Archetype Of Power In Folklore: Russian And Moldovan-Romanian Folk Tales

Abstract

Folk tales represent a wealth of worldly wisdom of different ethnic groups, for whom power is the highest reflection of order, law and justice. The common man's dream of a wise and just ruler-protector is reflected in folk tales and legends. Based on the method of comparative studies, the authors have analyzed the folk tales recorded by professional collectors in the 19th – early 20th centuries both in Russia and in Bessarabia. Representative selection is associated with the task of identifying the general and the special in perception of the image of power and its reflection in consciousness of the peoples of the European part of the Russian Empire with different historical and cultural roots. The research material is represented with a vast number of folk tales featuring a king (Russian 'tsar') as a principal character, or mentioning a ruler, as well as royal children as the second level of power hierarchy. The authors have identified various images and roles of the king, his traits and power characteristics, and traced the evolution of the archetypal image of power in folk tales. The authors have carried out the comparative analysis of Slavic (Russian) and non-Slavic (Moldovan-Romanian) folk tales with the aim to identify the archetypal image of power, expressed by the king. The socio-cultural analysis has allowed making conclusions about understanding the role of a king's image in fairy-tale folklore. The common features with a minimal difference in presentation of the highest power in the tales under study have been highlighted.

Keywords: Image of power, king (tsar), archetype, hero, folklore, folk tales

Introduction

The Russian historiography's surge of interest to the images of Russian monarchs as avatars of power in the popular consciousness, including Russian folk tales, is largely due to the linguistic turn that took place in Russian scholarship in the 1970s–1990s (Smith, 2001). Active appeal to the study of images of tsars in different layers (levels) of mentality (Kondakov, 2003) from the national consciousness to the archetype is observed in the works by Lukin (2014) and Terekhova (2017). Zinkevich-Evstigneeva (2013) classifies folk-tale characters and associates the image of the king (monarch) with responsibility for citizens and for observance of higher values. An attempt to identify a pure image of power by means of content analysis is presented in the work by Strelkova (2011). Benu (2011) gives his own interpretation of characters of tales and myths of different peoples. Metelinsky (1998) differentiates these forms of folk art by different levels of manifestation of public consciousness. The present research is based on the approach of Metelinsky (1998) and the classification of Propp (1969) and considers a folk tale as a manifestation of public consciousness and a level of mentality.

We use the term 'archetype' in the meaning of a pure (crystallized) image that does not depend on its material (real) embodiment. Archetypes are ordered thoughts that reflect the system of the universe. Archetypes, having a collective basis, cannot be separated from personal experience and feelings. They generate certain (archetypal) images – collective ideas and thoughts that are manifested in the religious and mythological consciousness by means of folk art (tales, proverbs, sayings, songs).

The appeal to the archetype of power, personified in the image of the king in folk tales is not accidental. The folk tale is a reflection of the collective unconscious, which accumulates the social experience and memory of an ethnic group expressed in archetypes. The distinctive feature of the folk tale consists in stressed, conscious attitude to fiction (Pomerantseva, 1985). Propp (1969), one of the most authoritative experts in the field of folklore, believed that a folk tale is a myth in its morphological foundations. The image of power presented by its highest bearer – the king, is largely mythological and far from reality. However, this does not exclude the image being conditioned by historical realities. Another researcher of this genre, Anikin (1982a, 1982b), notes that storytellers violate verisimilitude, but they do not depart from the truth of life.

Problem Statement

Today, the problem of the image of power in Russian historiography is considered at two levels – political (Buganov, 2002) and metaphysical (Zakharov, 1998). At the second level, the idea of intercession (on the part of the supreme power) is contrasted to the arbitrariness associated with the manifestation of power in local communities. The idealized and generalized image of power(the king), regardless of its actor, is inscribed in the mass consciousness on the mental level and manifested in oral folk art (tales).

The choice of folk tales as a form of public consciousness is not accidental. On the one hand, the folk tale performs a number of functions, the most important of which is the transfer of social experience and the formation of a complex of ethnic and national norms and values (Baker-Sperry, 2007). On the other hand, folk tales allow for the transfer of ideas about the origin of social relations and institutions, about social roles and functioning of social norms, about power itself and its actors.

