Folklore motifs in the stage interpretation of Zainab Biisheva's novel "The Humiliated"

Shakurova Shaura Rashitovna ORCID: 0000-0002-0450-3487 PhD in Philology Senior Researcher; Scientific Research Center of Bashkir Folklore; Bashkir State Pedagogical University named after Miftakhetdin Akmulla 450008, Russia, Republic of Bashkortostan, Ufa, Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsii str., 3a, room 203 sh-shaura@mail.ru Khubbitdinova Nerkes Ahmetovna ORCID: 0000-0003-3719-6978 Doctor of Philology Chief Researcher; Scientific Research Center of Bashkir Folklore; Bashkir State Pedagogical University named after Miftakhetdin Akmulla 450077, Russia, Bashkortostan region, Ufa, Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsii str., 3a, office 203 narkas08@mail.ru

Shagapova Gulkai Rahimyanovna ORCID: 0000-0002-6739-7466 PhD in History Deputy Dean for Scientific Work; Faculty of Bashkir Philology; Bashkir State Pedagogical University named after Miftakhetdin Akmulla 450077, Russia, Bashkortostan region, Ufa, Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsii str., 3a, office 105 shagapovanfbgu@mail.ru

"Theater is an art, and everything must be subject to the laws of this art (the laws of life and art are different; the laws of painting and music)," wrote V. E. Meyerhold ^[11]. But recently, dramatizations of literary works have been increasingly observed on the stage, in other words, "theatrical adaptation" according to Christopher Nagle ^{[12, p. 131]}. Staging stands, as it were, between fiction and drama, theater, and the “literariness” of this type of text often determines the quality of their stage embodiment. The task of staging, unlike staging based on the motives of the work, is to follow the author's idea as accurately as possible, preserving the ideological meaning, plot and style of the original text" ^{[22, p. 16]}. In this regard, an example of dramatizations of a literary work can be the productions of "Petersburg Dreams" based on the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment" (staged by Yu. A. Zavadsky, 1969), the play "The Story of a Horse" based on the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "Holstomer" (a joint work of director G. A. Tovstonogov and playwright M. G. Rozovsky, 1975), based on the novels of M. Sholokhov "The Quiet Don" (staged by V. Malyagina, 2015) and "The Raised Virgin Land" (staged by P. Demin, 1958), A. Fadeev "The Rout" (directed by M. Zakharov, 1971) and others, and at the present stage a play based on the novel by L. N. Tolstoy "War and Peace" (staged by Rimas Tuminas, 2021). In all these dramatizations, there is a synthesis of the arts – the reunion of the fruit of the writer's literary thought with theatrical entertainment.

Theaters of the Republic of Bashkortostan also quite often turn to classics, make great progress in staging author's works. So, in different years, performances based on the novel "Fathers and Children" by A. S. Turgenev, based on the story by A. P. Chekhov "Anna on the Neck" on the stage of the Russian Drama Theater were staged on the stages of the theaters of the republic. At the dawn of its existence, the national drama also turned to fiction. So, in the twenties of the XX century, the poem "Gazazil" by the outstanding poet Shaikhzada Babich was staged, in 1938 – the story of the national poet and writer Mazhit Gafuri "Black Faces", based on the story of the national poet of the republic Mustai Karim "Long, long Childhood" at the Bashkir State Drama Theater named after M. Gafuri (1980s) , etc . Today, the drama "Black Waters" based on the poem of the same name by the poet, whose name the theater bears, is preparing for the premiere at the National Youth Theater of the Republic of Belarus named after M. Karim. As you can see, the established tradition of staging literary works at the national theater continues to this day. Among these successful dramatizations, the play "The Humiliated" based on the novel by Z. Biisheva, staged by M. Kulbaev in 2019 on the stage of the National Youth Theater of the Republic of Belarus named after M. Karim in Ufa, stands out. The directors faced the difficult task of transferring epic material into a two-hour action, and at the same time being able to express the main ideological and thematic orientation of the work, to reflect the main ideological and artistic meaning of the novel. Despite the fact that in the early 2000s a "new drama" arose, which "stimulated the renewal of the dramatic aesthetics proper: stage language and vision, dramatic conflict, ways of representing modern consciousness in the text - thus becoming an important literary fact" ^{[13, p. 110]}, M. Kulbayev more adhered to the traditions of national drama with its "epic drama".

