Russia is a bear. Slavic character or Why Russians are called bears
When a foreigner is told about Russia, his imagination, among other associations, vividly pictures a bear. This beast has long become our symbol. And not only abroad. The image of the Russian Bear can be found among ourselves in painting, in heraldry, and in modern symbolism of goods and organizations. Why is the bear so popular among us and why do foreigners compare us with it?
It seems that the answer lies on the surface: this is a long-standing stereotype. Its formation was initiated by “Notes on Muscovite Affairs” by Baron S. Herberstein, published in 1526, and the numerous caricatures that followed, depicting Russia as a stupid and evil bear. In “Notes...” the “truthful” baron writes that bears walk along the streets of Russian villages and cities, and in times of famine winter time they break into houses and attack people. And this information was so loved by the indiscriminate Western public that the baron was echoed by many writers over the centuries.
But in reality, this stereotype is more complicated. And the Baron’s “Notes…” did not have the most important influence on his formation. Of course, in Rus' buffoons always took trained bears with them. But in India, you can still see elephants, cows, and monkeys on the streets. And no one thinks of calling Hindus these animals. This means that we need to look for the answer deeper... in the psychology of people.
“It’s your own fault!”
Stereotype is a powerful thing. It, like a prejudice, gives a person a template of ideas; it is born quickly and easily, but it takes a long, difficult time to destroy. Negative stereotypes are especially persistent. Therefore, for the West we will remain a bearish country for a long time (and perhaps forever).
Is the image of the Russian Bear negative? In the eyes of foreigners - yes. Consider old foreign etchings, engravings and illustrations on this subject. Russia the bear on them is simply a block of blunt force, an uncontrollable aggressive beast, a symbol of backwardness, illiteracy, cruelty and everything worst that is in man. One can only shrug, where did they get such an idea about us? In some ways, Russia, for example, has never been particularly distinguished by aggression and cruelty. So what's the matter?
In my opinion, the habit of comparing Russians to bears arose for two reasons.
First reason. In Rus', since time immemorial, there has been a cult of the bear (more on this will be discussed at the end of the article). He came to our ancestors from zoolatry - early form a religion that deifies animals - Stone Age people. This beast was the totem of the Proto-Slavs. And among the Slavs, the image of a bear was transformed into the god of livestock Veles. Proof of this can be the fact that one aspect of Veles is a bear.
But even after formation original religion, and even after the advent of Christianity, the veneration of the bear remained. They respected him, almost equated him with gods, considered him their patron and left him offerings and gifts in the forest. After all, the life of most Russian peoples took place in the forest. And the bear is the most powerful animal, the owner of the forest.
In order to attract the favor of their patron totem - the bear, his images were applied to battle shields, sails of boats, and his symbolic symbols were embroidered on clothes. He was also a favorite character at mummering festivals. Some princely squads called themselves bears - to emphasize their strength and fearlessness. Because of the frequent mention of this beast, foreign merchants and travelers began to popularly call Russians bears. And then it became a tradition.
Second reason. Whatever you say, from its very beginning Rus' was a strong, independent and large state. There were times of decline and fragmentation, but even then no one could break it. This vitality, love of freedom and patriotism have always evoked respect, awe and even fear among the surrounding neighbors.
The European neighbors seemed to feel nothing but fear. If you trace their history, they have always been small or small states, constantly at war with each other. After the conquest of Europe by the Roman Empire at the beginning of our era, they became convinced that any large, united and strong state is a threat to small countries. Therefore, fear of the strong is in the blood of Europeans.
When an individual cannot cope with some strong emotions, he displaces them from his consciousness with others that are no less strong, but do not traumatize him. Psychologists call this process substitution. For example, a child may hate his father so as not to be afraid of him.
It is also easier for Europeans to despise Russia than to fear it. And what fear is stronger, the stronger the contempt. And all means are good in showing your contempt - from caricatures to animal nicknames. But why a bear? The answer is simple. It evokes similar feelings in a person - a mixture of fear and respect. This beast is just as big and strong, solid and leisurely, peaceful, but furious if disturbed.
Slavic character
In Russia, the image of a bear is as popular as abroad. As mentioned above, our ancestors always revered this beast. And although in folklore he may seem to us a clumsy and slow-witted character, in the popular consciousness the bear is the personification of strength, calmness and confidence.
Our ancestors lived side by side with the bear for so long that the archetypal image of the bear has formed in our minds and is still alive. He frequent character folk tales (“Teremok”, “Kolobok”, “Bear and Fox”, etc.), fables and literary works (N.I. Sladkov “Bear Character”, K.I. Chukovsky “The Stolen Sun” and others) , painting. Even now this archetype is popular, and the image of the bear can be found in the heraldry of regions and in the symbolism of sports and political organizations.
In Rus', for any celebration, someone always dressed up as a bear, the newlyweds performed the wedding ceremony sitting on a bear skin, and there were often tame bear cubs in manor houses. Out of respect, our ancestors called him Toptygin, Potapych, or affectionately bear. They also considered him their ancestor, and later a bewitched person or a sinner.
Why did the bear captivate the imagination of the Slavs? Its behavior and some features of its appearance resemble a person: the bear can walk on its feet, climb trees and swim, breastfeed and nurse its cubs, grunt like old grandfather, and its footprints are similar to the prints of human bare feet. Even in character he is similar to a Russian person: good-natured, calm, slow and spends the entire winter in hibernation. This is probably why the bear has become so firmly ingrained in our mentality.
But these are not all the reasons for the Slavs’ love for the bear. He personified extraordinary strength, secret knowledge and resourcefulness. By ancient legend, these qualities were transferred to the one who defeated the wild bear in a duel. But for a Russian man with a broad soul, it was more interesting to tame, rather than defeat, this terrible beast.
In 2009, a sociological survey “The Bear as a Symbol of Russia” was conducted in America. According to its results, almost 80% of respondents identified aggressiveness and cruelty as the most important qualities of the Russian Bear. How do you perceive our symbol?
→ Album “Bear in the history of culture”
Description
Bear - “totem” animal Perm region. He is present on coats of arms, on ancient maps of Perm the Great, in logos, his figurine is the most popular souvenir, and in the center of Perm there is a large bronze monument to a walking bear.
Also the bear is one of the important national symbols Russia.
But where did such a respectful attitude towards the mighty beast come from?
The book, published by the Senator publishing house, contains answers to these questions.
The cult of the bear is the oldest of human cults, dating back to the Paleolithic caves. The image of a powerful beast has accompanied man throughout human history.
The album contains more than 200 visual materials about the bear: from cave painting to drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and engravings by Gustave Doré, illustrations from books by Buffon and Bram about animals, maps of Russia in the form of a bear and photographs of bear statues in cities around the world. The illustrations are accompanied by fascinating articles in the popular genre.
A large chapter is devoted to the image of a bear in the Perm animal style.
No city in the world has such a “bear history” as Perm, so our city can rightfully be considered the world’s “bear capital”.
Album “Bear in the history of culture” - great gift from Perm residents to representatives of other regions, a look at the city from an unexpected side.
The book was presented at book festival"Red Square - 2017" in Moscow and was among the twenty best books of the festival among thousands of titles.
The publication is interesting for both adults and children. City-forming book. What is Perm without a bear?
Bear VS Lion (Chapter from the book “Bear in the history of culture”)
Adventures of a bear among people from the beginning of the Middle Ages to our time
The famous French researcher of the Middle Ages Michel Pastoureau paid a lot of attention to the relationship of man to various animals. After all, through the image of the animal world one can learn a lot about man himself. The animal world always reflects human society, it has its own kings, courtiers and other forest people.
