Folklore is a type of display of popular consciousness. And this distinguishes him from other forms of linguistic art, including literature, in which folk wisdom is expressed by the lonely personality of the author. A literary work can also reflect a purely personal perception of the environment, while folklore combines a collective, social vision. Modern literary criticism is increasingly turning to the phenomenon of mass literature and the features of its functioning within Russia. The authors of the 21st century have recently shown a tendency to actively interpret the extraction of traditional culture. The growing popularity of mass literature is ensured through the use by writers of the reader’s ability to reproduce on a subconscious level the images and plots already known to him in the work. Very often, such a "base" is folklore.
Folk motifs
Sooner or later, folklore motifs are used by all writers of both mass and elite literature, the difference lies in their function at this level. In mass literature, folklore is primarily a “factor in the formation of national literature,” that is, a guarantor of the correlation of the text with generally accepted standards of literature that the reader is ready to consume. Under such circumstances, literary scholars try to determine: what is folklore in literature, how do folklore motifs interact with the works of mass literature, and what are the features of their influence on the author’s text, as well as the transformations experienced by the folklore text as it becomes part of the modern literary work and changes it traditional meanings. Researchers establish the limits of occurrence of a folklore text in a literary text and trace the transformations of universal folklore archetypes. One of the main tasks will be to find out what folklore is in literature, to study their mutual influence and connections in the works of mass literature.
Traditional folklore
The authors of mass literature, when writing a work, set the main interest of the reader. For this, first of all, they strive for a masterly depiction of intrigue. Zofya Mitosek in the article “The End of the Mimesis” writes that “building intrigue is a game of tradition and innovation.” And if by the concept of traditions we mean “the transfer from one generation to another of traditional forms of activity and communication, as well as the associated customs, rules, ideas, values,” for the reader, folklore is a worthy representative of tradition in literature. In modern society, it is necessary to instill in the younger generation the need to study traditional folklore.
School program: literature (5th grade) - genres of folklore
Fifth grade is an important phase in the development of language education for students. The appeal to works using folklore materials is due to the need for self-affirmation, the significant susceptibility of fifth-grade students to folk art, and the correspondence of folklore as an oral word to the active speech of a child at the stage of constant development. Such education in high school gives the student a lesson in literature.
Genres of folklore to be studied in a modern school:
Ceremonial creativity
- Calendar ritual poetry.
- Family ritual poetry.
- Folk drama.
- Heroic epic.
- Thoughts
Ballads and lyric songs
- Ballads.
- Family-household songs.
- Public songs.
- Rifle and rebel songs.
- Ditties.
- Songs of literary origin.
Fairy-tale and fairy-tale historical prose
- Folk tales.
- Legends and traditions.
Folk paremiography
- Proverbs and sayings.
- Riddles.
- Popular beliefs.
- Fables.
Folklore - a “genetic” element of attitude
Artistic action in the plot of literary works is most often simple and understandable, designed to meet the ordinary consciousness of the reader. Folklore is a “genetic” element of attitude and, as a rule, is embedded in the mind with the first songs, tales, and riddles from childhood. So, at school, the features of folklore works give the student a lesson in literature (grade 5). Folklore makes the world clearer, trying to explain the unknown. Therefore, the interaction of the functions of folklore and literature creates a powerful resource for influencing the consciousness of the recipient, in which the text is able to mythologize the human consciousness and even cause the transformation of the rational sphere of human thinking. The answer to the question "what is folklore in literature" is determined by the whole direction of the inherent creative understanding and use. In folklore, ideas of creativity are often revealed on the verge of intersection with literature. Perhaps this is influenced by the original ritual folklore. Literature (Grade 5) in a modern school is increasingly returning to the current topic of spiritual and cultural revival, to the fundamental principle of the existence of our people, one of the main carriers of information about which is folklore.
Tradition of analysis
In our time, a definite tradition of analyzing what folklore is in literature has emerged, according to which equating creativity with the standards of mass culture is considered inappropriate: despite the label of "mass" novels, they have their own style, creative style and, most importantly, the theme of the works. They "regenerated" eternal themes from the depths of their souls, interest in which the reader was dozing from the beginning of a new era. Favorite topics of ancient authors are the village and the city, the historical connection of generations, mystical stories with a lovingly-erotic coloring. On established historical images, a modern manner of “direct” description of events is built up, traditional culture is presented in a modified version. The heroes of the works are characterized by a breadth of comprehension of life and psychological experience, descriptions of their characters are emphasized by reminiscences of the history and culture of our people, which are most often manifested in author's digressions and remarks.
The desacralization of folklore
Emphasis is placed on the visualization of paintings, which is carried out with the help of increased dynamism of the presentation of events and the effect of understatement, which stimulates the reader to creative “cooperation”. In each novel, the hero exists in the world created by the author himself, with his own geography, history, mythology. But when reading, the recipient perceives this space as already known, that is, he penetrates the atmosphere of the work from the first pages. The authors achieve this effect through the inclusion of various folkloric schemes; that is, we are talking about "imitation of myth not by mythological consciousness", according to which folklore elements act under their traditional context and acquire a different semantic meaning, but at the same time perform the function of identification by the reader of ancient meanings already known to him. Thus, desacralization of traditions and folklore takes place in the texts of mass literature.
The phenomenon of modification of the past and present
The phenomenon of modification of the past and the present can be traced even in the nature of the construction of almost all works. The texts abound with proverbs and sayings, which allows us to convey the centuries-old experience of the people in a concise, condensed form. The main thing in the works is that they act as elements of monologues and dialogues of the hero - most often this is used by elderly characters , carriers of wisdom and morality. Signs and sayings also serve as a hint at the tragic fate of the heroes of that time. They carry a deep meaning, one sign can tell about the whole life path of the hero.
Folklore is the harmony of the inner world
So, a certain mythologization and relevance to folklore in the works is a natural and as integral part of the created world as the specifics of the peasantry, ethnic flavor and lively, real broadcasting. Mass literature is built on the “basic models” of the reader’s consciousness of a given nation (which are based on “initial intentions”). In the works, such “initial intentions” are precisely folk elements. With the help of folklore motifs, there is a proximity to nature, harmony of the inner world, and the other functions of folklore fade into the background, there is a simplification of sacredness.