What did ritual poetry attract Russian writers and composers?

What is ritual poetry? What is the history of the emergence of folklore, especially the genre? Let's try to find answers to these questions together.

Introduction

Russian ritual poetry is due to its appearancenamely folk art. Folklore is an oral folk art. It reflects the creative collective activity of the people, which characterizes its ideals, views, and style of life.

Kinds

Folk ritual poetry was created onfor many centuries. Epos, anecdotes, various tales, chastushki, legends, all this was passed down from generation to generation. It was in this oral activity that historical information about the traditions and way of life of the people was kept.

Ritual poetry was shifted to music, so there were plays, instrumental jokes. From them it was possible to understand what the life of a common people is, to get acquainted with his hobbies, the nature of his activity.

Folk ritual poetry attracted manyRussian writers with their melodiousness, length. Elements of folklore are used in the theater for productions of satirical plays, dramatic performances, puppet shows.

History of appearance

Russian folk ritual poetry is consideredcultural heritage of any people. The very term "folklore" came to scientific use thanks to the English scholar William Thomsom in 1846. He assumed a set of structures that are integrated by speech, in a word, regardless of the elements in which they are interrelated. Gradually, instead of the term "folklore", the expression "oral literature" was used.

Interesting Facts

How did ritual poetry attract Russian writers? Bylins, sayings, songs, proverbs, conspiracies, fairy tales, all this reflected the idea of ​​people about their historical roots, the features of the world around them.

Russian ritual poetry is reflected in manyworks of art. For example, in the epics about Vasily Buslaevich and Sadko, many epics are used, glorifying Novgorod, the trading activities of that time, mentioning the movement of caravans to overseas countries.

Russian people created ritual poetry, inwhich were not only epic, but also cunning riddles, folk proverbs, magic, heroic, everyday tales. Literature was the real treasure and the mind of the Russian people.

The meaning of this kind of folklore

It was ritual poetry that allowed to strengthenthe moral image of the people, was his historical memory. In such works it was possible to learn about the peculiarities of the life of the Russian people, its customs, rituals. Each of them had a certain meaning, was carried out at specific times, and according to a special algorithm.

Rites were permeated with respect for their ancestors, honoring their historical roots, the desire to preserve and pass on traditions from generation to generation.

Correlation with the seasons

Calendar-ritual poetry meant accountingseasons. For each important holiday, which was associated with church traditions, a special temple singing was used. In addition, there were also "semiprofessional" genres, for example, in Russia there were buffoons, storytellers.

By the time of Russian Orthodox hymnography, folklore has already had a centuries-old history, which has evolved from a system of genres, as well as various means of musical expressiveness.

Conclusions of the researchers

How did ritual poetry attract composers? The heroic epos found its reflection in instrumental music. Throughout its existence, folk music has firmly entered the life of people, has become a reflection of personal, social, family life.

Researchers are convinced that at that time,for the time being there was no Kievan Rus, Eastern Slavs had a very developed family-household and calendar ritual folklore, instrumental music, and also a heroic epic developed.

Bylins, proverbs, songs, folk riddles have reached the present time, therefore it is quite difficult to single out the basis of the folklore work from the subsequent works of the Russian people.

Ritual folklore

Scientists who are engaged in folk art,singled out in a single group the so-called ritual folklore, which is associated with pagan ancient times, an agricultural calendar. For example, they included dances and songs that were performed on Shrovetide, Christmas carols, on the day of Ivan Kupala.

In addition, ritual folklore was considered fortune-telling and wedding songs.

Features of the rituals

In order to fully understand the wealth of Russian ancient ritual poetry, it is necessary to consider this issue in more detail.

What was the significance of ritual poetry? Songs are considered one of the most ancient manifestations of folk art.

The content of such songs was closely related toreligious canons that have evolved over many centuries. The rite that was born during the time of paganism was aimed at deification of the natural elements. The most ancient historians consider calendar-ritual songs. Their content was closely connected with the ideas about the agricultural calendar, the cycle of nature.

Such songs contained information about variousstages of life and activities of peasants engaged in agriculture. They were included in summer, spring, winter rites, corresponding to turning points during the change of seasons. In the performance of the rite, people sincerely believed that the spells they uttered would be heard by the mighty forces of Water, the Sun, Mother Earth, bring an excellent harvest, and provide people with a comfortable life.

It was ritual songs considered compulsorycomponent of the rite. It was believed that the achievement of the goal directly depends on how correctly and fully all ritual actions are carried out.

