Three types of fairy tales. Russian folk tales: types, principles of storytelling

12.04.2019

IN student years, this issue was perfectly covered by one of our university teachers from the department of preschool pedagogy.

It's time to blow off the dust from my mossy notes and share with you well-known classification fairy tales

A fairy tale is a magical opportunity to penetrate the soul of a child, using all the power artistic means and the imagination of a little person.

Despite their simplicity (which is one of the facets of the genius of fairy-tale art), their classification is unexpectedly extensive and multifaceted.

What kind of fairy tales are there?

There are 3 main types of fairy tales:

Animal Tales
Fairy tales
Everyday tales

Let's look at them in order:

Animal Tales

Since ancient times, man has existed side by side with animals. It is not surprising that such a neighborhood is reflected in folk art.

It is noteworthy that animals as such only occasionally become participants in works. For the most part, in fairy tales about animals, “animals” are endowed with human traits.

This image makes the character understandable and attractive at the same time.

Works of this type can be roughly classified:

By the nature of the characters:

Wild animals
Pets
Objects of inanimate nature (sun, wind, frost)
Items (stove, bast shoes)
Mixed Variations

According to the role of the person in the plot:

Dominant
Equal
Minor

By genre:

A magical tale about animals
Cumulative tale about animals (multiple cyclical repetition of plot elements)
Fable
Satirical

By target audience:

For children (for a story to children / for a story by children themselves)
For adults

I note that the above classification is quite arbitrary and can have many variations.

Let's move on to the next type.

Fairy tale

The peculiarity of this type of fairy tale is that the characters are placed in a kind of fantastic, unreal world that exists according to its own laws, different from ours.

As a rule, the action in such fairy tales follows a certain pattern. It is on the basis of similarity storylines and their classification is constructed:

Heroic tales related to the victory over a magical creature (snake, giant)
- Heroic tales involving adventures in search of a magical object.
Archaic tales
- Tales of persecuted families with mythical elements.
- Tales of persecuted families without mythical elements.
Tales of Fairy Spouses
Tales of Magic Objects
Fairy tales associated with wedding trials

Everyday tales:

The peculiarity of this type lies in the reflection of everyday everyday life, social problems, making fun of the bad ones human qualities. Highlight:

Satirical-everyday
Social and household
Novelistic
With elements of a fairy tale
Mixed type

Animal Tales

Folk poetry embraced the whole world, its object was not only man, but also all living things on the planet. By depicting animals, the fairy tale gives them human features, but at the same time it records and characterizes their habits, “way of life,” etc. Hence the lively, intense text of fairy tales.
Man has long felt a kinship with nature; he truly was a part of it, fighting with it, seeking its protection, sympathizing and understanding. The later introduced fable, parable meaning of many fairy tales about animals is also obvious.

In fairy tales about animals, fish, animals, birds act, they talk to each other, declare war on each other, make peace. The basis of such tales is totemism (belief in a totem animal, the patron of the clan), which resulted in the cult of the animal. For example, the bear, which became the hero of fairy tales, according to the ideas of the ancient Slavs, could predict the future. He was often thought of as a terrible, vengeful beast, unforgiving of insults (the fairy tale “The Bear”). The further the belief in this goes, the more confident a person becomes in his abilities, the more possible is his power over the animal, the “victory” over him. This happens, for example, in the fairy tales “The Man and the Bear” and “The Bear, the Dog and the Cat.” Fairy tales differ significantly from beliefs about animals - in the latter, fiction associated with paganism plays a large role. The wolf is believed to be wise and cunning, the bear is terrible. The fairy tale loses its dependence on paganism and becomes a mockery of animals. Mythology in it turns into art. The fairy tale is transformed into a kind of artistic joke - a criticism of those creatures that are meant by animals. Hence the closeness of such tales to fables ("The Fox and the Crane", "Beasts in the Pit").

Tales about animals stand out in a special group by nature characters. They are divided by type of animal. This also includes tales about plants, inanimate nature (frost, sun, wind), and objects (a bubble, a straw, a bast shoe).

In fairy tales about animals, man:
1) plays minor role(the old man from the fairy tale “The Fox Steals Fish from the Cart”);
2) occupies a position equivalent to an animal (the man from the fairy tale “The old bread and salt is forgotten”).

Possible classification of tales about animals.

