We study the artistic features of Russian epics

The epics are of great importance for folklore. The school program on literature laid the study of this genre in 7 classes. Our article will help students learn the artistic features of Russian epic stories. But before studying this question, it is necessary to consider the definition of this genre, as well as many interesting facts related to it.

The term "epic" and its origin

Bylina is an epic song, it singsevents and their heroes, as well as many episodes from the history of Ancient Rus. Initially the epics were formed during the early Kievan Rus. They expressed the world view of the Eastern Slavs. Thanks to the historical events of the XI-XVI centuries, the historical events are permanently imprinted in the oral folk art. Thus, to start writing an essay on the theme "Artistic features of Russian epic" is necessary with the definition of the term.

Readers in this genre see the images of the brave andstrong heroes, as well as their amazing feats. Thanks to the artistic word in the heroic epic, reality and fantastic fiction merged. Bylin and fairy tale are united by mythical images of foes (enemies), in parallel the reader observes metamorphoses (reincarnation) of characters, and also interaction of protagonists with animals. However, the elements of fiction in epic songs were subordinated to the historical vision, as well as the reflection of reality. All these elements are the artistic features of the Russian epics.

When the epic were on paper

Many mistakenly believe that the epic refers toRussian literature, in part this is so. However, folklore (oral folk art) is studying the epic. This means that they were passed on from generation to generation, from mouth to mouth. On paper they were fixed not earlier than the nineteenth century in Karelia, on the shores of the White Sea, and also in the cities of the Arkhangelsk province. In Siberia and the Urals, epics were recorded from the 18th century. At this time, the heroic epic was actively rewritten in the central provinces of our Motherland (Voronezh, Moscow, Kaluga, Novgorod, Petersburg, Vladimir, and so on). The artistic features of the Russian epic are manifold. The composition of a schoolboy should reflect them as completely as possible. Therefore, we turn to the features of the plot and the content of the epic.

Content and plots

In their studies, philologists write that the epicsthe content is quite diverse. To date, folklore knows about a hundred stories, and recorded more than 3000 versions and versions of texts. As a rule, epic songs have a novelistic or heroic character. The ideological intent of the heroic epic is concluded in glorification, unity, and also the independence of the Russian land. Novelistic epics glorify the faithfulness of spouses, real friendship, condemnation of bad qualities of a person. In addition, there are also works in which the people condemned the social injustice, which was the arbitrariness of the authorities. The goal of all epic stories is to exalt the social, national, and moral and ethical ideals of the Russian people.

"The Old Lady"

Perhaps you will be surprised, but our ancestors do notused the term "epic". This genre they called "old fashioned", "olden time". From this name it was clear that the song is about events that took place a long time ago. In the first half of the XIX century, domestic folklorist, ethnographer, paleographer and archaeologist Ivan Petrovich Sakharov proposed to call the old fashioned by bylinas. He took this idea from the "Lay of Igor's Host".

Poetics, as well as the artistic features of Russian epics (Grade 7, Russian literature)

The artistic world of epics is very different fromother genres and ordinary life. Language and poetics are subject to the task of a grandiose and significant image. The singer who tells the epic, soulfully merges with the heavens and the sea, as well as with the vast expanses of the Russian land. The poeticization of a valiant dejection, a will power, the appearance of a Russian warrior, as well as his faithful horse, carries listeners and readers to the imaginary world of the Age of Ancient Rus, which rises majestically over ordinary and ordinary reality.

Composition

We continue to consider artisticfeatures of Russian bylina. The compositional basis of this genre is mainly based on the antithesis, where the protagonist is opposed to the enemy. So, for example, Alyosha Popovich fights with Tugarin, Dobrynya Nikitich speaks against Serpent Gorynych. There is one more trick in the composition - this is trebling. This feature exists in fairy tales, but unlike them, the hero of the epic acts independently. If the schoolchildren need to specify the artistic features of the Russian epic in the composition (such a task assumes the 7th grade), then write about it.

The stories of the epics are built according to the classical scheme:

• the beginnings,
• string,
• development,
• culmination,
• denouement.

The primary means of creating images

And we continue to study the artisticfeatures of Russian bylina. The composition of the student on this topic should contain a variety of techniques that were used to create the epic. The collector of epics AF Hilferding perceived hyperbole (exaggeration) as a real image in the maximum manifestation of traits and qualities. For example, the bogatyrs at the feast of Prince Vladimir drank a glass of wine, which by volume was equated with a large bucket! This method was used by the narrators in order to idealize the image of the hero.

Means of artistic expressiveness

Artistic features of Russian epicsare also included in the trails. The thing is that the narrators accepted them as authentic and historical events. This factor influenced the poetics of the epic. Surprisingly, there are no metaphors in the epics! But they abound in epithets and comparisons. Often the heroes were compared to a clear falcon. Almost always in the epic the field is clean, the arrow is kalen, the bogatyr is strong, and the enemy force is rotten.

As you can see, it is not so difficult to study the artistic features of Russian epics in the 7th grade. It is important to read texts in a timely and conscious manner.

You can study history not only with the help of a textbook, but also with literature. Read, expand your horizons!