Roman Jakobson and Petr Bogatyrev’s Understanding of Folklore in Their Interaction ETKİLEŞİMLERİ İÇİNDE ROMAN JAKOBSON VE PETR BOGATYREV'İN FOLKLOR ANLAYIŞLARI


ŞİMŞEK B.

Milli Folklor, vol.141, pp.19-29, 2024 (AHCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 141
  • Publication Date: 2024
  • Doi Number: 10.58242/millifolklor.1300964
  • Journal Name: Milli Folklor
  • Journal Indexes: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Page Numbers: pp.19-29
  • Keywords: Bogatyrev, functionality, Jakobson, linguistic folklore, structuralism
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This article discusses the contributions of Roman Jakobson and Petr Bogatyrev to the field of folklore studies from a comparative perspective. Jakobson is a theorist who believes that folklore is an integral part of the larger linguistic and semiotic systems that shape human communication. Emphasizing the importance of structural analysis, he introduced the concept of "poetic function" (fr. Fonction poétique), which refers to the artistic and creative aspects of language that are fundamental to the production and understanding of folklore. In connection with folklore discourse, Jakobson also emphasized the concept of "parallelism", which refers to the process of repetition of similar structures, motifs or themes in different narratives or in different parts of the same narrative. Bogatyrev, on the other hand, focuses on the relationship between folklore and society, culture and language. Stating that folklore is a product of collective creativity and has its origins in the shared experi-ences, values and beliefs of a community, Bogatyrev emphasizes the importance of examining the social context in which folklore is created and transmitted, referring to the roles it plays in the lives of individuals and communities and emphasizing the concept of "function" in folklore. He analyzes the role of folktales in teaching moral lessons, shaping collective identities and promoting social cohesion within a community. Bogatyrev's focus on the dynamic and functional aspects of folklore initially distinguished him from Jakobson's formalist and structuralist perspectives. However, a closer look reveals that their approaches overlap in some respects. Despite the differences in their approaches, Jakobson and Bogatyrev's theoretical definitions complement each other. Their joint work began in the late 1920s when they developed a theory called "structural-functional anal-ysis" to analyze the structure and function of folk culture. This approach seeks to understand the internal organ-ization of folk narratives and practices as well as their broader social and cultural functions. One of the most notable contributions of structural-functional analysis was its emphasis on the role of performance in the transmission and evolution of folk culture. Unlike those who adopted structuralism as a method, Jakobson and Bo-gatyrev argue that folk narratives and practices are not fixed, unchanging entities, but rather dynamic and evolv-ing expressions of social creativity. Jakobson's emphasis on the poetic function and structural patterns of folklore provided a basis for understanding its artistic and emotional dimensions, while Bogatyrev's focus on the social context and functions of folklore provided a comprehensive view of how folklore shapes and is shaped by the communities in which it is found. His interdisciplinary approaches have encouraged researchers to col-laborate, drawing insights from fields such as linguistics, anthropology, history and literary criticism. This has led to the development of new subfields within folklore studies, such as Conversational (Oral) Ethnography, Performance Anthropology, and Folklore and National Identity Studies. Overall, Jakobson and Bogatyrev's contributions to folklore studies have had a lasting impact on the field. By examining the structural patterns and poetic functions of folklore as well as its social context and functions, they laid the groundwork for future interdisciplinary research in the field. In this study, we will focus on the functioning of the analysis model proposed by Jakobson and Bogatyrev in the analysis of a folkloric narrative, and thus on their perception of folklore. Such a study is intended to contribute to a better positioning and perception of the analysis methods of different theorists, old and new, who adopt the structuralist approach to formalist analysis, which began with Propp's fairy tale analysis.