The Russian Folktale by Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp

by Vladimir Propp, Sibelan E.S. Forrester (Translator/Editor), Jack D. Zipes (Foreword)

Vladimir Propp is the Russian folklore specialist most widely known outside Russia thanks to the impact of his 1928 book Morphology of the Folktale-but Morphology is only the first of Propp's contributions to scholarship. This volume translates into English for the first time his book The Russian Folktale, which was based on a seminar on Russian folktales that Propp taught at Leningrad State University late in his life. Edited and translated by Sibelan Forrester, this English edition contains Propp's own text and is supplemented by notes from his students.

The Russian Folktale begins with Propp's description of the folktale's aesthetic qualities and the history of the term; the history of folklore studies, first in Western Europe and then in Russia and the USSR; and the place of the folktale in the matrix of folk culture and folk oral creativity. The book presents Propp's key insight into the formulaic structure of Russian wonder tales (and less schematically than in Morphology, though in abbreviated form), and it devotes one chapter to each of the main types of Russian folktales: the wonder tale, the "novellistic" or everyday tale, the animal tale, and the cumulative tale. Even Propp's bibliography, included here, gives useful insight into the sources accessible to and used by Soviet scholars in the third quarter of the twentieth century.

Propp's scholarly authority and his human warmth both emerge from this well-balanced and carefully structured series of lectures. An accessible introduction to the Russian folktale, it will serve readers interested in folklore and fairy-tale studies in addition to Russian history and cultural studies.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fairy Tales, Folklore, History, Literary Criticism, Mythology, Russia

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp (Russian: Владимир Яковлевич Пропп; 29 April 1895 – 22 August 1970) was a Soviet formalist scholar who analyzed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible narrative elements.

Reviews

[Lakmus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of lectures on the study of fairytales (although Propp insists that skazka is not exactly the same genre as fairytale, structurally speaking), not quite finished - some places are just brief notes about what he wanted to cover. Half of it is history of fairytale studies, mainly in Russia, and some discussion of methodology. The other half is overview of three types of fairytales, mainly focusing on "magic fairytales" - I expect this was mostly a summary of his "Morphology of the magic fairytale".

This is interesting for the methodological discussion, but for focus on the actual fairytale stuff it would be better to read the "Morphology...".

[Jade Ashli Soisson-Thayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been such a wonderful read and I'm sure I'll go back to it several times as I do more research. An excellent primer for anyone who wants to read Russian Folktales and really understand the importance of those works and the commonality in theme as well as structure to other Russian Folktales one might encounter.

[Innes Verutin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Классика фольклеристики. Тем кто увлекается - маст.

[Bogdana Golub · Rating 5 out of 5]

To study the Russian folktale is to study a pillar of Russian history. Its to delve into the minds and peoples who crafted one of the biggest and oldest empires in history. Propp's book is the foundational grandfather piece of literature for those wish to acquire knowledge of this. It spans the definition, the study, the forms, the classifications, the symbolism, as well as the parts. Propp is noted here by himself as being more than the founder of folktale's morphology system, he becomes noted here for the symbolism he stresses about the Russian Folktale and what this brings to the people as well as the study of their past. Incredible text and companion.

[S A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that every person who wants to be a writer/screenplay writer/any kind of storyteller must read this book. And to be fair, it's actually called "The Historical Roots of the Wonder Tale" (something like that). The author gives tons of examples from folktales from all over the world (but bases his study primarily on Russian folktales, that's true). It's not an easy read, in my opinion, but it is an exciting and tremendously useful one.

[Mark]

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/a...

[Susana789 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pre Proppa a iných ruských formalistov mám výraznú slabosť. Miláčik. A ruské rozprávky (aj fantasy) sú kapitola sama o sebe.