First of all, a fairy tale about animals is classified according to the main character (thematic classification). This classification is given in the index of fairy-tale plots of world folklore compiled by Arne-Thomson and in the “Comparative Index of Plots. East Slavic Fairy Tale”:

1. Wild animals.
- Fox.
- Other wild animals.
2. Wild and domestic animals
3. Man and wild animals.
4. Pets.
5. Birds and fish.
6. Other animals, objects, plants and natural phenomena.

The next possible classification of a fairy tale about animals is a structural-semantic classification, which classifies the fairy tale according to genre. There are several genres in a fairy tale about animals. V. Ya. Propp identified such genres as:

1. Cumulative tale about animals.

3. Fable (apologist)
4. Satirical tale

E. A. Kostyukhin identified genres about animals as:

1. Comic (everyday) tale about animals
2. A fairy tale about animals
3. Cumulative tale about animals
4. A short story about animals
5. Apologist (fable)
6. Anecdote.
7. A satirical tale about animals
8. Legends, traditions, everyday stories about animals
9. Tales

Propp, in the basis of his classification of animal tales by genre, tried to put a formal feature. Kostyukhin, on the other hand, partly based his classification on a formal feature, but basically the researcher divides the genres of fairy tales about animals according to content. This allows us to better understand the diverse material of fairy tales about animals, which demonstrates the variety of structural structures, diversity of styles, and richness of content.

The third possible classification of a fairy tale about animals is a classification based on the target audience. Tales about animals are divided into:

1. Children's fairy tales.
- Fairy tales told for children.
- Fairy tales told by children.
2. Adult fairy tales.

This or that genre of animal tales has its own target audience. Modern Russian fairy tales about animals mainly belong to a children's audience. Thus, fairy tales told for children have a simplified structure. But there is a genre of fairy tales about animals that will never be addressed to children - this is the so-called. A "naughty" ("cherished" or "pornographic") tale.

About twenty plots of fairy tales about animals are cumulative fairy tales. The principle of such a composition is the repeated repetition of a plot unit. Thompson, S., Bolte, J. and Polivka, I., Propp identified fairy tales with cumulative composition as a special group of fairy tales. The cumulative (chain-like) composition is distinguished:

1. With endless repetition:
- Boring fairy tales like “About the White Bull.”
- A unit of text is included in another text (“The priest had a dog”).
2. With End Repetition:
- “Turnip” - plot units grow into a chain until the chain breaks.
- “The cockerel choked” - the chain unravels until the chain breaks.
- “For a rolling duck” - the previous unit of text is negated in the next episode.

Another genre form of a fairy tale about animals is the structure of a fairy tale ("The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats", "The Cat, the Rooster and the Fox").

The leading place in fairy tales about animals is occupied by comic tales - about the pranks of animals ("The fox steals fish from a sleigh (from a cart"), "The wolf at the ice hole", "The fox coats its head with dough (sour cream), "The beaten one carries the unbeaten", "The fox midwife ", etc.), which influence other fairy-tale genres of animal epic, especially the apologist (fable). The plot core of a comic tale about animals consists of a chance meeting and a trick (deception, according to Propp). Sometimes they combine several meetings and pranks. The hero of a comic fairy tale is a trickster (one who commits tricks). The main trickster of the Russian fairy tale is the fox (in the world epic - the hare). Its victims are usually a wolf and a bear. It has been noticed that if a fox acts against the weak, it loses, if against the strong, it wins. This comes from archaic folklore. IN modern fairy tale In animals, the victory and defeat of the trickster often receives a moral assessment. The trickster in the fairy tale is contrasted with the simpleton. It can be a predator (wolf, bear), or a person, or a simple animal, like a hare.

A significant part of fairy tales about animals is occupied by an apologist (fable), in which the comic beginning, but moralizing, moralizing. Moreover, the apologist does not necessarily have to have a moral in the form of an ending. The moral comes from the story situations. Situations must be unambiguous in order to easily form moral conclusions. Typical examples apologists are fairy tales where there is a clash of contrasting characters (Who is more cowardly than a hare?; Old bread and salt is forgotten; A splinter in the paw of a bear (lion). An apologist can also be considered such plots that have been known in literary fables since ancient times (The Fox and the Sour Grapes ; The Crow and the Fox and many others). The apologist is a relatively late form of fairy tales about animals. It dates back to a time when moral norms had already been determined and were looking for a suitable form for themselves. In fairy tales of this type, only a few plots with the tricks of tricksters, some of the plots of the apologist, were transformed. not without the influence of literature) he developed himself. The third way of development of the apologist is the proliferation of proverbs (proverbs and sayings. But unlike paremia, in the apologist the allegory is not only rational, but also sensitive.

