What is the traditional introduction to a fairy tale called? The meaning of the word beginning in the dictionary of literary terms

20.10.2019

Perhaps only a few people know what the beginning of a fairy tale is, but this section is often one of the most important factors in constructing the entire story of a fairy tale narrative. The beginning of a fairy tale is its beginning, which tells about the past life of the main characters, as well as about the history taking place in the world that affects the heroes of the fairy tale.

The beginning tends to describe images of cities, objects and other things that begin the story. It is in this part of the story that the author conveys one of the main ideas in the fairy tale and tries to interest the reader in the background of his fairy-tale world, laying down images for the subsequent narrative. This part also gives an idea of the world, embodying the text in the reader’s head, making him feel like he’s in a magical world. Often in Russian fairy tales, the beginning begins with the phrase “Once upon a time...”.

In general, we can say with accuracy that the beginning is an important part of the fairy tale, when compared with the end. After all, both of these parts carry moral values and show the formed characters of the main characters. It can also be noted that most of the beginnings of folk tales are distinguished by their diversity and structure, not showing the same type from fairy tale to fairy tale, but making it unique and interesting.

From early childhood, fairy tales delight people with their amazing stories about invincible knights and noble princesses who are ready to take any risks to find their happiness and fulfill their own dreams. They bring people good feelings and hope into their hearts, and help children form opinions about the world around them. The fairy tales themselves appeared in ancient times and carried within them a set of laws about nature, as well as lessons for people.

Russian fairy tales emerged from the passage of stories from generation to generation, thus, these stories were instructive in nature, giving people valuable advice. No one knows where the first fairy tale originated, because these stories are mentioned in the writings of ancient states. Our folk tales are divided into three types: about animals, magic and everyday ones. The most common fairy tales are stories about animals, and people have always considered fairy tales related to magic to be the most entertaining. In all the stories of fairy tales, the main thing that stands out is the basis of the struggle between good and evil and their eternal confrontation. The heroes of fairy tales, both good and evil, are only symbols of good and evil, forced to fight because of differences or the actions of each other. In some fairy tales it is usually difficult to distinguish between an evil character and a good one, such stories are often written by writers who tried to add something of their own to the story. In folk tales, there is always a dedicated main villain who opposes the good characters.

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The question “What words begin with?”, he will most likely name the phrase “Once upon a time...”. Indeed, this is the most common beginning of Russian folk songs. Someone else will definitely remember: “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state...” or “In the thirtieth kingdom, in the thirtieth state...” - and he will also be right.

Some fairy tales begin with the common word "one day." And in others, as, for example, in “The Three Kingdoms - Copper, Silver and Gold,” time is described as if more specifically, but still very vague, like a fairy tale: “In that ancient time, when the world was filled with goblins, witches and mermaids “When the rivers flowed with milk, the banks were jelly, and fried partridges flew across the fields...”

Russian folk tales from everyday life, more like jokes, do without traditional beginnings. For example, “One man had a grumpy wife...” or “Two brothers lived in the same village.”

Similar beginnings can be found not only in Russian folk tales, but also in fairy tales of other peoples.

What are all these sayings talking about? Everything is very simple. The listener or reader is immediately brought into action and finds out with whom, where and at what time the fabulous events will take place. And is waiting for the continuation. It is also important that these phrases are rhythmically constructed in such a way as to create a certain melodiousness.

The origins of author's fairy tales

At A.S. Pushkin’s “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” brings together two fairy-tale beginnings:
“Nowhere, in the distant kingdom,
In the thirtieth state,
Once upon a time there lived a glorious king Dadon.”

Many fairy tales do not begin with traditional phrases. For example, the first line in Andersen’s fairy tale “Flint” is: “A soldier was walking along the road: one-two! one-two!”

Or here’s an example of the beginning of Astrid Lindgren’s fairy tales: “In the city of Stockholm, on the most ordinary street, in the most ordinary house, lives the most ordinary Swedish family named Svanteson.” (“Baby and Carlson”) “On the night Roni was supposed to be born, thunder rumbled.” (“Roni is the daughter of a robber”)

But even here it can be seen that fairy tales begin either with the introduction of a hero, or with a designation of the scene of action, or talk about time.