Research Questions

The research subject is the archetype of power, which involves the following research questions:

perception of the king's image in Slavic (Russian) and non-Slavic (Moldovan-Romanian) folk tales;

common and special features in reflecting the archetype of power in the image of the king.

Purpose of the Study

The research aim is to carry out a sociocultural analysis of Russian and Moldovan-Romanian folk tales as a manifestation of the national (traditional) consciousness, which reflects the archetypal image of power and its structural elements. The research object is represented with the folk tale as a form of popular (peasant) consciousness.

Research Methods

The following methods have been used in the research:

• the semiotic-hermeneutical method of analysis of the literary text of folk tales, which is used not only to identify semantic structures of the text, but also to interpret it in the context of the research task. This is an interesting area in the study of mentality of a particular ethnic group and the levels of its manifestation. The archetype of power is a semantic concept reflected in the consciousness of peasantry and transformed in the folk tale in the image of the king as a central figure in the traditional picture of power. Hermeneutics is not only an art of text interpretation. It also allows understanding the basic and stable elements of traditional worldview.
• the method of comparative studies has been applied following the logic of the research task and the statement of the problem – comparison of Slavic and non-Slavic folk tales.

Findings

The king becomes an indispensable attribute of the folk tale, despite the fact that its main characters are represented with Ivan Tsarevich in Russian folk tales, and Fet-Frumos (literally, a handsome young man) or another hero (Svet-rassvet, Ioan Bogatyr, Teleesh) – in Moldovan folk tales. In the most complete pre-revolutionary collection of folk tales compiled by A.N. Afanasyev, the image of king is present in about 36 % of tales, while in the edition of I.A. Khudyakov – in 72 % of tales (calculated by the authors). This difference is deliberate. Recorded and published almost simultaneously in the 19th century (from 1855 to 1863), the collections differ in the volume and geography of tales record. I.A. Khudyakov recorded texts in the central provinces of Russia – Ryazan, Orel, Tula, Tambov, Moscow, and Kazan (as cited in Bazanov, 1964). A.N. Afanasyev, having used the archive of the Russian Geographical Society and the records made by Dal (1898), replenished his collection with the tales from Arkhangelsk, Novgorod, Vologda, Astrakhan, Saratov, Orenburg, Perm, Enisei and other places of the Russian Empire (Anikin, 1982a). In these regions, the monarchical tradition was introduced later and, therefore, was not so deeply ingrained in the mass consciousness.

The analysis of collections of Moldovan-Romanian folk tales compiled by I. Crange, M. Eminescu, M. Oprya and T. Balte in the 19th century, shows that 47 % out of 145 folk tales feature the king. Unlike Russian folk tales, Moldovan-Romanian ones are not characterized by such a wide geography. They more clearly reveal the features of retelling, where the author of the record emphasizes a certain remoteness and fantastic nature of events described: Once upon a time it happened, well, if it did not, then the tale would not have been created. And that was before the day I was born, although it's a pity that I wasn't born happy. I only remember that when my mother, may she rest in peace, gave birth to me, a folk tale ran past our gate, I grabbed her by the tail, dragged her into the yard and beat her up so that she could teach me to tell stories. And since then I have been lying and talking nonsense, not like other good people, but in a very special way, so that the rivers freeze, even though the fire is burning around. After all, in our world, if you do not lie, then you will not live on earth (Romanian folk tales, 1973). In this case, the collectors of Moldovan-Romanian folk tales gave them their own interpretation, as did A.S. Pushkin and P.P. Ershov. A.N. Afanasyev and I.A. Khudyakov collected folk tales and gave them a literary form.

In accordance with the official ideology, the compilers of collections of Russian and Moldovan-Romanian folk tales, oriented on a wide range of readers, gave preference to texts with the king being an unchangeable or even main character.

The analysis of the collection "Russian folk tales in the records and publications of the first half of the 19th century" lets note that in popular and semi-popular editions of the given period, the king featured in 87 % of tales, while in the manuscripts of unpublished collections – only in 19 %. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were even fewer folk tales with the king being the main character. Thus, the texts of the famous Russian storyteller Krivopolenova (1950), recorded during her performances in Moscow in 1915-1916, contain only 16 % of tales about the king (calculated by the authors). In the folk tales, not edited by writers, the king as a character often does not carry any meaning in the narrative and is introduced in order to designate a certain place of action. Mentions of the king do not exceed 15 %.

