Реферат: Criticism of Vladimir Propp’s Theory on Genesis of Magic Fairy Tales’ Structure

At first sight, it seems so. Nevertheless, the matter is that the basic invariant fairy tale structure does not exist in pure form, just as it is. Similarly, to an archetype, it demonstrates itself only through an objective material, but is not reduced to it.

In turn, a part of a concrete material of a fairy tale, in particular, some objectively-figurative embodiments of actants, owing to their steady fixing at the certain basic elements of fairy tale structure or at its typical episodes, become similar to clichés. Owing to this circumstance, the given embodiments of typical functions in the certain characters show resistance to their artificial inclusion in such cells of structure where the not inherent functions will be imposed to them. Nevertheless if they are still forced "to enter" the "place" in the structure not inherent in them, determined by a functional role alien to them, then this character starts to look as something distorted or mockly -ridiculous.

It is exactly those cases when the stepmother will love the stepdaughter more, than her own daughter or when the peaceful Wolf will suffer from the Little Red Riding Hood, and Tsarevitch will fall in love with the She-Dragon.

It is interesting, that similar experimentation with functions of fabulous characters was carried out by a famous Italian children's storyteller J. Rodari who in „topsy-turvy fairy tales” suggested sating an invariant “bare scheme” of fairy tales with the characters performing functions, opposite to habitual ones. However, the „bare” scheme therefore is considered „bare”, because it does not exist just as it is, outside of its concrete personifications. Characters through their actions should "open" this "scheme" (structure). But then on this basis it is possible to draw an opposite conclusion that it is exactly "structure" that sets meanings (functions) to the "elements", rather than conversely. What is the true answer?

Here we have approached to the main point of the problem. It consists in what represents and by what is determined the „bare scheme” mentioned above, which retains in all possible though extravagant embodiments. It is necessary to accept, that only the account of that circumstance, that a deeper universal-cultural worldview context acts as an invariant basis of fairy tales, where all concretely-structural and substantial moments are strung on idea of a survival through struggle against death, allows breaking off a vicious circle which arises here.

Then in the work there is given explication to negative singular consequences of the theory of V. Propp about an origin of structure of a fairy tale from a ceremony. It is carried out through demonstration of discrepancy between a key postulate of the concept of V. Propp – „the structure of a fairy tale is determined by the structure of an (initial) ceremony” and the contents of his research. There is also used a method of „back (reversal) reconstruction” by means of transformation of the relation „a ceremony – a fairy tale” to „a fairy tale – a ceremony”, that leads to paradoxes and obviously absurd hypothetical situations.

Thus, the motive “chopped and poisoned” is explained by V. Propp by means of the contents of an initial ceremony. In the course of time a real murder, which is nonsense in itself, as an initiant should pass a ceremony of initiation, instead of fall a victim in sacrifice, was replaced, according to V. Propp by cutting off a finger. But then all masculine population of archaic communities should be entirely adactylous, and it is not so.

Similar discrepancies arise in cases of explanation of ritual defloration of women who have already given birth and in other similar absurd statements which testify that such illogical result of research cannot be considered satisfactory in any way.

Some other weaknesses are inherent in explanations by V. Propp concerning the sources of fairy tale structure, that are able to testify their incorrectness. Thus, he, in spite of a many times declared position that the structure of a fairy tale is determined by the initial, and also, partially, by other ceremonies, was never able to stay in limits of this key postulate.

Actually he pass to another level of "reality" connected not only with initial , but also funeral , wedding and calendar ceremonial and with beliefs which accompany them, including the developed forms of myth and religion , with cult of ancestors and totemistic cults . When explaining the origin of motives and episodes of a fairy tale he uses separate details of other ceremonies , in particular, sacrifices andbecoming related, adding to them national believes, and even imaginations, dreams and, an absolutely extreme case, the ability of people to forget. He also bases on data about customs , a common law and life , referring to such social phenomena, as transition from polygamy to monogamy , struggle for authority , on industrial activity.

Thus, in V. Propp’s works there are revealed such non-agreements which allow to speak about "abnegation" of his own concept. The reason of this is, obviously, in incorrectness of his basic postulate, that’s why V. Propp, contrary to his insistent declaration, is compelled to admit involuntarily the fact, that the structure of a fairy tale by no means corresponds to the structure of an initial ceremony and to ceremonial realities in general. It is the evidence of an obvious internal inconsistency of his paradigmatic concept. Finally, the results got by V. Propp are regarded as arguments in favour of ascertaining of his conceptual failure.

Taking into account an obvious discrepancy of the structure of a fairy tale reconstructed by V. Propp and an unsatisfactory explanation of its “historical roots” we put forward a deductive hypothesis of a low level of universality of an universal-cultural structure of fairy tales and we find its empiric confirmation using a fairy tale material from examples of Antti Aarne, Steve Thompson, Roman Volkov, Vladimir Proppetc.

5. Falsification of the theory of V. Propp by means of increasing a level of universality of a deductive hypothesis about a universal-cultural structure of culture texts

In this chapter the purpose of research, which is defined in the name of the book, is realized by means of enlargement of empirical base of the put forward hypothesis with attraction of a wide file of texts of culture. First of all it is ascertained here, that all fairy tale material can be easily analyzed using such procedure when a universal-cultural contents is revealed in it. On this basis, it is offered to consider, that basic statements of V. Propp concerning the structure of a fairy tale text are incorrect as a matter of fact. Actually, the fairy tale has in its basis that deep invariant which is recreated from a combination of categories of ultimate bases and world outlook codes. But earlier this statement referred only to a fairy tale and consequently a hypothesis concerning the CUB-structure of the texts the culture had a low level of universality.

