Everyone has an idea of ​​what a fairy tale is. We meet her in childhood, preserving the rest of his life the charm and beauty of these magical narratives. Kids at an early age get acquainted with such tales as "Teremok", "Turnip" and "Gingerbread Man". They can listen to them endlessly and try to repeat the plot of the story. At the same time, the child learns to speak, be surprised and empathize.
As adults, we begin to pay attention to the fact that such simple and beloved stories are not so simple for us. They are based on an amazing technique, which involves repeated repetition. The characters and actions of such tales form a kind of chain, as if strung on top of each other. It is such narratives that are called cumulative.
Definition of a concept
A chain, or a cumulative, recursive, or chain-like tale is called one in which all actions or dialogues develop or are repeated as the plot develops. The effect of such a narrative is most often based on a characteristic rhyme.
Most cumulative tales are relict, that is, very ancient works of folklore. Moreover, you can find them from different nations. Regardless of country and continent, all cumulative tales are stories that have a similar structure.
Most often they are told to the youngest children. After all, the main purpose of such stories is to develop speech in babies who are just starting to speak. Many folkloristic scholars believe that the creators of the chain-like plots were people with a childish (young) consciousness. In other words, they were members of the most primitive society. It is also believed that the cumulative structure of the narrative corresponded to archaic thinking.
Scientific research
He was interested in questions of the cumulative tale of Propp Vladimir Yakovlevich, a well-known Russian folklorist. The construction and features of stories with a chain plot he described in his works. In one of his articles, the author pointed out that in each of the scientific areas there are small issues that are of great importance. There is a similar thing in folklore. This is a question about cumulative tales. The fact that they exist was noted by specialists a long time ago. However, cumulative narratives have not been previously studied or classified. So, making a translation of the index of fairy tales of Aarne into Russian, Professor Andreev introduced all the chain narratives under one consolidated number.
Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp noted that among Russian fairy tales there are approximately 20 different types of cumulative stories. What are their distinguishing features?
Features of the composition
Cumulative tales are narratives that have a very simple description of life. Often, a similar story tells us about some minor event or about a situation that is often found in everyday life and is commonplace. An example of this is the chain tale "Turnip". It begins with the fact that the grandfather planted turnips. Ordinary situations can be observed in other cumulative Russian folk tales. This is a woman who bakes a bun, and a girl heading for a river to rinse a rag, and an egg that breaks, and a man who takes aim at a hare. It is even difficult to call such an exposition a tie. In a chain tale, it is completely unclear where the action will begin to develop. It arises completely unexpectedly, which is one of the main artistic effects of such a narrative.
In the fairy tale “Turnip”, the chain is created by the fact that the grandfather cannot pull out the grown root crop. Other narrative heroes come to his aid.
And the story of “Terem flies” begins with the fact that the clatter decides to settle in an abandoned gauntlet. So a cumulative tale of animals arises. After the animals approach the gauntlet. And they do this in order of increasing magnitude. Beasts beg for a fly to live. The bear comes last. He ends the tale. After all, this big beast sits on a tower and destroys it.
And if in the fairy tale "Turnip" the creation of the chain is caused by internal necessity and motivated, then in "Teremka" the appearance of more and more animals is not necessary for the fly at all. Based on this feature, two types of cumulative tales are distinguished. These are those in which there is a logic of narration, as well as those where it is not required.
Principles of Event Chaining
In some recursive tales, the composition is built on the successive appearance of certain uninvited guests. There are also stories in which a number of exchanges take place. Moreover, newly acquired items gradually go the way either from the worst to the best, or, conversely, from better to worse.
In some cumulative tales for the smallest, all actions are based on endless comic dialogs of various kinds.
The chain along which the plot builds up can be very diverse. For example, reading the story "The Cockerel choked", we see a number of references. At first, the chicken runs to the river to get water. A cockerel sends her there. The river sends a chicken for a leaf to a linden. The tree directs her for the strings to the girl, and that for milk to the cow, etc. In this tale, there is no logic of which characters and for which items will send the chicken further. Actually, such a fairy tale does not require any explanation. Nobody is looking for logic in it and no one is demanding it.
Sometimes the chain of events of cumulative tales is built on a series of exchanges. Moreover, some of them come from the worst for the better, while others, on the contrary, from the best for the worse. As proof of this, we can cite the story “For a chicken duck”, which tells that a fox demanded a piece for a missing chicken (she ate it herself). After that, she decided to change the little piece for a turkey, and so gradually got to the horse.