In the Russian (especially satirical) and Moldovan folk tales, about 16 % of tales mention a landowner ("Landowner and Fellow", "Soldier and Landowner", "Purse with Two Money", "Pekale") (Crange, 1977; Moldovan folk tales, 1957; Moldavskiy, 1979).

The action of folk tales takes place in "some", "far", "far away" or "not in any" kingdom-state. Such beginning is conditioned by the medieval symbolism of numbers (the far-away kingdom – the world of people) and folklore tradition, which recorded the people's understanding of the kingdom as the most important social institution – the state. Moldovan folk tales have exceptions when the kingdoms are associated with the natural state of the place where the action develops ("Knight Ageran", "The Tale of Aliman, son of Zelen-Tsar") (Crange, 1977; Moldovan folk tales, 1973).

Absence of the king's proper name in the folk tales tells about his status characterized by the maximum generality and uniformity. The Tsarevich, who has not yet reached the heights of power, is named Ivan (literally "God is merciful"), which indicates his special destiny. In the Moldovan folk tales (1973), the king may have a proper name (Zelen the King, Panesh the King) or a certain nickname (Vral-King, Red King) (Crange, 1977), but in general we observe the same trend as in Russian.

In the Russian folk tales, the "own" supreme power is almost always called "tsar", foreign – "king", and in Moldovan – "prince". In the folk tale "The Runaway Soldier and the Devil", the evil spirit, leaving the soldier in the kingdom, goes to the far-away kingdom ruled by the king having a beautiful daughter, Mary-the king's. The folk tale "Ivan Tsarevich and the White Polyanin" narrates that "neighboring kings" go to war against Ivan Tsarevich (Afanasyev, 1914). In the folk tale "The Bought Wife", the merchant's son Ivan brings the king's daughter to his state from foreign lands, and then carries gifts to the king. The folk tales where the terms are mixed up are an exception ("Magic Ring"). In the folk tale "Go there – I don't know where, bring something – I don't know what", riflemen serve to the king (Afanasyev, 1914). In the Moldovan tale "Knight Ageran", the main character falls into the underground kingdom ruled by three princes – Medyan-Prince, Serebryan-Prince and Almaz-Prince) (Romanian folk tales, 1973). Later tales ("White Duck", "About a nobleman, an unhappy young man") actually replace the term "prince" and the idea of the state as a principality (Afanasyev, 1914).

In a folk tale, as in reality, the king is always at the top of the power pyramid. The old woman – heroine of the folk tales "The Goldfish" and "Greedy Old Woman" becomes a noblewoman and then a queen as her ambitions grow (Afanasyev, 1914). In "The Tale of Ivan, the Young Sergeant, a dashing head, without a family, without a tribe, just without a nickname", the king had a great number of subordinate princes: Prince Pankraty, Prince Klim..., many others of the same, and in addition truth-loving, compassionate Ministers, Field Marshal Kashin, General Dyuzhin, Governor Count Chikhir, and young Sergeant Ivan of the brave fighting army (Dal, 1898). This hierarchy in popular memory reflects the fact that once these princes were themselves at the top of power, and now they are subject to a single ruler. In the Moldovan-Romanian tales, we do not find such a power hierarchy, which indicates a different and more complex way of development of these lands, which were historically part of different states.

The people used to recognize the exclusivity of the bearer of the supreme power, which had no jurisdiction. In the folk tale "The King's Son and His Uncle", the king decided to punish his son for disobedience: The king was angry and sent to collect kings and princes from various lands... What should I do with my son Ivan Tsarevich? After all, the king's children are not executed, not hanged (Afanasyev, 1914). In the folk tale "King Solomon", the cook, justifying his actions by the high origin of the boy, did not follow the orders of his stepmother and did not kill the king's son (Khudyakov, 1860). The same attitude to power is also present in the Moldovan-Romanian folk tales featuring the epic hero Fet-Frumos. In the folk tale "Morning star and evening star", the king of another state addressing the main character Tsarevich asks: "Why should I take your head off your shoulders?", to which Tsarevich replies: "Sin is forgiven for the first time" (Moldovan folk tales, 1973).