Zainab Biisheva took over the literary baton from the first novelist in the Turkic world, Hadiya Davletshina, becoming the first female playwright in Bashkir literature. Together they laid the foundation for Bashkir national gender novelistics. Z. Biisheva's dramatic works "The Magic Kurai", "The Mysterious Ring", "Gulbadar", "Friendship" were performed with great success on the stage of the Bashkir theater. Her prose works did not remain aloof from the attention of the theater: several generations of playwrights worked on short stories and novellas, who each time sought to embody the literary world of the writer on stage. At the turn of the century, children's plays based on the stories of Z. Biisheva "The Magic Pot", "The Master and the Apprentice" were most often staged, and her story "Love and Hate" was staged.

In 1959, Zainab Biisheva's main novel "The Humiliated" was published, which became the first part of the cycle "The Story of One Life" (the original title of the trilogy), which included the novels "The Humiliated", "At the Big Ica" and "Emesh". Through the depiction of the fate of a Bashkir girl named Emesh, this autobiographical work narrates the life of the Bashkir people at crucial moments in the history of the country as a whole – the periods of the revolution of 1917, the Civil War, etc. As a result, according to the author's plan, these novels made up a multifaceted historical and literary trilogy "Towards the Light" ("YaҡTyga"). This final title of the trilogy was dictated by the author's very life. In an interview with the famous researcher R. Z. Shakurov in 1983, the novelist confessed: "...For me, living means working, overcoming unbearable hardships, means burning in an endless struggle, rejoicing, striving for light and goodness" ^{[21, p. 252]}. In 1968, the State Prize of the Republic of Bashkortostan named after Z. Biisheva was awarded for the trilogy. Salavat Yulaev.

Apparently, it was precisely the fact that Zainab Biisheva was fluent in authentic folklore and ethnographic material, which was in demand by the Bashkir theater for many decades. And this is not surprising: after all, a stage work with good drama, woven from the blood and flesh of people's life, is perceived by the viewer as a true story of the people. Accordingly, the works of Zainab Biisheva, staged on the stage of the Bashkir theater, were well received by the audience. And since the fate of Emesh worried many generations of readers, the play based on this novel was also in demand by the Bashkir audience. These expectations are also evidenced by the fact that the novel has experienced several amateur productions. For example, the famous Bashkir writer Gulfiya Yunusova describes her touring experience in a children's amateur band as follows: "When Z. Biisheva's separate book "The Humiliated" was published, I was in the fourth grade. This book has become a valuable gift not only for adults, but also for children. Having prepared our first script based on the novel "The Humiliated", my peers and I organized holidays in the villages" ^{[6, p. 47]}. The novel received its stage embodiment in the student theater of the Beloretsk Pedagogical College of the Republic. Future teachers were attracted by the folklore layer in the creation of Zainab Abdullovna. The participants of the Bashkir student theater studio "Raduga" creatively approached the production: they prepared the work "Reflection of folklore in Z. Biisheva's novel "The Humiliated"", then, based on the research, they wrote a mini-play "Aulak" ("Party") for the student theater based on the corresponding excerpt from the novel ^{[17, p. 333]}.

And only in the new millennium, the novel "Humiliated" by Zainab Biisheva came to life on the professional stage of the National Youth Theater of the Republic of Belarus named after M.Karim (director M.Kulbaev) more than half a century after its creation. The premiere took place on November 27, 28, 2019, the directors dedicated the event to the 110th anniversary of the author of the work.

Folklore in the theater is a kind of source, a tool for the embodiment of the artistic idea of the play. "For a century, Bashkir folklore has been a fertile ground for artistic searches of the national scene more than once." However, the researchers note, "sometimes this rich spiritual material was used by the theater as an illustrative, ethnographic excursion into antiquity" ^{[14, pp. 89-90]}.

Due to the fact that the prose, the novel in this case is translated into the path of drama, it loses a lot in its artistic and aesthetic structure. A. N. Kuskov, referring to L. N. Tolstoy's statements about dramatizations of a literary work, writes: "First of all, the dramatist crosses out all kinds of descriptions of nature, details of everyday life, author's reflections, secondary branches of the plot, leaving only the "main" and "scenic, i.e. dialogues, direct clashes, the most important actions – all that what can be played by the actors. Scissors and glue are needed by the dramatist more than a pen. They cut out individual winning pieces from the living fabric of prose – the very "ready-made moments" that L.N. Tolstoy spoke about and, gluing them together, piece by piece, builds a kind of play. His work is rough, the dramatist cuts to the quick. In this case, art almost always turns into a craft" ^[9]. Regarding the production of Z. Biisheva's novel "The Humiliated", questions also arise quite naturally, namely, how accurately folklore traditions and ethnographic features have been preserved, which Z. Biisheva harmoniously intertwined into the fabric of her work, in stage reincarnation in the first quarter of the XXI century, whether the directors of the play managed to convey not only the spirit of the era, but also the atmosphere, the world of the Bashkir village of the early 20th century, how successfully the Russian troupe managed to bring to life a national production, etc. These questions are quite natural.

