Муниципальное бюджетное
общеобразовательное учреждение
«Школа №61»
городского округа город Уфа
Республики
Башкортостан
Секция «Английский язык»
Comparative study of English limericks and Russian
chastooshkas
Автор: Сабитова Алина
ученица 7А класса
Руководитель:
Галямова Г.К.,
учитель английского языка
2017 г.
Contents
1. Introduction 3
2. The main part
2.1.
The theoretical
details of the origin of English limericks
and Russian chastooshkas 4
2.2.
The special features
of the genre «limerick» 6
2.3.
The special features
of the genre «chastooshka» 8
2.4.
The comparative study
of limericks and chastooshkas 10
3. Conclusion 11
4. Literature 12
5. Sites 13
Introduction
It is well known that customs
and traditions of the people especially are shown in folklore. Folklore is
defined as stories that originated orally and sometimes have no authors.
One of the ways of
understanding another culture is to analyze its literary works. English and
Russian literature mainly reflects their culture and provides a wide variety of
genres. One of them is limericks and chastooshkas which I was interested in.
Limericks are the works
of English speaking countries. But chastooshkas
are typical for Russian folklore. Thus, poetry is an element of folklore.
According to
my hypothesis it is worthy to study the similarities and the differences
between English limerick and Russian chastooshka.
In this
connection, I set up the following goals:
1) to study
the historical origin of limerick and chastooshka;
2) to
identify the special features of the genres;
3) to compare the English limericks and Russian chastooshkas;
To achieve these aims I have tried to solve the following problems:
1) to find
out the origin of the history of these humorous works of folklore;
2) to give
the description of the English limericks and Russian folk songs;
3) to reveal their features;
4) to reflect the common and distinctive features.
Object of research is English limericks and Russian
chastooshkas.
Subject of research is the similarities and the
differences between English limerick and Russian chastooshka.
Research methods: studying the literature and works
of the given subject; the analysis of the studied literature; the comparative
study of English limericks and Russian chastooshkas.
This material can be used at English lessons as additional
material on phonetic charging, enrichment of vocabulary or just for development
of creative abilities of students.
The main part
2.1. The theoretical details of the
origin of the English limericks
and the Russian chastooshkas.
The origin of the actual name «limerick»
for this type of poem is obscure and is still being debated. The term was first
officially documented in England in 1898, in the New English Dictionary, but
the form itself is much older.
It is generally taken to be a
reference to the city of Limerick in Ireland, and may derive from an earlier
form of nonsense verse parlor game which traditionally included a refrain that
ended «Come all the way up to Limerick? »
It may be possible that in the early
1700s soldiers returning from the War of the Spanish Succession brought the
limerick to Ireland from the European mainland.
It's interesting that some of the
earliest published limericks were related to taverns and drinking. One might
speculate that people had a few drinks, «loosened up», and then began
competitions in which they sang or chanted bawdy songs and poems, perhaps at
times in competitions, with the winner getting a free drink, applause, or a
kiss from a serving wench. It may have been hundreds of years before literary
types started to take limericks seriously enough to start writing them down.
In any case, by 1776 limericks had
been published in «Mother Goose’s Melodies». Shortly thereafter when Mother
Goose nursery rhymes began to attain fame, the limerick became famous also.
Limericks are often associated
historically with Edward Lear, whose first published limericks appeared in «A
Book of Nonsense» in 1846, although his poems were not called limericks at the
time. But Lear didn’t invent the form. It appears that during his stays at
Knowsley Hall in the 1830s, he discovered a book, «Anecdotes and Adventures of
Fifteen Gentlemen», which contained limericks published by John Marshall in
1822. Two similar books had been published around the same time: Anecdotes and
Adventures of Fifteen Young Ladies and The History of Sixteen Wonderful Old
Women. It seems likely that these books employed a form that was already
popular at the time, and that Lear liked the form and began using it himself.
As for chastooshka,
in Russian: часту́шка, derives from «часто» -
«frequently», or from «части́ть» is a
traditional type of short Russian humorous folk song
with high beat frequency, that consists of one
four-lined couplet, full of humor, satire or irony.
Some people suppose that such songs
had been sung and danced under by the street performers (skomorohi). Others are
convinced that chastooshka as a special song form, appeared before the middle
of the last century.
It is one of the few genres of
traditional Russian folklore, the texts are not learnt by heart especially, and
in many cases they are improvised.
