A review by inept_scholar
Russian Fairy Tales, by Alexander Afanasyev
4.0
The sweet mysterious appeal of fairy tales still remains with me even in adulthood. Of course as a historian in training, it would be more reasonable to see these tales as expressions of the rich oral traditions of close knit communities in a premodern world. But the interest in fantastic tales of heroism, sorcery, monsters and strange lands remains eternally etched in our memories irrespective of time and place.
Even when reading more than 600 Russian folk tales (collected by Alexander Afanasyev in mid-nineteenth century), one is still drawn to its strange sense of moralities and imaginings. To encounter contrasting figures like Baba Yaga and Saint Nicholas within the same volume of stories, is to perceive popular stories as an amalgamation of the new and the old. Ideas are borrowed, incorporated and transformed in these narratives and what we finally get cannot simply be termed an authentic Russian fairy tale in any sense. The only thing that does seem relatable is the vicarious appeal of these stories that can easily transport any reader to the magical worlds inhabited by Firebirds and twelve-headed dragons, beautiful princesses like Elena the Fair and cunning heroes like Ivan the Simpleton.
Even when reading more than 600 Russian folk tales (collected by Alexander Afanasyev in mid-nineteenth century), one is still drawn to its strange sense of moralities and imaginings. To encounter contrasting figures like Baba Yaga and Saint Nicholas within the same volume of stories, is to perceive popular stories as an amalgamation of the new and the old. Ideas are borrowed, incorporated and transformed in these narratives and what we finally get cannot simply be termed an authentic Russian fairy tale in any sense. The only thing that does seem relatable is the vicarious appeal of these stories that can easily transport any reader to the magical worlds inhabited by Firebirds and twelve-headed dragons, beautiful princesses like Elena the Fair and cunning heroes like Ivan the Simpleton.