Introduction

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin in his work chose the satirical principle of depicting reality with the help of elements of fantasy as a sure weapon. He became the successor of the traditions of D.I. Fonvizin, A.S. Griboedov, N.V. Gogol in that he made satire his political weapon, fighting with it sharp questions of his time.

M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote more than 30 fairy tales. Appeal to this genre was natural for Saltykov-Shchedrin. Elements of fantasy permeate all the writer's work. In the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin, political problems are developed, topical issues. Defending the advanced ideals of his time, the author acted in his works as a defender popular interests. Enriching folklore stories with new content, Saltykov-Shchedrin directed the genre of fairy tales to instill civic feelings and special respect for the people.

The purpose of the abstract is to study the role of fantasy elements in the works of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin.

The originality of the fairy tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin

Saltykov-Shchedrin refers to the fairy tale genre in his work more than once: first in 1869, and then after 1881, when historical conditions(the assassination of the king) led to increased censorship.

Like many writers, Saltykov-Shchedrin uses the fairy tale genre to reveal the vices of man and society. Written for "children of a fair age," the fairy tales are a sharp criticism of the existing system and, in essence, serve as a weapon incriminating the Russian autocracy.

The themes of the fairy tales are very diverse: the author not only opposes the vices of autocracy (“The Bear in the Voivodeship”, “Bogatyr”), but also denounces noble despotism (“The Wild Landowner”). The satirist especially condemns the views of the liberals (“Karas-idealist”), as well as the indifference of officials (“Idle conversation”) and philistine cowardice (“ wise gudgeon”).

However, there is a theme that, one might say, is present in many fairy tales - this is the theme of the oppressed people. In the fairy tales “How one man fed two generals”, “Konyaga” it sounds especially bright.

Themes and problems determine the variety of characters acting in these witty satirical works. These are stupid rulers, who strike with their ignorance and tyrant landowners, officials and townsfolk, merchants and peasants. Sometimes the characters are quite reliable, and we find in them the features of specific historical figures, and sometimes the images are allegorical and allegorical.

Using the folklore and fairy-tale form, the satirist covers the most pressing issues of Russian life, acts as a defender of popular interests and advanced ideas.

The tale “The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals” stands out from all of them with its special dynamism, variability of the plot. The writer uses a fantastic technique - the generals, as if “by pike command”, are transferred to a desert island, and here the writer, with his characteristic irony, demonstrates to us the complete helplessness of officials and their inability to act.

“The generals served all their lives in some kind of registry; there they were born, brought up and grew old, therefore, they did not understand anything. They didn't even know the words." Due to their stupidity and narrow-mindedness, they almost starved to death. But a man comes to their aid, who is a master of all trades: he can hunt and cook food. The image of a “hefty man” in this tale personifies both the strength and weakness of the Russian people. Mastery, his extraordinary abilities are combined in this image with humility, class passivity (the man himself weaves a rope to be tied to a tree at night). Having collected ripe apples for the generals, he takes for himself sour, immature, and besides, he was glad that the generals “praised him, a parasite, and did not disdain him for peasant labor.”

The tale of two generals suggests that the people, according to Saltykov-Shchedrin, are the backbone of the state, they are the creator of material and spiritual values.

The theme of the people is developed in another fairy tale by Saltykov-Shchedrin - “Konyaga”, which was created in 1885. In style, it differs from others in the absence of action.

This tale is called the strongest work in the series dedicated to the plight of the Russian peasantry. The image of a horse-worker is collective. He personifies the entire forced laborer people, it reflects the tragedy of millions of peasants, this enormous force, enslaved and disenfranchised.

In this tale, the theme of the obedience of the people, their wordlessness and lack of desire to fight also sounds. Konyaga, “tortured, beaten, narrow-chested, with protruding ribs and burned shoulders, with broken legs” - such a portrait is created by the author, who mourns for the unenviable fate of a disenfranchised people. Reflections on the future, the fate of the people are painful, but filled with selfless love.

In the fairy tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin, with the help of Aesopian language, elements of fantasy, folk traditions and satirical devices different themes are heard.

