Chapter II russian folklore: forms of russian folklore

Actuality of the Coursework is an important and relevant topic in the modern world. Understanding Russian folklore provides insights into the cultural, historical, and social contexts of Russia. Furthermore, it is important to study Russian folklore today because of its influence on contemporary culture, art, and literature.
Aim of the Coursework is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the significance of folklore in Russian culture, history, and society. The course work aims to explore the different types of folklore, including folktales, legends, myth, songs, and proverbs. The course work will also provide an insight into how folk practices, beliefs, and traditions have been preserved and transformed over time.
In accordance with the main theme we put forward following tasks:
- To study the origins and evolution of Russian folklore
- To explore the different genres of Russian folklore
- To analyze the importance and roles of folklore in traditional Russian society
- To examine the relationship between folklore and contemporary Russian literature, art, and culture
- To understand the use of folklore in popular culture
- To analyze the transmission of folklore across different cultures and regions
The subject of the course work is Russian folklore, which includes folktales, legends, myth, songs, and proverbs.
The object of the course work is to study the significance and influence of Russian folklore on culture, history, and society.
The main material of the coursework includes primary sources such as Russian folklore collections, academic texts on Russian folklore, as well as literary works which incorporate folklore.
Structure of the Course Work on the Theme 'Russian Folklore' is Introduction, two chapters, conclusion and the list of used literature.


