Only the lazy do not note today a certain rise in “patriotic sentiments” in Russia and the unprecedented activity of the authorities in the field of cultural policy in connection with this. However, zealous support for patriotically oriented phenomena of culture and art, concern for national property, as usual (and many have already noticed this) contain the danger of various kinds of distortions, dubious distribution of funds and efforts between these same assets (or false assets).
I remember when, back in 2011, President Medvedev opposed evil nationalism with creative work with folk traditions, in particular with folklore, many immediately doubted whether this would be followed by propaganda of something like the “Golden Ring”, nesting dolls, ditties and the like, which only turns people with taste away from the national flavor.
We talked about what real Russian folklore is and why a modern citizen of our country might need it, with a well-known specialist in this field - a professional ethnomusicologist, senior lecturer at the Department of Music and Applied Arts of the Russian Academy of Music. Gnessins and the head of a number of living folklore and ethnographic studios, Svetlana Vlasova.
Svetlana Yuryevna, what place do you think folklore occupies in modern culture? What do you think Russian traditional music is in general?
- Here you need to figure out what you understand by the words “folklore”, “traditional music”. I can tell you how we, professional ethnomusicologists, understand this. There is no exact definition of folklore. There is a descriptive explanation that this is a kind of folk wisdom, which consists of songs, dances, folk arts and crafts, sayings, fairy tales, etc. All this separated by commas is, as it were, folk wisdom. However, upon a careful look, it becomes clear that at the heart of folklore phenomena there is always a certain basic ideological platform (although, of course, it itself does not remain unchanged if we take long historical periods), concentrating in itself the positive historical and cultural experience of the people. This is also commonly called “tradition”, “traditional culture”. Positive - this means - helping not only to survive, but - to preserve, in all life and historical vicissitudes, the harmony of a person within himself and outside - with society, with nature. And through this - to contribute to the preservation of one’s family, people, homeland. Folklore is everything that transmits this mentality, this platform to society not through treatises or moral teachings, but through artistic language (verbal, musical, choreographic, visual, etc.).
- Is it possible to preserve folklore in the face of the disappearance of traditional culture and, if so, why? Wouldn't this be an artificial formation? Do you think folklore is needed at all for a modern person raised in the Western world? popular culture?
- The fact is that traditional culture, taken in a broad sense, is not only folk rural culture, it is also the culture of the nobility. That is, any positive culture, any positive experience that is preserved, which for some reason is needed by different generations of people.
It seems to me that the modern situation is characterized by the fact that all these things that have come down to us and which every person has anyway, are now finding themselves in a very aggressive and dynamic environment. In other words, living in a traditional way was simply easier before. But even now, at least Bye, traditional experience is not going away yet. Moreover, each person decides for himself to what extent he personally needs this traditional experience, to what extent he needs to live in what we call, say, a traditional family. This experience, it seems to me, cannot go away until the end. Traditional culture may lose some of its meanings, but it is not a fact that these meanings will not return in the next generation or a generation later. A completely final destruction of traditional foundations would mean the destruction of the entire society. But then it makes no sense to talk at all about folklore, about the people, about tradition, about the country, etc. That is, we still proceed from the fact that there is no disappearance of traditional culture, but there is a very sharp, dynamic dialogue or some kind of comparison at the level of each individual with what the modern context, aggressive towards traditional culture, offers us. And each person chooses what is more important and necessary for him.
- Don’t you notice that people have begun to sing, say, less?
- Yes. But this does not mean that they have completely atrophied wish sing. We see just the opposite picture. Now people constantly come and say: “We really want to sing, how can we sign up for your ensemble?” There are a number of such open singing clubs and studios in Moscow. For example, the Petrov Val club, where people come and sing Cossack songs - with great passion, for themselves. Classes there are paid. But the problem is that not everyone has such an opportunity; organizing such studios is a very difficult task. In the situation of modern Moscow life, it is enormously difficult to find, for example, a free place for rehearsals (or at least with a small rent), or to provide payment for a teacher. For example, I no longer take people into the ensemble. Not out of my own laziness or whim, but simply because the leader of the group is responsible for the quality level of each singer, and I am no longer enough for a larger number of people (there are now 16 people in our ensemble). If there was just a place, I would put, say, three of my students there, and they dialed would (you can be sure) a group and would start singing with people.
That is, we still see some need for the Russian tradition. And here is the question of the media dissemination of this experience: no one knows about many excellent existing folklore studios. The human need to express himself is present. But a person always takes on what he knows and, in many ways, what media fashion is created for. The question is not whether people want to dance and sing themselves, but what opportunities a particular society offers them. If they constantly talk about modern dance parties, have you ever seen stories about how guys organize traditional Russian dance studios? I did not see. But in Moscow there are several such youth studios; a lot of interesting people go there. It’s good that now it’s possible to convey information via the Internet...
- Maybe few people see folklorists also because they themselves move mainly in the inner circle?