Next to the apologist stands the so-called short story tale about animals, highlighted by E. A. Kostyukhin. A short story in an animal fairy tale is a story about unusual events with a fairly developed intrigue, with sharp turns in the fate of the heroes. The tendency towards moralization determines the fate of the genre. It has a more definite moral than the apologist, the comic element is muted or completely removed. The mischief of a comic fairy tale about animals is replaced in the novella with a different content - entertaining. A classic example of a short story about animals is "Grateful Animals." Most of the plots of folklore short stories about animals develop in literature and then pass into folklore. The easy transition of these plots is due to the fact that they themselves literary subjects are formed on a folklore basis.

Speaking about satire in fairy tales about animals, it must be said that literature once gave impetus to the development of the satirical fairy tale. The conditions for the appearance of a satirical tale arose in the late Middle Ages. The satirical effect folk tale is achieved by putting social terminology into the mouths of animals (Fox the Confessor; Cat and Wild Animals). The plot of “Ruff Ershovich”, which is a fairy tale of book origin, stands apart. Having appeared late in a folk tale, satire did not take hold in it, since in a satirical tale one can easily remove social terminology.

So in the 19th century, the satirical fairy tale was unpopular. Satire within a fairy tale about animals is only an accent in an extremely small group of stories about animals. And on satirical tale influenced by the laws of animal fairy tales with trickster tricks. The satirical sound was preserved in fairy tales where there was a trickster in the center, and where there was complete absurdity of what was happening, the fairy tale became a fable.

Fairy tales

Fairy tales of the fairy type include magical, adventure, and heroic. At the heart of such fairy tales is a wonderful world. The wonderful world is an objective, fantastic, unlimited world. Thanks to unlimited fantasy and a wonderful principle of organizing material in fairy tales with a wonderful world of possible “transformation”, amazing in their speed (children grow by leaps and bounds, every day they become stronger or more beautiful). Not only the speed of the process is unreal, but also its very character (from the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden.” “Look, the Snow Maiden’s lips turned pink, her eyes opened. Then she shook off the snow and a living girl came out of the snowdrift.” “Conversion” in fairy tales of a wonderful type, usually occur with the help of magical creatures or objects.

Basically, fairy tales are older than others; they bear traces of a person’s primary acquaintance with the world around him.

A fairy tale is based on a complex composition, which has an exposition, a plot, plot development, a climax and a denouement.

The plot of a fairy tale is based on a story about overcoming a loss or shortage with the help of miraculous means or magical helpers. In the exhibition of the fairy tale there are consistently 2 generations - the older (the king and the queen, etc.) and the younger - Ivan and his brothers or sisters. Also included in the exhibition is the absence of the older generation. An intensified form of absence is the death of the parents. The plot of the tale is that main character either the heroine discovers a loss or shortage, or there are motives of prohibition, violation of the prohibition and subsequent disaster. Here is the beginning of counteraction, i.e. sending the hero from home.

Plot development is a search for what is lost or missing.

The climax of a fairy tale is that the protagonist or heroine fights an opposing force and always defeats it (the equivalent of fighting is solving difficult problems that are always solved).

Denouement is overcoming a loss or lack. Usually the hero (heroine) “reigns” at the end - that is, acquires a higher social status than he had at the beginning.

V.Ya. Propp reveals the monotony of a fairy tale at the plot level in a purely syntagmatic sense. It reveals the invariance of a set of functions (the actions of actors), the linear sequence of these functions, as well as a set of roles, in a known way distributed among specific characters and correlated with functions. Functions are distributed among seven characters:

Antagonist (pest),
donor
assistant
princess or her father
sender
hero
false hero.

