1/1/2017 AlexanderAfanasyevWikipedia

AlexanderAfanasyev
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AlexanderNikolayevichAfanasyev(Afanasief,Afanasievor
Afanas'ev,[1]Russian:)(11 AlexanderAfanasyev
July182623October1871)wasaRussianEmpireSlavist
whopublishednearly600Russianfolktalesandfairytalesone
ofthelargestfolktalecollectionsintheworld.[2]Thefirstedition
ofhiscollectionwaspublishedineightfasciculesfrom1855
67,earninghimthereputationoftheRussiancounterparttothe
BrothersGrimm.[3]

Contents
1 Life
2 Work
3 Significance
4 Footnotes
5 References
6 Externallinks Born 11July1826
Boguchar,RussianEmpire
Died 23October1871(aged45)
Life Moscow,RussianEmpire
Occupation librarian,slavist
HewaseducatedatahighschoolinVoronezhandstudiedlawat
theUniversityofMoscow,[4]inwhichheattendedthelecturesofKonstantinKavelinandTimofeyGranovsky.He
broughtoutaseriesofarticlesaboutleadingpersonalitiesofthe18thcentury.Beingaprogressive,hefailedhis
finalexams(becauseoftheinspector()SergeyUvarov)andcouldnothaveachairintheuniversityof
Moscow.

Luckily,hewasappointedlibrarianintheArchivesofMoscowin1849andstayedtherefor13yearsuntil1862.In
thatyear,hewasdismissedbecauseofthescandalprovokedbyhispublishingoftheRussianPopularReligious
Legends,whichwereaferocioussatireoftheOrthodoxclergy.

Afterhisdismissal,hehadalotoftroublefindinganewjobandwaspenniless.Thisdidn'tstophimfromwriting
hisbigtheoreticalwork(threetomesof700pageseach):ThePoeticOutlookofSlavsaboutNature,whichcame
outbetween1865and1869.[5]

CensuredbytheImperialauthoritiesforhiscontactswithSocialistAlexanderHerzenandsufferingfrom
tuberculosis,Afanasyevendedhislifeinpenury,forcedtosellhislibrarytoenablehimselftoeat.[6]Hediedin
Moscowaged45.

Work
AfanasyevbecameinterestedinoldRussianandSlavtraditionsandstoriesinthe1850s("folklore"asanareaof
studydidnotexistatthetime).HisfirstscholarlyarticlesTheWizardsandWitches,SorceryintheAncientRus,
PaganLegendsabouttheBuyanIslanddrewuponthesocalledMythologicalschoolthattreatedlegendsand
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talesasamineofinformationforthestudyofmoreancientpaganmythology(seehisdefinitiveworkonthe
subjectThePoeticOutlookonNaturebytheSlavs).Insuchaninterpretation,heregardedthefairytaleVasilisathe
Beautifulasdepictingtheconflictbetweenthesunlight(Vasilisa),thestorm(herstepmother),anddarkclouds(her
stepsisters).[7]Agreatarchivist,hisworksprovidecopiousinformation,evidence,documents,andpassagesofthe
oldchroniclesrelatingtoOldRussianculture,historyandtradition,aswellasotherIndoEuropeanlanguages,
folkloreandlegends,inparticularGermantraditions(heknewtoperfectionGermanaswellasallSlavlanguages
andancientones).

Intheearly1850s,beingalreadyknownforhisarticles,Afanasyevbegantothinkaboutacollectionoffolktales.
HewasthenaskedbytheRussianGeographicalSociety(ethnographysection)ofSaintPetersburgtopublishthe
folktalesarchivesthattheSocietyhadbeeninpossessionofforabouttenyears.Thesearchivesareatthestartof
hisCollection.Afanasyevchose74talesoutofthese.HeaddedtothemtheenormouscollectionofVladimirDal
(about1000texts),fromwhichhekept148numbers,findingtheotheronestoodistorted,hisowncollection(of
about10folktalesfromtheVoronejhregion),andafewothercollections.Headdedalreadypublishedtales(such
asMariaMarievna,TheFirebirdandthegreywolf,andsoon),afewtalescomingfromepicsongs,storiesabout
thedead,afewmedievalsatiricaltexts(suchasTheShemiakaSentence),andanecdotes.

HeoweshisprominentplaceinthehistoryofSlavonicphilologychieflytotheseRussianFairyTales:eight
fascicules,publishedbetween1855and1863,andinspiredbythefamouscollectionoftheBrothersGrimm.From
thescientificpointofview,hiscollectiongoesfurther.Hehadathisdisposalalotofcontributors,hetriedtogive
thesourceandplacewherethetalewastold,henevertriedtogiveanydefinitiveversionofafolktale:so,ifhe
gathered7versionsofonefolktype,heeditedthemall(thisisthecaseforTheFireBirdforinstance).His
collectionwasaheadofhistime.

