Повчальна функція американської фольклорної балади

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Повчальна функція американської фольклорної балади

Лариса Сазанович,

Запорізький державний медичний університет, Запоріжжя (Україна)

Аннотация

Лариса Сазанович. Наставническая функция американской фольклорной баллады. Цель статьи - проанализировать наставнический потенциал американской фольклорной баллады XVI-XFX. Для достижения цели используются следующие методы исследования: описательный и сравнительный - для анализа и обобщения существующих подходов к изучению проблемы. Описательный, исторический методы, методы текстового и контекстного анализа позволяют описать историческую ситуацию возникновения американской фольклорной баллады, ценностное мировоззрение пуритан и проанализировать тексты баллад. Научная новизна работы заключается в исследовании наставнической функции американской фольклорной баллады, которая ранее не была описана в научных публикациях. Выводы. Фольклор может рассматриваться как специфический моральный кодекс поведения, одобренный группой людей проживающих вместе, в случае американской фольклорной баллады XVI-XFX веков - пуритан.

Ключевые слова: фольклор, американская фольклорная баллада, наставничество, пуританская мораль.

Анотація

Лариса Сазанович. Повчальна функція американської фольклорної балади

Мета статті - розглянути повчальний потенціал американської фольклорної балади XVI-XIX. Використано комплексний підхід. Описовий та порівняльні методи аналізу дозволили узагальнити існуючі підходи до вирішення проблеми повчальності у фольклористиці. Історичний метод використано для опису ситуації у Північній Америці, на тлі якої розвинулась американська фольклорна балада. Методами текстового та контекстного аналізу обґрунтовано зв'язок пуританської філософії з баладами, визначено моральні цінності перших поселенців. Наукова новизна роботи у тому, що, незважаючи на чисельні висловлювання фольклористів на тему важливості повчальної функції фольклору, її не було розглянуто на матеріалі американської фольклорної балади XVI-XIX століть раніше. Висновки. Фольклор має розглядатися як специфічний моральний кодекс поведінки. Пісенна форма виступає як ефективний медіум, через який молоді покоління долучаються до схвалених пуританською громадою моральних цінностей.

Ключові слова: фольклор, американська фольклорна балада, повчальність, пуританська мораль. американський фольклорний балада

Introduction

Folklore performs a variety of functions in culture, however, the educational function is one of the main ones as it teaches the basic laws of life, norms of behavior. Some genres represent a ready-made model of action for one or another case, others force the listener to seek a solution himself or herself, and teach critical thinking. Folklore in general models various aspects of the personality as it strongly affects an individual's behaviour, conscious and unconscious, and moral values and virtues orientations certainly belong here. Moreover, folklore texts can influence a person's self-esteem, as he or she is bound to live with exactly the ideals that he or she acquired in childhood, in particular from the characters of ballads.

Materials and Methods. The phenomenon of American Folk Balladry. The phenomenon of the American folk ballad is undoubtedly one of the kind. This popular in the US genre dates its record back to the Mayflower and the first pilgrims. Because of its impressively long history, American scholars even announced the ballad a dead genre. Nevertheless, this folklore form has preserved in oral tradition, struggled into written tradition and continues its glorious way in forms of modern mass genres (author ballads, ballad operas, literary ballads, opera ballads, rock ballads, jazz ballads) and - not all of its aspects have been properly explored yet.

Russian philosopher Olga Rodionova (2005) terms "tradition as a preserving form of the past in the present". Later Rodionova states that "the field of tradition encompasses vast space of cultural communications where the actual adaptation and modification of folklore genres resulting from changes in society itself take place". In this space, maintains Rodionova, "folklore provides socialization and education of individuals as it transmits and creates stereotypes of assessment, behavior in the context of folk culture symbols and ideology. Accordingly, ideology expressed in folklore and its genres is always contemporary as it correlates social changes with the being of the folk restoring its self-identity"¹. Thus, we shall argue that causes of the ballad genre tremendous vitality result from the fact that folklore ballad of XVI-XIX centuries translated values of dominating cultural force in North America.