My further step was enlargement of the research field by means of distribution of the offered hypothesis on other texts of culture, so that on the basis of an objective (empirical) material of ceremonies, mythology, religion and literary and art consciousness to show their is universal-cultural structuredness.

Thus, the level of universality of the mentioned hypothesis has increased, owing to that it became possible to falsify the theory of V. Propp not only at a level of consequences or singular statements, but also at a level of its basic theses.

And really, the reference to a ceremonial material has shown, that both calendar ceremonies, and ceremonies of life cycle have a full CUB-structuredness in all known codes, in spite of what real was semeiotic in them. In other words, New Year's holidays, Pancake week (Carnival), Midsummer Night, ceremonies of a birth, wedding and funeral ceremonies have in their basis a triad „life – death – revival”.

In New Year's ceremonies (originally – spring ceremonies) it is shown, in particular, in their typological identity with funeral repast (twelve dishes, boiled rice with raising and honey, prohibition to sleep, a table-cloth which is prepared for funeral, candles, etc.) and also arrival of the died ancestors (carols with weird attributes) which should help the forces of life in the coming year.

In spring ceremonies it is embodied in a duel of forces of death and forces of life (fisticuffs), in trains-catafalques which bury winter, in swinging-copulations of youth on the hills.

In summer ceremonies the matter concerns dying and revival of a deity (Yarylo, Chіurylo, Mara, Marena, Madder ), a sexual freedom of participants of a ceremony is allowed, and they, being joined in pairs, render a divine married couple of Adonis and Aphrodite (at us – Ivan and Mary) with a derived institute of nepotism with the allowed in its limits sexual relations between godfather and godmother, canalized later on Midsummer Day, and nepotism on graves and during christening.

The perinatal ceremonies, called to remove a threat of death from the newborn child, get paradoxical features of courting death upon the child and its symbolical burial in limits of dialectic understanding of dying as a guarantee of revival. A well-known lullaby „Do not sleep on the edge...” has such continuation „Lullaby, lullaby, at once if you die, tomorrow mother’ll have a kissel and pancakes, this is your funeral repast … ”. In such a way the death was removed from a baby allocated: it will come, and there is already nobody to take away.

The ceremony of a social birth (initiation) in general has as semantic centre the idea of dying of an adolescent in the old status and revival in a new, adult status, through imitation of staying in „the world beyond”.

In wedding ceremonialism the towel, stepping over of which symbolizes passing the Styx, the „weirdness” of newly-weds (a prohibition of touching them and their movement as the dead, against the sun), identifications of getting married with dying (crying-lamentation), a veil of the bride as a muslin which covers the face of the deceased, etc. all these factors clearly indicate a mortally-immortal basis of all this ceremony.

And again, as well as in a New Year's holiday, there appear the died ancestors as only from their sanction the birth of a new member of a clan-tribe was allowed. At first it was shown in the form of a cult, when the bride copulated with a totem animal (a goat, a horse, a bull) in a "natural" way.

Then the right of superiority directly from a totem animal,passed to its personification, to the chieftain-priest. As a result, the first man of the bride at marriage night, often in presence of relatives, her mother and bridegroom, was not the bridegroom, but friends to the bridegroom, respected people of settlement and, according to absolutely recent ethnographic data on the Odessa area (1920th), the groomsman-boyar.

Residual echoes of this element of a wedding ceremony in a fairy tale is cohabitation of Mary and the Bear, and in modern weddings – a ritual seating of the newly-weds on the bear, sheep or bull skins, or, in a degenerated variant, on a fur coat or simply on a pillow.

To the same remnants concerns steady, but already not clear euphemism of conjugal infidelity - "to cuckold" (once the chieftain-totem, having copulated in public with the bride, gave his cap decorated with horns, to the bridegroom, handing him in such a way the force of ancestors). Thereby, the died ancestors symbolically generated a new life.

The main point of funeral ceremonialism is reduced, eventually, to marking this event as a system of actions which will provide an indispensable revival of the deceased, the display of that is an embryonic, crooked position of a died man in a hole-bosom or preservation of ashes in a cremation urn, in a vessel-womb.

To this range of reproduction of the basic formula „life – death – revival” refer also the erotic games of Europeans near the deceased, traditional strewing him with grain-seed (by the ancient Egyptians and modern Ukrainians) which should symbolically germinate, an Indo-Iranian ceremony of „dikshi”, reproduced already in a tomb for those who could not lead it during lifetime because of expensiveness, in the form of sexual poses a posteriori (dogstile) of man and woman, (imitation of self-conception of the dead with the purpose of reincarnation), copulation of the Kyїv combatants near a funeral fire with the widow of Duke „instead of the husband”, a ceremonial reconstruction in 19 century by Mordvinians of wedding during a funeral (including the ritual defloration of a died virgin by the Jews of Volhynia so that the devil could not copulate with her and she would not given birth to a dangerous monster) etc.