Fairy tales are a very important genre in literature. It is with him that young children begin to familiarize themselves with the world of prose and poetry. But what do they mean, what is the history and specificity of the author's tales? Consider all this below, as well as a list of Russian literary tales with their authors and features.

Definition

A fairy tale is a genre in literature, usually based on folklore. It can be both prosaic and poetic. However, this is mainly folklore prose, and each nation has its own fairy tales. The main difference for them is usually the presence of mythical creatures and / or fantasy, fantastic, magical elements.

But unlike folklore works, fairy tales always have an author. Often there is an obvious struggle between good and evil, bad and good. Usually there is a main character - the "favorite" of the author and, as a consequence, the reader. And there is also an antihero - a mythical villain.

History

As mentioned above, fairy tales originate from folklore. However, not always, since they can also be purely author's. They have appeared long ago in the form of folklore works passed down "from mouth to mouth". In Russia, for a long time, their own folk tales existed and spread.

Some works can be attributed to very old fairy tales. For example, many folk tales of Ancient Russia and church parables of the Middle Ages, in many ways reminiscent of the genre we are considering.

Further in Europe, fairy tales began to appear in the usual understanding for people: the brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault and many others. But on the territory of modern Russia, before (and still), Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was very popular. In the 18th century, in general, many writers liked to take the basis from folklore and thus create new works.

In the 20th century, even more fairy tales appeared. Such great writers as Maxim Gorky, Alexey Tolstoy and others were known as the authors of this genre.

Specificity

Authors' tales are also called literary. As already described above, they are distinguished from folklore by the presence of an author. Of course, even very old folk tales had their own creators, but the authors as such were lost, because for centuries the stories passed orally from one people to another, sometimes even significantly changing, since each person could interpret and retell in different ways, and so for a long time.

Another difference between an author's fairy tale and a folk tale is that it can be in poetry or in prose, while the second is only in prose (initially it was only oral). Also, in folklore, the theme of the confrontation between good and evil is usually touched upon, while in literary works this is not necessary.

Another difference is that folk tales have more superficially described characters, while in literary ones, on the contrary, each character is pronounced and individual. In folklore there is still an inception, a saying and a kind of speech turns. They also tend to be even smaller than the literary ones. This is all due to what was transmitted orally, so much was lost, and the size was shortened, because it was forgotten over the generations. But nevertheless, the tendency to different speech patterns, characteristic only of Russian fairy tales, has been preserved. For example, "once upon a time", the epithet "good fellow", but in Pushkin: "in the distant kingdom, in the thirty-ninth state," etc.

The most surprising thing is that there is no exact definition of the author's fairy tale as such. Yes, it originated from folklore and changed greatly, which helps in defining this term. Fantastic creatures have survived, which change depending on the people. As a rule, fairy tales are small in size. There is always fiction in them. But you can always find some kind of morality, which is the main goal of the tale. This distinguishes it from fantasy, where the emphasis is not on morality, but on the storytelling, which also differs in that it has more adventures, events that take the breath away. Also fantasy works and epics are long in size. And the world described in them usually does not have a folklore basis under it. It is often a fiction of an author who completely created his own reality. In fairy tales, on the contrary, there is fiction, but it is within the real world.

Views

Many researchers divide literary tales into several categories. E. V. Pomerantseva, for example, divides them into 4 genres:

• adventure novelistic;
• household;
• about animals;
• magical.

And here is also the domestic folklorist V. Ya.Propp divides fairy tales into more categories:

1. About inanimate nature, animals, plants, objects. Everything is simple here: tales about this tell, respectively, about animals or inanimate nature as the main element. It is interesting here that such works are rarely Russian or European. But such tales are often found among the peoples of Africa and North America.
2. Cumulative fairy tales refer to such works where repeated plot repetitions are made until the denouement reaches a climax. This makes them easier for children to perceive. A striking example is the stories about the turnip and the bun.
3. Household (novelistic) genre tells about different people by character. For example, a fairy tale about an evil deceiver or about a stupid person.
4. Boring fairy tales are created to lull children to sleep. They are very short and simple. (For example, a fairy tale about a white bull).
5. Fictions about something that could not be in reality. It is worth noting that all fairy tales have a share of fiction, but fiction is the most: talking animals, humanized bears (they live like people, communicate, etc.). As a rule, all subspecies overlap with each other. Rarely does a piece belong to only one of them.