CHAPTER I General overview of origins of Russian folklore

1. 
   Origins of Russian Folklore
   

Russian folklore takes its underlying foundations in the agnostic convictions of old Slavs and presently is addressed in the Russian fantasies. Slavic paganism also relies heavily on epic Russian bylinas. The Russian north, particularly Karelia, where the majority of the Finnish national epic Kalevala was also recorded, was where the earliest Kievan cycle bylinas were discovered. Russian fairy tales began to be translated into English in the late 19th century, with William Ralston's Russian Folk Tales (1873) and Edith Hodgetts' Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar (1890) being two examples[3,43].
Numerous Russian fantasies and bylinas have been adjusted for liveliness films, or for include motion pictures by noticeable chiefs like Aleksandr Ptushko (Ilya Muromets, Sadko) and Aleksandr Rou (Morozko, Vasilisa the Lovely).
A few Russian writers, including Pyotr Yershov and Leonid Filatov, spread the word about various well poetical translations of the old style Russian fantasies, and at times, similar to that of Alexander Pushkin, likewise made completely unique fantasy sonnets of incredible notoriety.
Folk Tradition in Pre-Christian Russia Early Slavic society appears to have been largely organized in small towns led by a group of people rather than a single leader and to have placed a strong emphasis on family. The region that has been proposed as the ancestral home of Slavic peoples is roughly in the vicinity of the countries of Eastern Europe today. East Slavs arose around the Volga-Dnieper bowl. Slavic tribes made their home on the Oka River, where Russian culture originated. South Slavic culture filled in Balkan region West Slavic individuals developed probably in eastern Poland. Early Slavic culture relied heavily on nature.
Mokosh, whose name means "moist" and may have Finnish origins, was the goddess of women, children, and animals and was worshiped for her connection with fertility.[3,58] Russian soil is generally too thin for robust agriculture, rainfall is infrequent and inopportunely timed in much of the area, and the growing season is relatively short. [3,62] One early Russian object of worship was the "Moist Mother Earth." Fruitfulness and dampness are subsequently especially vital for the outcome of Russian horticulture. The success of Russian society was largely dependent on the success of its agriculture because, from the beginning, the Russians' food production was based on agriculture rather than hunting or herding, and they were not friendly to the people who lived nearby.
In addition, it is believed that early Slavic culture placed a significant emphasis on the feminine aspect, which led to a subsequent shift toward a more patriarchal society as Christianity established itself in the region. Another important part of tribal life was ancestor worship, which was a way to connect people from the past and the future. The belief in animism was also widespread, and nature and house spirits were important aspects of daily tribal life[3,75].
In Christian Russia, Vladimir I (also known as "Vladimir the Great" or "Saint Vladimir") converted to Christianity in 987 CE, making it the official religion of the Kievan Rus. He had previously attempted to promote the worship of a pagan pantheon that was not native to the Russian people, but his efforts were largely unsuccessful. Since Christianity had previously existed nearby, it got on more effectively than the unfamiliar agnostic custom. At Kiev and Novgorod, two cities where Vladimir I had previously focused particularly on establishing a pagan pantheon, idols were destroyed. Animism and ancestor worship survived in peasant rituals, stories, and practices, despite the apparent disappearance of pagan beliefs. Christian saints were elevated to the status of some pagan gods and objects of worship. Different times, agnostic occasions stayed by and by however were called by new names, for example, Trinity Day, during which laborer young ladies would respect the nature soul rusalka, honor past precursors, and practice divination ceremonies. St. John's Day is another one of these holidays. It was celebrated to "see off the spring" and to perform rituals to welcome spring back soon. A significant portion of Russian peasant culture was marked by the "duality of religion" or "duality of belief," which refers to the coexistence of Christian and pagan beliefs in Russian culture.
Certain agnostic customs and convictions were endured and, surprisingly, upheld by the Congregation. Rituals were reinterpreted as primarily Christian in these instances. For instance, the wintertime custom of laying hay on the floor came to be associated with Christmas celebrations commemorating Jesus' birth. At the point when the Congregation censured a training, it normally didn't excuse it as made-up, yet rather recognized its power and credited it to Satan
Russian Fables in Soviet Russia
Russia has a long and shifted melodic history
Folklorists consider the 1920s the Soviet Association's brilliant period of legends. Folklore studies flourished because the struggling new government could not be bothered with trying to control literature because it had to focus on creating a new administrative system and revitalizing the nation's failing economy. During the decade, folklore research followed two main trends: the Finnish and formalist schools. Formalism zeroed in on the imaginative type of antiquated byliny and faerie stories, explicitly their utilization of particular designs and wonderful gadgets. The connections between related legends from various Eastern European regions were the focus of the Finnish school. In the hope of tracing these epic tales' migration paths, Finnish scholars gathered comparable tales from multiple locations and analyzed their similarities and differences[3,87].
When Joseph Stalin came to power and kick off his initial five-year plan in 1928, the Soviet government started to scrutinize and control old stories studies. Folklore was suppressed by Stalin and the Soviet government because they believed it favored the old tsarist system and a capitalist economy. They saw it as a remainder of the regressive Russian culture that the Marxists were attempting to outperform. The Russian Association of Proletarian Writers (RAPP) was established by the government to keep folklore studies under control and to stop harmful ideas from spreading to the general public. The RAPP censored fairy tales and children's literature because it believed that fantasies and "bourgeois nonsense" hindered the growth of decent Soviet citizens. Children were encouraged to read books about nature and science, and fairy tales were taken off shelves. In 1932, the Union of Soviet Writers took RAPP's name and increased the level of censorship.
