The influence of W. Avenarius's stylized texts at the distortion of the heroic epos in the Russian educated society at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The second article. "Book of bylinas. Arch of the chosen samples of the Russian traditional poem"

The second article. “Book of bylinas. Arch of the chosen samples of the Russian traditional poem” The article analyzes the “Book of bylinas. Arch of the chosen samples of the Russian traditional poem”, compiled by W. Avenarius and published in 1893. The compiler compares the Russian epic with the babbling of the baby and therefore ignores the original meaning of the epics. W. Avenarius’s point of view drifts between positions of the mythological school and the historical school of epos studies. For him, the main thing in the epics is information about certain historical events (“the people’s epic is a poeticized history of the people, told by himself”), as well as mythological meanings borrowed from neighboring peoples. Proceeding from these ideas, W. Avenarius arbitrarily edits and corrects epic texts; removing fragments and episodes that convey values and meaning, reduces subjects mainly to battles, the outcome of which is not predetermined at the spiritual level, as in the true Russian epics, but depends solely on the physical strength and boldness of the warriors. W. Avenarius, moreover, formulates the moral of the epic. Despite these shortcomings, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Empire recommended the “The Book of the Epic” for all the country’s fundamental and student libraries. Thus, the Russian epic spread in Russian society in a pseudo-national variant, and its original values and meanings were seriously reduced.