There are no scientific studies analyzing this statement yet. This article is intended to fill the existing gap.

The large canvas of the epic work was staged by the Sterlitamak playwright Vladimir Zherebtsov, who managed to fit the novel "Humiliated" into a drama in two acts. The text of the dramatization is called "An attempt to stage the novel by Z. Biisheva "Humiliated"" (The document is kept in the Archive of the National Youth Theater of the Republic of Belarus. Karima). Indeed, "... in staging, changes are inevitable due to the need to adapt the text for the scene, the transformation caused by the transition from one artistic and figurative system to another. As a result, the staging becomes an independent work" ^{[22, p. 16]}. Thus, the idea of class struggle, which found a vivid image in Z. Biisheva's novel, was reformatted: the theater focused on the tragedy of the fratricidal Civil War, against which the viewer lives the poignant story of one childhood, residents of the Bashkir hinterland. The village, for the directors and the viewer, "... is especially easily perceived as a culture-limited bodily space or stage, the theater of the world.." ^{[12, p. 128]}, which helps to focus on the main actions taking place on stage. The historical canvas of the Civil War was reinterpreted by director M. Kulbaev and playwright V. Zherebtsov from the position of the discovered facts, based on their new views that there are no winners in a fratricidal war and that after such a war there is nothing left but victims and bloodshed. Thus, the novel of the period of acute socialist realism took the form of a work of post-Soviet orientation, while in no way detracting from the main storyline, ideological and aesthetic peculiarities of the original source. The theme of childhood is a fundamental theme for Musalim Kulbayev as a stage director and artistic director of the theater. The play "The Humiliated" entered the golden fund of the National Youth Tetra of the Republic of Belarus along with the performances "The Joy of our Home" and "A Long, Long Childhood" by M. Karim, "The Golden Cloud spent the Night" by A. Pristavkin, "Levushka" by A. Krym, "Piebald Dog Running by the Edge of the Sea" by Ch. Aitmatov.

As already noted, the play based on the novel "Humiliated" was staged for a Russian troupe, with the partial participation of artists from the Bashkir troupe. Despite this, Bashkir words and phrases, recognizable by the Russian-speaking audience, are organically interwoven into dialogues and monologues. The production was performed on a Chamber stage, where the absence of the stage itself creates an atmosphere of belonging to the events taking place, as if the audience themselves are residents of a small Bashkir village lost in the Ural Mountains and steppes. The technique of retrospection, which was used by the creators of the play, allows you to work in the space of memory, which makes it possible to poetize and elevate the world of the characters, and the work itself can be filled in form and enriched meaningfully. This, in turn, makes the sets and costumes conditional, concise and multifunctional (production designer Julia Gilyazova). Traditional wooden bunks-flooring (hike); window frame through which the stars shine; cradle (bishek) – occupy a central place on the stage, the life of the Bashkir village circulates here, Chekhov's intonations sound when more than one samovar of tea is drunk, deals are made and destinies are decided. Ancient rituals and customs come to life here: aulak is arranged – evening gatherings of young people with games, the crying of the bride in the wedding scene – senlau, lullaby. Bashkir folk songs are also played throughout the performance, immersing the audience in the sensual world of folk life. Such scenes are associated with folklore theater with the demonstration of folk rituals and customs, which "temporarily evokes an alternative world to talk about the real and express it in aesthetically sublime ways, providing participants with diverse means of viewing and understanding both society and themselves." At the same time, folklore "does not just comment on the world, but rather transforms it in its own way" ^[5].