- Firstly, the very word “folklorists” amuses me. Who do you call folklorists? There are specialists in narrow areas: philologists-folklorists, ethnographers, historians, cultural experts, specialists in decorative and applied arts, ethnomusicologists. These are all people of narrow specialization, professionals, of whom there are extremely few throughout society. For example, the specialty “ethnomusicology” was officially established more than 20 years ago, but there are not two hundred students who have undergone such training in the entire country. The rest of the people who are usually called "folklorists" are amateurs, and their degree of knowledge of the true tradition can vary greatly. It happens that a person goes on an expedition for the first time - and suddenly he already considers himself an expert, although he really hasn’t understood or delved into anything yet. Or - city girls sometimes come to traditional dances in completely wild sundresses that no one has ever worn in the village. But the people around who are not familiar with the traditions of folk clothing probably think that these are “folklorists”. The circle of amateurs is wider than that of professionals, but they do not have the function of “introducing” their hobbies into society, engaging in some kind of intensive propaganda, and it is impossible to make it their duty.
I started studying authentic folk music twenty-five years ago and I can somehow assess whether the circle of folklore lovers has increased during this time. Increased and very strongly. But on the scale that life offers us, when in a month the whole country can suddenly learn something, on such a scale geometric progression Of course, the circle of folklore lovers is not increasing. Moreover, in professional folklore circles, many generally believe that the folklore movement is bad, they say, it is an artificial revival of old things that should not exist. But it seems to me that only time can decide what should be and what should not be. If people with such tenacity reach for something native and authentic, then this is no coincidence, and this is also a feature of our modern existence. So far, the folklore movement exists and has no plans to die.
It seems to me that a certain personal attachment to folk culture, born not ideologically, but seemingly spontaneously, from the depths of the heart, for the majority of “folklorists” - both specialists and amateurs - is the basis of their activity. Moreover, it seems to me that if this sincere affection disappears, then there is no point in talking about the relevance of folklore. What will we then broadcast to others? Some slogans that necessary, say, engage in traditional culture? If you yourself are not included in it, none of this is convincing.
- What is attachment based on? On what you just like or on some more serious attraction, say, to the roots, to that very worldview, folk wisdom the one you were talking about?
- You know, I will probably upset you. (However, this is my personal observation). In my opinion, on the fact that people Just like. But this does not mean that there is no craving for roots. It may be unconscious. Who told you that the word “like” does not contain this craving for roots? It’s just that a person doesn’t formulate it in terms for himself. I remember there was an incident with “Romoda” when we were in Latvia, a journalist pestered us for a long time with one question: “Why do you sing songs?” And they are such taciturn people: “We like it.” “Well, I understand what I like, but why do you sing?” She was seeking some kind of external motivation. By the way, I notice that people who like to sing without this external motivation, as a rule, are the best singers. This does not mean that motivation does not come later. I tell them: “Well, why are you tense? Express to her that it is important for you to continue the traditions of your people.” But they In fact just like. And you can continue the traditions of the people as you wish. You can simply raise children, bake delicious pies, build a house, without joining any ensemble.
- And if this is connected with the justification, for example, of state support for folklore, folk traditions?
- That's another question. For the state, of course, this needs to be formulated. Moreover, all these things have long been formulated. There is even a stack of documents on this topic. Another question is how this happens in life. For example, children are born. Any mother still needs to raise her child. We have not yet reached the point where she takes him and simply throws him into kindergarten from infancy. Mothers still sit with their children. And in addition to the fact that his mother fed him, changed him, etc., some kind of moment of communication is needed. In traditional culture there are all sorts of nursery rhymes, finger games, lullabies. And it’s impossible to come up with a more logical better shape communication with the child. He doesn’t say anything, but at the sensory level, at the level of developing hearing and vision, he perceives your love, expressed in speech, rhythm, melody, and gets used to feeling in you loved one. Traditional genres fit perfectly into this situation.
Next is the relationship between teenagers. Maybe you've seen parties with the same dances? Here the moment of people communicating with each other, making acquaintances is much more effective, it seems to me, than at any disco. Because young people must form a couple in a dance, in a round dance - boys and girls choose each other, sometimes couples were even allowed to kiss in round dances. And this couple must be harmonious, they must understand each other, in this there is always a moment of unspoken, very correct choice and search for harmony. In Siberia, where I began to get acquainted with the round dance and evening traditions, it all went off with a bang. This is what happens now: thanks to such parties, a lot of young people “fall for folklore.”
And then in adult life something else is triggered. For the ensemble "Romoda", for example, now is the period of lyrical song. They can sing for hours. That is, all these things are psychologically, at the level of age, justified, and a person really needs them, no matter what time he lives in.
- Is it possible to determine when a traditional song left the general public? Maybe in the 19th century - due to the fact that people began to live more in cities?
- No, actually - in the middle of the 20th. If you talk to folk performers, they will tell you that after the war, in most villages there were still holidays that attracted huge numbers of people. At the end of the 1940s, in the 1950s, this already began to go away.
In general, the process of loss of folk traditions was going on everywhere, and in Europe too. Only we had our own special, as always, story. In connection with the revolution, and even more in connection with the subsequent collectivization policy, this loss intensified significantly. This is no longer some kind of secret; articles on this matter have been published. In the 30s, a turning point occurred in the cultural policy of the state - the centuries-old culture of the peasantry began to be considered “backward”, alien to modern reality. Indicative in this sense is the history of the choir named after. Pyatnitsky. Mitrofan Efimovich himself gathered peasants - masters of singing - into the choir. The first records of the choir named after. Pyatnitsky were quite ethnographic. But in the 30s, the composition of the choir was changed - the place of peasant singers was taken by people trained in “music reading”. The repertoire has changed - practically no songs were sung in original chants - only stylizations, adaptations and original songs. A similar thing happened in other folk groups.