What brings the fairy tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin closer to folk tales? Typical fairy-tale beginnings ("Once upon a time there were two generals ...", "In a certain kingdom, in a certain state there lived a landowner ..."; sayings ("at the command of a pike", "neither in a fairy tale to say, nor to describe with a pen" ); characteristic for folk speech turns ("thought and thought", "it is said - it is done"); close to vernacular syntax, vocabulary, orthoepy. Exaggeration, grotesque, hyperbole: one of the generals eats the other; the “wild landowner”, like a cat, climbs a tree in an instant; a man cooks soup in a handful. As in folk tales, a miraculous incident ties up the plot: by the grace of God, "there was no peasant in the entire space of the stupid landowner's possessions." folk tradition Saltykov-Shchedrin also follows in fairy tales about animals, when he ridicules the shortcomings of society in allegorical form.

Difference: the interweaving of the fantastic with the real and even historically reliable. “The Bear in the Voivodeship”: among the characters - animals, the image of Magnitsky, a famous reactionary in Russian history, suddenly appears: even before Toptygin appeared in the forest, all printing houses were destroyed by Magnitsky, students were given into soldiers, academicians were imprisoned. In the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner" the hero gradually degrades, turning into an animal. Incredible story the hero is largely due to the fact that he read the newspaper "Vest" and followed its advice. Saltykov-Shchedrin at the same time keeps the form folk tale and destroys it. The magic in the fairy tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin is explained by the real, the reader cannot escape from reality, which is constantly felt behind the images of animals, fantastic events. Fairy-tale forms allowed Saltykov-Shchedrin to present ideas close to him in a new way, to show or ridicule social shortcomings.

“The wise minnow” is an image of a frightened inhabitant to death, who “protects everything only his hateful life.” Can the slogan "survive and the pike not get into hailo" be the meaning of life for a person?

The theme of the tale is connected with the defeat of the Narodnaya Volya, when many representatives of the intelligentsia, frightened, withdrew from public affairs. A type of coward is created, pathetic, unhappy. These people did no harm to anyone, but lived their lives aimlessly, without impulses. This tale is about the civic position of a person and about the meaning human life. In general, the author appears in a fairy tale in two faces at once: a folk storyteller, a simple joker, and at the same time a man wise life experience, writer-thinker, citizen. Details interspersed in the description of the life of the animal kingdom with its inherent details real life of people. The language of the fairy tale combines fabulous words and phrases, the spoken language of the third estate and the journalistic language of that time.

The writing

M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin created more than 30 fairy tales. Appeal to this genre was natural for the writer. Fairy-tale elements (fantasy, hyperbole, conventionality, etc.) permeate all of his work. Themes of fairy tales: despotic power (“The Bear in the Voivodeship”), masters and slaves (“The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals”, “The Wild Landowner”), fear as the basis of slave psychology (“The Wise Gudgeon”), hard labor (“Konyaga”), etc. The unifying thematic principle of all fairy tales is the life of the people in its correlation with the life of the ruling classes.

What brings the fairy tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin closer to folk tales? Typical fairy-tale beginnings ("Once upon a time there were two generals ...", "In a certain kingdom, in a certain state there lived a landowner ..."; sayings ("at the command of a pike", "neither in a fairy tale to say, nor to describe with a pen" ); turnarounds characteristic of folk speech (“thought and thought”, “said and done”); syntax, vocabulary, orthoepy close to the folk language. As in folk tales, a miraculous incident sets up a plot: two generals “suddenly found themselves on a desert island ”; by the grace of God, “there was a peasant in the entire space of the possessions of a stupid landowner.” Saltykov-Shchedrin also follows the folk tradition in fairy tales about animals, when he ridicules the shortcomings of society in allegorical form.

