From a fairy tale to a fairy tale

Handing about the emergence and change of both individual natural realities and cultural objects, and the world and man as a whole, etiological tales and legends reflect the folklore-mythological picture of the world. For almost any question "why?" The folk tradition offers its answer.
Based on the twenty years of experience in the collection, transfer and publication of anthologies of etiological prose of different traditions (Russian, Ukrainian, French, Italian, gypsy), the author analyzes the phenomenon of the etiological text, which has long remained out of view of collectors and publishers by virtue of its complex genre composition, thematic structure, as well as interaction with the apocryphal tradition and literary primary sources. Particular attention is paid to the interpenetration of the etiological corps and the “folk Bible”. Separate chapters are devoted to the most popular etiological plots in Europe, their origin, options and geography: "Review of the duration of human life and the life of animals", "snake-fuckers", "different children of Eve", "Distribution of fate and gifts". In other chapters, such important objects of etiological discourse as the moon, stranger, woman, body are understood.
The second part is entirely devoted to the Russian and generally East Slavic tradition. It considers the specifics of the Russian etiological corps and, in particular, the etiology of Baba Yaga, the most characteristic character of the Russian fairy tale, which connects the oral tradition with the bast. The last chapters are devoted to the fate of a fairy tale in Soviet Russia, its adaptation to the tasks of propaganda, the ideological struggle and education of the young generation.
The book is addressed to folklorists and a wide circle of readers who are interested in folklore and traditional folk culture