TITLE: The Complete Folktales of A.N. Afanas'ev, Vol III
AUTHOR: Jack V. Haney (ed.) with Sibelan Forrester
PUBLISHER: University Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781496824097
PODCAST EPISODE: None
REVIEWER: Hilary Wilson
The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas’ev, Volume III, marks the completion of the first full English translation of A.N. Afanas’ev’s work. As with the previous volumes in this collection, the tales are arranged in an exceptionally accessible manner - either by central theme or from which original Russian collection they are drawn from. Notable to this collection, as opposed to the previous ones, is the focus upon magic users, the clergy, and bawdier tales. This is unsurprising as this collection contains previously censored manuscripts only for the first time translated and now readily available to an English speaking audience.
A.N. Afanas’ev is commonly referred to as the Russian Brother’s Grimm, but that does him a disservice. Over his lifetime he assembled the largest collection of folklore within Europe, and possibly within the world. Reading over the tales contained in this collection (numbered 319 - 579, as well as 45 additional tales from previously censored texts) one is in awe of the breadth of his collecting as well as his adroit use of the pen. There are tales that will be familiar to the reader from Aesop’s tradition, Hebrew tradition, and even in some cases Native American folklore. The universal nature of the texts is striking, as is the ability of the stories to resonate still even in modern day.
I read this text while making ample use of the commentaries in the back of the book itself. Every tale contains such a commentary, often detailing where the tale was collected or when it was written - as well as its correspondences and changes between variations of the tale. Occasionally the commentary digs deeper and offers a separate telling of the tale within the text itself, which was always a delight when it happened. Also of note was when the tale itself was believed to contain historical allusions to Slavic folklife and legend over the centuries - which many of the tales appear to have done. Many of these folkways, had they not appeared within the collection, easily could have been lost to time after the rise of the Soviet Union.
A.N. Afanas’ev’s works offer a glimpse into the past which ultimately shows that in some ways very little has changed. Bawdy tales still haven’t lost their original charm. What isn’t funny, even now, about a peasant using their wits to outsmart a nobleman and get his riches for himself? Likewise, what isn’t thrilling about the moment before the hero brings his blade down upon his wife and the strange young man at her side - will he realize in time that the man is his son, or will he forget what the wise words spoken to him earlier on in the text? The concerns we have as people have not changed much, and there’s something heartening in that fact.
While this text is priced and produced primarily for an academic audience, I do hope that with its publication and success we will see Russian folktales become commonplace in the English speaking world. Over the years other cultures have seen their folktales spread and become common knowledge - particularly the Nordic - Slavic folktales and legends deserve the same treatment. Perhaps this will herald a new beginning, and Baba Yaga will visit us all?
AUTHOR: Jack V. Haney (ed.) with Sibelan Forrester
PUBLISHER: University Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781496824097
PODCAST EPISODE: None
REVIEWER: Hilary Wilson
The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas’ev, Volume III, marks the completion of the first full English translation of A.N. Afanas’ev’s work. As with the previous volumes in this collection, the tales are arranged in an exceptionally accessible manner - either by central theme or from which original Russian collection they are drawn from. Notable to this collection, as opposed to the previous ones, is the focus upon magic users, the clergy, and bawdier tales. This is unsurprising as this collection contains previously censored manuscripts only for the first time translated and now readily available to an English speaking audience.
A.N. Afanas’ev is commonly referred to as the Russian Brother’s Grimm, but that does him a disservice. Over his lifetime he assembled the largest collection of folklore within Europe, and possibly within the world. Reading over the tales contained in this collection (numbered 319 - 579, as well as 45 additional tales from previously censored texts) one is in awe of the breadth of his collecting as well as his adroit use of the pen. There are tales that will be familiar to the reader from Aesop’s tradition, Hebrew tradition, and even in some cases Native American folklore. The universal nature of the texts is striking, as is the ability of the stories to resonate still even in modern day.
I read this text while making ample use of the commentaries in the back of the book itself. Every tale contains such a commentary, often detailing where the tale was collected or when it was written - as well as its correspondences and changes between variations of the tale. Occasionally the commentary digs deeper and offers a separate telling of the tale within the text itself, which was always a delight when it happened. Also of note was when the tale itself was believed to contain historical allusions to Slavic folklife and legend over the centuries - which many of the tales appear to have done. Many of these folkways, had they not appeared within the collection, easily could have been lost to time after the rise of the Soviet Union.
A.N. Afanas’ev’s works offer a glimpse into the past which ultimately shows that in some ways very little has changed. Bawdy tales still haven’t lost their original charm. What isn’t funny, even now, about a peasant using their wits to outsmart a nobleman and get his riches for himself? Likewise, what isn’t thrilling about the moment before the hero brings his blade down upon his wife and the strange young man at her side - will he realize in time that the man is his son, or will he forget what the wise words spoken to him earlier on in the text? The concerns we have as people have not changed much, and there’s something heartening in that fact.
While this text is priced and produced primarily for an academic audience, I do hope that with its publication and success we will see Russian folktales become commonplace in the English speaking world. Over the years other cultures have seen their folktales spread and become common knowledge - particularly the Nordic - Slavic folktales and legends deserve the same treatment. Perhaps this will herald a new beginning, and Baba Yaga will visit us all?