<<
>>

PROBLEMS OF AN EPIC HISTORICISM

N. Sozashvili Telavi State University, Telavi, Georgia

Summary. Explanation of mutual relations between separate genres and in-tragenre versions special interest is got with problems of an epic historicism to which in the newest scientific literature hardly paid the attention.

The typology of an epic historicism is simultaneously typology of epic genres, typology of development of epic creativity. The historicism cannot be isolated from art system; it makes one of its or­ganic qualities. The knowledge of topology and the general laws of epic creativity open opportunities of original scientific penetration into this world.

Key words: epic; historicism; folklore; national; poetry.

Studying of specificity of a genre historicism and revealing of func­tional - problem borders, in many aspects this specificity causing, pro­ceeds in our science, and all is more distinctly found out necessity of en­tering into such studying scientific - historical aspects. A genre variety of historical folklore reflects not only set of problems which are a national historical consciousness, and set of their decisions, but also movement of this consciousness. Process of genre evolution in historical folklore, for­mation of one genres, disappearance and fading of others, transfor­mations and changes of genres are connected to progress, with evolution of a folklore historicism, with opening all new opportunities of art knowledge of a history, that is, finally, with development of national judgment of the historical validity and with expansion of national histori­cal experience.

By way of studying this evolution, explanation of mutual relations between separate genres and intragenre versions special interest is got with problems of an epic historicism to which in the newest scientific lit­erature hardly paid the attention.

Nowadays it can take certainly for granted, that genres of national epic poetry represent consecutive, naturally arising types of art reflection of the validity and that an essential distinctive attribute for them is char­acter of a historicism.

The analysis of materials of epic creativity of many people has al­lowed establishing, that the epos develops from generalized-fantastic forms of a historicism, where structure-forming role historical concrete-ness gradually starts to play. This process has, apparently, universal character; it receives the expression in all elements of epic system, first of all - in topic, in epic characters, in the subject world, in representations about time and space.

Essential feature of epic creativity consists in successive connection of its stages and in irreversibility of general development.

It means that each new genre version of the epos definitely corre­sponds with typologically previous versions, grows by transformation and denying. It means also, that process goes only in one direction and those typologically later forms cannot generate the form archaic or be transformed to these last.

The question on typology of early forms of the national epos is combined enough and in the Georgian science continues to be discussed briskly. Besides it is complicated still that different researchers offer for relatives or even identical types various terms.

For us in this case these divergences have no special value as the certain unity of sights on the vi­tal issues is available. It is possible to take for granted, that early archaic kinds of the epos - «the mythological epos», «a powerful fairy tale», «epos before the state formation» - generation of a primitive - patrimo­nial society, in them are reflected struggle of the person against the na­ture and the major gains in this struggle, interbreeding collisions, in them have received heroic realization traditional primitive-communal norms of attitudes, representations and ideals of primitive collective. The image of acts primogenitor - the cultural hero, then - feats of rich peo­ple, a theme of heroic courtship, struggle against monsters, patrimonial revenge make the main maintenance of these archaic legends.

It would be naive in monuments of this type to search for reflection of any concrete events, and heroes of them to erect to any real prototypes. In archaic epos before the formation of state we find representations about set of the worlds or about the several worlds adjoining with that world in which epic heroes live, a fantasy invariable treated as a reality.

In an explanation of epic motives and images of us always traps danger of rectilinear their erection to real situations and attitudes. At such illustrative approach the hyperbole, for example, is treated as sim­ple increase or multiplication something real, the idealized image - as quite real description, spatial descriptions - as precisely corresponding to real topography, etc.

With the validity, about a measure and borders of its reliability it is necessary to solve a question on a parity of the archaic epos, obviously, in view of that the epic fantasy and an epic plan is not only original art pro­cessing of real experience of primitive collective, but they in themselves -from the point of view of epic consciousness - are real and should be con­sidered as the elements of the validity receiving the specific realization in system of representations, and also in ceremonies, magic actions, etc.

One of the best tasks will be to overcome inertia of the illustrated approach to a historicism of the archaic epos and to understand it in its specificity and complexity. And for this purpose it is necessary to study the laws of epic creativity regulating the character, borders and ways of devel­opment by the epos of the validity. It is especially important, that, appar­ently, the same laws were in own way transformed in later epic creativity.