The present article aims to depict the ballad as a medium of communication and to exemplify the power of the American folk ballad of XVI-XIX centuries to educate. Folklore and Communication. To begin with, it is essential to draw a correlation between "folklore" and "communication". Noteworthy to mention that in the 1960-1970s, studies within the national folklore societies have repeatedly addressed the issue of folklore and communication relations. Among the numerous varieties of the term "folklore" definitions, we share Dan Ben-Amos's idea that "folklore can be the sum total of knowledge in the society" (Ben-Amos 6) Rodionova O.I. "Narodnaya kultura i folklor v izmenenii prostranstva sotsialnykh kommunikatsiy rossiyskogo obshchestva: osnovnye tendentsii" [Folk culture and folklore in the changing space of social communications of the Russian society: main trends], [Electronic Resource]: Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta: Seriya 9: Issledovaniya molodykh uchenykh [Bulletin of Volgograd State University. Issue 9: Young Scientists's Research], 2005, URL: http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/narodnaya-kultura-i-folklor-v- izmenenii-prostranstva-sotsialnyh-kommunikatsiy-rossiyskogo-obschestva-osnovnye-tendentsii#ixzz35lau45k [in Russian]. Ben-Amos Dan, "Toward a Definition of Folklore in Context", Journal of American Folklore 84, N. 331 (January-March 1971), P. 3-15.. Consequently, "communication" in its simplest understanding, is "the transfer of information from one individual to another" (Clavel 220) Clavel, Leothiny S. "Folklore and Communication", Asian Studies, Vol. VIII, No. 2 (August 1970), P. 218-247.

Актуальні питання суспільних наук та історії медицини. Спільний українсько-румунський науковий журнал. (АПСНІМ), 2021, № 1(29), Р. 119-122. Thus, the keyword in both definitions is information (knowledge is information as well).

In the works on ethnography by Svetlana V. Lure maintains: "The life of ethnic group pivots around some stable (unchanging) "core", which plays the role of a cultural- reproductive program or code (citation), due to which the selfidentity of a given ethnic group is preserved. Whereas this "core" does not manifest itself outside in any way, it becomes objectivated in a specific picture of the world that is being developed in a given ethnic community" Lure Svetlana V. Istoricheskaya etnologiya [Historical Ethnology], Moskva: Aspekt Press, 2003, 448 p. [in Russian]. In the realities of the United States at the early stage of the nation's development, it was the Puritan spirit that stereotyped educational and moral aspects of the American folk ballad of XVI-XIX centuries. Not surprisingly, the ballad as a popular musical genre of the time effectively translated the moral values of Puritanism, thus functioning as an educational tool.

Leothiny Clavel (1970) considers communication effective when it is carried out successfully to serve the purpose not only of transmitting ideas, but also satisfying. The author also states that "communication should arise emotions (...) and stir the mind to thinking along predetermined lines" (Clavel 221) Clavel Leothiny S. "Folklore and Communication," Asian Studies, Vol. VIII, N. 2 (August 1970), P. 218-247..

Ukrainian philosopher Vira Movchan (1996) echoes Clavel's idea and defines edification as an "inseverable moral attitude of an individual towards the experience of others founded on deep-lying spiritual ties of the individual with the whole" Movchan Vira. "Moraljne povchannja v ukrajinsjkij kuljturi" [Moral Edifications in Ukrainian Culture], Dialogh kuljtur. Ukrajina v svit- ovomu konteksti [Dialogue of cultures. Ukraine in the global context], Ljviv, 1996, P. 82-100. (Movchan 83).