Meletinsky, identifying five groups of fairy tales, tries to resolve the issue of the historical development of the genre in general, and plots in particular. The tale contains some motifs characteristic of totemic myths. The mythological origin of the universally widespread fairy tale about a marriage with a wonderful “totemic” creature who has temporarily shed its animal shell and taken on human form is quite obvious (“A husband is looking for a missing or kidnapped wife (a wife is looking for a husband)”, “The Frog Princess”, “ The Scarlet Flower", etc.). A fairy tale about visiting other worlds to free the captives located there ("Three Underground Kingdoms", etc.). Popular fairy tales about a group of children who fall into the power of an evil spirit, a monster, an cannibal and are saved thanks to the resourcefulness of one of them ( “The Witch’s Little Thumb”, etc.), or about the murder of a mighty serpent - a chthonic demon (“The Snake Conqueror”, etc.) is actively being developed in a fairy tale. family theme(“Cinderella”, etc.). For a fairy tale, a wedding becomes a symbol of compensation for the socially disadvantaged (“Sivko-Burko”). The socially disadvantaged hero (younger brother, stepdaughter, fool) at the beginning of the fairy tale, endowed with all the negative characteristics from his environment, is endowed with beauty and intelligence at the end ("The Little Humpbacked Horse"). The distinguished group of tales about wedding trials draws attention to the narrative of personal destinies. The novelistic theme in a fairy tale is no less interesting than the heroic theme. Propp classifies the genre of fairy tales by the presence of “Battle - Victory” in the main test or by the presence of “Difficult task - Solution of a difficult problem.” The logical development of the fairy tale was the everyday fairy tale.

Everyday tales

A characteristic feature of everyday fairy tales is the reproduction of everyday life in them. The conflict of an everyday fairy tale often consists in the fact that decency, honesty, nobility under the guise of simplicity and naivety is opposed to those personality qualities that have always caused sharp rejection among the people (greed, anger, envy).

As a rule, in everyday fairy tales there is more irony and self-irony, since Good triumphs, but the randomness or singularity of his victory is emphasized.

The variety of everyday fairy tales is characteristic: social-everyday, satirical-everyday, novelistic and others. Unlike fairy tales, everyday fairy tales contain a more significant element of social and moral criticism, she is more definite in her social preferences. Praise and condemnation sound stronger in everyday fairy tales.

IN Lately V methodological literature Information began to appear about a new type of fairy tales - fairy tales of a mixed type. Of course, fairy tales of this type have existed for a long time, but they have not been given of great importance, because they forgot how much they can help in achieving educational, educational and developmental goals. In general, fairy tales of a mixed type are fairy tales of a transitional type.
They combine features inherent in fairy tales with a wonderful world, everyday tales. Elements of the miraculous also appear in the form of magical objects, around which the main action is grouped.

Fairy tale in different forms and scale strives to realize the ideal human existence.
The fairy tale's belief in the intrinsic value of noble human qualities, the uncompromising preference for the Good, are also based on a call to wisdom, activity, and true humanity.

Fairy tales broaden one's horizons, awaken interest in the life and creativity of peoples, and foster a sense of trust in all the inhabitants of our Earth engaged in honest work.