This was a completely conscious, state-supported policy. For example, not just anywhere, but in the journal “Soviet Ethnography” articles were published with statements that folklore “is an anachronism and the task of folkloristics is to be the “gravedigger of folklore””, the goal of studying folklore heritage was formulated as “accelerating the process of the inevitable disappearance of folklore”, as “a fight against relics in order to help the proletarian masses free themselves from folklore and move to a higher “literary” level” (I quote S.D. Magid’s 1934 review of the collection “Problems of Soviet Folklore Studies”).
That is, everything genuine was absolutely unambiguously recognized as retrograde, and at the local level - neither in the clubs that were in villages, nor in local cultural leaders - the task was not set to support traditions, but rather the opposite - to introduce urban, and sometimes not always advanced, standards new "proletarian" culture. And this, of course, had a strong Negative influence. But what is interesting is that at the private level people continued to observe many customs, play weddings, sing songs, despite the official negative attitude to peasant culture. And if this negativity didn’t exist, maybe people in the cities would know folklore. But it was deliberately covered up, and what was passed off as folk art was, rather, a Soviet ersatz - the author’s stylization of the people.
This is generally a very difficult, conflicting topic. And as in any topic of this kind, it may still be many years before specialists and musicians - adherents of different directions - come to some kind of understanding of each other and a compromise. Most folk choirs even now cannot, in my opinion, present creative programs to modern society, where it would be clear that they are able to adequately work with tradition, without breaking or transforming it into something “stylized”, in relation to genuine folk culture. distorted. Perhaps this is why the emergence of the folklore movement in the 70s seems quite logical - it compensated for people’s natural craving for the present, for the authentic.
- You go on expeditions every year. How things are now with folklore locally. Is anything preserved in the outback?
- Differently. The situation is greatly influenced by local cultural policy. For example, in Vologda, regional and city structures related to the study of folk art are led by very literate people, and large traditional holidays are held in villages there; in each district there are groups where bearers of tradition (elderly people, as a rule) pass on their experience to children. In Cherepovets, for example, young guys from the Osnova family club and the Matitsa folklore and ethnographic studio are some of the best dancers in the country. And they recognize their knowledge and skills as a continuation of tradition, as continuity. The situation is similar in the south. To a greater extent, of course, among the Cossacks. Belgorod is also not bad. In Siberia and the Urals there are good folklore centers that work on materials from their own land - in Omsk, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk. But, unfortunately, in many areas, work to preserve and develop traditions and update them is either not carried out at all, or is done very formally, for show.
- Folklorists take material from the people, but is there any return or return?
- At least they try to do it. The most ancient, rare songs are “dug up” and brought into the modern cultural context by folklorists. But we must also take into account that “return and bestowal” can only be carried out to the person who is ready and able to accept it. To perceive many ancient ritual and drawn-out songs, a sufficiently developed musical intellect is required. Modern people are not always ready to accept the fact that a Russian song can sound strange, incomprehensible, difficult- both in texts (dialectal) and in music (very unique). People have lost the habit of focusing on perception, delving into content, and contemplating. Urban consumer culture in cities aggressively “eats” such intellectual focus. And music - old Russian folk music - requires this depth. Not everyone listens to or understands opera or symphonic music either - but this does not mean that only pop music should remain.
- Do unexpected discoveries happen in places where folklorists have already visited more than once? Does anything new pop up in grandmothers’ memories? After all, all the villages have probably been visited by folklorists a long time ago...
- No that's not true. Firstly, frontal research began relatively recently. In addition, there are only a few ethnomusicologists, and the country is large. What does frontal examination mean? A group of competent specialists arrives (that is, “not just anyone”) and begins to go through all the villages in a row within the framework of some pre-defined territory. They try to meet everyone who can still sing, dance, and tell stories here. A number of regions were examined in this way (for example, Pskov, Smolensk, Bryansk, Vologda, Ryazan, and some others). But still, in many places there was no frontal survey, and although many folklorists went on the expedition and collected a lot, something was still missed. After all, even with a frontal examination, one cannot say that everything has been collected. A number of various factors and accidents are important here. That's why something new always arises. At least, Bye it arises, and the meaning in these surveys is, of course, enormous. Expedition material, competently collected and systematized, provides very great opportunities for reconstructing tradition, replenishing what seems to be irretrievably lost.
- What does adherence to a certain tradition in folklore mean, why is it needed? For example, “Romoda” sings mostly Belgorod songs, some sing Cossacks, some Altai... Why is this? Why can't you sing everything?
- Regional groups usually master their local tradition. The capital's groups (from Moscow or St. Petersburg) choose those territories whose music they like best. But, indeed, all ensembles of the folklore-ethnographic direction usually focus on one or two traditions. The musical culture of any locality has a very powerful, unique flavor; it has a moment of musical exclusivity. In principle, even in the author’s creativity, everyone strives to be unusual, special, and any tradition contains this originality, which is very valuable in a musical sense. Practice shows that if you sing both, then the difference in sound between them inevitably disappears, you start singing everything the same way, in a stereotyped way. The most difficult level of skill lies not even in just singing (many people can do this), but in the details, in the nuances of performance. Save all the details if you sing different traditions, almost impossible. You can, for example, sing two traditions in contrast, but it doesn’t fit well into the human consciousness (even of gifted people). I would like the singing of modern folklore groups not to lose this primordial power and stylishness true tradition. Therefore, sometimes it is better to limit yourself in the number of songs and territory in order to achieve quality. Moreover, each tradition is self-sufficient. If you want to find something in it, you will definitely find it. Any tradition is structured this way because it included a certain whole of the human world. If you want to dance, you will find dance forms there; if you want to play or sing solo, you will also find forms in it that will satisfy you.
