Osnovnye obraznye motivy traditsionnykh russkikh igr

Abstract

The article discusses the most significant figurative motifs of Russian folk games featuring lead players (counterposing the lead player to the rest; representing this player as an otherworldly character, or the dead; rapacity, blackness, blindness, disability; connection to fire, dirt, wealth; etc.). Although these motifs have to do with the collective notions and belong to the whole of traditional culture, here they are examined first and foremost as key components of the figurative “language” of the traditional game. Principles of their interrelationship are analyzed: mutual synonymy, the ability of a motif to be realized in a multiplicity of ways, its relatedness to certain themes (cooking, food, death), its propensity to form semantic complexes, and its capacity to act as an attribute in some cases and unfold into a plot in others.