The attitude towards various animals in Europe at the beginning of the Middle Ages can most easily be traced through bestiaries and images of animals in Noah’s Ark. In all images of animals in the ark there is a lion, of the rest most often appearing are a bear, a boar and a deer, and then the rest of the animals and birds. In the images where animals enter the ark, at the head of the animals in the era early Middle Ages usually led by a bear or a lion. In those days, according to the views of Europeans, animals had two leaders. This was in keeping with ancient traditions: the bear was central to Celtic and Germanic culture, and the lion to biblical and Greco-Roman culture. Then the situation changed: the lion always comes first, and the bear ranks much lower in animal society.
With the beginning of the second millennium, the lion defeats the bear in the minds of book authors. The Catholic Church promotes the image of the lion everywhere, replacing the bear wherever possible.
Since the coexistence of man and bear in caves Upper Paleolithic In the north of Eurasia, the cult of the bear dominated, which persisted for thousands of years. And today many fairy tales, legends, and traditions are associated with the bear. The bear was and remains one of the main characters in the folklore of European peoples.
The meaning of a bear is determined primarily by its resemblance to a person. Mythopoetic consciousness believes in them common origin. Bear rituals are conceptualized both at the level of mythological images and corresponding plots. There are stories and legends about the cohabitation of a woman lost in the forest with a bear or the relationship of a bear with a hunter; hence the special category of half-humans, half-bears mentioned in folklore texts and literary treatments. The bear is not only a spirit - the owner of the forest, mountains, animals, the patron of hunting, but also a relative of man - the ancestor of people.
First of all, the bear is the king of the forest and the animals that live in it. It is he, and not the lion, who is the king of beasts in Celtic, Scandinavian and Slavic cultures.
The kings or leaders featured in many fairy tales are “bear children.” These are the sons of women who were kidnapped and taken by force by a bear. Even King Arthur's name comes from the Latin name for bear.
Therefore, the bear is a relative of man. Unlike the lion, the bear has always lived in Europe. People often see him, admire the bear, revere and fear the bear. During the Middle Ages in the German-Scandinavian lands of Europe, it still remains the object of pagan cults associated with calendar holidays. The bear is still considered the king of wild animals in the north. IN Southern Europe This role is already played by the lion.
From this time on, the Catholic Church begins to wage war against the bear, trying to overthrow it from its throne. From the 8th to the 12th centuries, she promotes and elevates the lion, an exotic animal rather than a native one. The lion comes from written culture, not folklore. Therefore it is easy to tame and introduce in the right way in contrast to the bear, about which people know a lot from oral traditions and everyday life.
First, as Pastoureau writes, the medieval church turns the bear into an accomplice of Satan, then it tames the beast and, finally, turns it into a caricature, a funny creature.
According to St. Augustine's saying "ursus est diabolus": "the bear is the devil." According to the authorities of the Catholic Church, the Devil often comes in the form of a bear to frighten and torment sinners.
The bear is then transformed into a tamed, tamed animal. The lives of saints often tell how saints, by their example, their virtues or their strength, defeated and subdued the terrible wild bear. The bear tore apart St.'s mule. Amanda, then Amand forced the bear himself to carry the load. Saint Corbinian did the same, and Saint Vedant made the bear pull the plow instead of the bull, which the bear ate. Saint Columban forced the bear to make room for him in the cave in order to shelter from the cold. And Saint Gal freed the bear from the thorn in its paw, so the bear began to carry logs for him and helped him build a monastery. The monastery later became the influential monastery of St. Gall. This famous episode is known on coats of arms, especially in the cantons of Switzerland.
Then they start making fun of the bear. This happens at the beginning of the second millennium. The Catholic Church has always been hostile to any spectacle associated with animals. But now she doesn't mind training and performing with bears. Muzzled and chained, the bear wanders along with jugglers and buffoons from castle to castle, from fair to fair, from market to market. The royal beast, once a terror, becomes a circus attraction. The bear dances, performs numbers and entertains the people.
After the 13th century, kings no longer gave the bear as a gift; now it is no longer seen even in royal menageries - it has already been expelled from there. Only polar bears, which were presented as gifts by the kings of Denmark and Norway, still retained some prestige, for they were unusual and rare animals in pre-modern Europe.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the lion became the king of beasts throughout Europe. Now the animals have only one king. This is stated in The Romance of the Fox: Noble the lion rules alone. No one is encroaching on his royal power, and the bear Brun is just one of his “barons”, a slow-witted one. They laugh at him. In the same era, the lion, leaving far behind all other animals, takes first place in heraldry, although the bear also remains on coats of arms big cities the world and individual noble families.
Similar processes are taking place in Russia. There are dozens of lion sculptures in Imperial St. Petersburg, but try to find at least one bear.
But it wasn't always like this. In the XIV-XV centuries. the bear was a formidable opponent to Russian fighters who were tested in the “bear fights” repeatedly described by foreign observers.
In his notes, the English diplomat and traveler Fletcher wrote:
“Wild bears, usually caught in pits or snares, are kept in cages. On the appointed day and hour, the court and a countless number of people gather in front of the theater, where the duel is to take place; this place is surrounded by a deep ditch for the safety of spectators and so that neither the animal nor the hunter can escape each other. A brave fighter with a spear appears there, and they release a bear, which, seeing him, rears up, tears and rushes towards him with an open mouth.
The hunter is motionless: he looks, marks - and with a strong swing he thrusts the spear into the animal, and the other end presses it to the ground with his foot. A wounded, furious bear climbs with its chest onto the iron, sprinkles it with its blood and foam, breaks it, gnaws the shaft, and if it cannot overcome it, then, falling on its side, it exhales with a last dull roar. The people, hitherto silent, fill the square with loud exclamations of lively pleasure, and the hero is led to the royal cellars to drink to the sovereign’s health...”
Another traveler Sigismund Herberstein created a myth for centuries about how bears walk through cities and villages in Muscovy. The author recounted his impressions of the trip to Moscow:
“We personally, having arrived there (in 1526), saw how the branches of fruit trees completely died from the winter cold of last year. That year the cold was so great that many of the riders, who they call gonecz, were found frozen in their carts. It happened that others who were leading cattle to Moscow from nearby villages, tying them with a rope, severe frost died along with the livestock. In addition, at that time many tramps (circulatores) were found dead on the roads, who in those parts usually lead bears trained to dance. Moreover, the bears themselves, driven by hunger, left the forests, ran everywhere through neighboring villages and broke into houses; At the sight of them, the peasants fled in crowds from their attack and died outside the house from the cold in the most pitiful death.”
These “Notes on Muscovy” became a bestseller in Europe and forever established the legend of bears walking the streets. And in Rus' the church of those times waged war with the bear. The beast was tamed and ridiculed. Along with paganism, the bear was also eradicated as a living pagan idol. The story began with the taming of the beast and continued with its humiliation. Russian saints Sergius of Radonezh and Seraphim of Sarov fed bears from their hands. “Reverend Gerasim was served by a lion, and I, poor one, was served by a bear. Apparently, even the unreasonable beast remains in obedience with us,” said St. Seraphim.
For several centuries, bands of tame bears, capable of dancing, tumbling and even begging, traveled along the roads of the state. Until the 18th century, “the clubfoot was taken through the streets, taught various things, he was shown, he danced, somersaulted, and personally collected money for the performance in his hat; he danced, he portrayed a young lady getting ready for a date, and a drunk, and a crooked ancient old woman; the bear smoked, strummed the balalaika, maybe didn’t sing... True, the bear was forced to be a friend and a farcical entertainer: “The bear doesn’t want to dance, but they play with his lip.” Or: “The bear is not tied and does not dance. But such is the bearish lot..."
Boyars and rich merchants, as a rule, kept at least one bear in their chambers and towers, so to speak, “for the soul.” Walking into some crowded pub in Moscow at that time, one could often see a bear sitting with a loud group and drinking liqueurs.