Power is not absolute, but a relative value for people (Zakharov, 1998). Power is often an end purpose in itself – power for power, when the king sets certain tasks to feel his power and superiority over others, including examples when the hero is obviously given an impossible task: go there – I do not know where, bring something – I don't know what. In the tale "Ivan Bykovich", the hero referring to the whangdoodle (chudo-yudo) asks: "Even the kings fight and then reconcile, so why should we fight without rest?" (Afanasyev, 1914).

The folk tales fix the people's idea about the king's election. The tale "Greedy Old Woman" tells: "The old man returned home, and the ambassadors came for him: 'The king died, and you were chosen to take his place.'" In the tale "The Firebird and Vasilisa-Tsarevna", the king was buried, and the rifleman was chosen to rule the state (Afanasyev, 1914). In "The Tale of Ivan, the Young Sergeant...", Ivan "was proclaimed the king by the people" (Dal, 1898). The tale "Vasily Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful" describes the election procedure containing an element of divine destiny: In the city where Elena the Beautiful was taken away, the king died, and so was a call to come to city and choose a new king; and there kings were chosen as follows: who entered the Church with a candle and the candle started burning itself, that would be the king (Afanasyev, 1914).

In the Moldovan-Romanian folk tales, the main character can get power by inheritance, as a king's son (Fet-Frumos), or as a result of their valiant deeds and creativity (in the tales about Teleesh "the king gave him the state"), or after performing the kings' tasks, which allows him get his daughter and kingdom as a reward ("Serpent-heart of oak and the king's daughter").

We can trace two layers of the archetypal image of power associated with ordinary election (conquest) or God's election (inheritance) in the folk tales. For example, in Russian takes, it is represented with a memory of the period of military democracy, when the prince was elected at the veche (state gathering). And both traditions point to the divine origin of the royal power. In the folklore tradition, the king rules the state, while the queen is only his wife, not an independent ruler. However, there are some exceptions. For example, heroine of the folk tale "Vasily Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful" changes into a man's dress with the aim to participate in the election of the king. In the Moldovan-Romanian folk tales, a female character (Ilyana Rozolyana) helps the main character (Fet-Frumos) find himself and become a full-fledged king ("Fet-Frumos and Ilyana Rozolyana").

A zoomorphic character (a falcon) is related to the bearer of the royal power in folk tales. As this correlation is consolidated, the significance of the first component increases, which causes associations with the second and, ultimately, absorbs the semantics of the latter, as a result of which it is no longer necessary. This is the transformation of two interrelated images, leading to the formation of symbol ("Feather of Finest, the Brave Falcon", "Birch and Three Falcons", "Tale of Rogvod and Mighty Tsarevichs", "Tale about Poor Kuzya Mediocre Head and Deserter Buruntay", "Tale of the Pig", "Bewitched Boar", "Grey Eagle").

The texts of folk tales present the image of a people-loving, wise, "simple" or democratic, accessible to ordinary people ruler. In Russian folk tales, the king invites to ball his sovereigns, voivodes, princes, Duma members, senators, merchants, citizens, peasants, all the people from the suburbs (Afanasyev, 1914; Russian folk tales, 1992). The virtues that the king is endowed with can be regarded as the embodiment of the people's dream of a "good ruler" (Moldavskiy, 1979). He is fair: he rewards for the good ("Vasilisa the Beautiful", "Frolka-Seater", "Amazing Little Man") and punishes for the evil ("Merchant's Daughter and Her Maid", "The King's Son and His Uncle"). For example, the king opened his Royal Treasury for Frolka and his companions who saved the king's daughter and said: "Well, my faithful servants, take as much money as you like for your work" (Afanasyev, 1914). In another case, the king learnt that Ivan saved his daughter and gave blessing to their marriage (Khudyakov, 1860). If the king executes, then it is on merit – for deception: a maid who pretended to be the king's bride was tied to horses and let go into the fields. Horses took her to the clear field (Afanasyev, 1914).

A similar image of the king is found in Moldovan-Romanian tales, where he is called noble, generous and fair. For example, in the tale "Panesh the King", the king, having given his daughter in marriage, "celebrated a feast with the guests of his kingdom" (Moldovan folk tales, 1973). In another folk tale ("The Magic Horse"), the king, choosing a husband for his daughter, gives an opportunity to ordinary guys to try their luck in the fight for the princess: "On the appointed day, the royal sons together with ordinary guys gathered in front of the palace" (Moldovan folk tales, 1973). In the tale "Light, pour ahead, darkness, stay behind", Zelen the King "started a wedding with unimaginable music, with food unseen, and invited guests from all over the world" after the trials of heroes (Moldovan folk tales, 1973).