Didactic function of American folklore. The didactic character of most folklore genres has been discussed in a variety of works. For instance, American theoretician Alan Dandes (1965) assigns the didactic function to the four basic functions of folklore (entertaining, modeling, stabilizing) (Dandes 292). Dandes emphasizes the importance of the didactic function of folklore as through it the youth learn about the acquired in the certain community habits, beliefs, and practices like the image of a cannibal in a fairy tale disciplines young children, while lullabies produce a positive effect on a child's mood. The scholar dwells on that in fables and fairy tales, general principles and opinions are proclaimed, they ridicule vices and violations of accepted norms of behavior. In its turn, proverbs warn against wrongdoing. Dandes states that proverbs are called to demonstrate to the dissatisfied or overly ambitious people that they need to value their destiny and accept the world as it is, i.e. to conform to accepted (in society - our note L.S.) models (Dandes 296) Dandes Alan. Study of folklore, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1965, 481 p..

General notions and research. The educational function of folklore has been also addressed in a limited number of works of scholars from the former Soviet republics. For instance, Misai Khalydova (1974) researched small didactic genres of Avar folklore Khalidova M.R. Malye didakticheskie zhanry avarskogo folklora [Small didactic genres of Avar folklore], Makhachkala, 1974, 183 p. [in Russian].. Aida Alyeva (2006) studied the reflections of morality, ethics, and law in the Kumyk folklore of the ancient and medieval periods Alieva A.T. Otrazhenie v kumykskom folklore moraly, etiki i prava: Drevniy i srednevekovyy periody [Morality, ethics and law reflection in Kumyk folklore: ancient and medieval periods]: Candidate's thesis: 10.01.09, Dagestanskiy gosudarstvennyy pedagogicheskiy univ- ersitet, Makhachkala, 2006, [178 p.] [in Russian].

The same situation is observed outside the post-soviet territories as well. The most significant works in this field are: Henry Glassie "The Moral Lore of Folklore" (1983) Glassie Henry. "The Moral Lore of Folklore", Folklore Forum, Vol. 16, 1983, P.123-151. Guroian Vigen. "Awakening Moral Imagination: Teaching Virtues Through Fairy Tales", Intercollegiate Review, 1996, N. 32, P. 3-13., Vigen Guroian "Awakening Moral Imagination: Teaching Virtues Through Fairy Tales" (1996)¹¹, Kristina Wirtz "Santeria in Cuban National Consciousness: A Religious Case of Double Moral" (2008) Wirtz Kristina. "Santeria in Cuban National Consciousness: A Religious Case of Double Moral", Journal of Latin American Anthropology, 2008, N. 9(2), P. 409-438., Simon Bronner "Explaining Traditions: Folk Behavior in Modern Culture" (2011) Bronner Simon. Explaining Traditions: Folk Behavior in Modern Culture, University Press of Kentucky, 2011, 544 p..

Thus, the educational function of folklore itself has been rarely investigated. But to our mind, didactic potency of it cannot be limited to clichй or be taken "just for grunted". Didactics of folklore groups differs around the world as well as differs social context in which it exists. Correspondingly we intend to explore the didactics of American folk ballad as it has never been studied before.

Results and Discussion. Ballad and Puritans. World known Russian folklorist Vladimir Propp Propp Vladimir. "Morfologiya skazki" [Morphology of the Tale], Moskva, 1969, 168 p. [in Russian] stated that the ballad is a poetic story, mainly about a "tragic modernity" (Propp's definition). It is short, fragmentary, and its dramatism emotionally overwhelms. The ballad makes you think about the destinies of its characters, imagine yourself in their shoes, and, at the same time, look at the story from outside - from the point of view of moral and ethical norms of a given social group.

Ukrainian scholars dwell on the didactic function of folklore as well. Stanislav K. Rosovetskyi (2008) states that ballad is an "Oral poetic" guide "to girls' behavior, founded on negative examples: the girl shall not be courted by foreigners, soldiers, sailors, priests, "lords" and even "fellow" Cossacks, it is dangerous to travel with them join their company in the inn, it is dangerous to walk alone in the woods, you shall not marry a "Cossack" old, rich, poor, etc. " (Rosovetskyi 426-427) Rosovecjkyj Stanislav K. "Ukrainskiy folklor u teoretichnomu visvitlenni" [Ukrainian folklore in the light of theory], Kiev, 2008, 623 p. [in Ukrainian]..