And yet in Russia there are different features in relation to the bear. Elements of the cult of the bear were preserved in rituals, signs, and creativity of the Slavs even after the Baptism of Rus'. In Rus' they believed that evil spirits cannot take the form of a bear. “The bear is from God,” said the peasants of the Olonets province. At “bear fun” and executions under Ivan the Terrible, the bear was considered a judge. In Russian tradition, a bear, unlike a dog, is considered a pure animal. According to the miraculous qualities attributed to him, he can not only warn a person about the presence of evil spirits, but also act as the Lord’s punishment for unrepentant sinners. According to popular beliefs, a bear could attack a person and eat him only with the permission of God as punishment for a sin committed. Thus, by handing over disgraced people to be torn to pieces by bears, the king took into account their ability to act as “disinterested judges.”
The peasants jokingly called the bear: “Forest Archimandrite.” The belief has been preserved that the bear removes damage from houses and livestock. Therefore, in some Russian villages there was a “rite of driving a bear around the village, aimed at clearing the fields and, accordingly, ensuring a good harvest.” The bear was perceived as a symbol of health and strength, and endowed with erotic power. That's why the bear was in an important way at weddings. The bride and groom were often called “bear” and “bear” in songs. Young people were often seated on the skins of bears, and they could also spend their wedding night on the skins of this animal.
“Father-in-law dad says:
“They are bringing a bear to us,”
Mother-in-law uterus says:
"They're leading the cannibal."
Gradually, first in the eyes of Western artists, and then for the residents of Russia themselves, the bear becomes one of the informal but significant symbols of the state. At the 1980 Olympics, thanks to the “Olympic bear” and bright visual image As the holiday closed, the bear actually became a marker of the country in the eyes of all Russians. The owner of the taiga lives here next to man for centuries, Russian folklore often emphasizes positive qualities bear: strength, good nature, readiness to protect his own territory and cub children, ironizes his slow-wittedness.
In the Urals, in the former “bear corner”, the image of a bear has still retained its former greatness. In coats of arms, in monuments, in the traditions of the peoples inhabiting the Urals and Siberia, the attitude towards the bear still retains the ancient feeling of respect for the “relative of man,” the king of animals, the owner of the forest.
A bear in Russia is more than a bear, especially now... The cult of the bear as a totem animal was widespread among many peoples inhabiting Russia, however, it would be an exaggeration to consider its image an ancient, unifying and mobilizing symbol for collective action with which Russians identify themselves and their state. Such a symbol was the “Motherland,” as evidenced, for example, by Soviet propaganda during the Second World War. However, the coming years will be favorable for the bear.
As a symbol of Russia, the bear appeared, of course, in the West, in the 18th century. He reflected barbarism, aggression, laziness. Europeanness - a symbol of civilization - is only its outer mask: for Gottfried Leibniz, Russians were “baptized bears.” As a rule, the entire empire is identified with the bear, although sometimes it becomes a symbol only of archaic and backward Russia, which the enlightened government is unsuccessfully trying to reform. This evokes in Europeans a sense of their own civilizational superiority, but also fear (as if not to awaken a dangerous beast!), and sometimes a desire to accustom it or at least put it on a chain.
This image of Russia the bear defines the boundaries of the civilized world and contributes to the creation of a “European” consciousness (it’s not for nothing that the “Russian” consciousness needs the Chukchi for jokes). By awakening fear, it helps to justify a certain foreign policy in relation to the USSR and Russia. "The Predatory Bear" does a better job of convincing the average Westerner of the need for NATO expansion than the most advanced political science treatises, which no one reads anyway. Fear of a common enemy helps create “Europeanness” in the same way that anti-Americanism helps create “Russianness.” Of course, Russia has repeatedly given its neighbors reason to fear, however, if the Russian bear did not exist, it would have to be invented. A common enemy unites. Using the same principle, the “hostile” West has been helping Russians solve their psychological problems for years.
The Russian bear has become part of everyday life. Nobody thinks anymore why Western media call Russian Tu-95 bombers or Russians in the ring (for example, Oleg Taktarov) that way. He is a constant hero of political feuilletons and pamphlets and has occupied an important place in caricature for 300 years. Sometimes it also has positive connotations associated with respect for sovereign power and loyalty to tradition. For example: at the beginning of the last century, the American historian and publicist Henry Adams, using motifs from La Fontaine’s fables, contrasted Russia the bear, as the embodiment of balanced power, with the disheveled and superficial monkey America. Despite the fact that in Poland there is a saying about exile to the “polar bears,” in the caricature Russia, as a rule, appears as a brown bear. The symbol must be recognizable, and the brown bear has a rich semiotic history in European cultures, rooted in the Bible. The biblical beast bear influenced the later identification of this beast with Satan. In the medieval tradition, it symbolized the sinful, bodily nature of man. Of course, we also find examples of Russia being likened to a polar bear. One of the most Russophobic books is Gustave Doré's album "History of Holy Rus'", published during Crimean War- opens with a drawing informing that the first Russian appeared from the union of a polar bear with a female walrus.
In Russian culture, the image of a bear is ambiguous. IN Soviet era in children's books and cartoons, the bear was strong and good-natured, which was manifested, for example, in the cute Moscow Olympic “bear”. However, earlier, for example, in the fairy tales of Alexander Afanasyev, he, as a rule, acted as a greedy and stupid dirty trick.
Changes in the image of Russia the Bear occurred after the collapse of the USSR, not without the influence of globalization and the expansion of Western culture. Russia needed a national, unifying symbol that would be opposed to both the communist era and the West, which manifested itself in the creation of a new model of a man, different from the Soviet enslaved collectivist, devoid of personality, and thereby masculinity, and from the Western, self-centered, spoiled "metrosexual". Russian man should symbolize independence, strength, lack of doubt - characteristic features"dashing nineties". It is no coincidence that the logo of the men's magazine "Bear" was a bear in a tailcoat.
One of the most important tasks of political propaganda that the “party in power” set for itself, starting with the parliamentary elections of 1999, was to endow the Russian bear with positive connotations. Therefore, the bear became the emblem of the Unity movement, and after that - of Putin’s United Russia party. Just look at the titles of articles published in recent years in the world press ("The Russian Bear Returns", "The Awakening of the Russian Bear", "The Russian Bear flexes its muscles") in order to understand the significance of this symbol in politics and culture. At the 2007 World Press Cartoon competition, a cartoon depicting President Putin as a bear took first place. Now that a politician with a “bearish surname” has taken his place, the role of the bear in politics will increase many times over. As Professor Robert Service, director of the Russian Center at St. Anthony's College London, writes in The Sunday Times,
Hi all!
Do you know that saying about a promise that waits for three years?)) So, Archie, dance - there’s a letter for you, or rather a blog on your order.
The bear is one of the main Slavic totem animals. The Slavs consider the bear to be one of the ancestors. He was always revered. People praised his strength and even gave them a nickname. They hunted the bear, wanting to defeat the most terrible beast of the Slavic forests. The bear is one of the main characters of Russian fairy tales. Foreigners often equate the Russian-Slavic mentality with the habits of a bear. Even today this can be seen in caricatures and demotivators.
This is my favorite character Slavic mythology, it embodies both good and evil together folk ideas about the animal world. In the traditions of the Slavs - this was the embodiment Veles , lords of wild beasts in the northern forests.
On September 23, Veles the Fieldfare was celebrated. Veles himself appeared in the form of a Bear under a tree. The characteristics and features of the bear served as popular fantasy. There were legends about the origin of this beast, as if it became a miller who deceived a man by selling him flour; it became the baker, who kneaded the dough with his feet; it became a man who did not give shelter to travelers, hiding under the skin of a sheep.
The ancient cult of the bear is evidenced by numerous archaeological finds. In Slavic graves, along with traces of corpse burning, bones of bear paws with claws were found, in Slavic burial mounds - clay models of bear paws. Up to the 20th century. many peasants kept a bear's paw in their houses as a talisman-amulet that protected its owner from disease, witchcraft and all kinds of troubles.
Numerous references to the bear's paw have been preserved by Russian fairy tale folklore. For example, in the archaic fairy tale “The Bear,” in which, in all likelihood, some links are missing, one thing remains: the owner of the forest punishes people who use his severed paw on the farm.
Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman; they had no children. The old woman says to the old man, “Old man, go get some firewood.” The old man went to collect firewood; A bear came towards him and said, “Old man, let’s fight.” The old man cut off the bear’s paw with an ax, went home with the paw and gave it to the old woman: “Cook, old woman, the bear’s paw.” The old woman now took it, tore off the skin, sat on it and began to pluck the wool, and put her paw in the oven to cook. The bear roared and roared, decided and made himself a linden paw, goes to the old man on a piece of wood and sings:
“Creak, leg, Creak, linden! And the water is sleeping, And the earth is sleeping, And they are sleeping in the villages, They are sleeping in the trees; One woman does not sleep, She sits on my skin, She spins my fur, She cooks my meat, My skin dries."
At that time the old man and the old woman were afraid. The old man hid on the floor under a trough, and the old woman hid on the stove, under black shirts. The bear entered the hut, the old man groaned in fear under the trough, and the old woman coughed. The bear found them, took them and ate them.
In the Novgorod province, there was an idea that a woman would be cured of infertility if a tamed bear walked over her. The idea of fertility is associated with the custom of dressing up as a bear during weddings and Christmastide. At Christmas games, most often a bear dressed up as a bear, at the request of the “guide”, showed everyone present how people perform certain types of work, and the final “act” was usually a demonstration of “how girls are kissed”: the “bear” began to run around the hut, catching and hug all the girls in turn.
It is quite natural that with such a meaning of the image of a bear, marriage symbolism was attributed to it in traditional culture. For Russians, for example, a girl’s dream about a bear promised her a groom and marriage. If, during fortune-telling, a girl pulled her ring out of a dish while listening to a song that mentioned a bear, this meant that she would get married this year.
Here are two of the signature songs foreshadowing a wedding:
Puffing Bear
Floats along the river;
Who will puff into the yard,
That's why the son-in-law is in the mansion.
Or Kaluga song:
A bear sits behind a mortar,
The bear shouts: “I’ll feel it!”
In mythopoetic texts, the image of a bear often appears as a symbol of the groom. So, in a wedding in the Smolensk region and in Belarus, when the wedding train arrived at the bride’s house, they sang:
The meat-eater is coming, the meat-eater is killing.
And boy, children, look at the bear!
And our lady bear buzzes and barks,
To buzz and bark and go to the hut.
As a representative of the natural world, the bear, according to popular belief, knows evil spirits, and he is credited with close family ties with the goblin. People used to say that “the bear is the goblin’s brother.” Sometimes the bear itself is called “leshak” or “forest devil”. In some areas, the goblin was considered the master of bears, like other forest animals. At the same time, according to popular belief, evil spirits are afraid of the bear. Thus, the Novgorod mythological story tells how the “Rizhniy” - a mythological creature living in Riga - frightened by a bear, leaves, leaving a treasure for the owner.
Just like the wolf, the bear could be a werewolf. Only, as a rule, the bear turned into a man, while with the wolf the opposite was the case. This feature suggests that people encountered the bear earlier and considered it their main ancestor, that is, man descended from the bear through the ritual of werewolf, and only then learned to take the form of a wolf, hare and other animals.
People tried not to pronounce the word “bear” itself, using the words “himself”, “master”, “master” or human names “Misha”, “Toptygin”, “Mikhailo Potapych”, in Serbia - “Martyn”, in Poland - "Bartosh."
His true name is ber, this is evidenced by the name of the bear's dwelling - den (ber's lair). By the way, the den was considered one of the passages to Underworld, and her owner is the guard of the Navii kingdom. The bear climbs into its den with the onset of winter, and comes out with the first warm days of spring. On the days of winter confrontation (Kolyad), the bear turned over in its den, marking the turning of the annual wheel.
The customs reflected the desire of the people to make friends with the bear and to call upon its power to their side. They fumigated a sick person with its fur - it helped against fear, postpartum fever, and they pulled a sick child through his jaw. They rubbed themselves with lard to treat rheumatism and frostbite. To be good memory- they rubbed it on their forehead. Claws and fur were used as amulets against damage.
The bear could be appeased with an invitation to New Year's dinner. The southern Slavs had holidays on which they baked bread for the bear.and they threw it up the chimney, cooked it and left the corn in the yard overnight. These days, in order not to anger him, they observed protective prohibitions: they did not work, did not go into the forest, did not commemorate him in words, did not sew or repair shoes.
While seemingly good-natured and clumsy, the bear is actually very strong, cruel and quick to kill. Hunters who risked going out with a spear to hunt a bear were called “inveterate” in Rus', that is, going to certain death.
Bear hunting was considered one of the most serious. In the Vologda province, in order for the bear to be sure to contact the hunter, they took with them bat. According to Russian beliefs, the magpie bear hunt was especially dangerous: the people had a firm belief that the magpie bear would definitely injure or kill the hunter. The idea of the danger to life and the difficulty of bear hunting formed the basis of some proverbs: “Happy is the bear that he did not get caught by the shooter; and the shooter is happy that he didn’t get caught by the bear!”, “Don’t sell the skins without killing the bear.” In the same regard, it is indicative in Russian dialects stable expression“to overcome the bear,” meaning “to cope with a great difficulty, to overcome it.” Playing on the theme of catching an animal was widely used among children to laugh at the braggart. The following teasing joke was popular among the children: “Caught a bear!” - Lead here! - No way! - So go yourself! “He won’t let me in!”
According to legend, Prince Yaroslav the Wise built the city of Yaroslavl on the site of his victory over the bear. Subsequently, a bear with a golden ax was placed on the coat of arms of this city. The bear is also depicted on the coats of arms of Kirzhach, Perm, Maloyaroslavets, Novgorod, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Khabarovsk.
Proverbs and signs:
The bear is strong, but he lies in the swamp
A bear is not given the courage of a wolf, and a wolf is not given the strength of a bear.
The bear was wrong for eating the cow, and the cow was wrong for going into the forest.
Don't sell the skins without killing the bear
Two bears do not live in the same den
The bear is happy that he didn’t get caught by the shooter, and the shooter is happy that he didn’t get caught by the bear
A bear in a den turns over on the other side, winter meets summer (about Candlemas, celebrated on February 15).
That's all! Thank you for your attention!
Increased interest in Russian culture, widespread use of the image of the bear as a symbol of Russia in the media, both foreign and domestic, in the speech of modern politicians, in everyday life explains the relevance of the need to answer the question: “Why is the bear a symbol of Russia?” A.A. devoted his works to explaining the reasons for the formation of a stable stereotype of the “Russian Bear”. Rossomakhin, V.M. Uspensky, D.G. Khrustalev, A. Leontiev, M. Leontieva, Yu.A. Koshkarova, V.S. Zhitenev and others.
To thoroughly uncover the problem, it is necessary to both consider the history of the veneration of this animal in Russia over the centuries, and analyze the genesis of the perception of the image of the “Russian Bear” in Russia itself and abroad.
Bear cults have existed in many parts of the world since the Stone Age. Ancient people attached special importance to the bear, as evidenced by the finds of ancient cultural monuments. Thus, of particular value for archaeologists is the “Montespan Bear”, found in the Montespan cave (France) - a clay statue of a bear, which dates back approximately 35-30 thousand years BC. a real bear skull was attached. Scientists suggest that this statue served as a hunting target for Paleolithic man, who believed that “killing” the model would facilitate real hunting.
"Montespan Bear", France, Montespan.