This is a sensitive topic, well, the most important ideas, main problems, plot cores and - most importantly - the alignment of forces that bring about good and evil, are essentially the same in fairy tales of different peoples. In this sense, any fairy tale knows no boundaries, it is for all of humanity. Folklore studies have devoted a lot of research to the fairy tale, but defining it as one of the genres of oral folk art still remains an open problem. The heterogeneity of fairy tales, the wide thematic range, the variety of motives and characters contained in them, the countless number of ways to resolve conflicts really make the task of defining a fairy tale genre very difficult. And yet, the divergence in views on a fairy tale is associated with what is regarded as the main thing in it: an orientation towards fiction or the desire to reflect reality through fiction. The essence and vitality of a fairy tale, the secret of its magical existence is in the constant combination of two elements of meaning: fantasy and truth. On this basis, a classification of types of fairy tales arises, although not entirely uniform. Thus, with a problem-thematic approach, fairy tales dedicated to animals, tales about unusual and supernatural events, adventure tales, social and everyday tales, anecdote tales, upside-down tales and others are distinguished. The groups of fairy tales do not have sharply defined boundaries, but despite the fragility of the demarcation, such a classification allows you to start a substantive conversation with the child about fairy tales within the framework of a conventional “system” - which, of course, makes the work of parents and educators easier.
To date, the following classification of Russian folk tales has been accepted:1. Tales about animals;
2. Fairy tales;
3. Everyday tales. Let's take a closer look at each of the species. Tales about animals Folk poetry embraced the whole world; its object was not only man, but also all living things on the planet. By depicting animals, the fairy tale gives them human features, but at the same time it records and characterizes their habits, “way of life,” etc. Hence the lively, intense text of fairy tales.
Man has long felt a kinship with nature; he truly was a part of it, fighting with it, seeking its protection, sympathizing and understanding. The later introduced fable, parable meaning of many fairy tales about animals is also obvious. In fairy tales about animals, fish, animals, birds act, they talk to each other, declare war on each other, make peace. The basis of such tales is totemism (belief in a totem animal, the patron of the clan), which resulted in the cult of the animal. For example, the bear, which became the hero of fairy tales, according to the ideas of the ancient Slavs, could predict the future. He was often thought of as a terrible, vengeful beast, unforgiving of insults (the fairy tale “The Bear”). The further the belief in this goes, the more confident a person becomes in his abilities, the more possible is his power over the animal, the “victory” over him. This happens, for example, in the fairy tales “The Man and the Bear” and “The Bear, the Dog and the Cat.” Fairy tales differ significantly from beliefs about animals - in the latter, fiction associated with paganism plays a large role. The wolf is believed to be wise and cunning, the bear is terrible. The fairy tale loses its dependence on paganism and becomes a mockery of animals. Mythology in it turns into art. The fairy tale is transformed into a kind of artistic joke - a criticism of those creatures that are meant by animals. Hence the closeness of such tales to fables ("The Fox and the Crane", "Beasts in the Pit"). Tales about animals are allocated to a special group according to the nature of the characters. They are divided by type of animal. This also includes tales about plants, inanimate nature (frost, sun, wind), and objects (a bubble, a straw, a bast shoe). In fairy tales about animals, man:
1) plays a minor role (the old man from the fairy tale “The Fox Steals Fish from the Cart”);
2) occupies a position equivalent to an animal (the man from the fairy tale “The old bread and salt is forgotten”). Possible classification of a fairy tale about animals. First of all, a fairy tale about animals is classified according to the main character (thematic classification). This classification is given in the index of fairy-tale plots of world folklore compiled by Arne-Thomson and in the “Comparative Index of Plots. East Slavic Fairy Tale”: 1. Wild animals.
- Fox.
- Other wild animals.
2. Wild and domestic animals
3. Man and wild animals.
4. Pets.
5. Birds and fish.
6. Other animals, objects, plants and natural phenomena. The next possible classification of a fairy tale about animals is a structural-semantic classification, which classifies the fairy tale according to genre. There are several genres in a fairy tale about animals. V. Ya. Propp identified such genres as: 1. Cumulative tale about animals.

3. Fable (apologist)
4. Satirical tale E. A. Kostyukhin identified genres about animals as: 1. Comic (everyday) tale about animals
2. A fairy tale about animals
3. Cumulative tale about animals
4. A short story about animals
5. Apologist (fable)
6. Anecdote.

Life of a fairy tale - continuous creative process. Every new era partial or complete update occurs fairy tale plot. When it concerns a rearrangement of ideological accents, a new fairy-tale version arises. This feature of the fairy tale requires careful study of each fairy tale text.

In a fairy tale, there are constant values that have developed as a result of its traditional nature, and variables that have arisen as a result of endless retellings.

The most important feature of a fairy tale is its special form of construction, its special poetics. Narrativeness and plot, an orientation towards fiction and edification, a special form of narration - these signs are found in various genres epic cycle.

A fairy tale as an artistic whole exists only as a combination of these features. Fairy tales in general were one of the most important areas of folk poetic art, which had not only ideological and artistic, but also enormous pedagogical and educational value. The divergence in views on a fairy tale is associated with what is regarded as the main thing in it: an orientation toward fiction or the desire to reflect reality through fiction.

However, as often happens in science, the lack classical definition is not reflected at all on the phenomenon itself and has very little effect on life in the public consciousness. The essence and vitality of a fairy tale, the secret of its magical existence is in the constant combination of two elements of meaning: fantasy and truth.

On this basis, a classification of types of fairy tales arises, although not entirely uniform.

Classification of fairy tales (according to T.D. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva):

· psychotherapeutic tales;

· didactic fairy tales;

· meditative tales.

Classification of fairy tales (according to V.Ya. Propp):

· magical;

· adventurous;

· household;

· tales about animals;

· cumulative.

The most widespread classification of fairy tales is based on the problem-thematic approach, which distinguishes:

· fairy tales dedicated to animals;

· fairy tales;

· social and household;

· fairy tales of mixed type.