To keep exploring and breaking down legends, scholarly people expected to legitimize its worth to the Socialist system. Otherwise, it would be unacceptable to study folklore collections and all other literature that Stalin's Five Year Plan deemed useless. Maxim Gorky made the case in a 1934 speech to the Union of Soviet Writers that folklore could, in fact, be deliberately utilized to promote Communist ideals. In addition to describing the artistic value of folklore, he emphasized that ideal, community-oriented characters from traditional fairy tales and legends served as models for Soviet citizens. Folklore was relevant to Communism because it could not have existed without the direct contribution of the working classes, and many of its conflicts were based on the struggles of a labor-oriented lifestyle. Also, Gorky said, folklore characters often had high levels of optimism, so they could help readers keep a positive attitude as their lives changed as Communism got worse[3,89].
The head of the Union of Soviet Writers' folklore section, Iurii Sokolov, also advocated for the study of folklore, arguing that folklore could be used to motivate and inspire collective projects among the proletariat of today because it originated as the oral tradition of working people. Characters all through conventional Russian folktales frequently ended up on an excursion of self-revelation, an interaction that drove them to esteem themselves not as people, but instead as an essential piece of a typical entirety. The mentality that the Soviet government hoped to instill in its citizens was exemplified by the attitudes of such legendary figures. He likewise brought up the presence of numerous stories that showed individuals from the middle class outmaneuvering their horrible experts, again attempting to demonstrate legends' worth to Soviet philosophy and the country's general public overall.
The Soviet government and the Union of Soviet Writers began collecting and analyzing folklore from all over the country after being persuaded by the arguments of Gor'kij and Sokolov. The Association handpicked and recorded specific stories that, in their eyes, adequately advanced the collectivist soul and showed the Soviet system's advantages and progress. It then, at that point, continued to rearrange duplicates of supported stories all through the populace. In the meantime, local folklore centers emerged in each and every major city. Liable for upholding a feeling of Soviet patriotism, these associations guaranteed that the media distributed proper renditions of Russian folktales in an efficient design.
Aside from circling government-supported faerie stories and byliny that generally existed, during Stalin's standard creators parroting suitable Soviet philosophies composed Socialist folktales and acquainted them with the populace. The structures and themes of the old byliny were combined with contemporary Soviet Union life in these contemporary folktales. Called noviny, these new stories were viewed as the renaissance of the Russian epic. Folklorists were tasked with imparting traditional byliny style and structure to contemporary singers. In addition, they guided the performers through the appropriate manifestations of Communist ideology that ought to be portrayed in the brand-new songs and stories[4,12]. 
Since the performers of the time often didn't have much education, they needed to know a lot about Marxism before they could tell folktales to the public in a way that would work for the Soviet government. In addition to receiving extensive training, many folk performers traveled the country to gain insight into the working-class lifestyle and improve their storytelling. Some of these performers ended up becoming highly regarded members of Soviet society because of their crucial role in disseminating Communist ideals throughout the Soviet Union. Various them, regardless of their ignorance, were even chosen as individuals from the Association of Soviet Scholars[4,21].
The contrasts between a miserable life under the old tsarist regime and an improved one under Stalin's leadership were the primary themes of these new Soviet folk songs and faerie tales. Their characters addressed personalities for which Soviet residents ought to endeavor, epitomizing the attributes of the "New Soviet Man." The heroes of Soviet stories were meant to show a better and changed version of the average citizen. This gave the reader a clear idea of the ideal, group-oriented self that the protagonist was supposed to be in the future. These new folktales supplanted enchantment with innovation and extraordinary powers with Stalin.
The protagonist would get advice from Stalin, who knew everything, rather than from a mythical being. The character could complete transformation into the "New Soviet Man" if he followed Stalin's divine guidance in all his endeavors. The Whites and their leader Idolisce, also known as "the most monstrous idol," were the villains in these contemporary faerie tales. Depictions of the Whites in noviny reflected those of the Tartars in byliny.[4,43] In these new stories, the Whites were uncouth, in reverse business people, while the Soviet residents became powerful legends.
The new folktales of the time were quickly abandoned by Stalinist folklorists after his death in March 1953. Composed by individual creators and entertainers, noviny didn't come from the oral customs of the average workers. As a result, they are now regarded as pseudo-folklore as opposed to genuine Soviet (or Russian) folklore. There was no reason for Noviny to be considered anything other than contemporary literature because it lacked any genuine connection to the general public. Specialists came to the conclusion that attempts to depict contemporary life through the structure and art of ancient epics could not be considered true folklore None of the few pseudo-folktales from the time include Stalin's name. Rather than being viewed as a revival of the traditional Russian epic under Stalin, folklore today is generally viewed as a time of restraint and lies.

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