In Russian fairy tales, heroic, soldier branches are also distinguished.

The most interesting thing is that fairy tales as a genre are studied very seriously. In Europe, A. Aarne wrote the so-called "Index of Fairy Types" in 1910, where there are also divisions into types. Unlike the typology of Propp and Pomerantseva, well-known European tales about fooled devils and anecdotes are added here. Based on the works, Aarne created his own index of fairy tales and S. Thompson in 1928. A little later this typology, but with the introduction of Russian (Slavic) species, was studied by the folklorist N. P. Andreev and many other researchers.

Above, we examined the main subspecies, which relate more to folk art. Authors' tales, as a rule, are much more complicated, and it is not easy to type them into a specific subgenre, but they borrowed a lot from folklore and the types described above as from the basis. Also, from many sources, plot motives are taken as a basis. For example, the popular hatred of the stepdaughter and stepmother in the works.

And now let's move on to the lists of folk and literary tales.

Fairy tales for grade 1

The list is long, since children begin their acquaintance with reading with stories and fairy tales, because they are small and easy to memorize and master. In the first class, it is recommended to read:

1. Small folk tales. Often they are about animals: "Cat and Fox", "Gingerbread Man", "Crow and Cancer", "Geese-Swans", as well as "Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka", "Porridge from an Ax", "A Man and a Bear", " Cockerel-golden comb, "Frost", "Bubble, straw and bast shoe", "Teremok", "By the pike's command", etc.
2. Charles Perrault, Little Red Riding Hood.
3. Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich, "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" and other short stories.

Literary tales: grade 2, list

1. Folk tales in the processing of A. N. Tolstoy.
2. Works by the Brothers Grimm, for example "The Bremen Town Musicians".
3. E. L. Schwartz, "The New Adventures of Puss in Boots".
4. C. Perrault: "Puss in Boots" and "Little Red Riding Hood".
5. The Tales of Hans Christian Andersen.
6. And also small works by A.S. Pushkin, D.N.Mamin-Sibiryak, P. Ershov, P. Bazhov, K. D. Ushinsky, etc.

List of literary tales for grade 3

In these classes, fairy tales are also read, but they are longer, and there are also fewer folk tales, and more literary ones. For example, the well-known tale of Lewis Carroll about Alice Through the Looking Glass. And also the larger fairy tales of Mamin-Sibiryak, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Pushkin, Bazhov, Zhukovsky, Tchaikovsky, Perrot, Andersen and many others.

4th grade

List of literary tales:

• V. M. Garshin, "The Tale of the Toad and the Rose";
• Zhukovsky V. A., "The Tale of Tsar Berendey", "There are clear skies and waters";
• E. Schwartz "The Tale of Lost Time".

Grade 5

Literary tales in high school in the reading program are much less common than in grades 1-4, but nevertheless there are such works. For example, the tales of Andersen and Pushkin, which are also found in primary school. The list of grade 5 literary tales does not end there. There are also works by Zhukovsky, Schwartz and many others for children of this age.

Instead of a conclusion

A fairy tale is a very interesting genre that is still being studied by various researchers, and children read according to the school curriculum. Initially, they were only folk, transmitted orally. But then the author's literary tales began to appear, which usually take as a basis folklore plots and characters. Such works are small, they have fiction and a special story. But this is what makes the fairy tale genre special and distinguishes it from others.

Not so long ago, in the comments to my article "Learning to Tell Tales", Olga, the owner of the "Little Things in Life" blog, had a question about what can be considered a fairy tale. Indeed, what can we call fairy tales? Is the presence of magic power and fictional characters necessary in fairy tales? Before, I never asked this question and called all my mother's notions fairy tales. I believed that a fairy tale is a story with fictional characters and events. Well, what is it really? And what do philologists say about this?