It is very rare to find fairy tales, the beginning of which is devoted to lengthy descriptions. Usually the beginnings are quite dynamic.

For example, one of the most beloved Russian children's poets, Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky, without any introduction, immediately, as if on the run, introduces the reader into the thick of fairy-tale events. “The blanket ran away, the sheet flew away, and the pillow hopped away from me like a frog.” (“Moidodyr”) “The sieve gallops through the fields, and the trough through the meadows.” (“Fedorino’s grief”)

A good beginning in a fairy tale is important. The mood with which the listener or reader will plunge into the story depends on it.

28.09.2017

An integral part of any fairy tale is the presence in it of such structural components as a beginning, a saying or chorus, and an ending. Each of these parts plays its own specific and very important role in the system of the entire genre. All this is a special formula of style, which determines the enduring interest in the fairy tale, with its rich ideological content, clarity and purity of expressed thoughts, artistic precision and entertaining plot.

Saying

Usually fairy tales, and especially fairy tales, begin their narrative with a saying. The main task of such a beginning is to immerse the reader in the special atmosphere of a fantasy world and tune him, the reader or listener, to the desired perception of the fairy-tale events of the entire work.

From the first lines, magical space seems to envelop us thanks to the saying, despite the fact that it is relatively small in size. One has only to remember the well-known cat Bayun, who walks rhythmically and sings his songs along a powerful oak tree towering on an island in the middle of the “ocean”.

It is surprising that a special mood designed to help comprehend the full depth and wisdom of folk thought is born not from pompous edification, but with the help of humor, which is characteristic of the saying. The use of wordplay and elements of some confusion help rid the tale of an unnecessary moralizing tone, but retain its educational purpose.

Initiation

The next integral component of any fairy tale is the beginning. Its goal is to perform several important tasks, and, first of all, it is to provide the reader with sufficient information to help him form a correct idea about the heroes of the fairy tale, and in the further course of the story, correctly understand and evaluate their characters, way of thinking, cause-and-effect connections between their behavior and actions.

Thus, the beginning introduces us to fairy-tale characters and sends us to the right time and place of the events described. Already from the beginning it becomes obvious that the language of the fairy tale is completely special, not similar to the speech familiar to our ears - it is worth remembering the traditional “once upon a time” or “the fairy tale is told.”

Ending

But any fairy-tale action must inevitably be brought to its logical conclusion, and here comes the time of the ending with the goal of finishing the story being told. Usually, this task is accomplished by already familiar and quite stable sayings: “they live and live and make good things” or “it flowed down your mustache, but didn’t get into your mouth.”

But the ending is not always some obvious conclusion; the author may well end his story unexpectedly and suddenly. But he must not forget that the ending, nevertheless, must be composed competently, so that it certainly contains conclusions about what was told.

The fairy tale genre is also characterized by the abundant use of repetitions, the true purpose of which is to bring the action of the work closer to its completion, denouement. Repetitions, each time pointing to certain details of an object, character or phenomenon, serve the purpose of strengthening the impression on the reader.

A special role here is played by details repeated three times: three sons, three heads of the serpent Gorynych, three tests given to the hero.

Poetic parts of fairy tales

In many fairy tales there are also poetic parts, with special rhyming. In this way, the tale’s own melody, motive, melodiousness and musical mood in general are created. A “fairy tale” verse can usually include a different number of syllables, but the stresses are predominantly equal in number.

This leads to another feature of fairy-tale storytelling - you can often find a fairy tale akin to a song. Often beautiful maidens sing their sad thoughts on the shore of a clear lake, or a vociferous cockerel calls for help with a song, having fallen into the cunning clutches of an agile fox.

From the last example, we can also conclude that onomatopoeia is also widespread in fairy tales.

Dialogues in a fairy tale are always lively and natural. Through intonation, characters often betray their true intentions and not always their inherent positive qualities - for example, the speech of a fox will certainly be filled with flattery, and the voice of a soldier will remain brisk, even and harmonious in any situation.

