Maksym Rylskyi’s Scientific and Popularizing Activities in the Realm of Ukrainian Fairy-Tale Studies

Author

Karpenko Svitlana

a Ph.D. in Philology, an associate professor at the Department of Slavic Studies Philology, Pedagogics and Technique of Teaching of Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University (Bila Tserkva of Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine). ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0700-2036

Maksym Rylskyi’s Scientific and Popularizing Activities
in the Realm of Ukrainian Fairy-Tale Studies

Abstract

Maksym Rylskyi is considered as a theorist of Ukrainian folkloristics, a guarantor of scientific terminology and methodology. His editorial work on collections of folk tales in translations, writing popular scientific prefaces, participation in scholarly-public discussions have become an important property of modern science on fairy tales. Ukrainian fairy tale studies of the 20th century has been formed under the influence of many internal and external factors, attracting both the interaction of folkloristic schools and methodologies among themselves and an interdisciplinary context. Besides, the significance of M. Rylskyi is quite influential in the formation of the terminological basis of Ethnography, Folkloristics and Art Studies, establishing guidelines for the prospects of increasing the number of works such as textbooks, manuals, monographs and collections of samples of folk art, fairy tales in particular. Scientific activity of folklorists – specialists in fairy tales of the Soviet period has a number of positive factors influencing the formation of modern methods of study of genres of small epics, narratives, the criterion of organization of the structure of science intensive collections of the samples of folk fairy tale. The article is also dedicated to the main achievements of the specialists in fairy tale studies, published during the years when M. Rylskyi has been the head of the Institute of Art Studies, Folklore and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. It is emphasized on the problems and discourse around the folklore collections of fairy tales. After all, during the period of leadership of M. Rylskyi at the Institute of Art Studies, Folklore and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR and after him the academic school of modern fairy-tale studies works on such topics as the archaic nature of the fairy tale genre, the close connection with pre-Christian beliefs, calendar rites, the similarity of motifs and plots of fairy tales of different peoples of the world, consideration of the folklore of the people of the world as a source for comprehension of the special features of the nation. The names of the scientists studying the folk fairy tale in theses, monographs, manuals and programs are submitted. Conclusions have been made regarding the genesis of the study of fairy tale epics forming the scientific school of fairy tale studies, represented by the names of H. Sukhobrus, V. Yuzvenko, I. Berezovskyi, O. Britsyna, L. Mushketyk.

Keywords

folk fairy tale, fairy tale studies, fairy tale collections, small epics.

References

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