To give definition of the term "fairy tale" I turned to explanatory dictionaries. Since the word "fairy tale" is used in Russian in different meanings, I decided not to consider its interpretation in a colloquial and figurative meaning.

This is how the meaning of this word is defined in my favorite explanatory dictionary I.V. Dahl. Fairy tale- a fictional story, an unprecedented, even unrealizable story or legend. According to the explanatory dictionary of Efremova fairy tale a) a narrative work of oral folklore about fictional persons and events; b) a literary work of this nature. In Ozhegov we find the following explanation Fairy tale - a narrative, usually folk-poetic work about fictional persons and events, mainly with the participation of magical, fantastic forces. But the most capacious explanation seemed to me from modern explanatory dictionary, publishing house "Great Soviet Encyclopedia": fairy tale- one of the main genres of folklore, an epic, predominantly prosaic work of a magical, adventurous or everyday character with a focus on fiction.

What conclusions can be drawn from this? The authors of all dictionaries agree that the main difference between a fairy tale is that the events and characters in it are fictional, the participation of magical and fantastic forces is possible, but not necessary. For comparison, you can give the meaning of the word true: 1) What happened in reality happened in reality. 2) A story about an actual event, incident (Efremova's dictionary).

I think that there is no doubt that all those stories about animals with human qualities, children talking with their toys, the sun going to bed in the evenings, which mothers and grandmothers tell children, can be safely called fairy tales. In fact, I believe that any person on an intuitive level can distinguish a fairy tale from similar folk genres, and in order to invent and tell kind, smart, fairy tales, it is not necessary to know the scientific definition of this term.

Reading about fairy tales, I noticed that the word "fairy tale" in the meaning that we attach to it, there are only two European languages: Russian and German. For example, in the Greek language myths are considered fairy tales, and the modern word “paramisi” (παραμύθι) is translated from ancient Greek as “consolation” (thanks to my husband for the explanation). In English, the word "tale" means any story at all.

In Russian, the word "fairy tale" acquired its modern meaning rather late, only from the 17th century. Until this time, the word "fable" was supposedly used in this meaning. It is interesting that earlier a written word was called a fairy tale, which has the force of a document. Perhaps it was so far from the truth that soon the word "fairy tale" acquired a different meaning. Immediately comes to mind: "You don't tell me fairy tales!"

By the way, there are several different classifications of fairy tales. I am close to the one that divides fairy tales into folk and literary. Folklore tales have many genres: animal tales, fairy tales, everyday, legendary, etc.

It seems to me that it does not matter at all who you are: a professional storyteller or a mother-storyteller, there are no chapels for your imagination. The main thing is to love children, for whom, for the most part, fairy tales are composed, to write or tell with pleasure, and then thousands and thousands of new fairy tales will be born. And in every fairy tale, even in a not quite magical one, in my opinion, there is a particle of magic and kindness.

I. Concept II. С. as a genre 1. Origin S. 2. Types S. 3. Fairy-tale motives and plots 4. Fairy images 5. Composition S. 6. Existence S. III. Literary S. Bibliography ... Literary encyclopedia

Legend, tradition, fable, legend, belief, anecdote, myth, parable, parabola, story, fiction .. This is a saying; wait, the tale will be ahead. Ershov. See fiction. life's tale, tell tales! fairy tales! ... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar ... Synonym dictionary

Fairy tales, w. 1. Narrative work of oral folklore about fictional events. Russian folk tales. Arabian tales. Fairy tales about animals. Fantastic fairy tales. "I will begin to tell fairy tales." Lermontov. “Not for the come true and a fairy tale ... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

On a skid. Narodn. Iron. Long, boring story. DP, 411. The tale of the truth. Zharg. shk. Iron. Cool gradebook. Maksimov, 337. The Tale of the White Bull. 1. Spread. Shuttle. iron. Endless repetition of the same from the very beginning. ... ... A large dictionary of Russian sayings

