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Oral folk art is the wealth of every nation. The Russian people have a lot of monuments of folk art. Each monument is unique and original. All the important beliefs of the people were preserved in these works. This wealth makes it possible for subsequent generations to learn more interesting information about themselves and their people.
All the wisdom of the people is concentrated in oral folk monuments. Each line of these works is full of common sense and instructive morality. Each saying from these monuments is a wise instruction for the entire people. To this day, in the monuments of oral folk art one can find many answers to a variety of questions that trouble the mind of every person. In the monuments one can find a huge number of proverbs and sayings. These short sentences will forever remain in the memory of the people and will be passed on from generation to generation. They contain so much everyday simple life truth and teaching that you can use them to navigate in any situation and be confident in the veracity of your choice.
In proverbs and sayings, folk wisdom reaches its culmination. This is not only the wise saying of one of the nobles, it is a product of popular thinking. They reflect the centuries-old experience of the entire people. The task of every representative of the Russian nation should be to read and become familiar with the monuments of folk art. Only they can help us understand what kind of nation the Russian people are. Everyone should know what beliefs and rituals our ancestors had. If you are familiar with the monuments, you will notice that in the modern world the thinking of our people has not changed. We have a lot of national character traits that have been passed down from generation to generation for centuries.
Our wealth is our monuments of oral folk art. They are the ones who keep our connection with our ancestors strong and eternal.
School essay on behalf of a 7th grade student. 6th, 8th grade.
Other works: ← My favorite writer Lermontov↑ OtherFolk wisdom in works of oral literature →
Oral folk art of Russia
Well, we will look at the oral folk art of Russia, since we are interested in this particular topic. It must be said that other nations have very similar folklore genres.
Songs
Among the people, songs were one of the most popular ways to express feelings. Despite the fact that they were significantly inferior in volume to fairy tales and epics, people tried to put deep and meaningful meaning into them.
Thus, the songs reflected a person’s love experiences, thoughts about life and the future, social and family problems, and many other things.
It is worth noting that songs from oral folk art may differ in style and manner of performance. Songs can be lyrical, laudatory, dance, romantic, etc.
In oral folk art, the technique of parallelism is very often used, which helps to feel the nature of the mood of a particular character.
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Historical songs were dedicated to various outstanding personalities or events.
For example, the Russian people sang the exploits of Stepan Razin and Emelyan Pugachev, and also recalled the battles in which they won brilliant victories.
Epics
An interesting fact is that the term “epics” was first introduced by Ivan Sakharov in the mid-19th century. Bylinas are oral folk art in the form of epic songs telling about heroic events and significant episodes in the history of the people.
It is worth noting that they originated in the 9th century. A striking example is the epics about heroes who possessed incredible strength, beauty, courage and bravery. The most famous Russian heroes were Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets and Alyosha Popovich.
As a rule, historical characters or events are described in epics in an embellished and even fantastic style.
Three heroes
In them, national heroes can single-handedly destroy entire enemy troops, kill various monsters and cover long distances in the shortest possible time.
The heroes of epics never fear the enemy and are always ready to speak out in defense of their Motherland.
Fairy tales
Fairy tales play an important role in oral folk art. This genre contains elements of magic and wonderful heroism.
Often, completely different classes are presented in fairy tales: from kings to simple peasants. In them you can meet workers, soldiers, kings, princesses, jesters and many other characters.
However, a fairy tale is not just a fictional and beautifully composed story for children. With the help of fairy tales, people tried to raise children, laying deep morality in them.
As a rule, all fairy tales have a happy ending. In them, good always triumphs over evil, no matter how strong and powerful it may be.
Legends
In oral folk art, legends mean oral unreliable stories about facts of reality. They colorfully depict the events of the past.
There are many legends about the origin of peoples, states, oceans and the exploits of fictional heroes.
This genre was especially popular in Ancient Greece. Many myths have survived to this day telling about the 12 labors of Hercules, Odysseus, Theseus and other characters.
Puzzles
Riddles are metaphorical expressions in which one object is depicted with the help of another that has some similarity with it.
On this basis, a person needs to guess this or that object through reflection and ingenuity.
In fact, it is very difficult to imagine oral folk art without riddles, which were often presented in rhymed form. For example, known to all children: “Winter and summer - the same color.” Of course, you know that this is a Christmas tree.
Thanks to fairy tales, both children and adults can develop their logical thinking and intelligence. An interesting fact is that fairy tales often contain riddles that are usually successfully solved by the main character.
Proverbs and sayings
Proverbs and sayings play one of the key roles in oral folk art. A proverb is a short figurative saying with an instructive overtone, carrying some general idea or allegory with a didactic (educational) slant.
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A proverb is a figurative saying that reflects some phenomenon of life. However, it is not a complete statement. Often sayings can be humorous in nature.
Proverbs and sayings are usually classified as small genres of oral folk art.
In addition to them, this genre can include jokes, lullabies, play sentences, riddles, pesters and nursery rhymes. Next, you can consider all these types of folklore in more detail.
Lullabies
In oral folk art, lullabies are often called tales, since the root of the word “bait” is “to tell.”
With their help, parents tried to lull their children who could not sleep. That is why various lullabies began to appear among the people, listening to which the child quickly fell asleep.
Pestushki and nursery rhymes
Pestushki and nursery rhymes in folklore were used to educate a growing child. Pestushki comes from the word “nurse”, that is, “nurse” or “educate.” Previously, they were actively used to comment on the movements of a newborn.
Gradually, the pestles turn into nursery rhymes - rhythmic songs sung while the child plays with his toes and hands. The most famous nursery rhymes in oral folk art are “Magpie-Crow” and “Ladushki”.
Interestingly, they also contain a certain morality. Thanks to this, from the first days of life, the baby learns to distinguish between good and evil, as well as the good or bad qualities of a person.
Jokes
When the kids grew up, so-called jokes began to be sung to them, which had a deeper content and were not associated with games.
In their structure, they resembled short fairy tales in verse. The most famous jokes are “Ryaba Hen” and “Cockerel – Golden Comb”.
Most often, jokes describe some bright event that corresponds to the active life of a child.
However, since it is difficult for kids to focus on one topic for a long time, jokes have a very short plot.
Game sentences and refrains
For a long time, game sentences and choruses have been very popular among the people. They were used during games. They talked about the possible consequences for violating the established rules.
Basically, sentences and refrains included various peasant activities: sowing, reaping, haymaking, fishing, etc. After their frequent repetition, children learned correct manners from an early age and acquired generally accepted rules of behavior.