Differences. The interweaving of the fantastic with the real and even historically authentic. “A bear in the voivodeship” - among the characters-animals, the image of Magnitsky, a famous reactionary in Russian history, suddenly appears: even before the Toptygins appeared in the forest, all printing houses were destroyed by Magnitsky, students were given into soldiers, academicians were imprisoned. In the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner" the hero gradually degrades, turning into an animal. The incredible story of the hero is largely due to the fact that he read the Vesti newspaper and followed its advice. Saltykov-Shchedrin simultaneously respects the form of a folk tale and destroys it. The magic in the fairy tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin is explained by the real, the reader cannot escape from reality, which is constantly felt behind the images of animals, fantastic events. Fairy-tale forms allowed Saltykov-Shchedrin to present ideas close to him in a new way, to show or ridicule social shortcomings.

“The wise gudgeon” is the image of a frightened layman to death, who “protects everything only for his cold life.” Can the slogan “survive and the pike not get into hailo” be the meaning of life for a person?

fairy tale and fairy tale fantasy have always been close to the work of the satirist. He used them both in The History of a City (Organchik, a mayor with a stuffed head), and in Modern Idyll (The Tale of a Zealous Chief), and in the series of essays Abroad (A Triumphant Pig, or conversation of a pig with the truth"), and in "Satires in Prose". Russian folk tales attracted the writer with their life truth, sly humor, constant condemnation of evil, injustice, stupidity, betrayal, cowardice, laziness, glorification of goodness, nobility, intelligence, fidelity, courage, diligence, malicious mockery of the oppressors, sympathy and love for the oppressed. In fantastic, fabulous images, the people reflected the phenomena reality, and this made fairy tales akin to Shchedrin's talent.

In total, the writer created more than 30 fairy tales, and the vast majority of them - in the 80s. This is no coincidence: in the 1980s, censorship oppression intensified unheard of, the autocracy mercilessly cracked down on revolutionary organizations, and a hail of persecution fell upon progressive literature. In April 1884, the best journal of the era, Fatherland Notes, was closed, headed by Shchedrin for many years. The writer, in his words, "was taken away, crumpled and sealed soul." In this era of “unbridled, incredibly senseless and brutal reaction” (V. I. Belinsky), it was difficult to live, writing was almost impossible. But the reactionaries failed to silence the voice of the great satirist. Faithful to his revolutionary duty, Shchedrin continued to serve those ideas for which he devoted his entire life. “I disciplined myself so much,” he wrote, “that it seems that I won’t allow myself to die without working out.”

During these years of unprecedented revelry of reaction, Shchedrin created most of his brilliant fairy tales.

The hostility of the autocracy to the people, culture and art is beautifully shown in the fairy tale "The Eagle-Maecenas". The predatory and merciless eagle, who was used to robbing, was “sickened of living in alienation,” he, on the advice of those close to him, began to “patronize” the sciences and arts, although he himself was ignorant and “never ... had never seen a single newspaper.” The “golden age” at the court of the eagle patron began with the fact that a new tax called “enlightenment” was determined from the crows. The golden age did not last long, however. The eagle tore his teachers - the owl and the falcon - in two, the nightingale for the fact that "art" in it could not sit in the servile framework and constantly stuck out to freedom ... ... in shackles and imprisoned in a hollow forever”; then followed a pogrom at the academy, where the owls and owls protected science “from a dashing eye”, the alphabet was taken away from the crows, “they pounded it in a mortar and from the resulting mass they made playing cards". The tale ends with the thought that "enlightenment is harmful to eagles ..." and that "eagles are harmful to education."

Shchedrin subjected tsarist officials to merciless ridicule in "The Tale of the Zealous Chief ...". In this tale, the great Russian writer Shchedrin gives the type of bureaucrat-tyrant, very limited and stupid, but extremely self-confident and zealous. All the activity of this tyrant was reduced to the fact that he "stopped the people's food, abolished the people's health, burned the letters and scattered the ashes in the wind." In order to “poke the fatherland” even more, the boss and the “bastards” around him act according to the program they created: “So that we, the bastards, speak, and the others remain silent ... So that we, the bastards, live in a habit, and the rest of us, so that not a bottom, there was no cover. So that we, scoundrels, are kept in the hall and in tenderness, and the rest of all - in shackles.

