FAIRY­TALE

FAIRY­TALE, a folklore genre. An epic prose, which is magical, adventurous or household special in its nature. Reflects the world view of a people at different stages of its development. Bashk. F.‑t. are divided into three basic groups: animalistic, adventurous (heroic, magic and heroic, and magic) and household special (novella, satirical and moralistic). Animalistic F.‑t. derive from pre‑historic people’s worldview and is associated with totemism. Over time, they lost their mythological and magic nature, thus approaching the category of a moralistic fable. Adventerous F.‑t. go back to the prehistoric society. Originally, they were connected with myths and had a plot associated with magic works. The head idea is determined by the people’s view of good and evil, and ethics. Usually, the main character (Taz‑batyr, the youngest son) had to travel to another world in search of his bride or magic objects. Reaching the final destination, he goes through a series of ordeals and, finally, returns safely. Samrau, Tulpar, the Wolf, etc. help Batyr to defeat evil forces. Household special F.‑t. describe both the ordinary people such as a khan, a mullah, a sesen and a merchant, and famous folk characters – Aldar, Shombay and others. Most household special F.‑t. are comedies. They ridicule stupidity, indiscretion, greed, etc. F.‑t. are characterized by conventional beginning and ending, and a peculiar narrative style. Taleteller is both a connoisseur and performer of F.‑t. L.G.Barag, M.Kh. Mingazhitdinov et al. classified Bashkir F.‑t. by the Aarne–Thompson Tale Type Index. This genre exists in the folklore of many different people.