Fairy tale- A folk TALE (using the term in the broadest sense) any oral story told to the audience for the purpose of being entertaining. The types of folk tales are very diverse and are worn both in the folk environment and in the scientific circulation ... ... Dictionary of literary terms

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TALE, and, wives. 1. Narrative, usually folk poetic work about fictional persons and events, predominantly. with the participation of magical, fantastic forces. Russian folk tales. Pushkin's Tales. 2. Fiction, lies (colloquial). Woman's tales ... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

One of the main genres of folklore, an epic, predominantly prosaic work of a magical, adventurous or everyday character with a focus on fiction. The best collections of fairy tales (Arabian Thousand and One Nights, Indian Panchatantras, German ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

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Gradually, the literary tale became a full-fledged direction of fiction. Today this genre is universal, it reflects the phenomena of the surrounding reality, its problems, achievements, successes and failures. At the same time, the connection with folklore remained the same, indissoluble. So, let's try to figure out what a literary tale is.

Definition

First, let's give a definition: a fairy tale is a folk-poetic narrative work that tells about fictional events and heroes. Often involving fantastic and magical phenomena.

Now we will find out what a literary tale is.

This is a genre of narration with a fantastic or magical plot taking place in a real or magical world, in which both real ones can act, and the author can raise the moral, social, aesthetic problems of history and modernity.

The definitions are similar, but in the second, which concerns a literary tale, there is a certain concretization and clarification. They relate to the types of heroes and space, as well as the author and the problematic of the work.

Features of a literary tale

Now we list the main features of a literary tale:

• Reflects the aesthetics and worldview of its era.
• Borrowing characters, images, plots, features of language and poetics from a folk tale.
• Combination of fiction and reality.
• Grotesque world.
• There is a game start.
• Striving to psychologize heroes.
• The position of the author is clearly expressed.
• Social assessment of what is happening.

Folk and literary tale

What is a literary tale, how does it differ from a folk tale? The author's fairy tale is considered a genre that has absorbed folklore and literary principles. It grew out of folklore, transforming and changing its genre differences. We can say that the folk tale has evolved into a literary one.

A literary fairy tale goes through a number of stages as it moves away from the original source - the fairy tale. Let's list them in order of increasing distance:

1. Simple recording of folk tales.
2. Processing of records of folk tales.
3. Retelling of the tale by the author.
4. In the author's fairy tale, the inner form differs from the folk one, and the folklore elements change depending on the writer's intention.
5. Parodies and stylizations - their tasks are related to the pedagogical orientation.
6. A literary tale is as far away as possible from common folklore plots and images. The speech and style of such a fairy tale is closer to the literary tradition.

What is the manifestation of the folk traditions of a literary tale

What is a literary tale? This, as we have already said, is a combination of literary and folklore. Therefore, in order to answer the question, let us define what the folk tale inherited from the people.

Writers usually take folklore plots as their basis. For example:

• magical origin or birth of the protagonist;
• stepmother's dislike for her stepdaughter;
• the hero's tests are necessarily moral in nature;
• rescued animals that become the hero's helpers, etc.

Writers also exploit those endowed with certain functions. For example:

• The perfect hero.
• The ideal hero's assistant.
• The one who sends the hero on the road.
• The giver of a magic thing.
• The one who harms the ideal hero and interferes with the assignment.
• A kidnapped character or thing.
• A false hero is one who tries to appropriate other people's exploits for himself.

The space and time of the fairy-tale world are often built according to the laws of folklore. This is a fantastic indefinite place, and time slows down and speeds up, it is also magical and defies the laws of reality. For example: the distant kingdom, the thirtieth state; How long is it short; the tale quickly tells itself, but it takes a long time before the deed is done.

Trying to bring their fairy tales closer to folk, writers resort to using folklore poetic speech: epithets, threefold repetitions, vernaculars, proverbs, sayings, etc.

Turning to folk traditions, we were able to answer what a literary tale is in its connection with folklore. Let us now consider another component of our tale - the literary one, and try to understand what separates it from the folk heritage.

