2019 №2 (63) Article 13

E.L. Raykhlina, E. V. Lobanova

FOLKTALE MOTIFS IN A. S. PUSHKIN’S POEM  “RUSLAN AND LYUDMILA”

UDC 821.161.1-1.09«18»

 A.S. Pushkin’s poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” is one of the first poems in which A. S. Pushkin addresses Russian folklore motifs. The article focuses on the motifs of Russian folktales which make up the plot of the poem and which can be seen in the characters created by the poet (personages, their inner world, their actions) and in various objects surrounding the characters (characters’ belongings, fairy objects). The article treats the morphology of the poem, i.e. it focuses on the constituent parts of the poem and their complex interconnections. The author of the article attempts to analyze the functions performed by personages according to a scheme suggested by V. J. Propp in his work “The Morphology of a Fairy Tale”. The article maintains that A. S. Pushkin’s poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (both its form and its origin) is based on folktale motifs rather than on chivalric motifs as the majority of A. S. Pushkin’s contemporaries believed.

 

motif as an image; motif as an object; motif as an episode; morphology of a poem; fairy motifs of the poem; A. S. Pushkin’s folklorism; characters’ functions

 

REFERENCES

 

  1. Azadovskij M. K. Literatura i fol’klor. Ocherki i jetjudy [Literature and Folklore: Essays and Sketches]. Leningrad, Fiction Publ., 1938, 297 p. Available at : http://lib2.pushkinskijdom.ru (accessed: 02.03.2019). (In Russian).
  2. Anikin V. P. The Structure of the Lyric Poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” and Folklore. (Lazutin S. G. (ed.)). Voprosy pojetiki literatury i fol’klora [The Poetics of Literature and Folklore]. Voronezh, Voronezh State University Publ., 1977, pp. 34–46. (In Russian).
  3. Propp V. Ja. Morfologija volshebnoj skazki [The Morphology of a Fairytale]. Moscow, Labyrinth Publ., 2001, 192 p. Available at : https://www.litmir.me/br/?b=92929&p=19 (accessed: 02.03.2019). (In Russian).
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    10letters/1815_30/01text/1824/1279_96.htm (accessed: 02.03.2019). (In Russian).
  5. Vremennik Pushkinskoj komissii [Pushkin. The Chronicle of Pushkin Commission]. Moscow, Leningrad, 1937, vol. 3, 567 p. Available at: http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=
    10370 (accessed: 02.03.2019). (In Russian).
  6. Pushkin A. S. Ruslan i Ljudmila [Ruslan and Lyudmila]. In 2 vols. Moscow, Fiction Publ., 1978, vol. 1, 751 p. (In Russian).
  7. Pushkin A. S. Son (“Puskaj Pojet s kadil’nicej naemnoj …”) [Dream. Let the Poet with Censer…). Available at : http://pushkin-stih.ru/son (accessed: 02.03.2019). (In Russian).
  8. Slonimskij A. L. Pushkin’s First Poem. Vremennik Pushkinskoj komissii [Pushkin. The Chronicle of Pushkin Commission]. Moscow, Leningrad, Literary Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union Publ., 1937, vol. 3, pp. 183–202. (In Russian).
  9. Tomashevskij B. V. Pushkin. Pushkin. 1837–1937: pamjatka : stat’i i materialy dlja doklada [A. Pushkin. 1837–1937: Reminders and Old Materials for the Report]. Leningrad, Goslitizdat Publ., 1937, 338 p. (In Russian).

 

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