When we were completely crumbs, mother or grandmother told us about the hen-pock and the bun. When we grew up a bit, we were read from picture books. Then we watched cartoons about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella or Vasilisa the Wise. Then the time came, and we gulped down “1001 Nights” or “Panchatantra”, watched “Shrek” until we were ripe for such multifaceted works as “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. And all this was one and the same literary art form of narration. So what is a fairy tale?
Naturally, this is a narrative of events that actually were not. But from the genre of fiction, this genre is distinguished by the fact that it does not pretend to be authentic. He gives us with predefined hints that the point here is not truthful information, but the story itself and morality (“In a certain kingdom”, “For Tsar Gorokh”). In this, it differs from the myth, which tells about cosmogony, theogony, and heroic deeds (like Hercules). Epics, sagas and legends, despite their fantastic plot, talking animals and the like, tell the story of the people who created them. In fact, what is a fairy tale, if not a product of the same people?
In addition to the fact that the historical unreliability of events is immediately indicated in this literary genre , there is another strict rule: good wins, and evil suffers a complete fiasco. If the story ends badly - these are already different, although similar genres. However, their goal is to narrate about the heroic feats of the hero (byl, bylina) or present morality (for example, a fable about a wolf and a lamb). Another very characteristic feature of this genre is that the plot is straightforward. The narration is easy, a little naive, concerns only the main character. To understand what a fairy tale is, help characters of the same type, who are either clearly bad or completely good. No philosophical reflection, psychological throwing, and cleansing catharsis does not occur in this literature.
Philologists believe that the first in the history of mankind appeared stories about animals. Even when people found themselves food by hunting, from generation to generation the elders passed on experience to the younger ones about the habits of animals. The fox is always cunning, the dog is faithful, but the bear is stupid, while the lion is bold and fearless. Then came the folklore science fiction narratives, where in the literary form, behind the invented plot, the real morality and customs of the people are visible. Nevertheless, a folk tale preserves the anonymity of the author, it has been polished and supplemented with various details and jokes for centuries. People come up with certain characters who "wander" from one fantastic story to another: a dragon with three heads, Baba Yaga, Koschey the Immortal.
From the 17th century a new genre appeared - a literary fairy tale. Its novelty consisted in the fact that, in addition to the bright individual style of the author, such narratives could be poetic, rhymed (for example, the tales of A.S. Pushkin). The treasury of world literature was decorated with the stories of Charles Perrault, the brothers Grimm, Andersen, Gauf and others. An author's work can be attached to a specific place and time (Black Forest at Grimm, Dikanka at Gogol), but it does not occur to anyone to regard the fairy tale as a description of reliable events. She captivates, mesmerizes her incredibly beautiful plot.
After all, what is a fairy tale, and why do we, growing up, retell these simple stories to our children? In them, despite the apparent primitiveness, the basic knowledge of the world, moral imperatives, and the foundations of ethics are laid. So the child begins to learn the universe and the society in which he will live. It is not without reason that it is said: “A fairy tale is a lie, but a hint in it; to good fellows is a lesson.” By the way, until the XIX century, this term had the exact opposite of modern meaning. They were given an exact list and a reliable description of something. And the genre that tells about the frog princess or the kikimore living in the forest was then called a fable or a koshun.