Историческата морфология на народната песен като метод
The Historical Morphology of the Folk Song as Method

Summary/Abstract: The idea of the historic morphology of the folk song appeared as a result of the contribution made by remarkable thinkers such as J. W. Goethe, J. Grimm, and A. Vesselovsky. Further progress in the historical research of the folk song forms was made in the works of V. Propp, B. F. Assafyev and others. The term “historical morphology” is not a new one. While morphology is a study of forms, historical morphology examines the regularities in the make-up of a given phenomenon. The intrinsic essence of historical morphology lies in establishing the historicism of significant structures and revealing their concrete history. The effectiveness of this method hinges on an analysis which begins with the real constituent forms of the artistic work. Historical morphology correlates with the law of typological continuity. So, the study of Bulgarian folklore helps in tracing the history of Russian folk music in the cases when the Russian material is insufficient or has not been preserved. Bulgarian folklore supplies the missing link in Russian folklore. V. Propp’s research principles (set out in Morphologiya Skazki (“The Morphology of Tales”) and in Istoricheskie Korni Volshebnoy Skazki (“The Historical Roots of Fairy Tales”) are applicable in the sphere of musical folklore, too. At first, the data are systematized according to structural and functional features as well, in order to establish the necessary basis for studying their genesis, historical morphology and historical semantics in concrete works. Within each ethnic tradition the material is distributed according to genres, starting with ritual songs. The survey begins with Bulgarian wedding songs. Historical morphology inevitably leads up to historical semantics which constitutes the great effectiveness of the method under discussion.

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