Bear Woman (Neolithic) 1
In the mythological view of Stone Age man, the bear represented a sacred animal, as evidenced by Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic rock paintings. Numerous petroglyphs depict not only bear hunting, but also individual drawings of this animal, which indicates the special role of the bear for ancient man, his involvement in the afterlife. 2 In his work “The Cult of the Bear in the Paleolithic of Europe,” Zhitenev V.S. states that “The cult in relation to the bear is one of the most ancient manifestations of zoolatry,” and it was expressed in the organization of bear bone complexes, as well as in the manufacture of pendants from bear teeth and bones. According to B.A. Rybakov, the cult of the bear is perhaps the very first in the history of mankind. 3
Two bears, Hjemmeluft, Altafjord, Norway
Engraved drawing of a bear, Pech-Merle cave, France
Cave bear, Chauvet Cave, France
Engraved bear and horse faces, Creswell, England
In the mythology of the Northern Hemisphere, the image of a bear is one of the most common. Thus, a special attitude towards the bear exists in the Scandinavian sagas. Some saga heroes have a bear ancestor, which is a remnant of totemism. Interesting in this regard is the mention in the Scandinavian sagas of berserker warriors (berserkr translated from Old Norse means “bearskin” or “shirtless”). These were fierce and aggressive warriors who preceded combat by putting themselves into “a special kind of combat trance.” 4 Berserkers wore bear skins, as if turning into this strong, aggressive, invincible animal.
8th century bronze plate
On the territory of Russia in the Stone Age there was also evidence of a special attitude towards the bear. Monuments of rock art depicting this beast are found in many places in Russia. For example, on the stones Balaban I and II, located on the banks of the Tagil River, in the homeland of the Mansi, for whom the bear was considered the prince of the forests, there are images of bears. “These finds can be attributed to the Petrogrom culture and dated to the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd millennium” 5. Here are circles depicted, in the center of which there is a figure of a bear, while, according to D.P. Shorin, “his image is surrounded by two circles, just like the names of the pharaohs were surrounded in Egyptian hieroglyphs” 6
Panorama of Balaban I Stone, 2010 7
These and other finds indicate the cult of the bear that existed among the ancient peoples of Russia.
The definition of the bear cult is given by Yu.A. Koshkarova in her study “ Archetypal image bear in the spiritual culture of the peoples of Russia." 8 The cult of the bear “is understood as the worship of the bear, manifested in a special attitude towards this animal and the implementation of a set of rituals associated with hunting, eating the carcass and burying its bones, based on the synthesis of totemism, animism, animalism, trade and clan (tribal) cults, through what is achieved by the “disposition” of a bear towards a person” 9.
Originating in the Mousterian culture, existing until the middle of the 20th century and retaining some elements in the culture of some peoples of modern Russia, the cult of the bear is one of the most stable.
In the minds of the ancient peoples of Russia, the bear represented the human ancestor and had a “blood connection” with him. This is evidenced by the euphemisms that allegorically called the bear - “old man”, “grandfather”, “grandfather”, “uncle”, “grandmother”, “big old woman” 10, etc.
It is worth noting the involvement of this animal in the divine. Old Russian pagan god wisdom and fertility Veles has the image of a bear. At the same time, Veles - Volos was probably the oldest of all Slavic deities, the roots of ideas about which go back to the bear cult of the Mousterian Neanderthals. It is noteworthy that “the ancient Russian sorcerers wore clothes turned inside out or animal skins, usually bear skins” 11. According to Yu.V. Krivosheeva 12, the bear, in the minds of the Magi, took them to another world.
The divine hypostasis of the bear in the imagination of the ancient peoples of Russia gave rise to the creation of many euphemisms to replace the taboo name of this animal, such as “forest or mountain woman” among the Mansi, “woolly man” (Kets), “prince of beasts” (Yakuts), “tsar-man” "(Buryats), "small expensive divine creation"(Ainu) 13. The word “bear” itself means “eating honey” (the interpretation “knowing honey” is erroneous), and subsequently began to be replaced by euphemisms: “clubfooted”, “brown”, “old”, “quiet”, “shaggy”.
Gradually, the bear transforms from its ancestor and takes on the image of a master, king of the forest, prince of animals.
The special perception of the bear by ancient peoples gave rise to the “bear festival” - a hunting cult associated with the ideas of ancient hunters about the rebirth of animals after death. The killing, eating and burial of bears were accompanied by ritual actions and “bear songs” in order to appease and win over the killed bear, “to reconcile the soul of the bear with the hunter who killed it” 14
The “bear oath” among the Ostyaks and Voguls was also confirmation of a special attitude towards the animal. According to the tradition of these peoples, the accused could resort to the “bear oath” to prove his innocence. As N. Kharuzin writes, “The cleansing oath by a bear is considered one of the most powerful, and a person who agrees to use this type of judicial evidence is freed from suspicion of committing an offense or crime” 15.
Thus, in the complex image of a bear for ancient man three hypostases were united: divine, human and animal.
The bear, in the minds of the ancient Slavs, had a number of unique properties. He was able to remove evil spells cast on cattle, and therefore was considered the patron saint of cattle breeding 16.
In pagan symbolism, the bear personified the ability to be the master of the world, “a good family man, teacher, educator... burial keeper (keeper of supplies), merchant” 17. Therefore, most often this symbol was depicted on men's talismans. The sign “bear ears” is a symbol of attentiveness in paganism, and the “trace of a bear”, as a symbol of a hunter, was embroidered on men’s shirts.
Traces of totemism existed until the middle of the twentieth century. Even at the end of the 19th century, Siberian old-timers continued to call the bear “master.” Various beliefs have been preserved, for example, pregnant women were not taken into the forests: if she met a bear, he would definitely tear her to pieces, killing the future hunter in the womb. Signs have also been preserved: “if an animal does not climb into its den for a long time, then the winter will be long” 18, and the peculiarity of this animal was emphasized by its connection with the calendar: half of the winter the bear sleeps on one side, half on the other. The belief has been preserved that the “master of the taiga” was of human origin, due to the fact that he had eyes, feet and fingers like a person. According to popular belief, the bear even fasts throughout the Nativity Fast - he sucks his paw 19. Hunters justified the human origin of the bear by the fact that the dog barks equally at humans and bears.
The mummer-bear continued to be a part of weddings among the Russian people, as it remained a symbol of large families and fertility, the wealth of the young 20. In this regard, the bride and groom sat on the skins of these animals. Moreover, live trained bears were taken to Maslenitsa until the Great Patriotic War.
The bear is a character in Russian folk tales, the analysis of which reveals the picture of the image of the bear in the minds of the Russian people.
The fairy-tale image of a bear in Russian fairy tales is ambiguous. In some places he is a strong and fair defender of the weak (“The Bear and the Dog”), in others he is frivolous, limited and simple-minded (“The Man and the Bear,” “The Bear and the Fox”). He also has the “role of helper and giver” 21.
In some fairy tales, the bear is a kidnapper, a test for the heroes. In the fairy tale “Masha and the Bear,” a beast kidnaps a girl and forces her to work. Other tales, such as "Bear's Ear", which tells the story of the birth of a hero from a man and a bear, express the "mating" role of the bear, which can sometimes turn into a man. In such fairy tales, the bear acts as a test for a girl who, overcoming difficulties, becomes a “red maiden,” that is, a girl of marriageable age. For example, in the fairy tale “About the Bear and Three Sisters,” the bear demands to demonstrate his weaving abilities: “Maiden, maiden, sit down and paint. If you poke it, I’ll marry you; if you don’t, I’ll cut off your head.”22 The bear, as a symbol of fertility, helps women develop their feminine nature, become wives and mothers.
After the adoption of Christianity, the attitude towards the bear as a sacred animal began to be supplanted in connection with the eradication of paganism in the territory of Rus'. However, Christianity's attitude towards the bear is not so clear.