- In this regard, you are probably very critical of a movement like world music, where all styles and traditions are freely mixed?
- Above we talked about folklore and ethnographic ensembles. If we reach the level of original music, then there are, in principle, different tasks: take a certain melody (tunes) and make your own original composition. It seems to me that the authors and arrangers of such compositions should feel the organic nature of folk music, its natural beauty very well and not destroy it, not turn it into dust. We take the tune of, for example, a spiritual verse and make a farce out of it. What can we say here... “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is useful.”
Previously, ethnomusicologists were generally considered some kind of “blue stockings” who opposed any modern processing, etc. But this, of course, is not at all true. It’s just that the specialization “ethnomusicology” belongs to the departments of history and music theory, and this is one of the strongest and most complex departments in any music university, and they study music from the most ancient eras to modern systems Messiaen, Stockhausen, etc. Specialists with such baggage, in principle, cannot have anything against author’s creativity, but they have a very high quality qualification, since all the time of their educational and professional activity they deal with world masterpieces. So all the great Russian composers said that it is very difficult to process folk song. You have a certain monolith, which has been polished over centuries in the voices of not even hundreds - thousands of unknown folk craftsmen. And to do the processing, you must invade with your individual consciousness into this monolith and change it. No matter how much talent God gives you, there will still be some roughness when you come into contact with this music. To do something completely different and still musically significant is incredibly difficult. This is why I, for example, don’t do edits, because I believe that personally I won’t be able to do it brilliantly, and there’s no point in doing it poorly.
Therefore, what is done within the framework of worldmusic is wonderful if it is done well. Another question is that it is very strange to sometimes hear such an opinion that world music is modern and can exist, and the folklore-ethnographic direction is outdated and irrelevant. It seems to me that genuine musical traditions contain a mechanism of “eternal youth” - and this is not a utopia at all. The fact is that the story of folklore is always situational. A person in tradition always sings spontaneously. This is when you do not read from a piece of paper, but try to convey to your interlocutor some thought that is in your head, you can express this thought in different phrases that correspond to the situation. This is how a folk musician sings. He has many options for a tune in his head, and which one he sings right now is a spontaneous thing. I learn a song, sing, and there comes a moment when it is already absolutely mine, so much so that you don’t think about which melodic version of the known ones you come up with. I listen to the others. This is a fundamental point, because, on the one hand, there is a personal principle, when the person himself chooses how exactly he will sing. On the other hand, if I sing in an ensemble, I must make my choice without disturbing the overall state of the ensemble. That is, there is a quality of combining personal energy with the energy of the people who are next to you, so that you do not disturb the joint harmony. This is, in fact, a philosophical thing. Because there are people who tend to dominate all the time, and there are people who hide all the time, but here you need to achieve a state where both coexist in harmony. And finding this state is spontaneous. Therefore, a modern group, if it sings the tradition very well, always sings in its own way, with variations. Well, how can such a system not be modern?
- Is there a Russian tradition as such? Or is it a conglomeration of different local traditions?
- Despite the diversity of local styles, the internal Russian tradition is quite unified, but this becomes clear only at the level of musical analysis. If you take a system of musical forms, it will be uniform. There is a certain general musical code - in systems of rhythmic and modal organization. But based on these general principles each locality developed its own distinctive style - stunning regional originality while maintaining a single internal core.
- Why do you think Celtic music is so popular here and all over the world? folklore tradition?
- It seems to me that not only Celtic. And African-American is very popular. There’s just some ethno-trend going on. And this resonates, it seems to me, for one reason: any ethnic tradition in the broad sense is environmentally friendly. There are things in culture and music that make us similar to different peoples, even with those with whom we never historically seemed to live next door. In any tradition there is a natural drive, and if this drive is presented in the appropriate way, it also captures people of different nationalities.
- Maybe the fact is that our own tradition is simply little known to most. And therefore, as soon as the Celts appeared, we reached for this music...
- The ability to present your own is another interesting topic. Again, not just the Celts. For example, in Hungary there is a very powerful dance and instrumental tradition, they actually raised it from the situation of a provincial peasant culture to the rank of world fame through PR and the professional actions of musicians. You need to be able to do this.
But in Russia there is no such thing. It seems to me that this is due to the fact that the performing, practical environment that we have “ folk theme“Due to their professional duties, everything is formed around folk choirs. And choirs don’t really need folklore, as we have already said. Since Soviet times, there has been a “sharpening” exclusively for concert stage stylized or processed forms. But there musicians have budget funding, which allows them to work more or less calmly. And all the groups that want to work with a genuine tradition, often - not only in concerts, but also in interactive forms (interaction, including people in the folklore environment) - very rarely have decent funding (virtually none). At the same time, this area is not commercial - you cannot “turn around” quickly and profitably here. Therefore, in the folklore field now there are mainly enthusiasts - both amateurs and professionals - for the latter, folklore practice becomes like such a “side” project, free from pedagogical or research work time. Naturally, this does not lead to particularly enchanting and quick results.