Those researchers who erect many epic motives to household norms, ceremonial to practice and typical representations of a primitive society are certainly right.

So, for example, the major, structure-forming for the epos about courtship the motive of a choice of the bride outside that microcosm in which the hero lives, reflects the exogamic order of spoilage. Motives of epic tests of the groom, performance of difficult tasks by it, motives of ep­ic competitions also go back to marriage customs. A historic-household substantiation motives of searches by maidens - fighters' oppression find as well, and situations in which on the foreground role epic «the assistant to the groom» is put forward. Precisely as also other popular epic subject themes can be correlated, finally, to the various typical sides of a life, norms, ceremonies, social institutes, representations of the society living in conditions primary building.

The most general review of materials of the archaic epos shows, that its subject fund, no less than structure of characters, an arsenal of epic subjects, toponymic fund, etc., is formed on the basis of the typical, steadily repeating phenomena and attitudes of the validity.

Our attention should be involved not only in the presence of doubt­less connections between archaic epic subject and the validity, but also striking discrepancy of epic plots of a reality. The epos not simply reflects household attitudes, customs, real situations, but also essentially alters them. The phenomena of a life and a social life appear not in natural forms of the life, but also in the forms of past poetic processing which cannot be considered simply as a certain free game of imagination and which itself is caused by a level and specificity of epic consciousness, that is outlook and the art representations peculiar to the environment, creat­ing the epos. The historical-ethnographic substratum is exposed to trans­formation on the basis of real and ideal, mythological and fantastic con­cepts about the world, real experience of collective and its ideals, and the mechanics of this transformation on the basis of real and ideal, mytho­logical and fantastic concepts about the world, real experience of collec­tive and its ideals, and the mechanics of this transformation is adjusted by epic laws. One of them is the law of conflictness. Epic creativity always is based on revealing in this or that situation, in this or that ethnographic element of their validity conflict essence, the drama beginning. So, the courtship based on the exogamic norms, grows in the epos in the most dangerous enterprise demanding heroism and detection of special quali­ties, abounding with collisions, struggle, wonderful tests. The elementary household situation - a meeting of relatives after separation - includes obligatory unknown motives, quarrels. Duel with a bloody outcome, and on this basis sharply drama plots are created.

Other typical epic collisions arise when traditional household norms or ceremonies collide with new attitudes and concepts, rejected by a society or comprehended as contradicting to its moral principles.

The conflictness of epic subject formulas initially corresponds with basic for the archaic epos idea of inevitability and invincibility hero em­bodying force and optimism of collective. This idea finally defines struc­ture epic subjects and represents one of laws of epic creativity.

In bowels of the archaic epos there are such specific art features, as consecutive idealization of epic heroes and the world to which they be­long, represented hyperbola, reserve of the image, in particular - reserve of time and spatial descriptions, reserve of motivations, images of atti­tudes between characters.

In all cases when we would like to find out a real historical-ethnographic material in the archaic epos, it is necessary to reckon with that before us - based on specific work of art consciousness of generali­zation, the formular stereotypes representing independent poetic value.

Connections «the prototype - the hero» start to arise only at the latest stage of epic creativity - stages of the real-historical epos, classical expression-historical songs. These connections are included in wider sys­tem of a historicism of new type.

In works of last time with sufficient definiteness character of a his-toricism of this genre, presence in it of connections with epic tradition, bright expression in it of new aesthetic principles are revealed. It is estab­lished, in particular, that to a historical song fiction, but the nature and character of others are integrally peculiar, in comparison with fiction epic as it bases on the concrete facts really histories. At the reference to these concrete, to isolated facts the historical song finds out a material for gen­eralizations, for consciousness of typical subject themes of collisions of images. Thus the mechanism of selection, mastering and processing of a real material in any measure is not free from art laws, from authority of tradition.

The typology of genre historical songs should be considered, that in this genre also occurs - but only under the laws - poetic transformation of a history, its national judgment and art modeling. The poetry and a historicism not two different categories, they make non segmented unity which defines essence of a genre.

The question on a historic-phased attitude of different types of a folklore historicism which receives the expression in the ratio various genres recently was investigated on a material of folklore of various peo­ples. These researches have shown that the general laws which caused formation and development historic-song folklore of different peoples here are traced. The historical song is allocated from the classical epos as an independent genre. Its basic difference will consist in development of principles of a concrete historicism - the important gain of folklore aes­thetics. This process is irreversible, the historical song as a genre cannot return on a way of a historicism of the heroic epos. Separate products can test secondary influence of the epos, but the genre as a whole keeps es­sential attributes of qualitatively new folklore phenomenon. This law characterizes attitudes between the heroic epos and a historical song in folklore of many peoples.

