile, we see just the opposite: most researchers begin with classification, introducing it into the material from the outside, and not deriving it from the material in essence. As we will see later, classifiers, moreover, often violate the most simple rules division. Here we find one of the reasons for the impasse that Speransky speaks of.
Let's dwell on a few samples.
The most common division of fairy tales is the division into fairy tales with wonderful content, everyday life tales, and animal tales *. At first glance, everything seems right. But inevitably, the question arises: do not fairy tales about animals contain an element of the miraculous, sometimes to a very large extent? And vice versa: do they play wonderful fairy tales very big role exactly animals? Can such a feature be considered accurate enough? Afanasyev, for example, ranks the tale of the fisherman and the fish to
________________
* Suggested by V.F. Miller. This classification essentially coincides with the classification of the mythological school (mythical, about animals, household).
8
fairy tales about animals. Is he right or wrong? If not, why? Below we will see that the tale with the greatest ease ascribes the same actions to people, objects and animals. This rule is mainly true for so-called fairy tales, but it also occurs in fairy tales in general. One of the most famous examples in this regard is the tale of the division of the harvest ("Me, Misha, tops, your roots"). In Russia, the bear is deceived, and in the west, the devil. Consequently, this tale, with the involvement of the Western version, suddenly drops out of a number of animal tales. Where will she go? It is clear that this is not everyday tale, for where has it been seen that in everyday life the harvest is divided In a similar way? But this is not a fairy tale with wonderful content. It does not fit in this classification at all.
And nevertheless, we will argue that the above classification is fundamentally correct. The researchers here were guided by instinct, and their words do not match what they actually felt. It is unlikely that anyone will be mistaken when referring to the tale of the firebird, and gray wolf to fairy tales about animals. It is also quite clear to us that Afanasyev was mistaken with the tale of the goldfish. But we see this not because animals appear or do not appear in fairy tales, but because fairy tales have a completely special structure, which is felt immediately and determines the category, although we are not aware of this. Any researcher, saying that he classifies according to the given scheme, in fact classifies differently. But, contradicting himself, he is doing the right thing. But if this is so, if the structure of a fairy tale, which has not yet been studied and not even fixed, is subconsciously based on the division, then the whole classification of fairy tales should be put on a new track. It needs to be translated into formal, structural features. And in order to do this, these signs should be studied.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. The outlined position has remained unclear to this day. Further attempts do not substantially improve. So, for example, in its famous work"The psychology of peoples" Wundt proposes the following division (Wundt 346 ff.):
1) Mythologische Fabelmarchen (Mythologische Fabelmarchen).
2) Pure fairy tales (Reine Zaubermarchen).
3) Biological tales and fables (Biologische Marchen und Fabein).
4) Pure animal fables (Reine Tierfabeln).
5) Tales of "origin" (Abstammungsmarchen).
6) Humorous tales and fables (ScherZmarchen und ScherZfabeln).
7) Moral fables (Moralische Fabein).
This classification is much richer than the previous ones, but it also causes
9
objections. Fable (a term that occurs five times with seven categories) is a formal category. What Wundt meant by this is unclear. The term "playful" fairy tale is generally unacceptable, since the same fairy tale can be interpreted both heroically and comically. The next question is: What is the difference between a "pure animal fable" and a "moral fable"? Why are "pure fables" not "moral" and vice versa?
The analyzed classifications relate to the distribution of fairy tales by category. Along with the distribution of fairy tales by category, there is a division according to plots.
If the situation with the division into categories is unfavorable, then with the division into plots, complete chaos begins. We will not even talk about what a complex, indefinite concept like a plot is either not specified at all, or is specified by each author in his own way. Looking ahead, we say that the division of fairy tales into plots is essentially impossible at all. It must also be put on new rails, like division by category. Fairy tales have one feature: the constituent parts of one fairy tale can be transferred to another without any change. Below, this law of displacement will be elucidated in more detail, but for now we can restrict ourselves to indicating that, for example, Baba Yaga can be found in a wide variety of fairy tales, in a variety of plots. This trait - specific feature fairy tales. Meanwhile, in spite of this feature, the plot is usually defined as follows: one part of the tale is taken (often accidental, just striking), the preposition "o" is added, and the definition is ready. So a fairy tale in which there is a fight with a serpent is a fairy tale "about fighting a snake", a fairy tale in which there is Koschey is a fairy tale "about Koschey", etc., and there is no single principle in the choice of defining elements. If we now recall the law of transferability, then with logical inevitability confusion, or, more precisely, cross-division, results, and such a classification always distorts the essence of the material being studied. Added to this is the inconsistency of the basic principle of separation, that is, one of the most elementary rules of logic is violated. This situation continues to this day.
We will illustrate this point with two examples. In 1924, a book appeared about the fairy tale of the Odessa professor R. M. Volkov (Volkov). Volkov, from the very first pages of his work, determines that a fantastic tale knows 15 plots. These plots are as follows:
1) About the innocent persecuted.
2) About the bad hero.
3) About three brothers.
10
4) About snake fighters.
5) About getting brides.
6) About the wise virgin.
7) About the sworn and enchanted.
8) About the owner of the talisman.
9) About the owner of wonderful items.
10) About the unfaithful wife, etc.
How these 15 plots were established is not specified. If you look closely at the principle of division, you get the following: the first category is determined by the tie (that there really is a tie, we will see below), the second - by the character of the hero, the third - by the number of heroes, the fourth - by one of the moments of the course of action and so on. Thus, there is no principle of division at all. It turns out to be really chaos. Aren't there fairy tales where three brothers (third grade) get brides for themselves (fifth grade)? Doesn't the owner of the talisman punish the unfaithful wife with this talisman? Thus, this classification is not a scientific classification in the exact sense of the word, it is nothing more than a conditional index, the value of which is highly questionable. And how can such a classification even remotely be compared with the classification of plants or animals, made not by eye, but after an accurate and long preliminary study of the material?