Afanasyeveditedacompilationofhiscollectionforchildrencomprisingasetofanimal,magicandhumorous
talesRussianFolkReligiousLegendswhichwasbannedduetotheharshcensorshipintheRussianEmpire(the
churchthoughtthecollectionwasblasphemous)andRussianForbiddenTales,anassortmentofunprintabletales
thathadtobepublishedinSwitzerlandanonymously.[8]Theirobsceneandanticlericalsubjectmattermadetheir
publicationinImperialRussiaunthinkable.[9]

Significance
PriortoAfanasyev'sworksinthe1850s,onlyafewattemptshadeverbeenmadetorecordorstudythefolkbeliefs
ofpeasantRussia.ThoughwrittenChurchSlavonichadexistedsincethe10thcentury,itwasusedalmostsolelyby
thechurchandonlyforparochialwrittenworks.Itwasnotuntilthe18thand19thcenturiesthatasizablebodyof
secularliteraturedevelopedinvernacularRussian.Thus,Afanasyev'scollectionsmadeahighlyvaluable
contributiontothedisseminationandlegitimizationofRussiancultureandfolkbelief.Theinfluenceofthesefolk
talescanbeseenintheworksofmanywritersandcomposers,notablyNikolaiRimskyKorsakov(Sadko,The
SnowMaiden)andIgorStravinsky(TheFirebird,Petrushka,andL'Histoiredusoldat).[10]

Footnotes
1.Jones,StevenSwann.Thefairytale:themagicmirror
oftheimagination.Routledge,2002.p.141.
2.Riordan,James.RussianFairyTalesandTheir
Collectors.ACompaniontotheFairyTale.Ed.Hilda
EllisDavidsonandAnnaChaudhri.Cambridge:D.S.
Brewer,2003.Page221.
3.GruelApert,Lise.IntroductiontoRussianPopular
TalesbyAfanasyevwiththetranslationof324folktales
(LesContesPopulairesRussesd'Afanassiev,Paris,
Imago2010,2014)
4.Zipes,Jack.Afanasyev,Aleksander."TheOxford
CompaniontoFairyTales."Oxford:OxfordUniversity
Press,2000.,

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5.ArticlesofL.GruelApertandTatianaGrigorevna
IvanovaaboutAfanasyevandhisfollowersinAround
brothersGrimmandAlexanderAfanasyev,Bibliothque
nationaledeFrance((French) Ductdesfrres
Grimmetd'AlexandreAfanassiev,Paris2011)
6.MariaTatar,p335,TheAnnotatedClassicFairyTales,
ISBN0393051633
7.MariaTatar,p334,TheAnnotatedClassicFairyTales,
ISBN0393051633
8.Zipes,Jack.Afanasyev,Aleksander."TheOxford
CompaniontoFairyTales."Oxford:OxfordUniversity
Press,2000.
9.Haney,JackV.:MrAfanasiev'sNaughtyLittleSecrets:
RussianSecretTales."SEEFAJournal,Vol.III,No.2,
Fall1998.21April2007[1](http://www.arts.ualberta.c
a/SEEFA/ZAVETNYE.HTM).
10.Riordan,James.RussianFairyTalesandTheir
Collectors.ACompaniontotheFairyTale.Ed.Hilda
EllisDavidsonandAnnaChaudhri.Cambridge:D.S.
Brewer,2003.Page219.

References
Townsend,DorianAleksandra,FromUpyr'toVampire:TheSlavicVampireMythinRussianLiterature,
Ph.D.Dissertation,SchoolofGermanandRussianStudies,FacultyofArts&SocialSciences,Universityof
NewSouthWales,May2011.(http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:10059/SOURCE02)

Thisarticleincorporatesmaterialfromthepublicdomain1906BrockhausandEfronEncyclopedicDictionary.

Externallinks
(Russian)RussianfolktalesbyAlexanderAfanasiev(http://www.skazki.com/skazki/russkie_narodnye_skaz
ki/)

Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_Afanasyev&oldid=744572235"

Categories: 1826births 1871deaths ImperialRussianethnographers ImperialRussianfolklorists

ImperialRussianphilologists ImperialRussianjournalists ImperialRussianmalewriters
Collectorsoffairytales Folklorewriters 19thcenturyjournalists Russianmalejournalists
Researchersofslavicpaganism 19thcenturymalewriters Folklorists

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