The world of childhood in mythological stories of the Southern Pskov region (on the issue of folk pedagogy)
Abstract
The article is devoted to the theme of childhood in the traditional folk culture. The research is based on the collection of mythological stories of the Pskov-Belarusian border area, which has been prepared for publication. The introduction of new empirical material into the scientific use allows us to consider the issues of children’s subculture in an interdisciplinary aspect. The texts of mythological prose contain echoes of archaic rites that reflect different types of interaction between children and mythological characters. The discourse of the South Pskov short mythological stories (bylichka) highlights the mythologeme Rusalka (mermaid) which has a number of specific manifestations. They emphasize the special status of this historical and cultural area which is also characterized by a mixture of Russian (Pskov) and Belarusian features. The folklore and ethnographic aspect of the analysis reveals the connection - within a single territory - of two variants of one of the most important differential features of the character: the coexistence of the “water” and the “field” spheres of the mermaid’s habitat. The verbs-names of intimidation of children by mermaids (полохать [polohat’] and its derivatives) have been identified in language representations of the mythologeme Rusalka. They also bear traces of historical contacts with the North-Eastern Belarusian dialects and the Belarusian language in general. The analysis of the mythologeme Rusalka in the aspect of problems of folk pedagogy allows us to come to the conclusion about the protective nature of such a traditional form of education as the intimidation of children. Due to the constant employment of adults the world of children in traditional culture acquires features of certain autonomy. Intimidating with evil spirits as a measure of education generates in children a border between indoor and outdoor space. As a result, the danger of meeting with the “water” mermaids serves as a talisman for the child’s life. To forbid children to play in the rye with the “field” mermaid intimidation helps to save the crop of cereals as a vital food. Thus, the irrational in educational discourse acquires quite practical lifesaving value.
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