Having touched upon the issue of the classification of plots, we cannot pass over in silence the index of fairy tales by Antti Aarne (Aarne 1911). Aarne is one of the founders of the so-called Finnish school. The works of this school currently represent the pinnacle of fabulous study. This is not the place to properly assess this direction. We will only point out that in the scientific literature there is a fairly significant number of articles and notes on options for individual subjects. Such variants are sometimes obtained from the most unexpected sources. Gradually, a lot of them accumulate, but there is no systematic development. This is where the attention of the new direction is mainly directed. Representatives of this school mine and compare options individual plots on their worldwide distribution. The material is grouped geo-ethnographically according to the well-known, previously developed System, and then conclusions are drawn about the basic structure, distribution and origin of the plots. However, this technique also raises a number of objections. As we will see below, the plots (especially the plots of fairy tales) are closely related to each other. It is possible to determine where one plot with its variants ends and where another begins is possible only after an inter-plot study of fairy tales and an accurate fixation of the principle of selecting plots and options. But this is not the case. Change
11
The permeability of the elements is also not taken into account here. The works of this school proceed from the unconscious premise that each plot is something organically integral, that it can be snatched from a number of other plots and studied independently.
Meanwhile, a completely objective separation of one plot from another and the selection of options is not at all an easy matter. The plots of the tale are so closely interconnected, so intertwined with one another, that this issue requires a special preliminary study before the plots are singled out. Without such a study, the researcher is left to his own taste, while objective separation is even simply impossible. Let's give one example. Among the options for the fairy tale "Frau Holle" Bolte and Polivka cite the Afanasiev fairy tale "Baba Yaga" (Af. 102). There are links to a number of other very diverse tales on this plot. But they do not cite the fairy tale "Morozko". The question is - why? After all, here we have the same exile of the stepdaughter and her return with gifts, the same reference own daughter and her punishment. Not only that: after all, both Morozko and "Frau Holle" represent the personification of winter, but in German fairy tale we have personification in the female form, and in the Russian - in the male. But, apparently, "Morozko", due to the artistic brightness of this tale, subjectively fixed itself as a certain fabulous type, as a certain independent plot, which may have its own variants. Thus, we see that there are no completely objective criteria for separating one plot from another. Where one explorer will see new plot, the other will see the option and vice versa. We gave a very simple example, and with the expansion and enlargement of the material, the difficulties increase and increase.
But, be that as it may, the methods of this school first of all demanded a list of plots.
The compilation of such a list was undertaken by Aarne.
This list has entered into international use and has rendered the greatest service to the study of the fairy tale: thanks to the Aarne index, the encryption of the fairy tale is possible. The plots are called Aarne types, and each type is numbered. A short symbol fairy tales (in this case - a reference to the index number) is very convenient.
But along with these advantages, the index also has a number of significant disadvantages: as a classification, it is not free from the mistakes that Volkov makes. The main categories are as follows: I. Animal tales. II. Actually fairy tales. III. Anecdotes. We easily recognize the old techniques, rebuilt on new way... (It is somewhat strange that fairy tales about animals do not seem to be recognized as fairy tales proper). Further, I would like to ask: do we have such an accurate study of the concept of an anecdote that
12
could it be used quite calmly (cf. Wundt's fables)? We will not go into the details of this classification, but will dwell only on the fairy tales, which are allocated to them in a sub-category. Note by the way that the introduction of subdivisions is one of the merits of Aarne, for the division into genera, species, and varieties was not developed before him. Magic fairy tales cover, according to Aarne, the following categories: 1) a wonderful adversary, 2) a wonderful spouse, 3) a wonderful task, 4) a wonderful helper, 5) a wonderful object, 6) a wonderful strength or skill, 7) other wonderful motives. In relation to this classification, the objections to Volkov's classification can be repeated almost word for word. What about, for example, those fairy tales in which a wonderful task is solved by a wonderful helper, which is very often encountered, or with those fairy tales in which a wonderful wife is a wonderful helper?
True, Aarne does not even strive to create a proper scientific classification: his index is important as a practical reference book, and as such it has great value... But Aarne's pointer is dangerous to others. He inspires misconceptions on the merits. In fact, there is no clear distribution into types; it is very often a fiction. If there are types, then they do not exist in the plane as outlined by Aarne, but in the plane structural features similar tales, but more on that later. The closeness of the plots to each other and the impossibility of a completely objective demarcation leads to the fact that when attributing a text to one type or another, you often do not know which number to choose. The correspondence between the type and the text being defined is often only very approximate. Of the 125 fairy tales listed in the collection of A.I. Nikiforov, 25 fairy tales (i.e. 20%) are classified as types approximately and conditionally, which is noted by A.I. Nikiforov in parentheses (Nikiforov 1927). But if various researchers begin to attribute the same tale to different types, then what can come of it? On the other hand, since the types are determined by the availability of certain highlights, and not according to the construction of fairy tales, and one fairy tale can contain several such moments, then one fairy tale sometimes has to be attributed to several types at once (up to 5 numbers for one fairy tale), which does not mean at all that this text consists of five plots. This fixation method is essentially a definition by component parts... For famous group Aarne's tales even deviate from his principles and suddenly, quite unexpectedly and somewhat inconsistently, instead of dividing into plots, he switches to a division based on motives. This is how one of his sub-categories is assigned to him, the group that he
13
heads "about the stupid line." But this inconsistency is again an instinctively taken the right way... Below we will try to show that the study by fractional component parts is The right way studying.

