Few modern people who are not connected with the world of art are familiar with such a literary term as permanent epithets; examples of such expressions are rarely seen in colloquial speech of people.
However, such special epithets exist, and this gives us the opportunity to talk about them. Consider the issues of the occurrence of these expressions, their existence and scientific study.
Definition of the phenomenon
To begin with, let us give a definition to this literary phenomenon. If we ask ourselves what epithets are, the definition and examples of this term, we will find out that the epithet is one of the means of creating the imagery of a literary text. Therefore, it is called figurative comparison.
Permanent epithet is sustainable and manifests itself in traditional imagery.
Therefore, this group finds its bright embodiment primarily in the folklore texts of various peoples living on earth.
Scientific understanding of the problem
It is proved that permanent epithets are most characteristic of oral folk art. Their main difference from other types of epithets is their steady nature.
This tradition is continued in the literary work, closely associated with folklore material, which, for example, is the experience of the artistic literature of the people. Initially, the culture did not have a wide variety of colors. Understanding of the world and man among the people was based on two colors - white and black. The constant epithets “white” and “black” used by prose writers reflected the symbolic component of the popular worldview. In the mythological representation of traditional peoples, white color refers to the deities of the Upper World, and black - to the deities of the Lower World. According to mythology, good creatures live in the Upper World, and evil creatures in the Lower World. Therefore, each of them needs a different color.
From here constant epithets are born, examples of which we will give below.
Thus, white means good, divine, and therefore, protects. In the literature, images with the epithet “black” are most often associated with dynamics - event or descriptive. A similar meaning of the epithet "black" is observed in Russian classics. "Black faces" - the archetype of sorrow, grief. “Bright face” is an image of joy.
Permanent epithet: examples, types, definition, use in the literature
Epithets have different species contents. However, in relation to each other, they are in antonymical connection, as the adjectives “white” and “black”.
Consider other meanings of the epithet "white", not related to the idea of the pagan pantheon. The story of the White Tsar is given in the story of E. Aipin “Near the Extincting Hearth”: “I vividly imagined the White Tsar. He has a white-golden crown, like the Sun before the winter weather, a crown-cap on his head. White hair, probably from gray hair. White beard. A white fur coat, as if from the skins of a white deer. White mittens from white camus. White high fur boots are also made of white camus. White king in all white. That's why he is White. And white is the color of life. ”
How do constant epithets manifest themselves in this text, examples of which we just saw in the text?
In this case, the white color is the embodiment of life, natural energy, life-giving forces. It is in this sense that red is contrasted with white in the story of E. Aipin “God's message”, which refers to Lipetsk, who fought on the side of the whites. He does not admit his guilt and says: “No, people will stay. But not the red ones, but just people with faith, people with God ... ”
Epithets with negative and positive semantic meaning
Permanent epithets, examples of which we see in this work, often include color characteristics as the most archetypal way of knowing the world.
The red color for the works of folklore of the peoples of the north (for example, Khanty) cannot bear life, the beginning of any positive movement, it is always the beginning of the end. In this context, the question is clear, which in the story of E. Aypin “Russian Healer” asks Joseph Sardakov: “If on my land, red comes with my rifle, with a machine gun, with a gun, what should I do?”
As you can see, the epithet “red” has a negative connotation, and it is used in relation to unkind, evil people.
On the contrary, in the works of Russian folklore, “red” is a constant epithet with positive semantic meaning.
Results of the study of epithets with a constant value
What conclusion can be drawn by studying such a thing as a permanent epithet, examples of which are easy to find in works of folklore?
The conclusion is the following: archetypal permanent epithets (“black”, “red”, “white”, etc.) reflect in folklore works not social affiliation at all, but actions and intentions in relation to those around them. So, the constant epithets in literature, as well as in folklore, carry in themselves the qualitative features that endow people with certain objects and objects, they become universally recognized archetypes.
Thus, a permanent epithet is born, the examples of which we have considered in this article.