Title of the article:

TRANSFORMATIONS OF BYLINA`S (EPIC POEM) GENRE IN THE RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE 18TH–19TH CENTURIES

Author(s):

Olga V. Zakharova

Information about the author/authors

Olga V. Zakharova — PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Petrozavodsk State University, Leninsky ave., 33, 185690 Petrozavodsk, Russia. E-mail: ovzakh05@yandex.ru 

Section

Philological sciences

Year

2018

Volume

Vol. 50

Pages

pp. 146–157

Received

January 25, 2018

Date of publication

December 28, 2018

Index UDK

821.161.1

Index BBK

83.3(2Рос=Рус)1

Abstract

In many Russian literary works of the late 18th – early 19th century, writers were aspiring to express and occasionally to create a national and historical myth. Folklore genres and their adaptations were significant in such attempts ( “Russian Fairy Tales” by Vasily A. Levshin, “Dobrynya, a Theatrical Performance with Music” by Gavriil R. Derzhavin, etc.). The bylina (Russian epic poem) heroes were characters in different literary genres, sometimes in original ones. Thus, the interaction of folklore and literary genres (e.g., fairy tales, bylinas, Old Russian stories and hagiographies) comprised a new genre — Vladimir I. Dahl’s Easter short novel “Ilya Muromets. A Tale of Heroic Rus”. A number of writers were eager to carry on the genre traditions of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”. Fyodor M. Dostoevsky proposed an original conception of bylina as a folklore genre. He noted its tangency “with the paramount beauty, the beauty of the ideal”. In the writer’s opinion, “the whole world outlook of the people”, “their ideals of heroes, tsars, national defenders and sympathizers, the images of valour, humility, love and sacrifice” were manifested in the bylina. In Dostoevsky’s system of genres, bylina could also become a literary genre expressing the sense of Russian history, the Russian view on life, the Russian idea. These bylinas may depict the feats of ordinary people, describe the pivotal episodes of Russian and world history, in which, in the writer’s words, Christianity was reviving and the Russian future was emerging. These bylinas are able to comprise “a great national book” and “serve to the revival of self-consciousness of the Russian”. Unfortunately, Dostoevsky’s genre discovery became known only in the first half of the 20th century and has not been actualized by writers and poets.

Keywords

Bylina (Russian epic poems), genre, Russian history, V. I. Dahl’, Dostoevsky, A. N. Maykov.

References

1 Aksakov K. S., Aksakov I. S. Literaturnaja kritika [Literary criticism]. Moscow, Sovremennik Publ., 1981. 384 p. (In Russian)

2 Buslaev F. I. Russkaja pojezija XI i nachala XII veka [Russian poetry of the 11th and early 12th century]. Letopisi russkoj literatury i drevnosti, izdavaemye Nik. Tihonravovym [The chronicle of Russian literature and antiquity. Published by Nick. Tihonravov]. Moscow, Tip. V. Gracheva i komp. Publ., 1859, vol. 1, pp. 3–31. (In Russian)

3 Dostoevskij F. M. Stat'i i materially [Articles and materials], ed. by A. S. Dolinin. Petrograd, Mysl' Publ., 1922. Vol. 1. 517 p. (In Russian)

4 Dostoevskij F. M. Stat'i i materially [Articles and materials], ed. by A. S. Dolinin. Leningrad, Mysl' Publ., 1924. Vol. 2. 780 p. (In Russian)

5 Dostoevskij F. M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: v 18 t. [The complete works: in 18 vols.]. Moscow, Voskresen'e Publ., 2004. Vol. 12. 446 p. (In Russian)

6 Dostoevskij F. M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: v 18 t. [The complete works: in 18 vols.]. Moscow, Voskresen'e Publ., 2005. Vol. 15, part 2. 505 p. (In Russian)

7 Esaulov I. A. Kategorija sobornosti v russkoj literature (k postanovke problemy) [The Category of conciliarism in Russian literature]. Problemy istoricheskoj pojetiki [The issues of historical poetics]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo PetrSU Publ., 1994, vol. 3, pp. 32–60. (In Russian)

8 Esaulov I. A. Kategorija sobornosti v russkoj literature [The Category of conciliarism in Russian literature]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo PetrSU Publ., 1995. 288 p. (In Russian) 

9 Zakharov V. N. Sistema zhanrov Dostoevskogo: Tipologija i pojetika [The system of genres of Dostoevsky: typology and poetics]. Leningrad, Izdatel'stvo LGU Publ., 1985. 208 p. (In Russian)

10 Zakharov V. N. Pashal'nyj rasskaz kak zhanr russkoj literatury [Easter story as a Russian Literary Genre]. Problemy istoricheskoj pojetiki [The issues of Historical Poetics]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo PetrSU Publ., 1994, vol. 3, pp. 249–261. (In Russian)

11 Zakharova O. V. “Il'ja Muromec. Skazka Rusi bogatyrskoj” V. I. Dalja (problema zhanra) [Ilya Muromets: the Tale of heroic Rus by Vladimir Dahl (The Problem of the Genre) ]. Problemy istoricheskoj pojetiki [The issues of Historical Poetics]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo PetrSU Publ., 1998, vol. 5, pp. 283–294. (In Russian)

12 Zakharova O. V. Koncepcija byliny u F. M. Dostoevskogo [Dostoevsky's conception of the epic poem]. Problemy istoricheskoj pojetiki [The issues of historical poetics]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo PetrSU Publ., 2015, vol. 13, pp. 271–286. (In Russian)

13 Zjabreva G. A., Kapustina S. V. Hudozhestvennyj koncept “bogatyrstvo” v tvorchestve N. V. Gogolja i F. M. Dostoevskogo [The artistic concept of “epic heroes” in the works of N. V. Gogol and F. M. Dostoevsky]. Uchenye zapiski Tavricheskogo nacional'nogo universiteta im. V. I. Vernadskogo [Scientific notes of Taurida national University. V. I. Vernadsky]. Serija “Filologija. Social'nye kommunikacii” [Series “Philology. Social communication” ], 2011, vol. 24 (63), no 1, pp. 114–123. (In Russian). 