Vladimir Propp

The morphology of the "fairy" tale

(Collected Works)

Fairy tale morphology

The historical roots of the fairy tale

Russian fairy tale

Russian heroic epic

Russian agrarian holidays

Poetics of folklore

The problems of comic and laughter

Stories. Diary. Memories

Moscow Labyrinth

V.Ya.Propp

(Collected Works)

[to see the text on the net I had to replace some characters in the book:

1) I replaced the up arrow with an open curly brace (

2) I replaced the down arrow with a closed curly brace)

3) I replaced the underscore of characters with an upper line in one case with an ordinary underscore,

In graphic files, respectively, everything is like in a book.

All comments on the first and second work are at the end of the second work (ie, in "The Historical Roots of the Fairy Tale").

The insert with the diagrams is at the end of the first one (i.e. here).

I will repeat in this book (as well as in homo ludens) that graphic files in the browser "ah look worse than they are, so saving the html in Word.doc you can safely look at them. Write about errors either in my guestbook or, because . Maxim already has enough worries]

MORPHOLOGY OF A MAGIC TALE 5

Foreword 5

I. To the history of the issue 6

II. Method and material 18

III. Functions of the actors 23

IV. Assimilation. Cases of double morphological significance of one function 51

V. Some other elements of the tale 54

A. Auxiliary elements for linking functions to each other 54

B. Auxiliary Elements for Triples 56

C. Motivation 57

Vi. Distribution of functions by actors 60

Vii. Ways to include new faces in the course of action 64

VIII. Character Attributes and Their Meanings 66

IX. Fairy tale as a whole 69

A. Ways to combine stories 69

B. Example Analysis 73

C. Question about classification 75

D. On the relationship of particular forms of structure to the general system 79

E. The question of composition and plot, plots and options 87

Conclusion 89

APPENDIX I 91

APPENDIX II 97

APPENDIX III 103

NOTES ON SEPARATE DIAGRAMS 104

ANNEX IV 108

Appendix V Translation of the numbering of the pre-revolutionary editions of Afanasyev's fairy tales to the numbering of the post-revolutionary editions