Petr G. Bogatyrev pioneered the idea that the existence of a folklore work is presupposed by the existence of a group that assimilates and authorizes this folklore work (Bogatyrev 372) Bogatyrev Petr G. "Folklor kak osobaya forma tvorchestva" [Folklore as a special form of creativity], Voprosy teorii narodnogo iskusstva [Questions of the theory of folk art], Moskva, 1971, P. 369-383 [in Russian].. It is this group that has the right to determine the timeliness and relevance of a work.

Under the conditions of the New World creation, the managing function was conducted by the founding fathers of the country - Puritans. The native language of the first settlers - English - became the official language of the United States "by default". Correspondingly, the principles of Puritan morality became a unifying link around which the future American nation was to be united.

F. Child, published between 1883--1898 Child Francis James, ed. 1825-1896. English and Scottish ballads [Electronic Resource], Boston: Little, Brown and company, 1860. URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=ABF2062.0003.001 Lomax Alan, ed. "Young Companion", Cowboy Songs And Other Frontier Ballads, New-York: The McMillian Company,1918. P. 81..

Didactics put to practice. According to the nature of depicted human relations and conflicts, their causes and consequences, the themes of the American folk ballad can be divided into five major groups: love and premarital relations; family relationships and conflicts; relationships and conflicts against the background of social and historical circumstances; chronicles of exceptional cases; songs on religious themes. Reality is assessed from the standpoint of established ethical principles of popular morality. Most of the analyzed ballads can be characterized as one-story situations - examples that teach listeners and model their behavior.

The instructive function of the ballad is realized through the proclamation of moral edifications by the characters of the American folk ballad. "Moral edifications" is a key line of the American folk ballad. They are uttered at all stages of the plot, mostly in the main part, ending, and afterword. This is due to the exceptional importance of this function for the American folk ballad, which the author creates not for himself (as with lyrical songs), but rather for others, as an illustration to the statement: "Learn from the mistakes of others".

Where as at the beginning of the ballad, singers usually announce their intention - to warn listeners, to teach them by example. Like in the ballad "Young Companion": "Come all you young companions And listen unto me, I'll tell you a story of some bad company"¹⁸, in the final parts of the ballad, the singer gives advice to the audience.

For instance, in the ballad "The House of the Rising Sun" the girl warns her younger sister against repeating her own destiny: marrying a swindler, lacking a permanent job, and crowning her life path - a brothel: "Go and tell my baby sister / Never do like I have done""¹ Lomax John, col. and compl. "House of the Rising Sun", Our Singing Country. Second Volume of American Ballads and Folk Songs, New -York: The Macmillan company, 1949, P. 368. Lomax Alan, col. and ed. "Just from Dawson", American Ballads and Folk Songs, New-York: Dover, 1994, P. 439..

Noteworthy, that to the already defined variants of realisation of "moral edifications" a new form is added in the culmination - a will as a warning, for instance in "Just from Dawson": "Tell my friends and tell my enemies, if you ever reach the East, / That the Dawson City region is no place for man or beast""⁹⁰.

In another ballad "The Kansas Line"", a young cowboy was betrayed by a rich girl, and now gives advice to others not to seek happiness abroad, but to stick to his family: "Speaking of your farms and your shanty charms, Speaking of your silver and gold, Take a cowman's advice, go and marry you a true and lovely little wife, Never to roam, always stay at home; That's a cowman's, a cowman's advice, Way up on the Kansas line"" Lomax Alan, col. and ed. "The Cansas Lane", Cowboy Songs And Other Frontier Ballads, New-York: The McMillian Company, 1918. P. 22-23..

It is interesting to note that edifications or warnings can be expressed in the ballad either directly or indirectly like in the ballad "Young Companion". A young man who has spoken his story of personal troubles, concludes that the listener may forget him, but they will never forget his song: "It's now I'm on the scaffold, My moments are not long; You may forget the singer But don't forget the song" Lomax Alan, col. and ed. "Young Companion""..., op. cit., P. 82..