In the tale "Mena" a man makes an exchange from best to worst. For the gold bar he earned, he first receives a horse. After he changes it to a cow, etc. As a result, a needle remains in his hands. And even then, having come home, the man realizes that he has lost her.
In cumulative tales, exchange can take place in reality or in dreams. So, a man who is just aiming from a gun at a hare is already starting to think about how to sell it, and with the money he can buy a pig at first, after a cow, a house, and even get married. As a result, the hare just runs away.
There are also cumulative tales in which the entire plot is built on the appearance of companions or uninvited guests one after another. So, a hare begs for a woman and a man in a sled, and after him a fox, a wolf. The last uninvited guest is the bear. He's breaking down the sled. The reverse case describes how the annoying goat, which occupied the hut of a little bunny, was driven out by a boar and a wolf, a bull and a bear. As a result, it turned out to be a mosquito, a bee and a hedgehog.
A special type of cumulative tales are those that are built on a chain of bodies of people or animals. So, wolves stand on top of each other in order to eat a tailor sitting on a tree. The cunning person at the same time threatens that the bottom will get the most from him. The beast got scared and ran away. The wolves standing on it fell.
There is also such a group of cumulative tales in which a chain of people grieving over trifles is formed. An example of this is a broken testicle. Grandfather and woman start to cry about him. They are joined by mallow and clerk, as well as pop. Moreover, they not only raise a howl. These heroes of cumulative tales begin to express their despair by any absurd actions. For example, they ring bells, tear books, etc. As a result, the case ends with the fact that either the church or the whole village burns down.
Cumulative and are such tales, the basis of which are endless comic dialogues. For example, in the narrative “Good and bad”, it says that it is bad that peas are rare. It’s good that he’s a pod, etc. There is no particular connection between the links here.
The meaning of a cumulative tale
The same plot links in chain narratives are necessarily connected to each other. Nevertheless, the meaning of such a fairy tale does not lie at all in its composition. The listener's main attention is attracted by the amazing contrast of causes and their consequences, as well as the quirkiness of dependencies and relationships. All of them, as a rule, possess ironic notes.
The joking idea of ​​the tale emphasizes the deliberate nature of her folding speech. All phrases pronounced by the heroes are extremely short and have the features of a verbal formula. So, in a fairy tale called “Fox, Hare and Rooster,” the fox kicks the bunny out of his hut. A bull, a bear and a dog are called to help him. Each of these animals at first asks what the bunny is crying about. His answers are the same for everyone. A bull, a bear and a dog take turns approaching the hut and try to drive the fox out. In addition, each of these animals pronounces the same phrase. This is the demand, “Go, fox, get out!” To which she answers them in the same way that their shreds, if she only jumps out, they will fly through the back streets.
The repetition of each link in the storyline in a fairy tale is accompanied by a verbal formula, to which new details are gradually added. So, the bear hears from the hare that before him the fox could not be driven out by the dog, and the bull learns that the dog and the bear tried to free the house from the red cunning. The growth of the verbal formula occurs when a rooster appears.
Animal tales
In all the narratives where the animals are present, there is a lot of energy, action and movement. Children really like all this. Plots in animal tales are developing rapidly and rapidly. At the same time, their comic content helps to develop a sense of reality in the child. It simply amuses the children, activating their spiritual essence.
Nevertheless, cumulative tales also have sadness. Moreover, the transitions from sad to funny they are quite contrasting. The emotions of the kids are also vivid. The child sometimes upsets a trifle. But the baby is just as easy to console.
The sharp boundaries between positive and negative, between light and shadow, are often present in children's tales. Kids always understand how they should relate to a particular character. So, the rooster is a hero, and the fox is an insidious beast. The bear is stupid, and the wolf is greedy. Moreover, this is not explained by primitiveness in the presentation of vital material. This is the simplicity assimilated by the child even before he perceives more complex things.
Style features
So, cumulative fairy tales-chains have their own clear composition system. But besides this, they differ from other fantastic narratives by other features. Unusual for such tales is the style, verbal "outfit" and the form of performance. The amazing stories described above for babies are told slowly and calmly. They can be called cumulative only by the composition that underlies them.