Schemes for parsing fairy tales Beginning End

Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp. The morphology of a fairy tale. The historical roots of the fairy tale. (Collected works of V. Ya. Propp.) Comments by E. M. Meletinsky, A. V. Rafaeva. Compilation, scientific edition, textual commentary by I. V. Peshkov. - Publishing house "Labyrinth", M., 1998. - 512 p.

For the first time, the famous dilogy about a fairy tale is published as a single (according to the author's idea) work. Extensive commenting articles, a bibliography, an index, an index of characters turn the book into an educational and reference manual for fairy tales, and an unusually wide scope of humanitarian material, the depth of its development and an intelligible style of presentation have long introduced its constituent works into the global cultural fund of a modern educated person.

Morphology of a MAGIC TALE

Foreword

Morphology must still be legitimized as a special science, making its main subject what others interpret on occasion and in passing, collecting what is scattered there, and establishing a new point of view that makes it easy and convenient to consider things of nature. The phenomena she deals with are highly significant; those mental operations with which she compares phenomena are consistent with human nature and are pleasant to her, so that even a failed experience will nevertheless combine benefit and beauty.

The word morphology means the study of forms. In botany, morphology is understood as the teaching about the constituent parts of a plant, about their relationship to each other and to the whole, in other words, the teaching about the structure of a plant.

Nobody thought about the possibility of the concept and term morphology of a fairy tale. Meanwhile, in the field of folk, folklore fairy tales, the consideration of forms and the establishment of the regularities of the structure is possible with the same accuracy with which the morphology of organic formations is possible.

If this cannot be asserted about the tale as a whole, in all its volume, then in any case it can be asserted about the so-called fairy tales, about fairy tales "in the proper sense of the word." This work is devoted only to them.

The experience offered is the result of rather painstaking work. Such comparisons require some patience from the researcher. But we tried to find a form of presentation that would not tempt the patience of the reader too much, simplifying and shortening where possible.

to the right reader: it was like a grammar or a harmony textbook. The presentation had to be changed. True, there are things that cannot be stated in a popular way. They also exist in this work. But still, it seems that in its present form, work is available to every lover of a fairy tale, if only he himself wants to follow us into the labyrinth of fabulous diversity, which in the end will appear before him as a wonderful uniformity.

In the interests of a more concise and lively presentation, it was necessary to sacrifice much that a specialist would value. In its original form, the work covered, in addition to those parts that are given below, also the exploration of a rich area of attributes of characters (ie, characters as such); she dealt in detail with the questions of metamorphosis, that is, the transformation of a fairy tale; large comparative tables were included (only their titles remained in the appendix), the entire work was preceded by a more rigorous methodological outline. It was supposed to give a study of not only the morphological, but also a very special logical structure of the tale, which prepared the historical study of the tale. The presentation itself was more detailed. Elements that are only highlighted here as such have undergone detailed consideration and comparison. But the selection of elements is the axis of all work and predetermines conclusions. An experienced reader will be able to finish the sketches himself.

Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp. Morphology<волшебной>fairy tales. The historical roots of the fairy tale. (Collected works of V. Ya. Propp.) Comments by E. M. Meletinsky, A. V. Rafaeva. Compilation, scientific edition, textual commentary by I. V. Peshkov. - Publishing house "Labyrinth", M., 1998. - 512 p.