The richness of the tale with various kinds of repetitions, parallelism, rhythmic structures and other unique means of expressive speech undoubtedly proves the colorfulness and richness of the living folk language. Preserving and passing on from generation to generation high concepts about the content of good and evil, justice, truth and other moral values, a fairy tale is the source of all the most important life definitions and patterns.

Yulia Korotkova spoke about the structure of fairy tales

BEGINNING

A stable verbal formula with which fairy tales, epics and other works of oral folk art begin: “In a certain kingdom, the thirtieth state, once upon a time ...” (fairy tales); “As it was in the city and in Murom...”; “How Vladimir, the prince of Stolnya-Kyiv // Got angry with the old Cossack Ilya Muromets, // Put him in a deep cellar, // Deep in a cold one...” (epic Z.). The purpose of the sign largely coincides with the function of exposition (see exposition) in a work of art: it can indicate the time and place of what is happening, name the characters, and prepare for the perception of the plot of the story. Z. should not be confused with a saying (see saying) or an epic chant.

Dictionary of literary terms. 2012

Fairy tale and its genre varieties

Fairy tales can be different. The main classification divides them as follows:

1. A tale about animals. The main characters and actors are animals. In Russian literature, every animal is an allegory of some human quality. For example, the fox represents cunning, the hare - cowardice, etc.

2. A fairy tale. It has a rather complex composition. The beginning of such a fairy tale, as a rule, is the beginning. In a fairy tale, this is an indispensable condition that expresses morality, the main thought and idea.

3. Novelistic fairy tale. A hero is a person who does amazing things. Only if in fairy tales the hero is helped by magical objects or unusual animals, then in short stories the character uses only his mind.

4. Everyday fairy tale. It talks about a person's life in an ordinary world without magic.

Each fairy tale begins differently. The beginnings of Russian fairy tales deserve great attention, however, before considering them, it is necessary to become familiar with the structural elements of a traditional fairy tale.

Fairy tale structure

The fairy tale begins with the beginning. After it, the main events begin. The hero finds himself in an unusual situation. Then, in the tale, twists and turns occur—actions. The characters intersect with each other. The most crucial moment comes - the climax. After the climax there is a decline in events, and subsequently there is a denouement.

This is the structure of an ordinary story.

A little about the beginning

The beginning of a fairy tale is the beginning of the fairy tale. It can be short (consist of one sentence), or it can be a whole paragraph long. The opening introduces the reader to a fairy tale story. He gives initial information about the characters, for example, “once upon a time there was a peasant.”

The beginning of a fairy tale is a small digression that sets the tone of the story. The main goals of the initiative:

1. Attract the attention of listeners. The beginnings of Russian folk tales can be a proverb or a saying. The reader or listener becomes interested in how this fairy tale is connected with the sentence indicated in the beginning.

2. Set the tone for the story. The beginning often determines the genre of the work. Russian classics also used a similar technique, for example, Saltykov-Shchedrin begins the fairy tale “The Wise Minnow” with the words: “Once upon a time there was a minnow.”

Thus, the beginning is the main structural unit of a fairy tale, which sets the reader up to read the work and determines the genre's originality.

Beginnings in Russian fairy tales

It is difficult to find a person who could not remember at least one beginning. In a fairy tale, this is the main part, so it is difficult to do without it.

Most fairy tales begin with the words “once upon a time...”, “once upon a time...”. The peculiarity of this beginning is the repeated repetition of words with the same root.

No less famous are the beginnings of Russian folk tales, beginning with the words “in a certain kingdom, in a certain state...”. A similar beginning is “in the distant kingdom, in the thirtieth state...”. Such introductions are typical of fairy tales.

Sometimes fairy tales open with sayings with the word “beginning,” for example, “the beginning is the beauty of the matter” or “every business has a beginning, every tale has a beginning.” After this introduction, the story itself begins.

Thus, we can draw the following conclusion: the beginning is a special beginning of a fairy tale, characteristic of works of Russian folklore. It can act either as an element of the composition of a fairy tale, or carry a certain semantic load.