Myth — Plot — Fable: Semantics and Transformation of Terms in Russian Literary Criticism of the First Half of the 19th Century

Aristotle’s “Poetics” shaped the fundamental concepts of European literary criticism. However, various aesthetic systems attributed different meanings to Aristotle’s ideas, sometimes contradicting those of the philosopher. “Μῦθοϛ,” one of Aristotle’s most complex terms, underwent significant changes in the course of development of European literary theory. The Latin tradition equated it with “fabula,” but the semantics of these terms are not identical. Russian literary theory adopted the term “fabula” as an analogue of “μῦθοϛ.” This resulted in terminological polysemy. In the works of 18th-century Russian authors, the term “fabula” denoted an implausible invention, the content of a poetic work, regardless of its plausibility, and its genre. By the early 19th century, the Russian term “basnya” (basnya) had become established to denote the genre. This term also adopted other meanings of the earlier term “fabula.” Gradually, as Romanticism intensified and Classicism diminished, the term “fable” in Russian criticism lost its meaning as a structural and substantive complex of a work and was used to denote an implausible fiction and a genre. The term “fable” was ultimately abandoned as an analogue of the Aristotelian term μῦθοϛ by A. I. Galich. V. G. Belinsky’s critical articles confirm the completion of this process.