29.09.2019

The meaning of the word fable in literature. "fable as a literary genre"

A fable is a literary genre whose heroes are animals endowed with character traits inherent in people. The manner of narrating the plot is satirical in nature, where the vices of the heroes, their wrong behavior, bad character traits, as well as the result to which this can lead are ridiculed and directly indicated. The moral of the fable is a direct moralizing.

The emergence and development of the fable genre

According to sources that have survived to this day, the author of the first fables was slave Aesop from the island of Samos. According to some sources, his owner was called Iadmon, according to others - Xanth. Aesop became famous for centuries for his extraordinary mind and for the fact that for his wisdom and ability to give his master important tips he was granted freedom. A feature of Aesop's fables was that he in an allegorical form described to his master the situation that was exciting and the correct way out of it.

Aesop's fables have not survived in their original form. But they were passed down by people from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, and were later artistically processed and written down in Latin and Greek poets of our era (Phaedrus - I century, Babrius - II century and Avian - V century).

Fable literary genre in Europe

Since the 16th century, in Europe, poets and prose writers were fond of translations ancient literature. From the beginning of the 17th century, the fable in Europe received its rapid development and passed into the category of a literary genre.

Famous European fabulists are: German poets G. Lessing and H. Gellert, French poet J. La Fontaine, English poet T. Moore. They were fond of ancient literature and imitated Aesop in style.

Fable in Russia

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. In the past, many poets and writers of Russia, paying tribute to European fashion, also engaged in translations of ancient literature, as well as translations into Russian of the works of European fabulists. Among them are: S. Polotsky, A. Sumarokov, I. Khemnitser, A. Izmailov, I. Dmitriev, A. Kantemir, V. Trediakovsky. Very moralizing fables for children were written by L. Tolstoy. Thanks to the efforts of the listed great Russian poets and writers, a new genre appeared, developed and established itself in Russian literature - fable.

The main master of the Russian fable in poetic form is Krylov Ivan Andreevich. His characters are realistic, alive and recognizable; ridiculed vices and shortcomings are inherent not only in a single individual, but are characteristic of large groups people and even society as a whole; their morality is endowed with centuries-old folk wisdom, which makes them understandable and relevant for all times and peoples.

In Soviet literature, the fable continued to occupy its significant niche in a number of literary genres. The "father" of the Soviet fable was Demyan Bedny. His themes were revolutionary, he ridiculed the remnants of the bourgeois mentality, opposing to it the new socialist way of life and its inherent values.

In later Soviet literature, the successor of the fable genre was Sergei Mikhalkov. His characters were of a sharply pronounced satirical nature, aimed at exposing servility, sycophancy and other morally low deeds that flourished in society at that time.

Fabulists found their place in Soviet literature different nationalities and the peoples who inhabited the territory Soviet Union. Their characters were endowed with national features and specific color, were relevant and instructive.

Signs of the fable genre

The fable genre has several signs and features that distinguish it from other literary genres.:

How to distinguish a fable from a fairy tale

Fable, fairy tale and parable are consonant with each other. They have much in common, but there are also very significant differences between them, which make it possible to accurately determine which particular literary genre they belong to.

Fables, fairy tales and parables have the following common features:

are instructive;
can be in prose and in verse;
animals and plants endowed with human traits can act as the main characters;
The story is told in allegorical form.

Differences:

As an example, let's recall A. S. Pushkin's "The Tale of the Dead Princess". The story begins with the death of the king's first wife, from whom he has a little daughter. After a year of longing and sadness, the king marries another. Over time, the daughter grows into a beauty, and then events related to the female jealousy of the stepmother for the stepdaughter begin to unfold. And so on, up to the moment when Tsarevich Elisha finds her in a crystal coffin and awakens her with a kiss from long sleep. I mean, it's a long story.

In fables, a separate small episode of some event is described. As an example, let's take I. Krylov's fable "Elephant and Pug". We do not know anything about this event: what kind of Elephant it is, where and why it was brought from, how long the Elephant stayed in the city. We only know that Moska jumped out of the crowd of onlookers and barked at this important visiting guest. That's the whole plot, but morality is clear to everyone, and it has not lost its relevance to this day.

Significance in parenting

In the upbringing of a child, the fable has a very great importance. Acquaintance with her in a child occurs at the age when the first books begin to be read to him. Not yet comprehending all the deep meaning, the child begins to distinguish the bad behavior of some characters from good behavior others, to understand the allegorical forms of heroes, to understand humor and draw the first conclusions for themselves. The best perception of the plot is served by illustrations and the child learns to visually perceive and distinguish the described images.

The meaning of the word FABLE in the Dictionary of Literary Terms

FABLE

Small narrative (epic) genre: short story in verse or prose with a clearly articulated moral, satirical in direction, having an instructive meaning. The goal of B. is to ridicule human vices and social shortcomings. B. characters are often animals, plants and objects (I.A. Krylov "Pig under the oak", "Elephant and Pug", etc.). In B. personifications, allegories and figurative parallelism are actively used. The emergence of B. is associated with the name of the legendary ancient Greek fabulist Aesop.

Dictionary of literary terms. 2012

What is a fable

Before we figure out what the form of speech of a fable is, let's figure out what it is. A fable is a fairy tale of small size, written in a moralizing manner. Its characters are animals and inanimate objects. Sometimes the main characters of the fable are people. May have poetic form or be written in prose.

A fable is what form of speech? We will learn about this later, but now let's talk about its structure. A fable consists of two parts - a narrative and a conclusion, which is considered to be a specific advice, rule or instruction "attached" to the narrative. Such a conclusion is usually located at the end of the work, but can also be submitted at the beginning of the work. Some authors present it in the form closing remarks one of the characters in the story. But no matter how hard the reader tries to see the conclusion in a separately written line, he will not be able to do this, since it is written in a hidden form, as a matter of course in connection with the events and conversations cited. Therefore, the question: - can be answered that this is a reasonable and instructive conclusion.

