Историческое пространство в песнях о Степане Разине

Abstract

The article analyzes the representation of historical space by toponyms mentioned in seventeenth-century folk songs about Stepan Razin (the Don, the Yaik, the Caspian Sea, the Volga). The study shows that these toponyms are related to Stepan Razin’s activities, while the places where the rebels acted without Razin (Saransk, Penza, Narovchat, Nizhny Lomov, the Makaryevskii Zheltovodskii Monastery, etc.) are not mentioned in the songs. There is also no mention, however, of such important places in Razin’s life like his native village of Zimoveiskaia, the fortress called Kagalnitskii Gorodok, where he made his winter headquarters on the Don, or the town of Simbirsk, where he was defeated by the state troops. The study of the toponyms captured in the songs suggests that the folk tradition was constantly developing and reacted to the changes of geographical names (from Cherkassk to Starocherkassk; from the Yaik River to the Ural River; from Verkhne-Yaitsky Gorodok to Uralsk; from Nizhne-Yaitsky Gorodok to Guryev). This reaction indicates the tension of historical consciousness within the oral poetic tradition. On the other hand, the construction of historical space in the songs about Razin was influenced by the folk tradition. The songs not only inherited folklore formulas that arose long before the 17th century (the quiet Don, Father Don Ivanovich, glorious Cherkassk, Yaik Gorynych, etc.), but also firmly connected the life of the “thieves’” ataman with the fortress of Azov and the Sea of Azov, an important place for the Cossacks. The songs about Razin also have obvious ties with the poetry about Ermak Timofeevich, the conqueror of Siberia.