The Linguistic Culture-4 (folklore and literature) (Старые лекции в ворде)

FOLKLORE AND LITERATURE

The studies of the British culture and therefore understanding of the national character of the English cannot stand apart from the research of its important product – folklore. The folklore and folk customs of England developed over a long chain of centuries. Some ancient customs were passed from Celtic to Germanic generations and further. Invaders and settlers brought with them their own beliefs, which mixed with older traditions.

The main reason to uniqueness of British culture lies on the surface: Great Britain is an island populated by the nations that had to develop and go the long way of its history being separated from the rest of the world by water. These very characteristics turned them into very interesting and special people, whose history and culture are one of the richest in the world.

_{British folklore includes traditions, customs, beliefs and systems of values of the mythology of the Anglo-Saxons, Welsh, Scottish and later Normans influence.}

The main system of values, beliefs and traditions of British nations is mostly reflected in the ballads and fairy tales.

Ballads are a fascinating subject of study. These poems are among a group of anonymous songs that were probably created between 1100 and 1700 in Northern England and Scotland, although their origins are still controversial.

The anonymous folk ballads were passed along orally from a singer to a singer, from generation to generation, and from one region to another. The medieval or Elizabethan ballads that appear in print later are probably only versions of many oral forms. It uses simple language, an economy of words, dramatic contrasts, epithets, set phrases, and frequently a refrain. Although the subject matter varies considerably, some major classes of the ballad can be distinguished— among them the historical and heroic such as Beowulf, King Arthur songs and Robin Hood cycle.

Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship. Its creation dates to between the 8th and the 11th century. It is long, as there 3183 lines and devoted to brave and strong hero who fought for the good of his people, killing two monsters. The ballad has been adapted a number of times in cinema, on the stage, and in books.

Another oldest recorded ballads in the English language are Judas (the 13^th century) and Arthurian legends. King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by m odern historians.

There is also the notion of Round Table associated with King Arthur.

In Arthurian legend, King Arthur had a round table so that none of his barons, when seated at it, could claim precedence over the others. The literary importance of the Round Table, especially in romances of the 13th century and afterward, lies in the fact that it served to provide the knights of Arthur’s court with a name and a collective personality. The fellowship of the Round Table, in fact, became comparable to, and in many respects the prototype of, the many great orders of chivalry that were founded in Europe during the later Middle Ages.

Another ballad printed in the late 15th or early 16^{th centuries} is devoted to “Robyn Hood".

Robin Hood (spelled Robyn Hode in older sources) is a heroic outlaw in English folklore, and, according to legend, was also a highly skilled archer, assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his “Merry Men”. Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes and lived in Sherwood forest.

Robin Hood became a popular folk figure in the medieval period as the one who was fighting with the unscrupulous sheriff. Robbing the rich he gave everything to the poor. He continues to be widely represented in modern literature, films and television.

Thgere is one example of Robin Hood ballad translated into modern English:

Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men
Feared by the bad, loved by the good
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood

He called the greatest archers to a tavern on the green
They vowed to help the people of the King
They handled all the trouble on the English country scene
And still found plenty of time to sing

He came to Sherwood Forest with a feather in his cap
A fighter never looking for a fight
His bow was always ready and he kept his arrows sharp
He used them to fight for what was right

Satirical ballads and Royalist ballads contributed to the 17th century political discourse. In a sense, these ballads were antecedents of the modern newspaper.

Thomas Percy, Robert Harley, Francis James Child,Walter Scott and James Hogg were among early collectors and publishers of ballads from the oral tradition of broadsheets and previous anthologies. Professor Francis Child’s and Cecil Sharp’ Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected in the 19th century. The collection of English and Scottish Popular Ballads was published by Houghton Mifflin between 1882 and 1898 in 10 volumes.

The old ballads are a very valuable part of poetical literature. Their themes touch on almost all the subjects of human experience. Ballads are a rich source of data connected with history, social life, feelings and values of the people living on the British Isle.

English Fairy Tales.

The term ‘fairy tale’ appeared in the 18th century, as a translation from French. It is universally understood, but not in fact accurate, since many of the best-loved stories have no fairies in them. So some scholars prefer the terms ‘Wonder Tales’ or ‘Magic Tales’. Fairy tales with very similar plots, characters are found in many different cultures and countries. Sometimes the influence of different tales on one another is quite obvious. Two theories have attempted to explain the common elements in fairy tales. One is that fairy tales are the remains of ancient myths which lived over the centuries and spread over continents. The other is that such fairy tales stem from common human experience and therefore can appear separately in many different countries.