- Folk singing seems too complicated for the modern listener. Why do you think? Can everyone sing folk songs? Or is this still the lot of passionate people?
- The fact is that, for example, the tradition of Russian singing is multi-level. And at a simple level, almost anyone can be included. Except, perhaps, only for people who have no hearing at all. But I have met only a few people like this in my life. At a difficult level you can’t include everyone anymore. But he doesn’t need to go there, because in principle a person usually settles on what he is somehow capable of. Someone sings simple songs, romances, late city ones. For others, this is not enough - give complex drawn-out ones, and with “knees” (as folk performers call musical phrases) more abruptly.
At E.V. Gippius, a famous Russian folklorist, has very correct observations about the presence of two types of singing groups among the people: conventionally “closed” and “open” ensembles. The “closed ones” sang difficultly and not even everyone in the village was allowed to sing with them. And at the holidays there were groups of a general, open type, which everyone present could join, and no one was told that he was singing in the wrong place, etc. There were not many “closed” groups per rural area. As a rule, everyone knew them, and this village rumor indicated a kind of their status and contained an assessment of the village residents - “there are good singers, masters there.” Last year they told me about such a singer on an expedition: “Marya? Yes, she is a song general!” Thus, this closed group also interacted with society, but in a slightly different way - not letting everyone into its song circle, but keeping the local song tradition high.
The folklore movement, and without specifically thinking about it, repeated these principles in the 70s - in this new urban environment there are ensembles that gravitate towards the “closed” type, focused on skill, and club studios, groups open to the arrival of anyone and everyone .
- Do you know cases when a passion for folklore returned people to a traditional way of life?
- There have been such experiments, even more than once, although I cannot say that they all ended successfully. It happened that a person came to a village, to a village, and did not settle down there. But I think that is not what is important here. The fact is that when a person begins to study folklore, in any case, he already has some traditional meanings - something his family gave him, he received some education from his grandmother, something simply at the genetic level. And these traditional meanings are strengthened in a person when studying folklore, and their importance and relevance are confirmed for him.
- By and large, the ensemble “Romoda” brings together people who like to sing for themselves. Why then do you perform and go to festivals? Do you feel that you have some kind of mission in popularizing folk culture?
- In general, we are a rather closed-type team, if according to E.V. Gippius watch. But in our time, such groups absolutely need to interact with society. And since the modern urban environment knows practically nothing about folk traditions, the initiative, I think, should come from us. If such groups cut off contacts with society, this already strongly resembles a kind of sectarianism. It turns out that we are doing something for ourselves with some very beautiful truths, and everyone else is not our people. Such a position inevitably encounters resistance in any person: “How is it that they are not ours?! These are our compatriots - relatives, friends, housemates, etc.” Therefore, the ensemble “Romoda” conducts some kind of activity “among the masses”. Without declaring any mission particularly loudly, we try through our public activities to somehow at least slightly change the situation around us. At performances, we try to build a varied program and not overload people with complex songs. Although I think that they must be sung. In folklore environment for a long time the question was discussed whether it was necessary to sing these long “boring” songs, which are poorly perceived by many unprepared people. But I think it’s impossible not to sing them. Because in the audience there are still musically intelligent people who react to these songs. Yes, there may be five to ten percent of them there, but all people should know that this level existed in the culture. If we remove complex deep songs and leave only “trali-vali”, then the attitude towards traditional culture will be like bears and balalaikas, and we ourselves in this way degrade it. It seems to me that this is such a soft popularization, without flags and slogans. We simply believe that there must be some kind of channel of interaction between what we can do, what we possess, and other people who have not heard anything and do not know anything about the folk tradition.
The leading folklorist of the region, Nelly Novoselova, told the guests of the Kasyanovsky House about the importance of folk art.
The evening of December 14 will be special for the Kasyanov House: I understood this even before the meeting with Nelly Aleksandrovna Novoselova, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of World Literature and Methods of Its Teaching at the Krasnoyarsk State University pedagogical university them. V.P. Astafiev, author of many monographs and publications, excellent student of public education, honorary worker of higher vocational education Russia.
The temporary shelter of our museum and educational center is the media center of the Department for Church Relations with Society and Funds mass media Krasnoyarsk diocese - could barely accommodate everyone who wanted to meet the main character of the evening on the eve of her anniversary.
Young people clearly predominated among them.
- Are you Nelly Alexandrovna’s students?
- No, she will start teaching classes next semester.
- Why were you so interested in meeting her?
- That’s how senior students praise her! All! They say he is the best teacher.
Agree that such unanimity among students is in itself indicative. However, Nelly Novoselova is not only an excellent teacher, but also the largest specialist in folklore in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and no one could have explained the stated theme of the evening better than her.
“Folklore has become my calling”
However, Nelly Alexandrovna might not have become a folklorist,” the host, chief custodian of the Kasyanov House, head of the Diocesan Department for Relations of the Church with Society and the Media, Gennady Malashin, begins the evening with an unexpected biographical detail.
Indeed, Nelly Novoselova began her studies at the Polytechnic Institute, in the radio electronics department. I got in after surviving a difficult competition, but...
“During my studies, I realized that this was not my path at all, that I entered there simply out of interest. Both the dean and my relatives tried to stop me, but I’m glad that I managed to show firmness and leave... My calling turned out to be philology, and specifically folklore.