The morals and edifications incorporated in the plots of ballads can be revealed or amplified by additional generalizations, mainly in the endings, where the narrator utters a public opinion about the event. For example, in the ballad "Duncan and Brady" the narrator tells the story of two friends in which one man betrayed the other for money. While arguing, the friends shoot each other. Thus, both former friends are now at the cemetery, and it does not matter whether someone is rich or poor - neither will return: "Some rides in buggies, /... /Some rides in hearses, / But they never come back! "²² Lomax John, col. and compl. "Duncan and Brady"., op. cit., P. 333..

In the famous ballad "Fair Charlotte", the singer tells the story of Beautiful Charlotte, who had a beautiful face and a treacherous heart. The girl led her ex-boyfriend to suicide and disappeared. In the ending of the ballad, the narrator utters the thoughts of people who believed that it was the devil who took the body and soul of the girl: "As I have always heard them say: / The devil has carried her soul and body away " Brewster Paul, coll. and ed. "Fair Charlotte", Bloomington : Indiana University of Bloomington, 1940. P. 181..

In later American folk ballads, "moral edifications" summarize almost all stages of the plot: the main part, the climax, the ending. Here is an excerpt from the ballad "Texas rangers": "Come, all you Texas rangers, wherever you may be, / I'll tell you of some troubles that happened unto me. / My name is nothing extra, so it I will not tell, / And here's to all you rangers, I am sure I wish you well. /... /Perhaps you have a mother, likewise a sister too, And maybe you have a sweetheart to weep and mourn for you; if that be your situation, although you'd like to roam, I'd advise you by experience, you had better stay at home " Lomax Alan, coll. and ed. "Texas Rangers", Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads. 1910, P. 44-46..

Particular attention should be paid to the imposing of the idea of common sense in American folk ballad, which in the Puritan community was praised as one of the most important virtues. It is the cult of common sense, in our opinion, that explains the extremely simple portrayal of the ballad heroes. Female characters are typically portrayed as "fair". The word refers both to external and internal features: "fair" - beautiful, blond, bright, decent, honest, fair, spotless, polite, calm, noble, frank - and these are not all the meanings of this short word Bullon Stephen, ed. Longman Exams Dictionary, Longman: Pearson Education Ltd., 2006, P. 532-533. Palmer Gray Roland coll. and ed. "The Jam at Gerry's Rock", Songs And Ballads of the Maine Lumberjacks with Other Songs from Maine, Cambridge: Harvard University, 1925, P. 223. 121. For example, in the ballad "The Jam at Gerry's Rock": "Fair Claire, she was a noble girl, / A riverman's true friend" - "Fine Claire, a noble girl, / Faithful friend of the carpenter"²¹.

The verbal portraits of men characters are scarce if there are any like in "Fair Margaret and Sweet William": "red the red and rosy cheeks, the long hair"²⁸. Instead, the qualities of "male character" are highly praised - courage, determination, restraint as in ballads "The Three Butchers ", "The Ballad of Sergeant Ross", and The Jam at "Gerry's Rock": "the bravest soldier"²⁹; "The sturdy Swedes /... / And the grip of his hand is cold" -"trong Swede ... " English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, coll. and ed. by Campbell Olive Dame and Cecil James Sharp, Fair Margaret and Sweet William, New-York; London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1917. P. 62. McNeil Keith and Rusty, eds. "The Three Butchers ", Colonial and Revolution Songbook (American History Through Folksong), California: Wem Records, 1996, P. 179. Hanson Joseph Mills, ed. "The Ballad of Sergeant Ross", Frontier Ballads, Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co., 1910, P. 21. Palmer Gray Roland, coll. and ed. "The Jam at Gerry's Rock", Songs And Ballads of the Maine Lumberjacks with Other Songs from Maine, Cambridge: Harvard University, 1925, P. 224. Paker Dzheims I., Kto takie puritane i pochemu oni nam nuzhny [Who the Puritans are and why we need them] [Electronic Resource]: Reformatskii vzgliad [Reformatory view], 2005, URL: www.reformed.org.ua/2/54/Packer. Bullon Stephen, ed. Longman Exams Dictionary, Longman: Pearson Education Ltd., 2006, P. 1612. Scarborough Dorothy, ed. "Stagolee", On The Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, Hatboro: Folklore Associates Inc., 1963, P. 92. Scarborough Dorothy, ed. "The Lost Youth", On The Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, Hatboro: Folklore Associates Inc., 1963, P. 95.; "So manly, true, and brave" / "So manly, sincere and brave"³¹. As J. Packer emphasizes, "the Puritan ethic of marriage was not to choose a husband (wife) only for passionate momentary love, but to find a person you could love for a lifetime as your best friend and find her for with the help of God "³² Thus, women and men in ballads are typically beautiful, restrained and honest.