As a result, they represent mini-scenes or actions within actions, which artistically enrich the main actions developed according to the plot of the original source – the novel. The most memorable moment in the play is the appearance of the spirit of Sagura, the late mother of Emesh. The image of Sagura is given without words, she appears as a shadow, as a mirage, as a memory of a former happy life, therefore the pain of unfulfilled hopes and dreams, regret for a past life is acutely felt by the viewer. This shrillness is achieved by performing the famous Bashkir folk song "Past Life" ("UҙGan gumer") in the style of halmak kui, that is, a leisurely, smooth melody, full of bitterness and aching longing. A characteristic feature of the Bashkir folk song is the presence of a prologue, which tells the story of events, about which it is sung. So, the song "Past life" according to a legend recorded by the kuraist and collector of folk songs K. Diyarov, from Bashkir actor and director of the first national theater G. G. Ushanov, is connected with the story of the play "Turat sagyly" - "Top of Turat", according to which this song was composed by a dzhigit and his bride: "After the death of tulpar, the father-in-law offers to choose a horse from his herd for his son-in-law. Having failed to find tulpar, the horseman waits for his birth. Returning to their homeland, the young people notice in the distance a black horseman who wants to block their way. They rush forward, realizing that this is a past life, and if she manages to cross their path, then death will overtake them. From a fast gallop, the wife's horse dies, and she has to transfer to her husband's tulpar. The young people drive on, singing a song, which later became known as "UҙGan gumer" ^{[2, p. 196]}. And indeed, in its content, intonation, emotionality, this song corresponds to the task set in the drama, gives a general mood, passes as a leitmotif and helps to feel the drama of a departed, extinct life. The tragedy of the events is further enhanced by the successful combination of Bashkir musical folklore with immortal classics (Handel's saraband), which most of all emphasizes the irrevocability of the passing era against the background of a small village, when it seems that the world is collapsing irrevocably, and the future is unknown (musical arrangement by Rishat Sagitov).

Regarding the song folklore of the Bashkirs, in addition to long-drawn songs, the presence of short songs in the play is also of interest. According to the novel "Humiliated", it is known that Salima received a letter from her husband Hammat from the front, in which, among other things, there were lyrical digressions in the form of short songs – poetic couplets. In Bashkir ritual folklore, there was a custom to write poetic letters or songs composed for memory – yadkar and inscribed in the addressee's albums ^{[8, p. 3]}. Such letters were especially popular during the war years, when a so-called poetic competition was started between a husband who went to the front and his wife who stayed at home. So, in one of the letters to her husband, who was fighting in the German War, the wife wrote, among other things, the following:

Her husband answers her:

This custom is artistically depicted in the novel by Z. Biisheva. Hammat writes to his beloved wife Salima, at first expressing longing for her:

I left the Ica Valley

Sunrises with a crane cry

A strange sky in low clouds

And I'm sad about the letters...

Then, sharing his difficult life at the front, he attributes such poetic lines that were in use among soldiers at that time:

During the years of the Imperialist War, class consciousness begins to awaken among the people, soldiers become politically literate and ideologically savvy. This process is reflected in folklore: satirical ditties and jokes about the malice of the day are becoming especially popular at the front. In the novel, Hammat quoted one verse from such a ditty in his letter:

In response, Salima, in her letter, also expressing all her longing for her husband, attributed the following:

In the production of the novel, according to the law of the genre, a lot had to be cut, cut out some moments, and convey them in one stroke, expressing the sensual and emotional state of the characters. Wielding "scissors and glue", the authors of the play omitted some traditional folk poetic lines from Hammat's letter of a socio-political nature, although ideologically and artistically they helped to reveal the mood of soldiers at the front, which was important for the original source.

In the fairy-tale folklore of many peoples, the story of an evil stepmother and a poor stepdaughter is known. The plot of such fairy tales is the same: after the death of the mother, the widowed father brings a new wife into the house, who turns out to be angry and unfriendly to her new husband's children, the stepmother tries in every way to lime them, etc. These are the Bashkir folk tales "Tangle", "Orphan Gulbika", etc. The archetype of an evil stepmother and a poor stepdaughter is a phenomenon often found in Bashkir folklore, while in Bashkir literature these universal archetypes are often reinterpreted (we find images of a kind stepmother in such works as "Burenushka" by T. Garipova, "Long, Long Childhood" and "The Joy of Our Home" by M. Karim, etc.) ^{[20, pp. 274-275]}.

In the novel "The Humiliated", this image appears in its original fabulous folklore form: after burying his wife, Baigilde was forced to marry again and bring his hard-hearted stepmother Sarbiamal into the house. A widower who had four children in his arms (Istugan, Bibesh, Janesh, Emesh) could not do otherwise: a hostess was needed in the house. Baigilde married a wealthy woman who seemed to step into the world of romance straight from ancient Bashkir fairy tales: "the stepmother does everything to get rid of children from the world" ^{[1, p. 45]}.