Editor G. N. Shelogurova Artist I. E. Smirnova Computer typesetting: 14. E. Eremin

╘ Propp M.V., text ╘ Meletinsky E.M., Rafaeva A.V., comments

╘ Publishing house "Labyrinth", editing, compilation, indexes, design, 1998

ISBN 5-87604-065-7 (vol. 2) ISBN 5-87604-067-3

MORPHOLOGY<ВОЛШЕБНОЙ>FAIRY TALES

Foreword 5

I. To the history of the issue 6

II. Method and material 18

III. Functions of the actors 23

IV. Assimilation. Cases of double morphological significance of one function 51

V. Some other elements of the tale 54

A. Auxiliary elements for connecting functions to each other 54 ∙ B. Auxiliary elements for triples 56 ∙ C. Motivation 57

Vi. Distribution of functions by actors 60

Vii. Ways to include new faces in the course of action 64

VIII. Character Attributes and Their Meanings 66

IX. Fairy tale as a whole 69

A. Methods for combining stories 69 ∙ B. An example of analysis 73 ∙ C. Question about classification 75 ∙ D. About the relation of particular forms of structure to the general order 79 ∙ E. Question about composition and plot, about plots and options 87 ∙

Conclusion 89

APPENDIX I ∙ 91

APPENDIX II ∙ 97

APPENDIX III ∙ 103

NOTES TO SEPARATE DIAGRAMS ∙ 104

APPENDIX IV ∙ 108

Appendix V Translation of the numbering of the pre-revolutionary editions of Afanasyev's fairy tales to the numbering of the post-revolutionary editions

Schemes for parsing fairy tales

Morphology <ВОЛШЕБНОЙ> FAIRY TALES

Foreword

Goethe.

Word morphology, means the study of forms. In botany, morphology is understood as the teaching about the constituent parts of a plant, about their relationship to each other and to the whole, in other words, the teaching about the structure of a plant.

On the possibility of a concept and a term morphology of the tale nobody thought. Meanwhile, in the field of folk, folklore fairy tales, the consideration of forms and the establishment of the regularities of the structure is possible with the same accuracy with which the morphology of organic formations is possible.

Annotation

Vladimir Propp

Foreword

I. To the history of the issue

II. Method and Material

III. Functions of the actors

IV. Assimilation

V. Some other elements of the tale

A. Auxiliary elements for linking functions to each other

B. Auxiliary elements for triples

C. Motivation

Vi. Distribution of fictions by characters

Vii. Ways to include new faces in the course of action

VIII. About the attributes of the characters and their meaning

IX. Fairy tale as a whole

A. Ways to combine stories

B. Sample analysis

C. Question of classification

E. On the relationship of particular forms of structure to the general system

E. Question about composition and plot, plots and options

Conclusion

Appendix I

Table 1. Initial situation

Table II. Preparatory part

Table III. Tie

Table IV. Donors

Table V. From the entry of the helper to the end of the first move

Table VI. Start of the second turn

Table VII. Continuation of the second move

Appendix II

Appendix III

Appendix IV

Appendix V

SCHEMES FOR ANALYSIS OF FAIRY TALES

Vladimir Propp

The morphology of the "fairy" tale

Foreword

The experience offered is the result of a fairly painstaking work. Such comparisons require some patience from the researcher. But we tried to find a form of presentation that would not tempt the patience of the reader too much, simplifying and shortening where possible.

The work has gone through three phases. Initially, it was a broad study with a large number of tables, diagrams, and analyzes. It turned out to be impossible to publish such a work due to its large volume. A reduction was undertaken calculated for a minimum volume at a maximum content. But such an abbreviated, concise presentation would not have been within the reach of an ordinary reader: it looked like a grammar or a harmony textbook. The presentation had to be changed. True, there are things that cannot be stated in a popular way. They also exist in this work. But still, it seems that in its present form, work is available to every lover of a fairy tale, if only he himself wants to follow us into the labyrinth of fabulous diversity, which in the end will appear before him as a wonderful uniformity.

I. To the history of the issue

The history of science always takes on a very important aspect at the point where we are; we appreciate, however, our predecessors and to a certain extent we thank them for the service they rendered us. But no one likes to regard them as martyrs who were led by an irrepressible attraction into dangerous, sometimes almost hopeless situations; and yet, the ancestors who laid the foundation for our existence often have more seriousness than the descendants who have lived out this legacy.

In the first third of our century, the scientific literature about the fairy tale was not very rich. In addition to the fact that few works were published, bibliographic summaries showed the following picture: most of all were published texts, there were quite a lot of works on specific issues and relatively few works of a general nature. If they did exist, then in most cases they were not strictly research, but philosophical and amateurish.

They resembled the works of erudite natural philosophers of the last century, while we needed accurate observations, analyzes and conclusions. Here is how prof. M. Speransky: “Without dwelling on the findings, scientific ethnology continues to search, considering the collected material still insufficient for general construction. Thus, science again turns to collecting material and processing this material in the interests of future generations, and what will these generalizations be and it is not known when we will be able to make them "(Speransky 400).