It is difficult to describe all of Nelly Alexandrovna’s services to her alma mater: she not only educated entire generations of grateful students, but also became the inspirer and main organizer of the creation of a folklore office at her faculty and expeditions to collect samples of folk art in remote areas Krasnoyarsk Territory.
The first such trips took place, as they say, at random, Nelly Alexandrovna now recalls: there was no simple method for surveying local residents, much had to be achieved empirically.
- Our students played a big role: responsible, patient, infinitely friendly: they traveled to distant lands and knocked on the door of these closed, seemingly stern grandmothers from somewhere in the Kezhemsky or Pirovsky district.
Success was achieved: priceless examples of a bygone culture with a long history were preserved for posterity, despite all the artificial obstacles that folklorist enthusiasts encountered in the 70s and 80s of the last century. Saved in a timely manner: nowadays in those places it is already difficult to hear traditional songs or “spells” from those living today...
The depths of history - in the lines of songs
So is it possible to revive the old everyday customs of yesteryear? Popularize the songs that generations of our ancestors sang? To put it simply: is it possible to make folklore accessible to a mass audience, and not to a relatively small circle of connoisseurs and enthusiasts?
The heroine of the evening herself is very skeptical:
- Folklore is a living organism; it is closely connected with everyday life, with people’s beliefs, their ideas about the world around them. As time changes, the content of ritual elements also changes, and aesthetic ideas change.
In the 19th and especially in the 20th century, there was a breakdown in the mass consciousness, complains Nelly Alexandrovna. And works of folk culture, closely related to the traditional calendar of agricultural work, full of metaphors and allegorical meaning, suddenly turned out to be incomprehensible and unclaimed by descendants.
But does this mean that Russian folklore in the 21st century is something completely uninteresting and unnecessary, comparable to the dead language of a disappeared people on the other side of the globe?
Absolutely not, the specialist is convinced, explaining: first you need to understand that the term “Russian folklore” itself is very conditional and collective; Even within the Krasnoyarsk Territory, serious differences can be noted in works on the same topic, for example, about family life.
The classic song plot for residents of Central Siberia about how a mother-in-law harasses her daughter-in-law is unknown among Siberians. Why? Yes, because in our lands, with their sparse population and the predominance of the male share of the population for a long time, a respectful attitude towards women has naturally developed. That’s why girls in Siberian families were traditionally married off later, and it was customary to watch their marital happiness more closely than in the European part of Russia...
It is the study of folklore that makes it possible to directly come into contact with the life and customs of a past era. In addition, in our post-industrial age, people have a stronger need to search for roots, to express themselves through their ancestors... That, perhaps, is why advertisements for the same traditional-style weddings appear on city streets? So we can rightfully hope for an awakening wide interest to folklore.
Mentor for generations
This idea was voiced in one of the videos recorded by the Kasyanovsky House staff especially for this evening, about Nelly Alexandrovna’s conversation with students.
By the way, the theme of the relationship between the teacher and his students ran like a dotted line throughout the entire evening. Rich teaching experience allowed Nelly Novoselova to make an interesting observation:
- The soul of the people can be traced in every detail. For example, the Russian people are very creative and inventive. Try letting our students rewrite the text: no one will rewrite it word for word! Everyone will change something, correct something.
Even more interesting was the following remark from the heroine of the evening:
- Over the years, you notice that it is not the successful students who are more grateful to you as a teacher, but precisely those who have passed tests and exams many times.
And it is not surprising that it was Nelly Alexandrovna’s current students who were given the honor at the evening, albeit “remotely,” from the screen to congratulate their mentor on the upcoming anniversary. They noted everything: the depth of erudition, the skill of presenting material, and the high human qualities and spiritual wealth of the honored teacher and philologist-folklorist.
The folk ensemble “Primrose”, which was present at the event, took over the baton from the students. Its members and participants congratulated Nelly Alexandrovna in the most appropriate manner for the evening: with a festive round dance, and even with singing in the Angara style, so dear to the hero of the day.
The culmination of the honoring of Nellie Alexandrovna was the presentation of the Bishop’s Certificate from Metropolitan Panteleimon of Krasnoyarsk and Achinsk - for his great personal contribution to the development and popularization of spiritual culture in the Krasnoyarsk region.
The honorary award was presented to the teacher by a former student, Gennady Malashin, who also presented her with a copy of the author’s monograph “Krasnoyarsk (Yenisei) Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church: 1861–2011,” emphasizing that without the lessons received from the teacher at one time, this book would not have been written.
An hour and a half of live communication with an intelligent, highly educated person who is sacrificially in love with his work is an inexhaustible source of food for the mind for many subsequent days, months and, perhaps, even years. As the candidate of philological sciences, associate professor, dean of the philological faculty of the Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after A. V.P. Astafieva Tatyana Sadyrina: “Nelly Alexandrovna is an amazing person. Communicating with her even for many years, you always learn something new about things that seem to have been known for a long time.”
The project is being implemented using subsidies from the budget of the Krasnoyarsk Territory with the support of the youth policy agency and the implementation of social development programs in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Tell me, have you ever sung your baby a lullaby from the repertoire of Zemfira or Philip Kirkorov? That's right, it didn't even occur to you.