What is a literary tale and how it differs from a folk tale

Examples and comparisons of literary and folk tales allow us to highlight a number of their differences.

A literary tale is distinguished by its figurativeness. The author tries to describe in detail the area, events, make the characters closer to reality, so that the reader believes in what is happening as much as possible.

Thus, what is a literary tale if not the psychologism of the heroes? The writer tries to explore the inner world of the character, to portray the experiences. So, Pushkin in "Tsar Saltan", depicting the meeting of the hero with his wife and son, describes: "A zealous beat began to beat in him ... the spirit in him was occupied by the tsar burst into tears." You will not find this in folklore.

Ershov, Pushkin, Odoevsky and other storytellers endow their characters with full-fledged character. These are not just heroes characteristic of folklore, they are full-fledged living people with their aspirations, experiences, contradictions. Even the devil in "The Tale of Balda" Pushkin endows with a naive childish character.

What else is the difference between a literary tale

What is a literary tale? The answers to this question can be found in the specifics Namely in vivid expression. So, describing the priest, his fears and natural greed, Pushkin ridicules this.

A literary tale will always reflect the author's view of the world, his idea of ​​life and ideas. We will see the writer, his aspirations, values, the spiritual world, desires. In a folk tale, only the ideals and values ​​of the entire people can be reflected, the personality of the narrator in it will be erased.

So, what is a literary tale in its classical sense? This is a fusion of the author's identity and folk traditions.

The origins of a literary tale

The roots of a literary tale go back to ancient times. There is a recorded Egyptian tale of two brothers dating from the 13th century. BC NS. The epic also contains references to fairy tales, for example, in the Babylonian cycle about Gilgamesh, among the Assyrians in the legends about Akhikar, in the Greek it is the Iliad and Odyssey.

During the Middle Ages, a literary tale was used by the church, turning it into a parable. A similar tradition survived until the 19th century.

The Renaissance carried the elements of fairy tales into the novella, using them to create satirical and didactic elements.

The emergence of a literary tale

But only in the 18th century. the literary tale has become an independent artistic genre, largely due to the fascination of romanticism with folk traditions. At this time, in order to answer the question of what a literary tale is, examples would have to be taken from Charles Perrault and A. Galland in Europe and from M. Chulkov in Russia.

In the XIX century. the popularity of the literary tale is growing. This genre is addressed by Goethe, Chamisso, Tik, Edgar Poe, Hoffmann, Andersen. Russian literature of this period is also rich in fairy tales. These are V. Zhukovsky, A. Pushkin, N. Gogol, A. Tolstoy and others.

Pushkin's Tales

What is a literary tale? The above definition is perfectly illustrated by the tales of A.S. Pushkin. Initially, they were not designed for children, but quickly found themselves in the circle of children's reading. The names of these tales have been known to us since childhood:

• "The Tale of Tsar Saltan".
• “The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda”.
• "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish".
• "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the 7 Heroes".
• "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel".

All these tales have a plot connection with folk tales. So, "The Tale of Balda" reminds the folk tale "Batrak Shabarsh". "About the Fisherman and the Fish" - "The Greedy Old Woman", the recording of which was presented to the poet by V. I. Dal, a well-known collector of folklore. "The Tale of Saltan" is close to the fairy tale "About Wonderful Children". Pushkin saw in folk art inexhaustible themes and subjects for literature. Thus, the poet's tales can answer the question of what a literary tale is better than any definition.

Summary of "Tales of the priest and his worker Balda"

Consider one of Pushkin's fairy tales. The essence of this tale is in a satire on the ministers of the church, deceiving the people. Human qualities are also ridiculed: stupidity, greed and hypocrisy. Out of greed, the priest decides to hire a servant for a pittance, who will do the hard work. Stupidity forces him to agree to Balda's proposal. But as the reckoning approaches, deceit and anger awakens in the priest - he decides to destroy the worker.