14 Kapustina S. V. Bogatyrstvo kak hristianskoe sluzhenie v miru (na materiale prozy N. V. Gogolja i F. M. Dostoevskogo) [Epic heroes as a way of Christian ministry in a secular world (based on the prose of N. V. Gogol and F. M. Dostoevsky) ]. Ofіtsіinii sait Kharkіvs'kogo natsіonal'nogo unіversiteta іmenі V. N. Karazіna [The official website of Kharkiv national Karazin University]. Available at: http://www-philology.univer.kharkov.ua/nauka/e_books/visnyk_994/content/kapustina.pdf (accessed 20 November 2017). (In Russian) 

15 Kapustina S. V. Fenomen bogatyrstva v traktovke N. V. Gogolja i F. M. Dostoevskogo [The phenomenon of “epic heroes” according to N. V. Gogol and F. M. Dostoevsky]. Problemy istoricheskoj pojetiki [The issues of historical poetics]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo PetrSU Publ., 2014, vol. 12, pp. 233–242. (In Russian) 

16 Larionova M. Ch. Drevnerusskaja literatura i fol'klor: istoriko-kul'turnyj kontekst [Old Russian literature and folklore: Historical and Cultural context]. Vestnik Juzhnogo nauchnogo centra RAN, 2012, vol. 8, no 4, pp. 95–100. (In Russian)

17 Majkov A. Pis'ma k Dostoevskomu. 1867–1878. Vstupitel'naja stat'ja — Teksty — Primechanija [Letters to Dostoevsky. 1867-1878. Introduction — Texts — Notes]. Ashimbaeva N. T. Dostoevskij. Kontekst tvorchestva i vremeni [Dostoevsky. The context of works and time]. St. Petersburg, Serebrjanyj vek Publ., 2005, pp. 91–168. (In Russian)

18 Mihnjukevich V. A. Byliny [Epic poems]. Dostoevskij: Jestetika i pojetika. Slovar'-spravochnik [Dostoevsky: Aesthetics and poetics. Dictionary]. Cheljabinsk, Metall Publ., 1997, p. 142. (In Russian) 

19 Nejolov E. M. “Povest' o Petre i Fevronii” i “Carevna-ljagushka” [ “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia” and “Frog Princess” ]. Riabininskie chteniia’95: mezhdunarodnaia nauchnaia konferentsiia po problemam izucheniia, sokhraneniia i aktualizatsii narodnoi kul'tury Russkogo Severa: sbornik dokladov [Riabininsky readings’95: international scientific conference on the issues of study, preservation and mainstream popular culture of the Russian North: book of reports]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo Karel'skogo nauchnogo tsentra RAN Publ., 1997, pp. 177–183. (In Russian)

20 Nejolov E. M. Skazka i zhitie [Faire tale and hagiography]. Problemy istoricheskoj pojetiki [The issues of Historical Poetics]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo PetrSU Publ., 1998, vol. 5, pp. 61–72. (In Russian)

21 Nejolov E. M. Skazka i zhitie (stat'ja vtoraja) [Fairy tale and hagiography. (Article 2) ] Problemy istoricheskoj pojetiki [The issues of historical poetics]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo PetrSU Publ., 2001, vol. 6, pp. 57–66. (In Russian)

22 Nejolov E. M. “Po shhuch'emu veleniju...”: literaturnaja transformacija fol'klornogo motiva [ “As if by magic ...” — Literary transformation of the folklore motif]. Problemy istoricheskoj pojetiki [The issues of historical poetics]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo PetrSU Publ., 2008, vol. 8, pp. 44–50. (In Russian)

23 Polevoj N. A. Istorija russkogo naroda [History of the Russian people]. Moscow, Tip. Avgusta Semena, pri Imperatorskoi meditsinsko-khirurgicheskoi akademii Publ., 1830. Vol. 2. 472 p. 1830. Vol. 3. 415 p. (In Russian)

24 Polevoj N. A. Retsenziia na knigu: Slovo o polku Igoreve, izd. dlja uchashhihsja N. Tihonravovym. Moscow, 1866 [Book review: The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, ed. for pupils by N. Tikhonravov. Moscow, 1866]. Zhurnal ministerstva narodnogo prosveshhenija, 1867, February, pp. 441–455. (In Russian)

25 Sokolov B. M. O zhitijnyh i apokrificheskih motivah v bylinah [On hagiographic and apocryphal motifs in the epic poems]. Moscow, Sinodal'naja Tip. Publ., 1916. 23 p. (In Russian)

26 Tarasov K. G. Pashal'nye motivy v tvorchestve V. I. Dalja [Easter Motifs in Vladimir Dahl's works]. Problemy istoricheskoj pojetiki [The Problems of Historical Poetics]. Petrozavodsk, Izdatel'stvo PetrSU Publ., 1998, vol. 5, pp. 295–302. (In Russian)

27 Certelev N. D. Vzgljad na russkie skazki i pesni i povest' v duhe starinnyh russkih stihotvorenij [View on the Russian fairy tales, songs and short novel in the spirit of ancient Russian poems]. St. Petersburg, Tip. Grecha Publ., 1820. 35 p. (In Russian)

28 Certelev N. D. O proizvedenijah drevnej russkoj pojezii [On the works of ancient Russian poetry]. Syn Otechestva, 1820, no 30, part 63, pp. 149–152. (In Russian)

PDF-file

Download

Illustrations