KARACHAY-BALKAR AND AMERICAN TALES AS A MEAN OF PUPILS ECOLOGICAL UPBRINGING

Abstract

High ecological culture among students is among the priorities of the modern Russian secondary school education. Offering the solution of this actual problem, the author refers to the educational potential of a fairy tale – the ancient folklore genre, originally written for children. Emotional closeness to the children’s mind of fairy-tale material increases its educational effectiveness. In this article as a didactic material 4 Karachay-Balkar and 2 American tales are selected, ideological and thematic center of which is a gentle, reasonable relationship to the objects of nature. The coincidence of motifs in two different systems of ethnic cultures (American and North Caucasus) indicates the generality of human culture, the universality of moral and ethical values that do not depend on geographical factors. The philosophical idea, which is emphasized both in Karachay-Balkar and American tales is mutually beneficial altruistic relationships of nature to man, and man to nature. This idea is vividly expressed in the tales of the American poem “The Song of Hiawatha” and Karachay-Balkar fairy tale “Three Brothers”. As our analysis showed, many tales are constructed in the form of text warning. In such tales, the central character stands offender of a ban, showing undue version of man’s relationship to nature. Judging by the finals of such tales, the offender shall be punished by nature, and his immoral act responds disaster for all mankind. The article deals with such tales, warnings as “The Price of Water”, “About a girl who became the wife of Thunder,” “Son of the Morning Star.” With the appropriate methodological design all these tales may be applied in the system of secondary school as a means of environmental education of students and successfully serve to didactic purposes.