Likewise, Puritan thrift and diligence deserve some considerations. According to the dictionary, the word "thrift" translations encompass "rapid growth, development, thrift, economy, prosperity, economy"³³. It should be noted that any events that occurred in the lives of the people of New England, were perceived by them as both individual and collective. Protestant morality endorsed business activity: the performance of duty within the secular profession was considered the highest goal of human ethical life. Moreover, the Puritans believed that one who succeeded in financial matters also succeeded in revealing God's plan. Therefore, the key to success for the Puritan was diligence multiplied by thrift. At the same time, drunkenness, dishonest earnings (playing cards, robberies) became the subject of condemnation in the American folk ballads. For instance, in the famous Blues Ballad "Stagolee",³⁴ neighbors shun the protagonist - a thief and a murderer. Similarly, in the blues ballad "The Lost Youth", people condemn a young man who spends his life in idleness³⁵.

Numerous investigations into the history of the United States see the personality of the American Puritan as a prototype of a new type of man - the only one who "made himself': a man more focused, open to new ideas, and rational. These ideas are fully implemented in American folk ballads. In a sentimental ballad "Joe Bowers" the protagonist leaves a quiet, comfortable life, works hard, because his beloved promised to marry him only when he will provide their future family with a home of their own: "She says to me, Joe Bowers, / Before you hitch for life, / You should prepare a home / For your dear little wife"/.../- "She tells me, "Joe Bowers, / Before you get married, / You should prepare a home / For your dear little woman" Lomax John, coll. and ed. "Joe Bowers", Cowboys Songs and Other Frontier Ballads, New-York: The Macmillan Company, 1918, P. 15. Campbell Olive and Sharp Cecil, col. and ed. "Earl Brand", English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, New-York ; London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1917, P. 9..

Moral edifications are not always expressed directly, sometimes they become clear only from the whole course of events like in the ballad "Earl Brand". The lady runs away with her lover, her father and brothers try to bring the girl home. However, the girl ignores her father's requests and instead of finding happiness in a new family, she loses everything: relatives who die in a fight with the lord, and the lord who dies over time from injuries³⁷.

Conclusions

System of accepted social values as well as moral virtues is highly influenced by folklore, especially in a traditional society. Ballad offers models of behavior or options for resolving various situations based on examples of fictional or non-fictional stories. Those behavioral models pictured in folklore limit the behavior of each member of the society in which this folklore is functioning. Musical folklore deeply and in many ways mirrors a person's entire life, from birth to death, reveals his or her spiritual beauty and wealth. It is in musical folklore where the eternal aspirations of the people from one group for goodness and truth, for light and happiness are incorporated. The moral ideals inherent in American folk ballads are the legacy of many generations, yet the first ones who brought it to Northern America were the puritans.

Analysis of the vast scopus of ballads made it possible to conclude that in the American folk ballads the following leading moral and ethical principles of Puritanism are glorified: modesty, diligence, prudence, thrift, and discipline. By employing the power of the proverb genre, it appears to be possible to summarize American folk ballad moral edifications in the following ways: "Caution is the mother of safety", "The squeaky wheel gets the grease", "the early bird catches the worm ", "God helps those who help themselves ", "The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill", "All's fair in love and war", "Money doesn't grow on trees", "Money can't buy happiness ", "Fortune favours the brave ".

Размещено на Allbest.ru