In most tales, citizens treat the king with love: "Ivan Tsarevich reigned quietly and safely and was loved by all his people"; "Ivan Tsarevich is handsome, smart, glorious; many songs and tales are devoted to him, and beautiful girls dream of him" (Afanasyev, 1914). The king is appreciated: "You alone make our kingdom strong" (Russian folk tales, 1992).

The king can keep his word. In the tale "The Unsmiling Tsarevna", we find the following: "The king kept his royal word and gave what he promised" (Afanasyev, 1914). The king is forgiving and generous. In one of the tales, the king wanted to execute a man, thinking that he had betrayed their shared secret, but he figured it out and eventually even rewarded the man. In the Moldovan folk tale "Magic Horse", the king first became angry at the hero named Teleesh, who won the contest for the hand of the princess by trickery, but then rewarded him with the state for his services (Moldovan folk tales, 1973). In the tale "Vasily Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful", on the eve of the Christ's day, "all the people go to congratulate the king, and the king gives money and goods to everyone." In the abovementioned "Magic Horse", the king agreed to be godfather of the old man's son and every year sent his godson a hundred rubles (Afanasyev, 1914). The king also acts as a caring father to his children. For example, in the folk tale "Bewitched Boar", the king seeks to protect his younger daughter from the prediction (Romanian folk tales, 1973).

The folk tales emphasize the power of the king: he both executes and forgives. For example, the heroine of the tale "Greedy Old Woman" argues: "Is it a right thing, General! If the king wants, he will send you to Siberia" (Afanasyev, 1914), and in the folk tale "On the glorious and strong knight Eruslan Eruslanovich, son of the brave hero Eruslan Lazarevich and on his bravery, and on unimaginable beauty of the Princess Pulkheria Eleazarovna", the king himself claims: "Know that I am your king and autocratic master, and whoever of you will resist me, I will order to put that one to an evil death" (Russian folk tales, 1992). If necessary, the king consults with the princes, sovereigns and "all sorts of lords", "his synod" ("Sivka-Burka", "The King and a Peasant"). Sometimes, a "good" king and his "bad" servants are contrasted in folk tales. The king is often unaware of the oppressions that his servants do to peasants ("Magic Horse", "Man and the King's Daughter", "The Tale of Ivan, the Young Sergeant..."). Moreover, the king may collude with a peasant, allowing him for making profit at the expense of his master ("Geese from Russia»): "Well, old man, did you pluck Russian geese?" – asks the king in the end. "I didn't not only pluck feathers, I took off fur coats and flesh!" (Russian folk tales, 1992).

At the same time, folk tales confirm the social antithesis – the people's hero is opposed to the king (Moldavskiy, 1979; Tudorovskaya, 1975). This contrast can be seen in the description of everyday life, or it is emphasized that the king is deceived and shamed by a clever man: "You can be called neither a fool nor a clever one," as if making a conclusion about the king's mental abilities (Kruglov, 1986). It is also mentioned that the king cannot do anything without help (Afanasyev, 1914).

In the Moldovan-Romanian tales, this antithesis is expressed in the fact that the king being a linking character, is saved from any misfortune by a hero from the people (Prysl, Lead Hero, Visan or Teleesh). The hero either saves the king, his daughters, or the kingdom from dragons, diseases, and wars. The king is not always fair to his saviour; he may even be treacherous and ungrateful. For example, in the folk tale "Brave Visan", the king ponders: "Is it proper for him, the sovereign, to sanctify cakes with a commoner?" However, the idea of justice, embedded in the tale's morality, leads to the punishment (death) of the ungrateful king. In another case, Panesh the King also proved ungrateful towards his savior and was punished (Moldovan folk tales, 1973).

