ETHNOGRAPHIC MATERIAL IN THE STORY OF L. TOLSTOY “THE COSSACKS”

Abstract

The task of the article is to study the ethnographic material used by Tolstoy in the story “The Cossacks”. The writer’s appeal to ethnography and folklore in the story is connected with his creative positions from the time of his youth, when he wanted to implement his plan – to contrast the healthy spiritual life of the working people with the life of the ruling classes. The author tells not so much about the mountaineers, but about the Russian inhabitants, the Grebensky Cossacks, who live on the border areas, mixed with the local population and absorbed the features of different ethnic groups. Tolstoy wanted to reproduce not only the external environment of life of the Cossacks, customs, but also to show their views on things, material and spiritual culture. Ethnographers considered the Grebensky Cossacks to be relatives of the North Caucasians who live in mountains, separating them from the Russian people. Tolstoy emphasized the influence of the North Caucasians on the life and morals of the Cossacks. The ethnographic moments used by Tolstoy in the process of working on the story “The Cossacks” helped him to truthfully draw the depicted reality, especially vividly and comprehensively to reveal the images of the Cossacks, heroes of the story, and thereby to reveal the idea of his story.