We sing to our children simple, so simple and so beloved songs that our mothers sang to us, and our grandmothers sang to them, which were sung from generation to generation, for centuries, and they have come down to us. And this is part of Russian folklore.
What values have become a priority in modern families? First of all, those that, according to young parents, will help the child survive in difficult times in a difficult world. We often forget that there cannot be a harmonious personality without comprehensive development, and we miss its main component - emotional and moral.
The first years of a child’s life live not with reason, but with emotions; through them, his first knowledge of life occurs. And very great importance has how and what he hears and sees around him. A child’s first impressions are the cozy tenderness of his mother’s hands and her voice. A soft, leisurely lullaby, funny little songs, when the mother plays with the baby, saying rhymes, shaking him up, making him laugh and filling him with positive emotions.
Such folklore forms were created over generations, constantly replenished with new shades, they carry wisdom and enormous educational value.
Through children's songs, sayings, and counting rhymes, a child learns the first moral concepts - empathy, kindness, responsiveness. When we talk about musical folklore, we mean not only oral song forms, but also the characteristic rhythmic pattern of folk dance. By involving children in folk outdoor games, we teach them not only to navigate in space, move, develop coordination, but also to accept general rules games.
For older children, who no longer only listen to and memorize folk songs and jokes, folklore is also of great importance in the development of their creativity. When playing folk musical games, children try to bring their own fantasies into the game, endowing their characters with new features or qualities.
Speaking about folk music, I would call it “natural”, so harmoniously and consistently it can lead children through the stages of their development, giving each of them the knowledge and concepts that they need at this particular age.
Children will be especially interested in folklore holidays that our ancestors celebrated every year, for example, Christmas, because there are so many songs, games and traditions associated with it!
To book a ticket, you must fill out registration form, but you can only get to the show by purchasing a ticket in advance (.
Price:
upon advance payment – ticket adult + child - 1100 rubles, additional ticket - 550 rubles.
when paying on the spot (subject to availability) – ticket adult + child - 1300 rubles, additional ticket - 650 rubles.
All questions by phone: 8916-2656147.
Folklore is a type of reflection of popular consciousness. And this distinguishes it from other forms of linguistic art, including literature, in which the lonely personality of the author is expressed. can also reflect a purely personal perception of the environment, while folklore unites a collective, social vision. Modern literary criticism is increasingly turning to the phenomenon of mass literature and the peculiarities of its functioning within Russia. Authors of the 21st century Lately tend to actively interpret the extraction of traditional culture. The growth in the popularity of mass literature is ensured by writers using the reader’s ability to reproduce on a subconscious level the images and plots already known to him, presented in the work. Very often this “base” is folklore.
Folklore motives
Folklore motifs are used sooner or later by all writers of both mass and elite literature; the difference lies in their function at a given level. In mass literature, folklore is, first of all, a “factor in the formation of national literature,” that is, a guarantor of the correlation of the text with generally accepted standards of literature that the reader is ready to consume. Under such circumstances, literary scholars are trying to determine: what folklore is in literature, how folklore motifs interact with works of mass literature and what are the features of their influence on the author’s text, as well as the transformations that a folklore text experiences as it is included in the modern literary work and changes in its traditional meanings. Researchers establish the limits of the inclusion of a folklore text into a literary text and trace the transformations of universal folklore archetypes. One of the main tasks will be to find out what folklore is in literature, to explore their mutual influence and connections in works of mass literature.
Traditional folklore
Authors of popular literature set the main task when writing a work to interest the reader. To do this, first of all, they strive for a masterful depiction of intrigue. Zofia Mitosek, in her article “The End of Mimesis,” writes that “building suspense is a game of tradition and innovation.” And if by the concept of tradition we mean “the transmission from one generation to another of traditional forms of activity and communication, as well as accompanying customs, rules, ideas, and values,” then for the reader folklore is a worthy representative of tradition in literature. IN modern society it is necessary to instill in the younger generation the need to study traditional folklore.
School curriculum: literature (5th grade) - folklore genres
Fifth grade is an important phase in the development of language education of schoolchildren. The appeal to works using folklore materials is due to the need for self-affirmation, the significant receptivity of fifth grade students to folk art, the correspondence of folklore as an oral word to the active speech of a child at the stage continuous development. Such education in high school gives a student a literature lesson.
Genres of folklore that should be studied in modern schools:
Ritual creativity
- Calendar-ritual poetry.
- Folk drama.
- Heroic epic.
- Duma.
Ballads and lyrical songs
- Ballads.
- Family and everyday songs.
- Social and everyday songs.
- Gunfighter and rebel songs.
- Ditties.
- Songs of literary origin.
Fairytale and non-fairytale historical prose
- Folk tales.
- Legends and traditions.
Folk paremiography
- Proverbs and sayings.
- Puzzles.
- Popular beliefs.
- Fables.
Folklore is a “genetic” element of worldview
The artistic action in the plot of works of literature is most often simple and understandable, designed to correspond to the everyday consciousness of the reader. Folklore is a “genetic” element of the worldview and, as a rule, is embedded in the consciousness with the first songs, fairy tales, and riddles from childhood. So, at school, the literature lesson (5th grade) gives the student the features of folklore works. Folklore makes the world clearer and tries to explain the unknown. Therefore, with the interaction of the functions of folklore and literature, a powerful resource is created to influence the consciousness of the recipient, in which the text is able to mythologize human consciousness and even cause a transformation in the rational sphere of human thinking. The answer to the question “what is folklore in literature” is determined by a whole area of integral creative understanding and use. In works of folklore, ideas of creativity are often revealed on the verge of intersection with literature. Perhaps this is also influenced by primordial ritual folklore. Literature (5th grade) in modern schools is increasingly returning to the current topic of spiritual and cultural revival, to the fundamental basis of the existence of our people, one of the main carriers of information about which is folklore.