The groups of fairy tales do not have sharply defined boundaries, but, despite the fragility of the demarcation, such a classification allows you to start a substantive conversation with the child about fairy tales within the framework of a conventional “system” - which, of course, makes the work of parents, educators or teachers easier.
The following can be said about fairy tales included in the reading range of younger schoolchildren.

Tales about animals. Folk poetry embraced the whole world; its object was not only man, but also all living things on the planet. By depicting animals, the fairy tale gives them human features, but at the same time it records and characterizes their habits, “way of life,” etc. Hence the lively, intense text of fairy tales. These are the fairy tales “The Gray Neck” by D. Mamin-Sibiryak, “The Frog Traveler” by V. M. Garshin, “The Three Bears” by L. Tolstoy, “The First Hunt” by V. Bianki, “Rikki Tikki Tavi” by Kipling, “The Fox the Lapotnitsa” » V.I.Dal.

Man has long felt a kinship with nature; he truly was a part of it, fighting with it, seeking its protection, sympathizing and understanding. The later introduced fable, parable meaning of many fairy tales about animals is also obvious.

Fairy tales. Fairy tales of the fairy type include magical, adventure, and heroic. At the heart of such fairy tales is a wonderful world. The wonderful world is an objective, fantastic, unlimited world. Thanks to unlimited fantasy and a wonderful principle of organizing material in fairy tales with a wonderful world of possible “transformation”, amazing in their speed (children grow by leaps and bounds, every day they become stronger or more beautiful). Not only the speed of the process is surreal, but also its very nature (from the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden”). “Look, the Snow Maiden’s lips turned pink, her eyes opened. Then she shook off the snow and a living girl came out of the snowdrift.” "Conversion" in fairy tales of the miraculous type usually occurs with the help of magical creatures or objects. So, in the fairy tale by A.S. Pushkin, Prince Guidon turns to his assistant for help and she turns him into a mosquito, a fly, or a bumblebee.
Basically, fairy tales are older than others; they bear traces of a person’s primary acquaintance with the world around him. Fairy tales with elements of magic include C. Perrault “The Little Thumb”, G. H. Andersen “Thumbelina”, P. P. Bazhov “The Jumping Fire Girl”, S. T. Aksakov “The Scarlet Flower”.

Everyday tales. A characteristic feature of everyday fairy tales is the reproduction of everyday life in them. The conflict of an everyday fairy tale often consists in the fact that decency, honesty, nobility under the guise of simplicity and naivety is opposed to those personality qualities that have always caused sharp rejection among the people (greed, anger, envy).
As a rule, in everyday fairy tales there is more irony and self-irony, since good triumphs, but the randomness or singularity of its victory is emphasized. These include “The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda” by A.S. Pushkin, “Masha the Confused” by L. Voronkova, D. Mamin-Sibiryak “The Tale of the Brave Hare - Long Ears, Slanting Eyes, Short Tail.”

The diversity of “everyday” fairy tales is characteristic: social-everyday, satirical-everyday, novelistic and others. Unlike fairy tales, everyday fairy tales contain a more significant element of social and moral criticism; they are more definite in their social preferences. Praise and condemnation sound stronger in everyday fairy tales.

Fairy tales of mixed type. Recently, information about a new type of fairy tales has begun to appear in the methodological literature - fairy tales of a mixed type. Of course, fairy tales of this type have existed for a long time, but they were not given much importance, because they forgot how much they can help in achieving educational, educational and developmental goals. In general, fairy tales of a mixed type are fairy tales of a transitional type.

They combine features inherent in both fairy tales with a wonderful world and everyday fairy tales. Elements of the miraculous also appear in the form of magical objects, around which the main action is grouped.
Fairy tales in different forms and scales strive to embody the ideal of human existence. For example, the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “A Pot of Porridge”.

The fairy tale's belief in the intrinsic value of noble human qualities and the uncompromising preference for good are also based on a call to wisdom, activity, and true humanity. Fairy tales from our blue planet broaden our horizons, awaken interest in the life and creativity of other peoples, and foster a sense of trust in all the inhabitants of our Earth engaged in honest work. Often it is a literary fairy tale that belongs to this type.

In literary criticism there is still no single definition of the genre of a literary fairy tale, and no single classification has been created. Exists a large number of definitions of a literary fairy tale, which can be divided into two types. The first type of definition is a listing of individual characteristics that are usually inherent in a literary fairy tale, but in specific works these characteristics may be absent.

