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РЕЦЕНЗИИ, ТЕЗИСЫ И ДР.
THE STRUCTURE OF A FOLKLORE IMAGE OF THE FROG
A.V. Zhuchkova, K.N. Galay
Department of Russian and Foreign Literature Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow
We consider an animalistic image of a frog in fairy tales «The Frog-Tsarevna» and «The Prince-frog». We define the typology of this image. Also we offer the psychological and philosophical interpretation of an image of a frog in fairy tales, considering the frog's skin is a metaphor of egoism.
Key words: animalistic image, frog, werewolf, symbol, frog skin, egoism.
Animalistic images play an important role in mythology, folklore and literature. Identification of the person and the animal genetically goes back to ancient magical rites. We believe that the usage of animal images in ancient culture had not only hunting assignment, but served as a way of understanding the world and interact with it. We believe that the use of Prince and Princess-the frog images in the Russian and German tales operates not as primarily a totemic function (attainment of power), but as moral-cognitive function.
The use of animal images and comparisons is a common technique in literature. Animalistic literary images can be divided into several categories.
Zoomorphic image is enduing a character with traits of an animal. Zoomorphic images allow to highlight specific features of character's appearance, peculiarities of their behavior, intellectual and moral qualities. Zoomorphic images are connotative and serve for the evaluation of a character.
Anthropomorphic images are presented in the folklore with several types: therian-thropy or lycanthropy; warlockry or voodoo and shape-shiffting.
Therianthropy, lycanthropy (werewolf, werebear, werecat) is a transformation of a person into an animal as an adunation with this animal to a certain extent. It rises to totemic beliefs.
Warlockry, voodoo is a transformation into a beast to cause the damage to others.
Shape-shiffting is a transformation of a character into animal or bird with the preservation of the personality (unlike lycanthropy). Often used for transfer: «she turned into a white swan and flew away».
Zhuchkova A. V., Galay K.N. The Structure of a Folklore Image of the Frog
The characters from fairy tales about Princess-the frog and Prince-the frog cannot be classified as zoomorphic images, as the comparison to the frog does not allow to understand the personalities better and does not evaluate them.
The frogs are not anthropomorphic images, although they have something in common. Princess and Prince-the-frog are like lycanthropic hybrids, because they can turn into a frog. Moreover, the Princess can temporarily change the form back to a human when necessary. However, they are not lycanthropic hybrids, as initially they were turned into frogs against their will and they keep their human personalities.
Can it be a shape-shiffting, then? Shape-shifting involves freewill. For instance, Va-silisa having lost the frog skin takes the shape of a swan and flies away. But Princess-the-frog and Prince-the-frog were turned into frogs against their will and they need somebody's help to get rid of the image of a frog.
It cannot be said that the characters turn into frogs in order to do evil deeds, that's why it is not warlockry.
The characters have to overcome frog guise, they must develop themselves to turn back their human form. So the image of the frog is considered to be symbolic, but not only totemic.
Magic story is a metaphor of the relationship between humans and their communication to the world. In most cases, this is a metaphor of the relationship between a man and a woman, the love algorithm, encrypted in the images. Why the characters turn into frogs? They are not ready to open their hearts to beloved. Their coldness and selfishness are metaphorically represented as the frog's skin. At the same time, the frog is a totemic symbol of the development (an fish egg blossom into a tadpole and a tadpole blossom into the reptile), that is why the fairy frogs ought to be in progress. The moral significance of these fairy tales is the personal advancement. Men and women need to overcome the egoism on the way to each other. Most fables about frogs are a lesson for men, who should not be calculating, rational and selfish in love. Like Prince-the-frog, forcing the Princess to friendship with the help of her father or Ivan-Tsarevich, destroying the frog's skin. People must open their hearts, be more trustful, sincere — and then the curse of loneliness, represented in the frog image, will disappear.
ТИПОЛОГИЧЕСКАЯ СТРУКТУРА ФОЛЬКЛОРНОГО ОБРАЗА ЛЯГУШКИ
А.В. Жучкова, К.Н. Галай
Российский университет дружбы народов ул. Миклухо-Маклая, 6, Москва, Россия, 117198
В данной статье определяются типологические особенности антропоморфного образа лягушки из русской народной сказки «Царевна-лягушка» и немецкой сказки о принце-лягушке. Можно выделить несколько видов анималистических образов: зооморфные образы, антропоморфные образы, персонажи-оборотни и оборачивающиеся герои. Однако образ лягушки из русской и немецкой сказок не подходит ни под одну известную категорию антропоморфных фольклорных образов.
Ключевые слова: анималистические образы, зооморфизм, антропоморфизм, оборотничество, оборачивание.
