The language of folk dream-divination in the “Collection of materials for describing the terrain and tribes of the Caucasus” (1881–1915): The collection of M. A. Kharlamov

Abstract

The article discusses the linguistic features of folklore texts of dream-divination published by Mikhail Kharlamov in the popular journal Collection of materials for the description of the area and tribes of the Caucasus, published in Tiflis from 1881 to 1915. The regional and all-Russian features of the unique folklore collection, which also reflected the individual characteristics of the collecting style of Kharlamov himself who was one of the regular authors of this journal, are described. The ethnographic and local lore orientation of most of the publications and the patronage from the Caucasian educational district contributed to the fact that the journal was perceived as a serious educational publication, therefore the language of its main materials can be characterized as clear and simple, and the style as truly popular science in modern terminology. It should be noted that when documenting some folklore texts, there is a “forcible ennobling” of folk speech when, for example, in the recording of dream-divination for the collector or editor, there are clearly literary lexical inclusions, which creates the effect of a stylistic seam in the text of such a recording. Despite this, the constancy and stability of the basic symbolic conditioning between the sign of a dream and its prognosis is revealed, which, as a rule, have deep mythological foundations. The general Russian folklore unity of the materials included in this collection is also emphasized, which manifested itself in the organization of the dream-divination text, its lexical composition, and grammatical form.