What is the reason for this impotence, this dead end, into which the science of the fairy tale has buried itself in the 1920s?

Speransky blames the lack of material for this. But many years have passed since the above lines were written. During this time, completed the major work of I. Volte and G. Polivka, entitled "Notes on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm" (Bolte, Polivka). Here, for each fairy tale of this collection, options from all over the world are summed up. The last volume ends with a bibliography, which contains sources, that is, all collections of fairy tales known to the authors and other materials containing fairy tales. This list covers about 1200 titles. True, among the materials there are also random, small materials, but there are also major collections, such as "A Thousand and One Nights" night or the Afanasyevsky collection with its 400 texts. But that is not all. A huge amount of fabulous material has not yet been published, some of it has not even been described. It is kept in the archives of various institutions and private individuals. Some of these collections are available to the specialist. Due to this, the material of Bolte and Polivka can be increased in some cases. But if this is so, then how many fairy tales do we have at our disposal at all? And further: are there many such researchers who have covered at least one printed material?

Under such conditions, it is completely unnecessary to say that "the collected material is still insufficient."

So, it's not about the amount of material. The point is different: the methods of study.

While the physical and mathematical sciences have a harmonious classification, a unified terminology adopted by special congresses, a methodology that has been improved by continuity from teachers to students, we do not have all of this. The variegation and colorful variety of the fairytale material lead to the fact that clarity, accuracy in the formulation and solution of questions is achieved only with great difficulty. This essay does not pursue the goal of giving a coherent account of the history of the study of a fairy tale. In a short introductory chapter, this is not possible, and it is not really necessary, since this story has already been told many times. We will try only to critically illuminate the attempts to solve several basic problems of the study of fairy tales and, along the way, introduce the reader into the circle of these problems.

It can hardly be doubted that the phenomena and objects around us can be studied either from the side of their composition and structure, or from the side of their origin, or from the side of those processes and changes to which they are subject. It is also quite obvious and does not require any proof that the origin of any phenomenon can only be spoken about after the phenomenon has been described.

Meanwhile, the study of the tale was carried out mainly only genetically, for the most part without any attempts at a preliminary systematic description. We will not talk about the historical study of fairy tales for now, we will only talk about their description - for talking about g ...

Fast backward navigation: Ctrl + ←, forward Ctrl + →

I was quite convinced that the general type, based on transformation, runs through all organic beings, and that it can be clearly observed in all parts on some middle section.

First of all, we will try to formulate our task. As already mentioned in the preface, the work is devoted to fairy tales. The existence of fairy tales as a special category is admitted as a necessary working hypothesis. For the time being, magic refers to the tales identified by Aarne-Thompson under Nos. 300–749. This is a preliminary, artificial definition, but later there will be an opportunity to give more precise definition based on the findings. We undertake a cross-plot comparison of these tales. For comparison, we highlight the constituent parts of fairy tales by special receptions(see below) and then compare the tales by their constituent parts. The result will be morphology, that is, a description of the tale in terms of its component parts and the relationship of parts to each other and to the whole.

What methods can be used to achieve an accurate description of the tale? Let's compare the following cases:

1. The king gives the daredevil an eagle. The eagle takes the daring man to another kingdom (Aph. 171).

2. Grandfather gives the Bitch a horse. The horse takes Suchenko to another kingdom (132).

3. The sorcerer gives Ivan the boat. The boat takes Ivan to another kingdom (138).

4. The princess gives Ivan a ring. Well done from the ring take Ivan to another kingdom (156); etc.

In the above cases, there are constant and variable quantities. The names (and with them the attributes) of the actors change, their actions do not change, or functions. Hence the conclusion that the tale often attributes the same actions to different characters. This gives us the opportunity to study the fairy tale according to the functions of the characters.

We will have to determine the extent to which these functions are really repetitive, constant quantities of the tale. The formulation of all other questions will depend on the solution of the first question: how many functions is known to the fairy tale?

Research will show that the repeatability of functions is amazing. So, Baba Yaga, and Morozko, and the bear, and the goblin, and the mare's head test and reward their stepdaughter. Continuing observations, it can be established that the characters of a fairy tale, no matter how diverse they are, often do the same thing. The very way the functions are performed can change: it is the magnitude of the variable. Morozko acts differently from Baba Yaga. But the function as such is a constant value. For the study of a fairy tale, the question of what the fairy-tale characters do is important, and the question of who does and how does it are questions of only an incidental study.