This program created by the "scoundrels" truthfully reflected the contemporary reality of the writer, when genuine, and not fabulous, "zealous bosses" acted according to the rule; “The more harm the boss does, the more benefit he brings to the fatherland. Science will abolish - good; the city will burn - good; the population will frighten - even more benefit.

In the fairy tale "Bogatyr" Shchedrin portrayed the autocracy in the image of the "hero", the son of the Baba Yaga, who slept soundly in a hollow for a thousand years, and the people - in the image of the fool Ivanushka. During the time that the “hero” slept, his long-suffering side “had all the pains”, and not once did the “hero” either move his ear or move his eye to find out why the earth was moaning all around. The “hero” did not move even when the country was attacked by cruel and inexorable “adversaries”. "Bogatyr", personifying autocracy, turns out to be an imaginary god
tyrem, moreover, rotten through and through. “At that time, the fool Ivanushka approached the Bogatyr, broke the hollow with his fist - he looks, but the Viper’s torso was eaten away from the Bogatyr right up to the very neck.”

In all these fairy tales, a disguised call for the destruction of the autocracy was well understood by readers.

Why I love my lyceum (essay-story based on what I saw) ... Excitement... Flowers... New briefcase... New friends. This was the beginning of my path of study at the Lyceum. There were, of course, worries: how they would accept, what with ...

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1. The concept and typologies of fairy tales.
2. Folk tale and author's tale.
3. Gallery of images of fairy-tale characters.
4. From a landowner and a general to an intellectual and a peasant.
5. The influence of Shchedrin's fairy tales on Russian literature -

A fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it ...
A. S. Pushkin

Fairy tale - special, fantastic and real world. In a small text, there is often a special meaning - here you can find real advice for a particular life situation, and see the concept of the worldview, and get a banal pleasure from a fascinating, breathtaking plot. Since ancient times, fairy tales have been divided into several types: fairy tales, fairy tales about people and fairy tales about animals. There were fairy tales intended for the entertainment of children, and there were - for education. There are stories for an adult ear, and there are fairy tales in which everyone can find something exciting, interesting, and useful for themselves.

Fairy tales were treated very carefully, trying to convey the meaning, preserving the smallest nuances of meaning. Often even the word order carried a special semantic load and did not lend itself to change.

M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin is the successor fairy tradition D. I. Fonvizina, A. S. Griboyedov, N. V. Gogol. The position of city governor, which the writer held for quite a long time, showed him all the vices of modern Russian society gave good reason to think about future fate Russia. Through the genre of fairy tales, the writer creates a kind of encyclopedia of Russian life. The tales were the result of reflections of forty years of life and resulted in intensive four years of work. They are created from 1882 to 1886.

Shchedrin was prompted to turn to such a seemingly frivolous genre whole line good reasons. On the one hand, the difficult political situation in the country, characterized by moral terror, persecution of the intelligentsia by the police departments, the defeat of populism did not allow the writer to directly identify and criticize the existing regime. At best, such a work would not have gone to print; at worst, the author of a heretical work would have faced at least hard labor. On the other hand, the fairy tale genre has always been close in spirit and style to the satirical writer. Hyperbole, fantasy, irony - standard fairy tale devices for decorating speech - were also characteristic of Shchedrin's style as a whole. The democracy of this genre made it possible to better convey the meaning of the work common people, and treating it as a childish and frivolous work would allow avoiding responsibility for anti-government thoughts. In his fairy tales, Shchedrin makes extensive use of speech techniques created by the people. According to the canons, many of his texts begin with a beginning (“we lived and were”, “in a certain kingdom, in a certain state”), proverbs, sayings, sayings are used (“The horse runs - the earth trembles”, “Two deaths cannot happen, one cannot be avoided "). The writer is close to folk art and the general concept of the inner space of the work - fantastic images, grotesque characters, traditional repetition of plot elements.

