Paraphrases of fairy tales by A. S. Pushkin in the folk tradition of Karelian Pomerania

The article considers the process of transition of folklore fairy tales into literature, and the reverse process of their transition into the folk environment: the scope of the “folklore retelling” concept is determined, ways of acquaintance of folklore performers with literary fairy tales are highlighted, key questions of ethnopoetics of folklore are posed: what is the difference between the Russian fairy tales and the fairy tales of other peoples? What part of literary texts is preserved in the transition to folklore? Based on the concept of paraphrase in the interpretation of I. A. Esaulov, fairy tales that coincide with the plot types of Pushkin’s texts, recorded in the 20th century on the territory of the Karelian Pomerania, are analyzed. These materials are stored in the scientific archive of the Karelian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Only two of these texts were published in the “Russian folk tales of the Karelian Pomerania” collection. The largest number of versions was recorded for the “Tales of the Fisherman and the Fish” plot. One version of the plot of “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Bogatyrs” from A. E. Starikov was discovered. The retellings of Pushkin’s “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” are characterized by the transformation of the image of the sea (the fairy tale by E. I. Ladina), the double folklore processing of the literary text (E. A. Sakharova) and brevity (A. I. Suslonova). The plot of the tale about the priest and his worker in the Karelian Pomerania was found twice: the first version almost completely repeats the literary text, the second one loses the Orthodox code of Pushkin’s text. The sea element is of particular importance in Pushkin’s texts. It can reflect the mood of the assistant (Fish), be the center of the universe or the habitat of evil spirits. In folklore retellings of Pushkin’s texts in the Karelian Pomerania, the sea is perceived as a natural barrier or is skipped. As they pass into the oral folk environment, Pushkin’s tales, as a rule, retain the Orthodox code of Russian culture.