Russian Fairy Tales (RUSS 0090)
Definitions of Basic Terms
- Folklore
- The traditional beliefs, legends, customs, etc. of a people; lore of
a people; collected wisdom of a people (oral, ritualistic; associated
with nature, agrarian aspects of a given culture; associated with calendar
feasts and rites of passage).
- Fairy Tale
- A story involving supernatural people or events (not necessarily
fairies). Narrowly defined, fairy tale refers to popular
fairy tales, which lack a specific author or time of composition. Texts similar
to popular fairy tales but written by a specific author are qualified
as literary fairy tales.
- Animism
- 1. The belief that natural objects, natural phenomena, and the
universe itself possess souls or consciousness. 2. The belief that souls may
exist apart from bodies.
- Anthropomorphic
- Ascribing human form or attributes to a being or thing not human,
esp. to a deity.
- Ritual
- Any practice or pattern of behavior repeated in a prescribed manner
(e.g., religious ritual).
- Remythologize
- The reinterpretation of rituals belonging to one system as belonging
to another. The pagan winter solstice celebration became Christmas after the
christianization of Rus' (the early East Slavic state, centered in Kiev). After
the institution of state atheism in the Soviet Union, traditional features of
Christmas were recast as a celebration of the New Year (e.g., Santa Claus
became Father Frost).
- Dvoeverie
- "Double faith" or "double belief." The simultaneous subscription to two
different, and possibly even contradictory, belief systems. Characteristic of
early Russian Christianity, where people observed Christian rites but
nonetheless continued to adhere to certain pagan beliefs and practices.
- Metamorphosis
- A complete change of form, structure, or substance as transformation
by magic or witchcraft.
- Constant/Fixed Epithet
- A descriptive adjective used unvaryingly to qualify a noun, frequent
in Homer's epics and in folklore genres, e.g., oxen-eyed Hera, wine-red sea,
open field, bright falcon, beauteous maiden. Note also fixed formulae,
such as "run as a gray wolf" in Russian.
- Magic Numbers
- 1, 2, esp. 3, 7, and their multiples, e.g., 3 x 3.
- The Number Three
- Triad: A group of three, esp. of three closely related or associated persons
or things.
Trebling: Repetition in groups of three (e.g., three siblings, three tasks).
- Magic Objects and Elements
- Examples from Ivanits, chapter 1: Cyclicity (ring, egg, drawing or
walking in circles around something, circle dances), fertility (egg, seed,
tree), purity (fire, water), bounty (livestock, grain, fruits and vegetables,
bread, feasting), return of the sun after winter (fire, birds, pussy willows,
early bloomers), personifications of holidays (effigies), etc.