But Saltykov-Shchedrin does not copy the entire fairy-tale space - he creates own world and populates it with modern, actual characters. First of all, it is uncharacteristic for folk epic image of the author. He is shaded, covered with a mask of a good-natured narrator, his sly, sarcastic grin. Otherwise, the main fairy-tale image is depicted - the image of a peasant. The fairy tale is characterized by his indisputable superiority over the master - he always defeats him, leaving the rich man in the cold. Shchedrin is ambivalent about this image. The man in his fairy tales often turns out to be fools, although he is undoubtedly endowed with a fair amount of sharpness and dexterity. In particular, in the fairy tale “How one man fed two generals,” this same man, possessing simply fantastic capabilities, makes a fool of himself by tying a rope on the orders of the generals and tying himself to a tree: “So that he doesn’t run away.”

In essence, Shchedrin manages to create a new, hitherto unseen genre of the Russian political fairy tale. And these author's tales reflect the brightest representatives Russian society late XIX century. The entire social anatomy is shown, all classes of society are represented - from the peasantry and the peasantry, to the merchants and representatives of the royal power.

The fairy tale "The Bear in the Voivodeship" presents a rough, uncouth and uneducated royal power, illiterately governing the country and giving a damn about education. Another Toptygin, occupying the rank of governor, feels a desire to immediately find some kind of institution in order to immediately burn it down. The author makes the Donkey, a living allegory of stubbornness and stupidity, the main sage and adviser to Leo, a royal person. That is why such devastation is happening in the country.

The author makes extensive use of hyperbole, often giving fairy tales the most unexpected meaning and making their plots original and memorable. So in the story "The Wild Landowner" a landowner is shown who hates the peasants with all his heart and wants them to disappear. As a result, all the serfs disappear, leaving him alone and desolated. The landowner eats only gingerbread, does not take care of himself: “He is all ... overgrown with hair ... and his claws have become like iron.” Only then does it become clear that his entire economy and prosperous life rested solely on the labor of the people.

In The Wise Minnow, the author portrays such an intelligentsia that consciously left the struggle for the world of personal interests and concerns. The layman-minnow hides from the terrible world around him, walling himself up in a hole and is proud of himself: "he was too clever." And in the end, his life develops into only one phrase: "He lived - trembled, died - trembled."

Is in the gallery fabulous images, created by the brilliant mind of Shchedrin, such heroes as the intellectual dreamer ("Karas-idealist"), and the autocrat, playing the role of a philanthropist ("Eagle-philanthropist"), and worthless generals, and the submissive " selfless hare”, hoping for the mercy of the“ predators ”(this is another side of the slave psychology!), And many others, reflecting historical era, with its social evil and democratic ideas.

With his works in the fairy tale genre, Shchedrin rightfully earned his calling. He proved an excellent command of the Aesopian language and incredible in its strength and variety of imagination. The original folk fantasy of a fabulous space is combined with a recognizable, realistic depiction of the surrounding reality. Exaggeration, satire and irony make it possible to highlight those aspects of a person's life that first of all need to be changed for the better.

content:

"Tales" by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin occupy a special place in Russian literature. Although their themes are similar to those of the works of many writers, nevertheless, "Tales" are unique due to their artistic originality and manner of presentation.

Shchedrin used the fairy tale genre to avoid censorship attacks, and also to make it easier for the reader to understand the absurdity of the situations depicted in the work. The allegorical manner of narration has great advantages. After all, a neutral narrative does not create a vivid picture of human vices, does not generate disgust for the existing system. The wise simplicity of the fairy tale allowed the author to present his views on the problems, his attitude towards them in a concise, generalized form, without losing their significance and sharpness. In addition, of all genres, the fairy tale is closest to popular understanding.

In "Tales" the writer uses folklore elements, since ancient times used by the people in their oral art. For example, in the beginning of his works, Shchedrin uses the traditional fairy-tale style: “there once was a scribbler.”, “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there once lived a landowner.” Often there is magic (for example, the miraculous disappearance of the peasants in the "Wild Landowner"). Magic (or fantasy) allows the author to give the characters sufficient freedom of action, unlimited possibilities. The writer also uses proverbs, sayings, colloquialisms: "Kuzkin's mother", "chicken's son".