In this tale, as in others, Pushkin creates psychologically perfect characters. Each author gives character and personality traits. And although the language is poetic, it is as close as possible to the folk one. Pushkin always tried to get away from pretentious literary verse to something lighter, more flexible, free. He managed to find all these qualities in folk art.

Thus, a literary tale has a rich history of development, is a unique fusion of folklore and the author's work, and continues to develop to this day.

“In the distant kingdom, in the thirty-ninth state ...”. Probably, each of us in childhood fell asleep under the quiet voice of our parents, who read or told stories about beautiful princesses, brave princes and evil monsters. And in the same way, each of us will read similar fairy tales to our children. And what is a fairy tale, and what is it for?

First of all, a fairy tale is a genre of literary creativity with a focus on fiction. Moreover, a fairy tale can be both oral and written. The main feature of the tale is that it is always a fictional story with a happy ending, where good triumphs over evil. Fairy tales are author's (composed by a certain author) and folk (composed by many people). There is also a well-known classification of fairy tales according to their content:

• Fairy tales are magical. The best human qualities are revealed in them, the heroes are romantic. In such a fairy tale, there is necessarily a central positive hero, his assistants and magical objects. Heroes of fairy tales fight evil and injustice in the name of good and love. Russian folk tales about Ivan the Fool can be cited as examples.
• Fairy tales about animals. The permanent characters here are animals (fox, wolf, bear, hare, etc.). Animals interact, each of them personifies one or another human quality, for example, a cat is smart, a fox is cunning, a bear is strong. Examples: "Teremok", "Turnip", "Kolobok".
• Social and everyday tales - illustrate real life, heroes are shown from the point of view of their social status, negative human qualities are ridiculed. The best qualities in such tales are possessed by people from the people, who, as a rule, turn out to be smarter and more cunning than representatives of high social status (gentlemen, priests). These tales are satirical, with a lot of humor and puns. Examples of social and everyday tales: "Shemyakin's Court", "Porridge from an Ax." "The Master and the Carpenter", "The Man and the Pop".

How does a tale differ from a fairy tale

The main difference between a tale and a fairy tale is that there is a narrator in the tale, and this narrator is not the author of the story. In addition, the heroes of the tale are most often real people, although many new fictional details are added to the tale.

How a myth differs from a fairy tale

A myth is a legend about the life, way of life, traditions and characteristics of the people, which is described in the myth. Myths are always associated with religion, they contain gods and demigods. In fairy tales, the heroes can be ordinary people, just like you and me.

What are fairy tales for?

What is the meaning of the tale? The purpose of the fairy tale is to teach children to distinguish good from bad, good from evil, ingenuity from stupidity. And I must say that the fairy tale copes with its task brilliantly.

In addition, a fairy tale helps children develop their fantasy. After all, parents often tell magical stories without using pictures, which means that the child needs to imagine exactly what a beautiful princess or shaggy monster looked like.

What do fairy tales teach? The tale teaches you not to despair in difficult times and always overcome difficulties. After all, the main character in fairy tales always undertakes to complete impossible tasks, to solve incredible riddles.

The tale teaches how important it is for every person to have friends. And the fact that if you do not leave your friend in trouble, then he will help you in difficult times.

The tale teaches you not to judge people by their appearance. Indeed, in them, any frog can easily turn out to be a beautiful girl, and a monster - an enchanted prince.

The tale teaches you to obey your parents. After all, a son or daughter carrying out orders from father and mother in fairy tales always finds himself in a more successful position than their careless brothers and sisters.

Often a fairy tale teaches patriotism as well. It is not for nothing that the knights rush so readily to defend their native land from foreign invaders.

And finally, a fairy tale teaches us to be smart, not to rush to solve a particular problem, to think over our solutions.

Reading fairy tales is useful not only in childhood. Growing up, we often forget that in the end good always triumphs over evil, that any difficulties are surmountable, that a handsome prince on a white horse is already looking for his princess, and she is humbly waiting for him. Therefore, read fairy tales. Tell them to your children, come up with new stories together, accompany them with playing dolls or drawing. After all, it's very easy to give yourself and your child a little good mood before bedtime!