Page 421 - Актуальные проблемы обучения русскому языку XIII

ТРАДИЦИИ И АВТОРСКАЯ ИНДИВИДУАЛЬНОСТЬ В «СКАЗКЕ О МЕРТВОЙ ЦАРЕВНЕ И О
СЕМИ БОГАТЫРЯХ» А.С. ПУШКИНА

TRADITIONS AND AUTHOR’S INDIVIDUALITY IN “THE TAIL OF THE DEAD PRINCESS AND THE
SEVEN KNIGHTS” BY A.S. PUSHKIN

Сергей Анатольевич Васильев

Резюме: Ш. Перро сюжет о «спящей красавице» рисует как «куртуазное» (дворцовое) происшествие.
Братья Гримм находят художественное «равновесие» между изображением волшебного и
человеческими, бытовыми мотивировками поступков в сказочном сюжете. В.А. Жуковский, не оставляя
беглой обрисовки образов, в рамках сказочного сюжета пытаясь сделать поведение героев более
«личностным», основное внимание уделяет художественному постижению природы волшебного.
А.С. Пушкин, литературно переработав как фольклорный, так и литературный материал, христианский
миф, создает яркую, соответствующую духу национальной культуры художественную концепцию любви
и брака.

Ключевые слова: авторская индивидуальность, национальная культура, концепция любви и брака

Abstract: The «sleeping beauty» plot is rendered by Charles Perrault as a courtly one. Turning to this fairy plot,
the Brothers Grimm find artistic «balance» between the magic and human or everyday motivations of certain
actions. V.A. Zhukovsky provides only a cursory rendering of the imagery, but tries to picture his characters as
individuals in the context of this fairy-tale plot; at the same time, the poet focuses on artistic investigation of
the magic. Against this background, A.S. Pushkin performs remarkable synthesis. He artistically combines
folkloric materials with Christian myth and literary works, thus creating conception of love and marriage within
the spirit of the national culture.

Key words: Author’s individuality, national culture, conception of love and marriage

Now let’s give a detailed example of how tradition, influences, literary school, and
cultural epoch could actively contribute to the forming of author’s literary image as well as
to the one of artistic work as a whole, without necessarily negating individual principle, but,
on the contrary, developing personal aspect and providing it with material for creative
activities. One such typical work (among many others) is «The Tale of the Dead Princess and
the Seven Knights» (1833) by A.S. Pushkin. As mentioned above, he was a proteistic poet and
a master of artistic disguise. Thanks to this, cultural tradition and creative findings of his
contemporaries were treated by Pushkin with exclusive sharpness. The «wandering» plot
(i.e. the one, already widespread in the world literature and folklore) of «sleeping beauty»
was used by the poet for his fairy tale. According to A.N. Afanasyev, the Indo-European myth
«of the nature’s creative powers represented as a deity falling asleep and then awakening»
(Афанасьев, 1995, 228) is the source of this plot or, in other words, the mythical changing
seasons are implied here. The scholar noted that «the goddess of spring (or the virgin of
sun), being exhausted by the witch of winter or being obscured by the demonic serpent,
currently loses her splendid beauty and gains it anew at the end of the ordeal period»
(Афанасьев 1995, 317). The rescuer of the «beautiful princess» overcomes the «whole
ordeal», «he should hold her hand and remain absolutely silent, without fear of the
diabolical apparitions» or, according to another version, there is «a kiss annihilating the
influence of the sorcery» (Афанасьев 1995, 318). Among other folk and poetic plots and
motifs, the motif of the searching for husband is cognate to A.S. Pushkin’s «The Tale of the
Dead Princess and the Seven Knights». This motif of Slavic origin was also described by
A.N. Afanasyev: «the beloved beauty lost her darling and so took to the road; after a long

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