The second type of definition is an attempt at a generalized universal definition. Yu.F. Yarmysh noted that “A literary fairy tale is such a genre literary work“, in which moral, ethical or aesthetic problems are solved in a magical, fantastic or allegorical development of events and, as a rule, in original plots and images in prose, poetry and drama.”

A literary fairy tale intertwines elements of fairy tales about animals, everyday and fairy tales, adventure and detective stories, science fiction and parody literature.

In textbooks on literary reading Grades 1-4 included literary tales Russians and foreign writers. The task of teaching in each class is to deepen children’s knowledge about works of folk art, expand and enrich reading experience, and introduce literary ideas and concepts. From class to class, the range of reading expands and the level of erudition increases. Gradually, children form the concept of literary (author's) fairy tales, types of fairy tales (magical, everyday, about animals), and comparison of author's fairy tales by foreign and Russian writers makes it possible to highlight similarities and differences, “similarity” of plots, and the peculiarities of their language.

Types of fairy tales

It is customary to distinguish 6 main types of fairy tales, each of which has its own purpose and special therapeutic effect:

1. Artistic fairy tale.

These tales contain centuries-old wisdom, which the people put into them thanks to their own bitter experience. This also includes original stories, which are essentially the same fairy tales, parables, and myths. A fictional tale has a didactic, psychotherapeutic and psychocorrectional effect. Initially, it was not created for treatment at all, but today this type stories have been successfully used by a huge number of psychotherapists.

2. Folk tale.

Oldest folk tales are usually called myths. The oldest basis of fairy tales and myths is the unity of nature and man. In ancient consciousness, it was customary to revive human relationships and feelings (grief, love, suffering, etc.), to personalize them. The same approach is used today in fairy tale therapy.

Fairy tale plots:
Among the huge variety fairy tales The following scenes can be distinguished:

- Tales about animals and relationships with them.

An interesting fact is that children under 5 years of age identify themselves with animals and try to be like them in many ways, therefore, in this period of life, fairy tales about animals will be more understandable and close to them. life experience, contained in stories about animals.

- Everyday tales.
They often talk about difficulties in family life, and also offers solutions to conflicts. In this type of fairy tales, the main emphasis is on a healthy sense of humor and on the leadership of common sense regarding troubles and adversities. They introduce us to little family tricks that can make life better. Such tales are optimal when working not only with preschoolers, but also with teenagers.

- Tales of transformations.

We all know the sad story about The ugly duckling, who eventually won his place in life and the team. These stories are great for working with those who have low self-esteem or for working with adopted children.

- Scary tales.

In these fairy tales there are various evil spirits - ghouls, witches, ghouls and others. In all nations, in the children's subculture, a special place is given to horror tales, which allow children to heal on their own. This method of self-therapy invites the child to reproduce and experience a terrible situation in a fairy tale many times, thanks to which children get rid of accumulated tension and master new ways of responding to the problem. To increase a child’s resistance to stress and relieve him of tension, it is recommended to tell horror stories to a group of children and adolescents (at least 7 years old). However, when conducting such a lesson, it is necessary to observe 2 important rules: The story should be told in a “scary” voice, and the end of the story should be very unexpected and very funny.

- Fairy tales.

These stories are ideal for children aged 6-7 years. Exactly fairy tale helps to create a “concentrate” of wisdom in the subconscious and assimilate information about the spiritual development of the individual.

To successfully combat internal experiences, it is best to choose original fairy tales. Despite the fact that they contain too many of the author’s own projections and experiences, this allows the child to penetrate deeper into the problem and find a way to solve it.

4. Didactic fairy tale.

Various educational tasks are often framed in the form of these fairy tales. For example, there are math problems written in the form didactic fairy tale. Solving an example in such a task means passing a test, coping with difficulties. Solving a series of examples can lead the hero to success and finally overcome the problem.

5. Psychocorrectional tale.

Actually, this is a fairy tale that helps to correct certain patterns of behavior in children. But in order for it to lead to the expected result, it is necessary to adhere to the basic principles when creating it:
It should be based on the same problem as the child’s, but veiled, without direct resemblance to it.
In a fairy tale, it is necessary to offer the child a substitute experience, with the help of which the child can choose one or another course of action in order to solve his problem.