Fable speech form

Continuing to study this, let's focus on the next question. What is the speech form of the fable? Most often, the authors of the work turn to allegory and direct speech. But there are also works in the genre of didactic poetry, in a short narrative form. But it must be a work that is plot-complete and subject to allegorical interpretation. There is necessarily a morality that is veiled.

Krylov's fables are original. The Russian writer, of course, relied on the work of his predecessors - Aesop, Phaedrus, La Fontaine. However, he did not try to imitate their works, to translate them, but created his own original fables. As a rule, he used direct speech and allegory, dialogues.

Famous fabulists

The fable came to us from the times Ancient Greece. From here we know such names as Aesop (the most great author antiquity), the second largest fabulist - Phaedrus. He was the author not only of his own compositions, but also engaged in translations and alterations of Aesop's works. IN Ancient Rome what a fable was was known to Avian and Neckam. In the Middle Ages, such authors as Shteingevel, Nick Pergamen, B. Paprotsky, and many other authors were engaged in writing fairy tales with an instructive conclusion. Jean La Fontaine (seventeenth century) became famous for his works in this genre.

Fable in Russian literature

In the 15th and 16th centuries, those fables that came from the East through Byzantium were successful in Russia. Although even up to this time, readers have already formed some opinion about what it is. A little later, people began to study the works of Aesop, and in 1731 Cantemir even wrote six fables. True, in this he noticeably imitated the works of the ancient Greek author, but still the works of Kantemir can be considered Russian.

Khemnitzer, Sumarokov, Trediakovsky, Dmitriev worked hard on creating their own and translations of foreign fables. IN Soviet time the works of Demyan Bedny, Mikhalkov, Glibov were especially popular.

Well, the most famous Russian fabulist was and remains Ivan Andreevich Krylov. The heyday of his work came at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The heroes of the works were most often animals and inanimate objects. They act like people, but by their behavior they ridicule the vices of human nature. Many animals represent some kind of character trait. For example, a fox symbolizes cunning, a lion - courage, a goose - stupidity, an owl - wisdom, a hare - cowardice, and so on. Krylov's original, brilliant and perfect fables have been translated into many European and Eastern languages. The fabulist himself made a significant contribution to the development of this genre and literature in general in Russia. Probably because his sculpture, among others prominent personalities took its place on the monument "Millennium of Russia" in ancient city- Veliky Novgorod.

Summarize

So, we figured out the fable, how it happened, where they lived and what the creators of this genre were called. We found out who the best fabulists in the world were and studied the features of their works. We also know what the structure of this literary masterpiece is and what it teaches. Now the reader knows what to say, having received the task: "Open the concept of a fable." The form of speech and the special language of these works will not leave anyone indifferent.

Do you remember the lines: “When there is no agreement among the comrades, their business will not go smoothly, and nothing will come out of it, only flour ...” One of the fables of the most famous Russian fabulist Ivan Andreevich Krylov begins like this. And it tells about how completely different animals tried to do one thing, while not even trying to agree. What is a fable? Probably every student knows the answer to this question. primary school. Let's remember him and we are with you.

What is a fable: definition

A fable is a poetic or prose literary work that has an instructive satirical character. Moreover, the characters in fables are most often not people, but animals. And these animals are characterized by quite human qualities: the fox is cunning, the owl is wisdom, the crayfish is stubbornness, and the monkey is stupidity.

Fables appeared in the ancient world - in the 6th-5th centuries BC. Let us recall at least the fables of the famous ancient Greek philosopher Aesop. And from the very beginning of its existence, fables taught people. What do fables teach?

Fables and their benefits

One can talk for a very long time about what fables make fun of. First of all, fables make fun of human vices: lies, immorality, laziness, stupidity, boasting, ignorance. In the heroes of fables, each person finds an animal similar to himself.

In addition, due to the satirical, ironic notes of the fable, the reader not only learns to understand his vices and correct them, but also to laugh at himself. Such a sense of humor is, of course, extremely beneficial for a person’s psychological health. One Jewish proverb says: “Blessed are those who know how to laugh at themselves, for the source of their delight will not dry up until the end of their days.”

The moral of this fable is this: read fables, laugh at yourself and become wiser, more humane, more far-sighted. And may your cart always reach its destination. Good luck!

A fable is a poetic or prose literary work of a moralizing, satirical nature. At the end or at the beginning of the fable there is a brief moralizing conclusion - the so-called morality. The actors are usually animals, plants, things. In the fable, the vices of people are ridiculed.
The fable is one of the oldest literary genres. In ancient Greece, Aesop (VI-V centuries BC) was famous for writing fables in prose. In Rome - Phaedrus (1st century AD). In India, the Panchatantra collection of fables dates back to the 3rd century. The most prominent fabulist of modern times was the French poet Jean La Fontaine (XVII century).
In Russia, the development of the fable genre dates back to the middle of the 18th - early 19th centuries and is associated with the names of A.P. Sumarokov, I.I. Khemnitser, A.E. Izmailov, I.I. century by Simeon of Polotsk and in the first half of the 18th century by A. D. Kantemir, V. K. Trediakovsky. In Russian poetry, a fable free verse is developed, conveying the intonations of a laid-back and crafty tale.
The fables of I. A. Krylov, with their realistic liveliness, sensible humor and excellent language, marked the heyday of this genre in Russia. In Soviet times, the fables of Demyan Bedny, Sergei Mikhalkov and others gained popularity.

Delicious recipes

1 0 0

If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl+Enter.