As already noted, the author wrote an autobiographical novel, where she was the prototype of her main character Emesh. Sarbiamal's own stepmother became the prototype of the "evil stepmother", but in life she is a hardworking and kind woman named Hylyubika to her stepdaughters and stepson. The laws of the genre and the mentality of the people demanded their own: the good stepmother in life transformed into an evil one in the novel... Being a talented writer, Zainab Biisheva understood that since ancient times human consciousness was accustomed to perceive the image of a stepmother as negative, therefore she decided to work with the archetype of an evil stepmother ^{[20, p. 276]}. Thus, the image of the fairy–tale heroine – an evil and treacherous stepmother - received its traditional artistic and aesthetic interpretation. Of course, she appeared as such in her stage transformation, in an image in which the audience recognized the same evil stepmother and poor stepdaughter from folk tales.

The motif of the fairy tale in the novel is repeated over and over again. In the stage production, this artistic technique was also preserved and demonstrated colorfully and expressively. Because fairy tales about the victory of good over evil (through the images of fabulous heroic warriors Togro-batyr and Aldar-batyr) nourish and inspire the souls and hearts of children, help them withstand the hardships of life, prepare the heroine for adulthood, help her form as a person. So the author of the dramatization used the folklore material available in the novel:

"Baigelde. They say that two batyrs once came together. One is an honest and kind man named Togro-batyr, the other is a deceitful and treacherous Aldar-batyr. They tied their horses to an Iron stake, and they themselves began to fight for life and death. Century after century passes – one cannot overcome the other. And their poor horses are still waiting on a leash. And seven wolves got wind that the horses were left without owners and chase them every night. The horses, escaping, run around the iron stake and only at dawn does rest come to them. This chase has been going on for a thousand years.

I'm eating. And which of the batyrs will win?

Baigelde. I do not know that. But I believe that Togro-batyr will win.

Janesh. Why?

Baigelde. Because Togro-batyr is getting stronger every day. After all, all the good people on earth wish him victory.

I'm eating. But then it turns out that Aldar Batyr is helped by bad people, and there are more of them.

Baigelde. There is no daughter, there are fewer bad people. The truth is always stronger than the truth. So who has more power? That's it.

I'm eating. Atai, then why can't we go back to our native village?

Janesh. Why don't we have land? Everyone has, but for some reason we are landless, newcomers, strays, outsiders, donkeys. Why is that?

Baigelde. Nothing. The time will come, we will return to our place.

I'm eating. When? When will we finally go, atai?

Baigelde. Soon. As soon as Togro-batyr wins..." ^{[8, p. 10]}.

In the finale, the authors of the play again refer the audience to the fairy tale, which has become the backbone for the novel that came to life on the stage. We see frozen heroes in the glow of lightning and hear reflections on the essence of existence: "Many years have passed since these events happened. There are no more people on earth who were participants in them. There is only an old tree on the shore of the Big Ica that remembers those times. And there are stars in the sky. There, in the bottomless space, the battle of two batyrs is still going on. The battle of good and evil. Which one of them will win? No one knows. But I want to believe that the good batyr will win. After all, there should be more good people on earth" ^{[8, p. 30]}.

Conclusions.

Thus, in the dramatization of Z. Biisheva's novel, the "Humiliated" production authors, transforming a literary work on stage, tried to preserve its ideological, thematic, artistic and aesthetic peculiarities. The novel epic fabric, preserved and recognizable to the trained public, is, of course, subject to the laws of scenic art. If in the novel everything is as concrete and tangible, wide and large-scale, then in the performance of Musalim Kulbaev the world appears as conditional, the world of the "humiliated" acquires sublime features, they bring the stage version to the level of universal sound. Folklore motifs used in the play more prominently and in relief helped the theatrical version of the novel "The Humiliated" convey the atmosphere of life and everyday life of the Bashkir village on the threshold of the Civil War, reflect the hopes and aspirations of a little man. The folklore motifs used are also functional, as in the novel, they allow us to recreate the images and the universe of the "Humiliated" in an authentic way, which makes the production poignant and authentic. Like the novel, its stage version can also serve as a folklore and historical-ethnographic source for viewers, as well as for researchers addressing the topic of Bashkir traditional culture.