But along with fabulous, folklore, in "Tales" there are expressions, facts from contemporary writer life: the newspapers "Vest", "Moskovskie Vedomosti", latin phrase"sshshe vypshbiz sigap1; ur". The heroes of "Tales" are representatives of different social strata: officials, landowners, generals and, of course, peasants.

"Tales" Shchedrin were a kind of result of all his previous work. In them, he touches on topics that worried the writer throughout his life and were revealed in one way or another in his works.

One of these topics is quite old, many generations of Russian writers wrote about it, and everyone, of course, found in it some new feature. This is the theme of the relationship between the people and the government. And Saltykov gives it a new sound, examines it from a different angle. According to the author, unlimited power partially deprives a person of the ability to think about his actions, their consequences, makes him lazy, not adapted to anything, narrow-minded, limited.

People invested with power get used to it and, not feeling the need to do anything on their own, gradually degrade. Such, for example, are the generals from The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals, who do not even suspect that “buns are not born in the same form as they are served with coffee in the morning”, that “human food in its original form flies , floats and grows on trees. They are naive and ignorant, divorced from the life of the people, from those same peasants, whose hands create all material wealth, due to which the ruling circles exist.

Shchedrin calls in his "Tales" for the transformation of Russian reality, for the struggle against the arbitrariness of those in power. But he does not speak about this directly, but uses satire, irony, hyperbole, and the grotesque to express his ideas. Aesopian language. He makes fun public vices,... thereby drawing attention to them. Shchedrin creates exaggerated, grotesque images in his works. Collected all the most extreme manifestations of those negative traits to which he would like to draw the eye of the reader.

The satirical images of the heroes are sometimes even ugly, evoke a feeling of disgust, and the reader begins to understand the terrible situation of the people in Russian reality. A society with such orders and customs has no future if it is not capable of change. For example, in The Wild Landowner, the ignorance of the landowner himself, his absolute confidence in his superiority over the peasant, and the inability of the people to resist are ridiculed. In The Wise Scribbler, there is fear of the strong, the lack of will of the liberal intelligentsia.

Shchedrin most fully revealed the typical features of various social strata of society in fairy tales about animals. Them characters- birds, animals, fish. In their manners, behavior, human characters are guessed. Under the allegorical description of the arbitrariness that is happening in the animal world, we see Russian life with all its unsightly features. For example, in "The Bear in the Voivodeship" the animals are called "forest men". In each animal, Saltykov-Shchedrin collected various features certain types of people. Here are some of them: the stupidity of the Donkey, the sluggishness, the brute and insane strength of Toptygin. These properties resonate with folklore ideas about these animals. The combination of allegorical and real meaning enhances the sharpness of satire.

It is no coincidence that Shchedrin depicts high officials under the mask of predatory beasts who rob in their possessions and by their nature cannot do anything else. They act according to the principle: to govern means to devastate, destroy, ruin, rob, inflict "special bloodshed". The officials who come to the places do not understand anything in the case entrusted to them, do not try to delve into it; they bring with them some of their preparations, ideas, projects, which sometimes do not correspond to the existing situation, the characteristics of a given area, region.

This is well illustrated by the fairy tale "The Bear in the Voivodship". Bears come with the aim of ruining, destroying, carrying out "bloodshed" and believe that this is the meaning and purpose of power. But what about the people? And the people do not see anything monstrous in the actions of the authorities, this is normal for them, usually, everyday, as it has been from time immemorial. The people are resigned, obey any order from above, as they consider this the only possible behavior. And this willingness of the people to fulfill all the whims is brought by Saltykov-Shchedrin sometimes even to the point of absurdity.

Unlike other writers, Saltykov-Shchedrin satirically depicts not only landlords and generals, but also peasants. After all, he saw in the peasants an unclaimed huge force that could change the existing system, create favorable conditions for the life of the people, if awakened. But for this you need to convince the peasant that you can’t put up with domination. wild landowners”, mayors, governor, you need to fight for your rights.

Conciseness, clarity, ruthless satire, accessibility to the common people made "Tales" one of the most significant works XIX century. Many of the problems identified in them still exist today. And so Shchedrin's satire remains relevant to this day.