For full understanding This question is addressed by K. Wojciechowska in the article “The Fierce Beast and the Model of Care: the Image of the Bear in the Bible and the Apocrypha” 23 makes an attempt to interpret the biblical image of the bear. In the Bible there is a bear ( we're talking about about Syrian bears) is not mentioned often: several times in Old Testament, and one in the New Testament. One such reference is 2 Kings 2:23-24, where the prophet Elisha curses the children who mocked him, and then two bears came out and tore them to pieces. Here bears appear as instruments of God's judgment. The bear in the vision of the prophet Daniel (Dan 7:1ff) is described as follows: “And behold another beast, a second one, like a bear, stood on one side, and had three fangs in its mouth, between its teeth; He was told this: “Get up, eat a lot of meat!” (The Hebrew word dob, “bear,” can mean both a female and a male, from which some researchers conclude that this animal combines diametrically opposed qualities, for example, divine and demonic powers). Researchers suggest that in this case the bear is one of the aggressive animals that are the enemies of God’s people, and represents Medo-Persia. In this context, K. Wojciechowska notes that Persian king Cyrus was depicted in iconography riding a bear. In the Revelation of John the Theologian, the “bear's paws” are also part of the “beast”.
However, the bear personifies not only cunning and cruelty. In the book of the prophet Isaiah, the bear is the personification of calm: “And the cow will graze with the bear, and their cubs will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.” In 2 Samuel, the bear, on the one hand, is irritated, and on the other, ready to protect her cubs, which can serve as an example of positive symbolism, in connection with her comparison with God: “And Hushai continued: You know your father and his people; they are brave and very irritated, like a bear in the field whose children were taken away, and your father is a warlike man; he will not stop to spend the night with the people.” Subsequently, the bear cubs emerging from the cave became a symbol of the resurrection of Christ.
In Russian Orthodox Church the image of a bear is present on the icons. In the life of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, who lived at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, it is said that more than once they saw how the elder fed from his hands the huge bear that served him.
“One nun came to Saint Seraphim and saw that he was sitting near his cell on a stump of a tree, and next to him stood a huge bear. She froze with fear and screamed at the top of her voice: “Father! My death!” and fell. Elder Seraphim, hearing her voice, hit the bear lightly and waved his hand. Then the bear, like a reasonable one, immediately went in the direction where Fr. Seraphim pointed, into the depths of the forest. The nun, seeing all this, trembled with horror. Elder Seraphim approached her and said: “Don’t be horrified, don’t be afraid!” She still continued to shout: “Oh, my death!” To this the elder replied: “No, mother, not death, and death is far from you. But this is joy!” And then he led her to the very log on which he had sat before. Having prayed, he sat the nun on the log and before they had time to sit down, suddenly the same bear came out of the thicket of the forest, approached St. Seraphim and lay down next to him. His legs. The nun, seeing such a terrible beast near her, was at first in great fear and trepidation. Father Seraphim treated him without any fear, like a meek lamb, and even began to feed him with bread from his hands. Then the nun began to eat little. - gradually cheer up. The face of the great old man was especially wonderful at this time. It was bright, like an angel’s, and joyful.”24
This plot has become widespread as the personification of Christian love and mercy, capable of “taming” even a dangerous beast.
In the life of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the saint’s mercy and love are also shown on the bear. One day the saint took pity on a huge bear, weak from hunger, and brought him bread. The bear peacefully ate the treat and began to visit Saint Sergius from then on, and then became tame.
The youth of St. Sergius. Nesterov M.V.
Despite the ambiguous attitude of the church towards the image of the bear, elements of the cult of the bear were preserved in the rituals, signs, and creativity of the Slavs even after the Baptism of Rus'.
In Rus' they believed that evil spirits could not take the form of a bear. “The bear is from God,” said the peasants of the Olonets province. And in the Ukrainian legend, the “old grandfather” converts a person and makes him first a god, then a bear. It is interesting that the peasants jokingly called the bear: “Forest Archimandrite.”
The belief has been preserved that the bear removes damage from houses and livestock. Therefore, in some Russian villages there was a “rite of driving a bear around the village, aimed at clearing the fields and, accordingly, ensuring a good harvest” 25.
The bear was perceived as a symbol of health and strength, and was endowed with productive power. Therefore, the bear was an important image at weddings. The bride and groom were often called “bear” and “bear” in songs. Young people were often seated on the skins of bears, and they could also spend their wedding night on the skins of this animal.
“My father-in-law dad says:
“They are bringing a bear to us”
mother in law says
"they lead the cannibal"
At the Mordovian festival, a costumed bear played important role and helped “trigger the dormant reproductive potential that provides labor” 26 , often running around the flea market and flirting with girls and women. Also, according to signs, the girl dreamed of a bear for her fiance, wedding or adultery. “Seeing a bear in a dream means expecting matchmakers.” 27
Bear. Hunting idol. Tarnogsky district. Con. XVII century
They continued to speak allegorically about the owner of the taiga. The word “bear” itself came about as a result of replacing the taboo unknown name of this animal and creating a euphemism for “eating honey” (*medu-/medv- “honey”, + *ěd- “eat, eat”). The bear was depicted by beehives in the appropriate form and wooden sculptures hunting idols, whose roots go back to the times of totemism.
A beehive in the shape of a bear. Russia, XIX century 28
The element of “bear cult” in traditions has also been preserved. For example, in Belarus, until the mid-twentieth century, the awakening of the bear was celebrated every spring. “Komoyeditsy” was the name of the bear holiday, which was celebrated on March 23 before the Annunciation.
However, a negative attitude towards the bear as a symbol of cruelty, gluttony and laziness has also taken hold. To a greater extent, this was the result of the taming of the bear, when the king of the taiga began to amuse the people on holidays. Among the mummers, the bear was an important participant at Maslenitsa or Christmastide. It was the image, and not the person under the mask, that the owners, to whom the mummers came to carol, gave treats, “appeasing” them for the sake of patronage over livestock and crops. Sometimes the mummers staged a masked bear driving on a leash, and sometimes, more often on Maslenitsa, a real trained bear entertained the people.
H.G. Geisler. Mummers. 1800s
F.N. Riess "Buffoons in the Village" 1857
P. F. Kaverznev “Mummers”. Second half of the 19th century.
Still, the bear was close to Russian culture, so the figure of the bear is common in Russian heraldry. The bear is depicted on the coats of arms of three Russian cities and on the coat of arms of the Khabarovsk Territory.
The history of the coat of arms of Veliky Novgorod begins in the 16th century, when, by order of Ivan the Terrible, the seal of the Novgorod governor was made, which became the prototype of the coat of arms of Novgorod, approved in 1781 by Catherine II. The coat of arms depicts two bears acting as guardians of the place.
Seal of the Novgorod governor from the Great State Seal of Ivan the Terrible
Coat of arms of Veliky Novgorod
According to scientists, the image of a bear on the coat of arms of Yaroslavl is connected with the “Tale of the Construction of the City of Yaroslavl,” which says that Yaroslav the Wise defeated with an ax “a certain fierce beast and dogs” that the pagans unleashed. It is assumed that the “fierce beast” was a bear, because In the Upper Volga region, a bear cult was widespread, and the fact that the bear stands on hind legs may refer to the myth of the similarity between man and bear. In this legend, the bear symbolizes paganism, eradicated by Orthodoxy.
Coat of arms of Yaroslavl
The coat of arms of Perm, depicting a bear with the Gospel on its back, also symbolizes the victory of Christianity, its pacification of paganism, the enlightenment of infidels, and their conversion to Orthodoxy.
Coat of arms of Perm
Due to the fact that the bear is a symbol of Perm, the sculpture “The Legend of the Perm Bear” or “The Walking Bear” was erected in the central part of the city. The last name is connected with the very idea of the monument, since according to foreigners, bears must walk along the streets of the Ural cities.
Sculpture “The Legend of the Perm Bear”. Permian
The coat of arms of the Khabarovsk Territory depicts a Himalayan bear, which symbolizes power and foresight 29 . The indigenous peoples of this region considered, and some peoples still consider, the bear as their ancestor. They addressed him with respect, as if he were an elderly man. The bear hunt was accompanied by a bear festival, the burial of the bones of this animal.
