FAIRY TALE. BETWEEN THE “PRICELESS INHERITANCE” AND “UNNECESSARY KNOWLEDGE”. THE ATTITUDE OF PERFORMERS TO TRADITION

Abstract

The paper studies the attitude of storytellers to the fairy-tale tradition. In a number of cases, storytellers consider the fairy tales they know to be a “priceless legacy” that they must preserve and pass on to others. In some cases, this is one’s memory from a favourite relative who used to tell this or that tale. Sometimes a fairy tale functions as a sign of ethnic identification of a person, his connection with a particular ethnic group. Some performers use the fairy tale in their repertoire along with other genres to show the richness of the local tradition and its diversity. A fairy tale can be just a saved text, if the performer considers it necessary to preserve the tradition of a particular place. At the same time, a fairy tale becomes a mean of attracting attention to its teller, if it has drawn attention of employees of cultural institutions, of folklorists and ethnographers. In this case, the person begins to work on his repertoire, to replenish it with the help of books, to create or combine tales and motifs.