The fairy tales circulated in England in oral form and like ballads many of them unfortunately have been lost to history. One of the oldest printed fairy tales in England was Tom Thumb which appeared in 1621 in a chapbook. Tom Thumb is born in answer to the wish of a childless poor couple, who desire a son even if he were no bigger than his father’s thumb. Magician Merlin answers their wish and the Fairy Queen names him and gives him a hat made of oak leaf and a shirt of spider’s web. Tom then encounters many adventures. The last of them is being eaten by a fish which is then caught for King Arthur’s table; Tom becomes a knight and when he dies is mourned by the whole Arthur’s court.

In 1711 there appeared the first printed version of Jack the Giant Killer, a popular English folk tale. The English fairytales were mostly humorous ones, except for the more magical Three Heads in the Well. Later Victorian collectors found some other oral examples, including Tom Tit Tot and Cap o' Rushes from Suffolk, the Small-Tooth Dog from Derbyshire, and the Rose Tree from Devon.

In the 18th century English fairy tales were published mainly by French Perrault. Selections from these were quickly translated and cheaply printed. Such fairy tales as Cinderella, Bluebeard, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Frog Prince, Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid were totally absorbed into English culture, together with a few items from the Arabian Nights, notably Aladdin.

Theater

Britain has a long tradition of theater. It was introduced from Europe to England by the Romans. By the medieval period theatre had developed a form of early street theatre, concentrating on themes such as Saint George and the Dragon and Robin Hood. These were folk tales re-telling old stories, and the actors travelled from town to town performing those for their audiences.

The reign of Elizabeth I in the late 16th and early 17th century saw a flowering of the drama and all the arts. Perhaps the most famous playwright in the world, William Shakespeare, wrote around 40 plays that are still performed in theatres across the world to this day. They include tragedies, such as Hamlet (1603), Othello (1604), and King Lear (1605) Romeo and Juliet; comedies, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream (1594—96) and Twelfth Night (1602); and history plays, such as Henry IV.

The Elizabethan age is sometimes nicknamed "the age of Shakespeare" for the amount of influence he held over the era. Other important Elizabethan and 17th-century playwrights include Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and John Webster.

During the Revolution of 1642—1660, English theatres were kept closed by the Puritans for religious and ideological reasons. When the London theatres were opened again with the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, they flourished under the personal interest and support of Charles II. Wide and socially mixed audiences were attracted by topical writing and by the introduction of the first professional actresses (in Shakespeare's time, all female roles had been played by boys). New genres of the Restoration were heroic drama, pathetic drama, and Restoration comedy. The Restoration plays that have best retained the interest of producers and audiences were the comedies, such as William Wycherley's The Country Wife (1676), The Rover (1677) by the first professional woman playwright, Aphra Behn, John Vanbrugh's The Relapse (1696), and William Congreve's The Way of the World (1700).

In the 18th century, the highbrow and provocative Restoration comedy was replaced by sentimental comedy, domestic tragedy such as George Lillo's The London Merchant (1731), and by an overwhelming interest in Italian opera. Popular entertainment became more important in this period than ever before. These forms flourished at the expense of English drama, which went into a long period of decline. A change came in the late 19th century with the plays on the London stage by the Irishmen George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and Norwegian Henrik Ibsen, all of whom influenced domestic English drama and vitalised it again.

Today there are over 200 theaters in Britain: 40 of which are situated in London’s West End. The most famous British theaters are The Royal Opera and Royal Ballet, both based at Covent Garden, the National Theatre and the Barbican Theatre. The National is a part of the South Bank Arts Centre, located near the River Thames. The Centre contains three theatres, cinemas, an art gallery, lecture and concert halls. The diamond of the National is the 1.160-seat Oliver Theatre, named after famous actor and director Laurence Olivier. The Royal Shakespeare Company performs at the Barbican in London and in Shakespeare's birthplace Stratford-upon-Avon. The most popular British theatres receive support from the Arts Council of Great Britain.

Important modern playwrights include Alan Ayckbourn, John Osborne, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, and Arnold Wesker.

A prolific composer of the 20th century Andrew Lloyd Webber has dominated the West End for a number of years and his musicals have travelled to Broadway in New York and around the world, as well as being turned into films.

Pop music in Britain influenced by music from all over the world is also an important part of British culture, not just an expression of Englishness, but an indicator of the multi-cultural nature of Britain today. It is mainly a mixture of styles. “Ragga” brings together “rap” and “reggae», for example. Pop music is influencing traditional music. It is difficult to find people who don’t listen to music at least for pleasure so it is not surprising, that music can be an instrument of social influence and change. The need and appreciation for music is evident in the everyday lives of people as well as it is heard at concerts, in movies, on television and throughout all forms of audio media.