Coat of arms of the Khabarovsk Territory
However, the special attitude towards the bear of ancestors, the preservation of remnants of totemism, the image of a bear on coats of arms, its preservation in fairy tales and signs has disappeared main reason formation of the image of the bear as a symbol of Russia.
A major role, according to researchers, for example D.G. Khrustelev, the West played a role in this.
It is believed that the first works by a foreigner to contain notes about bears in Russia were “Notes on Muscovite Affairs” by 30 Baron Sigismund Herberstein (1486-1566). The records of the winter of 1526 here may be exaggerated, but they have a basis in reality. He writes: “... bears, incited by hunger, left the forests, ran everywhere through neighboring villages and broke into houses; at the sight of them, a crowd of villagers ran away from their attack and died a miserable death outside the house from the cold” 31. Subsequently, this story was copied by other authors, for example, Alexander Guagnini in work XVI century "Description of Muscovy", and became the basis for jokes about bears walking around the cities of Russia.
It is noteworthy that the bear is present on one of the earliest maps Northern Europe(“Carta Marina”), compiled by Olaf Magnus and printed in 1539. The beast is depicted on the territory of the Principality of Moscow.
"Carta Marina", Olaf Magnus
Also, no later than 1633, Isaac Massa compiled a map of the “Northern and Eastern parts of Russia, called Muscovy.” Here you can see two fragments depicting bears.
The first map sheet from the Blaeu Atlas, which was published in many editions from 1635 to 1672.
In the 18th century, the West chose the bear as the hero of its cartoons to depict Russia, and thus gave rise to a persistent stereotype about 300 years ago.
The first image of Russia as a bear was printed in 1737 in a series of English engravings entitled “The European Race”. From this moment, as stated by A.A. Rossomakhin, V.M. Uspensky and D.G. Khrustalev - researchers who studied this topic as part of the project “Russia as a Bear” (2006), over a hundred years, more than a hundred satirical engravings were produced, in which the image of Russia is presented in the form of a bear (sometimes in a collar, muzzle, on a leash or with weapons). At the same time, Vasily Uspensky 32 provides facts proving that this image is of English origin. For bear baiting, popular in England in the 16th century, Russian polar bears were specially brought in, which later became the “standard of quality.” This image became the basis for many cartoons of the 18th-19th centuries. For example, a baiting scene is depicted in an 1801 cartoon (ill. 2), where Napoleon holds a chain to which a bear is chained. Illustration 4 shows Napoleon donning the "collar of independence".
1. "The European Race", 1737
2. Unknown engraver (ed. William Holland). Mad Pavel. 1801
Painted etching. Brown University Library
3. Charles Williams. Northern bears are taught to dance. 1801 Colored etching.
4. Charles Williams. Mutual honors in Tilsit, or monkey, bear and eagle. 1807 Colored etching
5. Isaac Krunshank. Bruin becomes a mediator. 1803 Colored etching.
The bear was also depicted in cartoons as a military man. For example, on the sheet of James Gillray “The Allied Powers Take Off Their Shoes Egalite 33 1799 (ill. 6) only Russia is not endowed with national characteristics, like Prussia, Turkey, Holland, England, France, but is depicted in the form of a beast.
6. James Gillray. The Allied Powers take off the shoes of Egalite. 1799 Colored etching.
The bear was also depicted as a Cossack. For example, on the sheet of 1828 “Landing of the Great Bear, or Muslims in predicament"William Heath (ill. 7).
7. Williams Heath. Landing of the Great Bear, or the Muslims are in a difficult situation. 1828 Colored etching
It is obvious that the English engravings of the 18th century are the first thirds of the XIX centuries expressed the image of Russia through the image of a bear, showing its “savagery, bloodthirstiness, power, enslavement or stupidity” 34 and were proof of “the British ignorance of the true Russian reality” 35. However, the appearance of the bear in cartoons, which are a powerful means of persuasion, gave rise to the Russian Bear stereotype, which continued to be used in further cartoons different countries and is still in use today.
In the twentieth century, the “Russian bear” was especially popular in the American media. During the Cold War, when tensions between the USSR and the West were great, the metaphor of a cruel, bloodthirsty bear was widely used by Western media as the personification of the USSR's policies in those years. For example, in 1980, Reader’s Digest published an article “Standing up to the Russian bear,” containing “a call to show cruelty against the USSR” 36 .
Such qualities attributed to the bear as courage, perseverance, strength are a priority for any athlete, so in 1980 Mishka became the mascot of the XXII Olympic Games in Moscow. Moreover, the image was close to the USSR with the desire to protect the weak, justice, peace, which in the years cold war could play into the hands of Soviet propaganda.
In the 21st century, the bear became a symbol of the ruling United Russia party; it began to appear in the speeches of politicians. For example, in 2014, President V.V. Putin, in response to US calls to return Crimea, said: “There is ancient proverb: “What is allowed to Jupiter is not allowed to the bull.” But the bear will not ask anyone for permission. And he won’t give up his taiga. Don’t meddle with us and don’t pretend to be the arbiters of the world’s destinies.”37
This phrase serves as an example of comparing Russia with a bear as a strong, independent power. However, the image of the “Russian Bear” still has different semantics in the world.
In 2009, a group of researchers conducted a sociological study to determine the perception of the image of the bear as a symbol of Russia in Russia itself and abroad, namely in the USA, Washington. The results of the study were published in the article by T. Ryabova “The Bear as a symbol of Russia: a sociological dimension.” 38 During the survey, it turned out that among American respondents the bear was first on the list of symbols of Russia (41.6%), among which were “Red Square” (39.0%), “Kremlin” (28.6%), “AK -47” (28.6%), “Matryoshka” (23.4%), etc. In the list of Russian symbols of Russian respondents, “bear” (20.0%) took fourth position after such markers as “Double-headed eagle” ( 56.0%), “Kremlin” (38.0%), “birch” (23.0%).
The answers to the question about the interpretation of the image of the “Russian bear” were different among representatives of the two countries. Thus, American respondents identified “aggression” (76.6%) as the main quality of the “Russian bear”, followed by “strength” (63.6%), “cruelty” (50.6%), and “barbarism” (26.0). %). On the contrary, Russian respondents put “strength” (58.0%) in first place, followed by “backwardness” (43.0%), “clumsiness” (37.0%), and “aggressiveness” (25.0%).
The negative qualities of the symbol chosen by respondents from different countries, but at the same time the frequent use of the image in the Russian media, prompted the researchers to ask another question: “If you compared Russia to a bear, what qualities would you give it?” The answers were as follows: “strength” - 81%, “good nature” - 41%, “guilelessness” - 13%, “clumsiness” - 12%, “backwardness” - 6%, “stupidity” - 6%, aggressiveness - 4% .
Having analyzed these data, we can conclude that the American sees the aggressiveness hiding behind the strength of the “Russian bear”. At the same time, in the perception of Russians, the strength of the “Russian bear” is complemented by good nature and ingenuousness, which shows a positive connotation of this symbol in Russia. Perhaps its closeness to the Russian people has something in common with the mentality of the Russian people: the long winter hibernation and short summer of the bear are similar to the life of the Russian peasant with his short summer period of agricultural work and long winter evenings. This is the duality in the Russian character, which can manifest itself in hot temper and quick response, in the justice of punishing the guilty and caring defense of the suffering.
Thus, the cult of the bear, which originated in the Stone Age, retained its elements in the culture of the Russian people until the mid-twentieth century: its image is present not only in rituals, signs and folklore, but also in Russian heraldry. However, the West played main role in the formation of the bear as a symbol of Russia. In the 16th century, the owner of the taiga appeared on maps as a marker of Russia, and already in the 18th century, in British cartoons, the bear personified Russia, speaking of it as a barbaric country with an aggressive policy. During the Cold War, the United States continued to use the bear image as a tool in the media information war. The transitional moment in the formation of the “Russian Bear” is the XXII Olympic Games in Moscow, whose mascot was the Olympic Bear as the owner of strength, justice, and peace. At the beginning of the 21st century, the bear was chosen as a symbol of the ruling United Russia party, and today its image is often used in the speech of Russian and foreign politicians, which further reinforces the already stable stereotype of a strong, independent, like a bear, Russia.