Their main purpose is the expression
of a certain attitude to the events and facts in a wide variety of thoughts,
feelings and moods. As in any lyrical work, thoughts and feelings need to be
expressed in rhymes, no extent in time.
The first Russian folk
song were written in small towns, lively villages located on main roads, places
of construction work, which flocked many people.
The first Russian
chastooshkas were only performed during parties, holidays. They were accompanied
by dances. Since the late nineteenth century they become, and the creation, and
the existence of predominantly female genre of folklore.
Chastooshkas
are usually sung as well by a group of people with balalaika or garmon.
2.2. The special features of the
genre «limerick»
While reading and studying limericks
I paid attention to some specific features. All limericks have a strict form
of construction and the way of rhyme. A limerick is a five-line humorous poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme. The
form appeared in England in the early years of the 18th century. It was
popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century, although he did not use the
term.
A limerick has five lines, with three
metrical feet in the first, second, and fifth lines and two metrical feet in
the third and fourth lines.
From a folkloric point of view, the
form is essentially transgressive; violation of taboo is part of its function.
Lear is unusual in his creative use of the form, satirizing without overt
violation. Limericks are in accentual verse, which means that the satisfactory
construction of a line is determined by the number of accents with little or no
regard to the number of syllables. In this it differs from metered verse, which
is accentual-syllabic, taking account of both the pattern of accents and the
number of syllables. Because the syllables are not counted, accentual verse has
certain flexibility.
Limericks are not only acquaint
English language learners with great poetic samples typically English humor,
but an excellent material for the production of correct phonetic organization
of English speech.
Here are the words about
them English scientist John Nores:
«…English is a stress-timed language.
This means, briefly, that the main stresses in an utterance will fall at
approximately regular intervals, no matter how many 'weak' syllables intervene.
It is this phenomenon which causes speakers of other languages to comment on
the English speaker's «slurred» speech. Another way of overcoming this problem
of teaching stress patterns is by using the 'limerick', the comic verse form
which relies for much of its effect on the strongly marked rhythm. Teachers
could demonstrate and encourage students to read aloud some of these verses:
There 'was a young 'lady of 'Niger,
Who 'smiled when she 'rode on a 'tiger. They re'turned from the 'ride With the
'lady in'side -And the 'smile on the 'face of the 'tiger. As can be seen, the rhythmic pattern
involves the stressed syllables each in the first and second lines, two in the
next two lines and three once again in the final, fifth line…»
It is about 500 years old, and held
to have first been used as a distinct form at the end of the sixteenth century.
The limerick was popularized by Edward Lear in A Book of Nonsense, which
includes many limericks as well as other poems, for example «The Owl and the
Pussy Cat»
Edward Lear has been called the
«father» of the limerick because he helped popularize the form.
There was an Old Person of Dundalk,
Who tried to teach fishes to walk;
When they tumbled down dead,
He grew weary, and said,
I had better go back to Dundalk!
3) the main characters
People from
There was an Old Man of Dumbree,
Who taught little Owls to drink Tea;
For he said, «To eat mice
Is not proper or nice»
That amiable Man of Dumbree.
4) the
content
5) the
performance
6) the
vocabulary
2.3. The special features of the
genre «chastooshka»
A chastooshka
is a simple rhyming poem which would be characterized derisively in English as
doggerel. The name originates from the Russian word «часто» – «frequently», or
from «части́ть», the meaning is «to do something with high frequency» and
probably refers to high beat frequency of chastooshkas. They are almost always
an improvisation.
Rhyme
is one of the few genres of traditional Russian folklore, the texts are not
learnt by heart especially not unlearn previously, and in many cases compose on
the go.
1) a form of construction:
The
basic form is a simple four-line verse making use of an ABAB, ABCB, or AABB
rhyme scheme.
2) the way
of rhyme
The
last foot of a chastooshka line is often a single stressed syllable rather than
a full trochee, but no other structural variations are generally allowed. Due
in part to this rigid structure, the tune used to sing them is standardized,
but varies among different regions of Russia.
3) the
main characters
4)
the content
Chastooshkas
cover a very wide spectrum of topics, from lewd jokes to political satire,
including such diverse themes as love songs and Communist propaganda.
After each chastooshka,
there is a full musical refrain without lyrics to give the listeners a chance
to laugh without missing the next one.
Sometimes
they are used as a medium for a back-and-forth mocking contest. Improvisation
is highly valued during chastooshka singing.
A chastooshka
is a short Russian folk song. They have humorous contents and are talked
verbally.