Between the hero of the epos and the hero historical songs, from the point of view of an aesthetics and character of a historicism, it is pos­sible to see a basic difference by the example of the Georgian songs.

In Georgian folklore the modern researcher allocates three groups of songs which differ by genre principles and reflect different steps of de­velopment of an epic historicism: the songs of the heroic contents de­scribed genre, presence of fantastic, fantastic motives, family - house­hold ballads and songs of historical subjects.

Our review of types of an epic historicism would be incomplete, if we have not mentioned such genre version, as a historical ballad which sets an example of specific evolution of an epic historicism. There are ba­ses to believe, that the historical ballad grows, as well as a historical song, if not completely appreciably on ground of the epos and succession with it is connected.

Ballad historicism, however, is characterized by the complex of at­tributes and absence of some the attributes determining for other genres. As against heroic epic songs of a ballad do not conclude the image of military collisions of nation-wide scale, do not give wide epic pictures of struggle, do not draw powerful feats; to poetic system of ballads the hy­perbole, epic idealization, etc. are not peculiar. Contrary to historical songs the ballad has no obligatory aesthetic installation on historical concreteness and actual definiteness, on a poetic reconstruction of indi­vidual historical events. The contents of ballads cannot be dated and is exact, is commented, and heroes of them, as a rule, do not correspond with real prototypes. Historical conflicts, shocks and shifts in a national life receive household refraction in ballads. The historical ballad has the subject of a history becoming a life.

The high dramatic nature is inherent in ballads, in them there is al­so the heroic beginning shown here, however, not in powerful feats, and in moral stability of heroes. The typology of an epic historicism is simul­taneously typology of epic genres, typology of development of epic crea­tivity. The historicism cannot be isolated from art system; it makes one of its organic qualities. If we want to understand the attitude of the given genre to a history, we should study not realities, not a certain historical and ethnographic substratum, not names and annalistic echoes, but the epos as the whole, as the phenomenon of a folk art to which the certain aesthetic laws which represents the original art world are peculiar. The knowledge of topology and the general laws of epic creativity open oppor­tunities of original scientific penetration into this world.

Bibliography

1. Cistov K. V. (1976). Die Variabilitat als Problem der Theorie der Folklore.

2. Emeljanov L.I. 1978. Methodical questions of folklore. Moscow, publishing house "Science"

3. Putilov B. N. (1975). Historic-folklore process and a folklore aesthetics. Moscow, publishing house "Science"

4. Chikovani M. (1956) History of Georgian Folklore Word,Tbilisi, Publishing house of Scientific - Methodic Cabinet.

5. Jagodnishvili T. (2004), History of Georgian Folkloristic, I, Tbilisi, Publishing house of Tbilisi University.

<< | >>
Èñòî÷íèê: Äåâÿòûõ Ñåðãåé Þðüåâè÷. Îáùåñòâî, êóëüòóðà, ëè÷íîñòü. Àêòóàëüíûå ïðîáëåìû ñî­öèàëüíî-ãóìàíèòàðíîãî çíàíèÿ. 2012

Åùå ïî òåìå PROBLEMS OF AN EPIC HISTORICISM:

  1. ÑÎÄÅÐÆÀÍÈÅ
  2. Îáðàçöû ýññå
  3. ÓÑËÎÂÍÎ-ÄÎÑÐÎ×ÍÎÅ ÎÑÂÎÁÎÆÄÅÍÈÅ ÎÒ ÍÀÊÀÇÀÍÈß Â ÂÈÄÅ ËÈØÅÍÈß ÑÂÎÁÎÄÛ Â ÐÎÑÑÈÉÑÊÎÉ ÔÅÄÅÐÀÖÈÈ
  4. ÄÎÃÎÂÎÐ ÄÎÂÅÐÈÒÅËÜÍÎÃÎ ÓÏÐÀÂËÅÍÈß ÌÅÆÄÓ ÕÎÇßÉÑÒÂÓÞÙÈÌÈ ÑÓÁÚÅÊÒÀÌÈ: ÂÎÏÐÎÑÛ ÏÐÀÂÎÏÐÈÌÅÍÅÍÈß
  5. ÏÐÎÁËÅÌÛ ÐÅÃËÀÌÅÍÒÀÖÈÈ ÈÍÑÒÈÒÓÒÀ ÄÎÑÓÄÅÁÍÎÃÎ ÑÎÃËÀØÅÍÈß Î ÑÎÒÐÓÄÍÈ×ÅÑÒÂÅ
  6. ÑÊËÎÍÅÍÈÅ Ê ÏÎÒÐÅÁËÅÍÈÞ ÍÀÐÊÎÒÈ×ÅÑÊÈÕ ÑÐÅÄÑÒ ÈËÈ ÏÑÈÕÎÒÐÎÏÍÛÕ ÂÅÙÅÑÒÂ: ÓÃÎËÎÂÍÎ-ÏÐÀÂÎÂÀß ÕÀÐÀÊÒÅÐÈÑÒÈÊÀ
  7. ÐÅÀËÈÇÀÖÈß ÏÐÀÂÀ ÐÀÁÎÒÍÈÊÀ ÍÀ ÎÑÍÎÂÍÎÉ ÅÆÅÃÎÄÍÛÉ ÎÏËÀ×ÈÂÀÅÌÛÉ ÎÒÏÓÑÊ Â ÐÎÑÑÈÉÑÊÎÉ ÔÅÄÅÐÀÖÈÈ: ÏÐÎÁÅËÛ ÏÐÀÂÎÂÎÃÎ ÐÅÃÓËÈÐÎÂÀÍÈß
  8. ÝÑÒÅÒÈ×ÅÑÊÀß ÊÓËÜÒÓÐÀ — ÐÅÇÓËÜÒÀÒ ÑÎÖÈÀËÜÍÎÉ ÝÂÎËÞÖÈÈ ÎÁÙÅÑÒÂÀ
  9. ÓÏÐÀÆÍÅÍÈß
  10. ENVIRONMENT: The responsibility for the environment rests with the individual and not only with the government. Do you agree? (G, A)___________________
  11. 2. Among general similarities between Durkheim's and Weber's scientific perspectives
  12. U. Glinska Bialystok University of Technology, Bialystok, Poland
  13. ÂÀÐÈÀÍÒÛ ÝÊÇÀÌÅÍÀÖÈÎÍÍÛÕ ÇÀÄÀÍÈÉ[10]
  14. ÃËÀÂÀ ÂÎÑÜÌÀß ÍÅÁÅÑÍÎÅ ÖÀÐÑÒÂÎ
  15. ÈÑÒÎÐÈ×ÅÑÊÈÅ ÀÑÏÅÊÒÛ ÐÀÇÂÈÒÈß ÈÍÑÒÈÒÓÒÀ ÓÃÎËÎÂÍÎÃÎ ÑÓÄÎÏÐÎÈÇÂÎÄÑÒÂÀ  ÎÒÍÎØÅÍÈÈ ÍÅÑÎÂÅÐØÅÍÍÎËÅÒÍÈÕ Â ÐÎÑÑÈÈ
  16. ÀÍÒÈÒÐÈÍÈÒÀÐÈÇÌ È ÅÃÎ ÑÎÎÒÍÎØÅÍÈÅ (ÐÀÇÃÐÀÍÈ×ÅÍÈÅ) Ñ ÄÐÓÃÈÌÈ Ó×ÅÍÈßÌÈ ÐÀÄÈÊÀËÜÍÎÉ ÍÀÏÐÀÂËÅÍÍÎÑÒÈ Â ÊÎÍÒÅÊÑÒÅ ÐÅÔÎÐÌÀÖÈÈ Â ÂÊË
  17. Î ÏÐÎÁËÅÌÀÕ ÎÑÌÎÒÐÀ ÆÈËÈÙÀ Â ÓÃÎËÎÂÍÎÌ ÏÐÎÖÅÑÑÅ
  18. ÑÓÄ ÏÐÈÑßÆÍÛÕ Â ÐÎÑÑÈÈ:
  19. ÒÓÐÈÑÒÈ×ÅÑÊÎÅ ÏÓÒÅØÅÑÒÂÈÅ: ÏÐÀÂÎÂÛÅ ÀÑÏÅÊÒÛ