1 Rybakov B.A. Paganism of the ancient Slavs (text) / B.A. Rybakov. - M. Science, 1981, p. 105.
2 Dubrovsky D.K., Grachev V.Yu. Ural writings in the world rock art. – Ekaterinburg: Grachev and Partners LLC, 2010. - p. 216
3 Rybakov B.A. Paganism of the ancient Slavs (text) / B.A. Rybakov..- M. Nauka, 1981
4 Akunov V.V. “Berserkers. Bear Warriors ancient North/ V.V. Akunino.- M.: Veche, 2014.- p. 320
5 Dubrovsky D.K., Grachev V.Yu. Ural paintings in world rock art. – Ekaterinburg: Grachev and Partners LLC, 2010. - p. 115
6 Dubrovsky D.K., Grachev V.Yu. Ural paintings in world rock art. – Ekaterinburg: Grachev and Partners LLC, 2010. - p. 115
7 Dubrovsky D.K., Grachev V.Yu. Ural paintings in world rock art. – Ekaterinburg: Grachev and Partners LLC, 2010. - p. 114
8 Koshkarova Yu.A. "The archetypal image of a bear in the spiritual culture of the peoples of Russia." [Text]: diss. Ph.D. cultural studies 24.00.01 - Yulia Aleksandrovna Koshkarova. - Krasnodar, 2011, p. 213
9 Koshkarova Yu.A. "The archetypal image of a bear in the spiritual culture of the peoples of Russia." [Text]: diss. Ph.D. cultural studies 24.00.01 - Yulia Aleksandrovna Koshkarova. - Krasnodar, 2011, p. 32
10 Koshkarova Yu.A. "The archetypal image of a bear in the spiritual culture of the peoples of Russia." [Text]: diss. Ph.D. cultural studies 24.00.01. - Yulia Aleksandrovna Koshkarova. - Krasnodar, 2011, p. 80
11 Koshkarova Yu.A. "The archetypal image of a bear in the spiritual culture of the peoples of Russia." [Text]: diss. Ph.D. cultural studies 24.00.01. - Yulia Aleksandrovna Koshkarova. - Krasnodar, 2011, p. 29
12 Krivosheev Yu.V. Religion of the Eastern Slavs on the eve of the baptism of Rus' (text) / Yu.V. Krivosheev. L.: Knowledge, 1988 p. 38
13 Koshkarova Yu.A. "The archetypal image of a bear in the spiritual culture of the peoples of Russia." [Text]: diss. Ph.D. cultural studies 24.00.01. - Yulia Aleksandrovna Koshkarova. - Krasnodar, 2011, p. 26
14 Materials of the V Ugra readings “Bear in the culture of the Ob-Ugric peoples”: Collection scientific articles/ Ed. T.A. Moldanova, A.D. Kaksina.- Khanty-Mansiysk: GUIPP “Polygraphist”, 2002.- p. 3
15 Kharuzin N. Bear oath: totemic foundations of the cult of the bear among the Ostyaks and Voguls - M., 1899
16 Pakhomova A.V. Semantics of the pictorial series on Slavic household items: Dis. ...cand. cultural sciences: 24.00.01: Moscow, 2004 p. 189
17 Nikitina A. “Pattern”. “Dictionary of symbols and signs found in embroidery, embossing, casting” Series “Roda’s Storehouse” St. Petersburg: Publishing house ARTEL “VOROZHEYA”, 2013 p. 47
18 Elena Fursova “Remnants of the cult of the bear in the beliefs of the peasants of Siberia and transformation,” “Russian Bear”: History, semiotics, politics / ed. O.V. Ryabov and A. de Lazari. M.: NLO, 2012. p. 72
19 Brief encyclopedia of Slavic mythology: about 1000 articles / N.S. Shiparova-M. LLC “AST Publishing House”: LLC “Astrel Publishing House”: LLC “Russian Dictionaries”, 2003. p. 353-354
20 Elena Fursova “Remnants of the cult of the bear in the beliefs of the peasants of Siberia and transformation,” “Russian Bear”: History, semiotics, politics / ed. O.V. Ryabov and A. de Lazari. M.: NLO, 2012. p. 72
21 Iwona Rzepnikovska “Bear in Russian fairy tale: sketch of a study of the problem” “Russian Bear”: History, semiotics, politics / ed. O.V. Ryabov and A. de Lazari. M.: NLO, 2012. p. 62
22 Pinega fairy tales/collection. and zap. G.Ya. Simina. Arkhangelsk, 1975. p. 89-91.
23 K. Wojciechowska “A fierce beast and a model of caring: the image of a bear in the Bible and the Apocrypha,” “Russian Bear”: History, semiotics, politics / ed. O.V. Ryabov and A. de Lazari. M.: NLO, 2012. p. 11
24 date of arr. 07/09/16
25 Russian mythology. Encyclopedia.- M.: Eksmo; St. Petersburg: Midgard, 2006, p. 268
26 Rogachev V.I. “Wedding of the Mordvins of the Volga region: ritual and folklore: historical-ethnographic, regional, linguistic aspects,” Dis. ... Dr. Philol. Sciences: 10.01.09: Kazan, 2004 - p. 396 RSL OD, 71:05-10/164.
27 Morozov I.A. Marriages of a good fellow: the origin and typology of traditional youth entertainment with the symbolism of “wedding” / “marriage” - M. State Republican Center of Russian Folklore: Publishing House “Labyrinth”, 1998.- p. 352, 249
28 Slavic mythology. Encyclopedic Dictionary. Ed. 2nd. - M.: International relations, 2011.- p. 295
29 Bear on the coat of arms of the Khabarovsk Territory/ Khabarovsk. Ed. house "Priamurskie Vedomosti" 2014.
30 Herberstein S. “Notes on Muscovy: in 2 volumes/Sigismund Herberstein; Russian Academic Sciences, Institute of Slavic Studies: Moscow: Monuments of Historical Thought, 2008
31 Bar. Sigismund Herberstein Notes on Muscovite affairs - St. Petersburg, A.S. Suvorin, 1908, p. 98
32 Vasily Uspensky “Typology of images of “Russian bears” in European caricature of the 18th-first third of the 19th century,” “Russian Bear”: History, semiotics, politics / ed. O.V. Ryabov and A. de Lazari. M.: NLO, 2012. p. 87
33 Vasily Uspensky “Typology of images of “Russian bears” in European caricature of the 18th-first third of the 19th century,” “Russian Bear”: History, semiotics, politics / ed. O.V. Ryabov and A. de Lazari. M.: NLO, 2012. p. 95
34 Vasily Uspensky “Typology of images of “Russian bears” in European caricature of the 18th-first third of the 19th century,” “Russian Bear”: History, semiotics, politics / ed. O.V. Ryabov and A. de Lazari. M.: NLO, 2012. p. 103-104
35 Vasily Uspensky “Typology of images of “Russian bears” in European caricature of the 18th-first third of the 19th century,” “Russian Bear”: History, semiotics, politics / ed. O.V. Ryabov and A. de Lazari. M.: NLO, 2012. p. 103-104
36 Oleg Ryabov, “There is a bear in the forest” bear metaphor as a weapon of the Cold War” “Russian Bear”: History, semiotics, politics / ed. O.V. Ryabov and A. de Lazari. M.: NLO, 2012. p. 175
37 Top 10 quotes from Putin at the Valdai meeting: bedbugs, bears and controlled chaos. Date of access: 07/15/2016
38 Tatyana Ryabova “bear as a symbol of Russia: sociological dimension.” “Russian Bear”: History, semiotics, politics / ed. O.V. Ryabov and A. de Lazari. M.: NLO, 2012. p. 338
