On the Interaction between Folk Tales of Caucasian Peoples (Evidence from Household Fairy Tales)

Since the genre of fairy tale is the most “permeable” realm of folklore, any national set of fairy tale plots is diverse enough and —  in addition to the authentic plots — contains a considerable number  of those borrowed from other peoples. However, it is not that easy to identify them for, as V. M. Zhirmunsky wrote, taletellers “tend to  transform them within the context of their cultural frameworks”. Still, the plot connections of Adyghe fairy tales to fairy tales of other  peoples is a historical question of great scientific interest. The paper discusses the issue of mutual relations between the plots of Adyghe  fairy tales and those of other Caucasian peoples — from the  perspective of historical interaction between the peoples that go back for centuries. Articulation of the issue as such is possible due to the Directory of Adyghe Fairy-Tale Plots compiled by the author  which provides parallels from fairy tales of other Caucasian peoples.  The largest number of fairy tale plots similar to those of Adyghe  folklore were discovered in the oral tradition of Dagestani peoples. It is noteworthy that in most cases those are fairy tales that resemble  parables or defi nitely contain some didactic components. The  common features of plot structures of the Adygheans and  Abkhazians that share the same linguistic and cultural ancestry are  also of defi nite scientifi c interest (plot types -921В****** “Wishful words for a newborn”; -922* “A witty fi sherman”; -1448* “Reeducating a wife”; -1600 “A fool – a murderer”; -1294А* “They  are carrying a girl to a cemetery: a hand stuck in a jar”). Type 1653  “Robbers under a tree” can be found not only among the Adygheans  and Abkhazians but also among their cognate people — the Abazins.  Moreover, in Adyghe and Karachay- Balkar folklore there are some  fairy tales with identical titles and names of characters; and it is in Balkar folklore that a plot parallel with the famous Adyghe fairy  tale AT 889 “A devoted shepherd” was determined by the author.  Summarizing the results of individual studies, the author concludes that contacts with other peoples of the Caucasus played a signifi cant role in the formation of the set of plots of Adyghe  household fairy tales. The creative interaction of the diverse peoples  resulted in the rich common Caucasian fund of folklore plots.

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