Культура України (Jul 2020)
The Plot Analysis of Folk Songs with the General Formula «Seducer of a Girl»
Abstract
The relevance of the research is determined by the gap between the historical meaning and modern understanding of the plot of many folk songs. The restoration of the lost meaning is required for plots with the general formula “seducer of a girl”. The aim of this work is to systematize the plot differences and similarities of the plots with the formula “seducer of a girl” in the song heritage of Ukraine and other regions and to identify the reasons for their creation. Research methodology. The article analyzes the samples of Ukrainian and world cultural heritage in order to fix with the formula “seducer of a girl”. The description phenomenon in a song of unethical actions of men is considered, that directly leads to the death of the girl. A search was made in songs for images and plot fragments that enable to correlate it with ritual folklore. Results. Conclusions are drawn: The protagonists in the initial version of the song were considered as “guy” and “bride”. The mention of the Don and the Danube defines the area of the song creation as the region of the settlement of Ukrainians. Then in the song, the direction from the Don to home coincides with the movement of the sun. The death of a girl under a pine tree or in the Danube is symbolic as a transition from a girlish state to a married one, it means giving up the parent “cluster” and transition to the “cluster” of the groom. Data are given about the wedding and spring motives of this plot: burning pine is mentioned in wedding songs; plunging into the Danube is a ritual repetition of sunset-death; actions with a braid are part of wedding rituals; the songs compare “the pine burned” and “the girl as spring”. The novelty of this research is to prove the relationship of the plot “seducer of a girl” to wedding and spring ritual songs; the historical meaning of fragments of this plot is explained. The practical results of this research consist in the reclassification of the plot with the general formula “seducer of a girl” from social to the ritual plot of wedding and spring cycles. The obtained results make it possible to eliminate the negative attitude to the Ukrainian Cossacks, which occurs with a superficial perception of these plot songs, and restore the information about the lost wedding rituals.
Keywords