However, there is another type of narrative. The growth of events in them goes in parallel with a heap of words. Such tales are called formulaic. It is impossible to draw a clear boundary between these two types of stories. For different masters, the same type of narration can be performed either in one way or another. However, the general tendency of a fairy tale to a certain kind can still be observed in any case. So, with the growth of events simultaneously with a pile of words, the addition of each of the subsequent links in the chain is accompanied by a repetition of all previous phrases. Such a repetition is the special charm of a recursive tale. After all, the meaning of the story lies in the colorful artistry of his narrator. When performing such tales, sometimes it is required to pronounce the text in the form of tongue twisters, and sometimes it is simply sung. The listener's entire interest lies in a heap of words. That is why the cumulative plot in fairy tales is decorated with poems and rhyme. At the same time, assonance and consonance are often used.
Such features of cumulative tales lead to the fact that children really like them. Kids love bright and sharp new words, tongue twisters, etc. That is why the genre of cumulative tales can rightfully be called children's.
Origin
Currently, there is not even an approximate list of those fairy tales that could be attributed to cumulative. But the very principle of constructing their plot can well be attributed to the relict one. Of course, the modern reader will gladly listen to such stories. However, he will admire the verbal fabric available in the works. However, such tales can in no way correspond to our forms of artistic creativity and consciousness. They, as already mentioned above, are created with the primitive thinking of the author. After all, it is not familiar with space as a product of abstraction, and also does not know generalizations. Stringing some actions and events on others in such tales is not only an artistic device. It also indicates a form of thinking that takes place not only in folklore, but also in the phenomena of language.
It should be noted that the principle of cumulation can be attributed not only to chain tales. It can be seen in the plot of other stories. This, for example, "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish." In her plot, the desires of the old woman are constantly increasing. This is cumulation.
The meaning of chain tales
Stories with a simple plot that parents tell their children in 1-2 years, sometimes cause some bewilderment in adults. Why do kids need “Turnip”, “Gingerbread Man” or “Teremok”? All of them are examples of a cumulative tale in which a repetition of the speech formula occurs. Do children need to listen to phrases five times such as “grandma for grandfather” and other repetitions?
Parents should understand that their kids just need cumulative tales. Their place and role in raising a child is quite large. Such narratives are necessary for children to develop speech and thinking.
Let us consider in more detail the composition of a cumulative tale. Examples of the plot of such a narration clearly indicate to us that with each repetition in such a story, intended for the youngest listeners, there is a certain complication with the indispensable addition of a new element, but using the old formula. Such a construction of the composition allows kids to develop algebraic logic. For example, in the fairy tale “Turnip”, the formula “someone for someone” is taken. It places the new values ​​of the variable. The result is “Bug for the granddaughter” or “mouse for the cat.”
A similar example is the cumulative tale "Kolobok". It has the formula "I left someone." In this case, “someone” is considered as a variable. It is successively replaced by those animals that Kolobok met on his way, that is, a hare, a wolf, a bear.
Characters in chain tales are also introduced sequentially. For example, in "Turnip" this occurs from greater to lesser. In the "Teremka" on the contrary - from the smallest to the greatest.
The fairy tale “Masha and the Bear” is also structured. In each of its parts, the girl gets acquainted with a set of objects. And the first is always large, then medium, and finally small. By the middle of the story, children begin to help adults set out the plot. At the same time, they certainly associate the size of things with the size of bears. Thus, cumulative tales help shape logical thinking in children. Toddlers begin to learn causation and sequence building. At first, these are the simplest models, but children can already use them in other situations that will be more complicated for them.
Visualization
For educational purposes, as well as for the development of their child, parents can play a fairy tale for him. This will help the baby to adapt faster, easier to understand the action and become interested in it.
The visualization possibilities for today's parents are enormous. You can perform it using ready-made bulk books. They are not only colorfully designed, but also equipped with sound. Parents can attach pictures of fairy tale heroes to the surface, creating their own small puppet theater. The main condition in this case is the colorfulness and volume of what is happening.
Young children still cannot hold attention for a long time. In this regard, the production of a fairy tale for children under 3 years old should not last more than 20 minutes. Parents can return to a pleasant reading after a break.
Gradually, the child should be involved in the implementation of the action. For example, he may be asked to find out which of the heroes will go to help his grandfather pull the turnip, or which beast will next ask for a tower or meet on the way at Kolobok.
In 2-3 years, a cumulative tale can be turned into a game that allows you to compare the signs. The most successful plot for this is the story "Masha and the Bear." Before the baby pictures of objects belonging to the bear are placed, and he must collect those of them that belong to the father, then to the mother and their son. Such a game will allow the child to form causal relationships. Gradually, tasks can be complicated. For example, a child should group all things not only by size, but also by color.