Tradition of analysis
In our time, there has already emerged a certain tradition of analyzing what folklore is in literature, according to which equating creativity with standards is considered inappropriate: despite the label of “mass” novels, they have their own style, creative manner and, most importantly, the themes of the works. They "regenerated" from the depths of the soul eternal themes, the reader’s interest in which has been dormant since the beginning of the new era. The favorite themes of ancient authors are the village and the city, the historical connection of generations, mystical stories with a love-erotic overtones. A modern style of “direct” description of events is built on established historical images; traditional culture is presented in a modified version. The heroes of the works are characterized by a breadth of comprehension of life and psychological experience; descriptions of their characters are emphasized by reminiscences of the history and culture of our people, which most often appear in the author’s digressions and remarks.
Desacralization of folklore
Emphasis is placed on the visualization of paintings, which is carried out using increased dynamism in the presentation of events and the effect of understatement, which stimulates the reader to creative “collaboration”. In every novel, the hero exists in a world created by the author himself, with its own geography, history, and mythology. But when reading, the recipient perceives this space as already known, that is, he penetrates the atmosphere of the work from the first pages. The authors achieve this effect through the inclusion of various folklore schemes; that is we're talking about about the “imitation of myth by non-mythological consciousness,” according to which folklore elements appear under their traditional context and acquire a different semantic meaning, but at the same time perform the function of identification by the reader of ancient meanings already known to him. Thus, in the texts of mass literature there is a desacralization of traditions and folklore.
The phenomenon of modification of the past and present
The phenomenon of modification of the past and present can be traced even in the nature of the construction of almost all works. The texts are replete with proverbs and sayings, which makes it possible to convey the centuries-old experience of the people in a condensed, condensed form. The main thing in the works is that they act as elements of the hero’s monologues and dialogues - most often in this, characters are used as bearers of wisdom and morality. Signs and sayings also perform the function of hinting at tragic fate heroes of that time. They carry a deep meaning; one sign can tell the hero everything.
Folklore is the harmony of the inner world
So, a certain mythologization and reference to folklore in works is a natural and as integral part of the created world as the specificity of the peasantry, ethnic flavor and live, real broadcasting. Mass literature is built on the “basic models” of the consciousness of the reader of a given nation (which are based on “initial intentions”). In works, such “original intentions” are precisely folklore elements. With the help of folklore motifs, there is a closeness to nature, harmony of the inner world, and other functions of folklore fade into the background, a simplification of sacredness occurs.
Krivokoneva Alisa
Montessori center “Yourself with a mustache”, Nizhny Novgorod
Montessori is a teacher.
Russian folklore for children
Russian folklore for children - what is it?
Russian folklore is a special branch of the culture of the people, which reflects the ideals and life of the Russian people, passed on from generation to generation. Russian folklore is a rich source of a wide variety of educational material, which is distinguished by its colorfulness and originality, along with accessibility, which ensures undying interest for children and easy memorability.
Russian folklore for children - a touch of tradition
Now more and more people are coming to the realization that happiness and success are not across the seven seas. The words Motherland and Fatherland no longer sound like empty words. We are once again regaining a sense of community and pride from belonging to the united Russian people. In this regard, we are restoring and beginning to take a new approach to the heritage of Russian culture, ancient customs and festivals, arts and crafts. Classes in Russian folklore with children allow you to instill a love for your native culture from childhood, as well as convey the inherent ideas about eternal values: about goodness and justice, beauty and fidelity, courage and hard work, which are reflected in oral folk art. Proverbs and sayings carry the wisdom of the Russian people accumulated over centuries, which children absorb easily and with pleasure thanks to the brightness and imagery of Russian folklore, as well as the joy that it carries within itself.
Russian folklore for children is an exceptional value for a child’s development
The benefits of Russian folklore classes for children's development are difficult to fully assess. Let's try to list just a few of them:
Classes in Russian folklore develop artistic taste in children
Develops interest in the surrounding world and the fundamentals of existence (change of seasons, mysteries of the animal world, patterns and natural phenomena, etc.)
Allows you to appreciate the richness of the Russian language and culture, and also promotes speech development thanks to a variety of rhymes, sayings, songs and tongue twisters
Riddles and puzzles lay the foundation for creative imaginative thinking
Outdoor games contribute to harmonious physical development.
Russian folklore for children is a touch to the roots that gives joy!
Russian folklore in kindergarten not only lays down the idea of Russian culture, but also gives a sea of positive emotions! We invite our students to experience the history and traditions of their native country during entertaining games and gatherings under the guidance of a delightful teacher who recreates the atmosphere and decor of Russian villages, taking children on an exciting journey through the vast expanses of Russian folklore! Entertaining games that were previously known to any village boy, gatherings with tea and bagels at the samovar, riddles and poems, playing wooden spoons and other instruments of folk art - all this and much more will give your child a love for their native culture and belonging to its origins!