Ritual songs accompanied the plowing and harvesting, wedding festivities, Christmas holidays, christenings.

The calendar-ritual songs are rather short in volume, they are not complicated in the poetic structure.

They included glee and anxiety, hopeand uncertainty. One of the distinguishing features of this kind of creativity researchers consider the personification of the main image, which is related to the essence of the ritual.

For example, in ancient Christmas songs depicts Kolyada, moving around the yards in search of a master who will give her various gifts and benefits.

In the calendar songs there is Maslenitsa,Trinity, Spring. Songs contain a call for good, they reproach people for frivolity and deceit. In form, such songs can be called short poems, capable of several small verses to denote a lyrical situation, to convey the mood.

Types of calendar and ritual songs

Caroling started on the eve of Christmas, from 24December. This was the way the houses were circulated with the singing of special Christmas carols, in which the owner of the house desired a good harvest, wealth, happiness. Carols were singing children, carrying a star on a pole. It symbolized the star of Bethlehem, which appeared in the firmament at the time of the birth of Christ. The hosts tried to give kolyadovschikov money, delicious cookies, sweets. If the owners of the house did not hurry to give their children, they sang special ditties with ridiculous threats addressed to them:

Do not give, the owner, pies -
We'll take your cow for the horns.
Do not give us a gut -
We're your pig for the temple.
Do not give babies a blink -
Receive, master, kick.

Special attention was paid to folk artthe beginning of the year. Russian people sincerely believed that on how to celebrate the New Year, it depends on how it will be held. People tried to set the table so that it had a lot of delicious and delicious dishes. In the New Year all had fun, wished each other happiness and health.

As a background for such wishes, short Christmas carols were used.

For example, in the poem "Svetlana" VA Zhukovsky uses one of the songs dedicated to the blacksmith:

…Blacksmith,
Grieve me the evil and new crown,
Ring the golden ring.

Based on a folk song about peasants, which he heard from his nanny, AS Pushkin wrote not one of his poems.

Conclusion

Pancake week in special songs was ridiculed, scolded, urged to return, called it various women's names: Izotyevna, Avdotyushka, Akulina Savvishna.

VI Dal mentioned in his writings that for Maslenitsa every day of the week had a definite meaning:

• Monday was associated with the meeting;
• Tuesday contacted with flirting;
• the environment was considered a gourmet;
• Thursday was associated with hospitality;
• Friday was considered a mother-in-law's party;
• on Saturday they arranged a zolotkin gathering;
• Sunday was dedicated to the Carnival of the Carnival.

The Trinity cycle was also filled with various calendar-ritual songs, so it attracted many Russian poets and writers. For example, AN Ostrovsky used a ritual song about the cloud.

The composers did not stay away, they used with pleasure the fragments of ritual songs in their work.

Spring rituals were performed during the Greatpost, so they did not have a playful holiday character. As the main spring genre used - vesnyanki. These songs did not sing, but clicked, climbing on the roofs, hills. With their help, people tried to call for spring, said goodbye to the winter.

Part of the vesnyonok is associated with the well-known from childhood poems about "Mukhe-zokotukha" and "Cockroach".

After the adoption of Christianity, pagan beliefs gradually lost their semantic significance. The meaning of those magical acts that gave rise to a certain kind of folk music was also lost.

But, despite this, the forms of holding ancient holidays proved to be stable. Ritual folklore, which underwent significant changes and updates, continued to function.

The Christian church expressed an extremely negativeattitude to traditional dances and songs. Representatives of the clergy considered folk creativity to be sinful, connected with the devil. Such an assessment was discovered by researchers in many chronicle sources and canonical church decrees. For example, there is information that the Kiev Metropolitan John II wrote in the ninth century to Yakov Chernorizts (writer) that the holy fathers commanded him to observe piety, and in the case of music and dances get up from the table and walk away.

It was at that time that a different field of folklore appeared, which was born in the depths of the “carnival” culture of Ancient Russia.

It was considered a “curved mirror” of the existingreality, the "stupid" wrong life, in which everything happened the other way around. Reality and fantasy, good and evil, top and bottom were mixed up in places.

In Soviet times, the old folk artpractically did not pay attention, prohibited holidays, folk festivals. It was during this historical period that many ancient Russian rituals and traditions were irretrievably lost. Recently, the situation has changed for the better. Many writers and poets again turned their attention to the tales, legends, old rites, use them in their creative activities.