Sometimes
several chastooshkas are delivered in sequence to form a song. Originally chastooshkas
were a form of folk entertainment, not intended to be performed on stage. Often
they are sung in turns by a group of people.
Following
the 1917 Russian Revolution, chastooshkas varied considerably in content from
region to region. In some areas hit particularly hard by the grain
requisitioning of the Soviet regime during the Civil War, such as Riazan,
peasant chastooshka tended to be bitterly hostile.[1] In other places,
particularly those in close proximity to Moscow, "Soviet chastooshkas"
favorable to the Bolshevik government were sung and recited.[1]
In the
early 1920s chastooshkas were used by Young Communists in organized village
gatherings as a form of anti-religious propaganda, subjecting the church and
the rural clergy to ridicule using the traditional rural poetic form. Given the
difficult economic circumstances of the Soviet peasantry in the late 1920s and
1930s, chastooshkas overwhelmingly took an anti-government form, with the
singing of anti-Soviet couplets a common practice at peasant festivals of the
period.
5) a
musical performance:
Chastooshkas
are usually sung as well by a group of people with balalaika or garmon.
Usually
humorous, satirical, or ironic in nature, chastooshkas are often put to music
as well, usually with balalaika or accordion accompaniment. The rigid, short
structure (and, to a lesser degree, the type of humor used) parallels the
poetic genre of limericks in British culture.
Sometimes
several chastooshkas are delivered in sequence to form a song. After each chastooshka,
there is a full musical refrain without lyrics to give the listeners a chance
to laugh without missing the next one. Originally chastooshkas were a form of
folk entertainment, not intended to be performed on stage.
6) the
vocabulary
2.4. The comparative study of
limericks and chastooshkas.
While
doing our work I have examined those similar forms of poetry have the following
common and different features:
|
The similarities
|
|
English limericks
|
Russian chastooshkas
|
|
the genres of folklore
|
|
the forms of poetry
|
|
the exaggeration of a sustainable
image of a man
|
|
there is a spirit of fun and satire
|
|
they are easy to remember
|
|
briefness and shortness bring them
together
|
|
|
|
The differences
|
|
English limericks
|
Russian chastooshkas
|
|
form and rhyme
|
|
AABBA
|
АBAB, AABB
|
|
the main characters
|
|
people from different countries and
cities, sometimes animals
|
young men and women
|
|
performance
|
|
oral form of communication
|
are sung by a group of people with balalaika or
garmon
|
|
vocabulary
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Conclusion
The
research studied the genres of folklore from both cultures. The findings show
that folklore is a unique genre in literature; it carries cultural values of
different groups of people.
While
doing my work I have come to conclusion that there are common and different
features between English limericks and Russian chastooshkas.
Despite of different
culture and different languages these forms of poetry can have the similar
features, i.e. the same content which is often of a bawdy and humorous nature, the
exaggeration of a sustainable image of a man, similar characters. In both
genres there is a spirit of fun and satire, they are easy to remember. Exactly
briefness and shortness bring them together. Every limerick and every
chastooshka always give us vivid image about them. In other words chastooshka
is a type of English limerick but in Russian culture.
As for
differences they are following:
o
the way of rhyme;
o
the strict form;
o
the performance;
Chastooshkas
are usually sung as well by a group of people with balalaika or garmon.
Through the
comparative study of the form, rhyme, characters, which they undertake, I
realize that there are more common than differentiating features in both
genres.
Literature
1. Английские стихи для
детей. Книга для чтения на английском языке. Сост. В.А. Верхогляд, 3-е изд. М.,
«Просвещение»,1992.
2. Белкин А. Р.
«Лимерикон, или Всемирная история в лимериках» М., 2006.Е.
3. Вишневская Г. М.
Методические указания для работы над ритмом английской речи на материале
лимериков (limericks). Иваново, 1989
4. Дубровин М.И. «Книга
для ежедневного чтения на английском языке». Изд.2-е, М., «Просвещение», 1978.
4. «Мир бессмыслиц.
Лимерики, старые и новые», составитель К.Н. Атарова, Радуга, 2003.
5. «Мир вверх тормашками»
(Английский юмор в стихах). «The Topsy-Turvy World». Составитель Н.М. Демурова.
М.,1974.
Sites
1. Сайт,
посвящённый творчеству Эдварда Лира
2. Избранные лимерики от Анатолия
Белкина
3. https://ironicpoetry.ru/category/limeriki/
4. http://funnyenglish.su/english-limerick/limeriki-na-russkom
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