The antagonism between a noble and a simple hero is the basis of the tale "Go there – I don't know where": the king wants to marry the rifleman's wife; using the power, the king tries to get rid of him. In this plot, the king is hostile to the hero as the owner of supreme power, or hostile to his son-in-law – a peasant ("By the Pike's Command"). In the folk tale "Unfaithful Wife", the princess cheats on her husband – a simple man. As a rule, the princess's lover is Tsarevich (Prince). A maid helps to unravel the betrayal and punish the unfaithful wife. In another tale, a poor man proposes and marries the king's daughter by means of a magic ring. The wife, having stolen the ring, runs to her noble bridegroom ("Magic Ring").

In the versions of folk tales written in the last third of the 19th – early 20th century, the social sharpness had increased, and the interpretation of the characters' images had changed. The king was presented as one of the oppressors, attention was focused on his negative features – stupidity, pettiness, vindictiveness, selfishness, cruelty. For example, in the tales recorded by Afanasyev in the early 1840s in Kazan and Simbirsk provinces, the image of the king was positive ("Potter"). The king was able to listen to smart advice and act fairly, giving riches to the poor: And you (said to the master), take off your dress and give it to him: he will now replace you, and you will be a potter (Anikin, 1982a, 1982b). This reflected the preservation in the national consciousness of the illusory image of the king-patron. A.V. Chuprov's interpretation of this tale recorded in the lower reaches of the Pechora in the early 20th century (before 1905) is quite different. The hero of the tale, potter Cherepan, says: The king is not fair: his sovereigns have full cellars of money, they are paid for everything. And the poor man gets nothing and should give away the shirt off back (Moldavskiy, 1967). Anti-king sentiments were noted by folklorists Chistov (1957) and Anikin (1982b) in their analysis of the collection "Northern Tales" published in 1908 by N.E. Onchukova. In the folk tale recorded in the Perm province in 1914, a well-known plot received a new interpretation: the king, who could not guess the riddle, no longer sent servants for the peasant, but went to him to bow (Kruglov, 1986). The collection of tales published in 1917 demonstrates strengthening of satirical motives in the interpretation of the king's image (Smirnov, 1917).

Conclusion

Thus, the results of the analysis allow drawing the following conclusions.

The Russian and Moldovan-Romanian folk tales, despite the geography of their origin, have much in common since they are based on the key values of goodness and justice. The latter, to a greater extent, focus on the archetype of the hero-patron, who demonstrates creativity, bravery, and is the bearer of folk wisdom. The hero of these tales is the personification of independence from the highest power of the king (tsar). In the Moldovan-Romanian folk tales, the king is a necessary attribute of the plot, which gives impetus to the actions of the hero himself. The Moldovan tales are often created as "tales within tales", where the actions of the hero become unrelated to the initial task assigned to him by the king. In the Russian tales, the king is a character equal to the hero, uniting the whole.

The king is not the main character, his main purpose is to be the main link in the development of the plot. He takes responsibility for setting the tasks, on which the fate of the characters depends. The king is the highest bearer of not only power, but also of legality, and he has the ability to organize actions and achieve goals. The evolutionary task is to understand the common connectedness of all people and the responsibility for the common good; taking care for the observance of the established order in the kingdom, which makes the king set difficult, but achievable tasks before the hero. At the same time, in some tales we can find a fascination with the external side of power, its benefits, a manifestation of despotism, a tendency to extremes in decision-making, which is more clearly seen in the Moldovan-Romanian folk tales. The initiating lesson is to experience betrayal, isolation, loss of influence, and control over the situation. Responsibility and power are the key values for the king.

The role of the king in the tales is often connected with initiation of the main character. For example, the king often sets a task for the hero (Ivan Tsarevich, Fet-Frumos, etc.) for the performance of which he promises a reward – marriage to the king's daughter and receiving half of the kingdom. But sometimes the hero, as a result of his righteous actions, becomes a king himself, which is a recognition of his merits. If the king's thoughts are dark and his actions are not righteous, then he will be punished.

The king is the highest manifestation of justice, which is seen in the right to adjudicate and resolve disputes in the last instance. He is both the chief advocate and the law. The king punishes the guilty and rewards them by right, restoring the broken order in the kingdom.

The king is wise and experienced in contrast to a young main character, for whom passing through all the trials (initiation) is the way to approach the royal wisdom. Ivan Tsarevich, having passed the trials, becomes the supreme ruler and acquires the highest wisdom and features that are inherent in the king. This is the highest meaning of preserving the supreme power and its stability.

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