The functions of the actors are those constituent parts that can be replaced motives Veselovsky or the elements Bedier. Note that the repetition of functions for different performers has long been noticed by historians of religion in myths and beliefs, but not noticed by historians of a fairy tale. Just as the properties and functions of the gods are transferred from one to another and, finally, even transferred to Christian saints, in the same way, the functions of some fairytale characters transfer to other characters. Looking ahead, we can say that the functions are extremely few, and the characters are extremely many. This explains the twofold quality of a fairy tale: on the one hand, its striking diversity, its variegatedness and beauty, on the other, its no less striking monotony, its repetition.

So, the functions of the characters are the main parts of the tale, and we must first of all highlight them.

To highlight functions, they should be defined. The definition must come from two points of view. First, the definition should in no way reckon with the executing character. The definition will most often be a noun expressing an action (prohibition, interrogation, flight, etc.). Secondly, the action cannot be defined outside its position in the course of the narrative. The value that should be taken into account this function has in the course of action.

So, if Ivan marries a princess, then this is completely different from the marriage of a father to a widow with two daughters. Another example: if in one case the hero receives a hundred rubles from his father and subsequently buys a prophetic cat for himself with this money, and in the other case the hero is awarded money for the perfect heroism and the fairy tale ends there, then we have, despite the same actions (transfer of money ), morphologically different elements. Thus, the same actions can have different meaning and vice versa. A function is understood as an act of an actor, defined from the point of view of its significance for the course of action.

These observations can be summarized as follows:

I. Constant, stable elements of the tale are the functions of the characters, regardless of who and how they are performed. They form the main constituent parts of the tale.

II. The number of functions known to a fairy tale is limited.

If the functions are highlighted, then another question arises: in what grouping and in what sequence do these functions occur? First of all, about consistency. It is believed that this sequence is random. Veselovsky says: "The choice and schedule of tasks and meetings (examples of motives - V.P.) ... presupposes a certain freedom "(Veselovsky 1913, 3). Shklovsky expressed this idea even more sharply: V.P.) sequence of motives. In witness testimony, it is the sequence of events that is most distorted "(Shklovsky 1925, 23). This reference to the testimony is unsuccessful. If witnesses distort the sequence, then their story is stupid, but the sequence of events has its own laws, and similar laws have fiction story... Theft cannot happen before the door is broken. As for the tale, it has its own very special, specific laws. The sequence of elements, as we will see below, is strictly the same. Freedom in succession is limited by very narrow limits that can be given exactly. We receive the third main thesis of our work, which is subject to further development and proof:

III. The sequence of functions is always the same.

It should be noted that this pattern applies only to folklore. It is not a feature of the fairy tale genre as such. Artificially created fairy tales are not subject to her.

As for the grouping, first of all it should be said that not all fairy tales provide all the functions. But this does not in the least change the law of consistency. The absence of some functions does not change the routine of the rest. We will dwell on this phenomenon, for now we will deal with groupings in the proper sense of the word. The very formulation of the question raises the following assumption: if the functions are highlighted, then it will be possible to trace which fairy tales give the same functions. Such tales with the same functions can be considered the same type. On this basis, a type index can subsequently be created, built not on plot features, somewhat vague and vague, but on precise structural features. Indeed, this will turn out to be possible. But if we further compare the structural types with each other, then the following, already completely unexpected phenomenon, turns out: functions cannot be distributed over rods that exclude each other. This phenomenon in all its concreteness will appear before us in the next and in the last chapters. In the meantime, it can be explained as follows: if we denote a function that occurs everywhere in the first place by the letter A, and the function that (if any) always follows it by the letter B, then everything famous fairy tale functions will fit into one story, none of them falls out of the line, none of them excludes the other and does not contradict it. Such a conclusion could not have been predicted in any way. One should, of course, expect that where there is a function A, there cannot be known functions belonging to other stories. It was expected that we will receive several rods, but the rod turns out to be one for all fairy tales. They are of the same type, and the compounds mentioned above are subtypes. At first glance, this conclusion seems absurd, even wild, but it can be verified in the most accurate way. This uniformity is the hardest problem, which still have to stop. This phenomenon will raise a number of questions.

Propp the morphology of a fairy tale is short. Fairy tale morphology

Read also