Semantics and structure of the concept of “Bogatyrstvo” in epics and modern linguistic consciousness

Dmitrieva Natalya Mihailovna ORCID: 0000-0002-5860-5374 Doctor of Philology Associate Professor at Department of Russian Philology and the Russian language Teaching methods, Orenburg State University. 460018, Russia, Orenburg region, Orenburg, Pobedy Avenue, 13 dmitrieva1977@yandex.ru Korobeynikova Anna Alexandrovna ORCID: 0009-0002-9683-2962 PhD in Philology Associate Professor of the Russian Philology and Russian Language Teaching Methods Department, Orenburg State University 460018, Russia, Orenburg region, Orenburg, Prospekt Pobedy str., 13 SSSR2004@yandex.ru Malahova Ol'ga Mikhailovna ORCID: 0000-0002-0193-1646 Lecturer, Orenburg State Medical University 460000, Russia, Orenburg region, Orenburg, Sovetskaya str., 6 o1gamalahova@mail.ru

Polovnikova Anastasiya Yurievna ORCID: 0000-0002-6024-0319 Lecturer, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba 117198, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6 polovnikova_ayu@pfur.ru

Introduction

The modern communication space is characterized by a wide precedent. One of the striking precedent phenomena are the verbalizers of the concept of "Heroism". The lexemes bogatyr, bogatyrsky, precedent names Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich, stable phrases silushka bogatyrskaya, heroic health, fortitude, etc. are frequent in different types of discourse: in the media ("Alyosha Popovich visited the total dictation"; "Dobrynya Nikitich was born in Cheboksary" Komsomolskaya Pravda"), artistic literature ("Yes, there were people in our time, / Not like the current tribe: The heroes are not you" M. Lermontov; "And Uncle Prokhor died, what a hero he was!" D. Balashov "The youngest son"; "In the rooms the heat, the smoke is rocking, the dishes are shaking from the heroic dance "The cell seemed too small for his heroic stature" D. Balashov "Simeon the Proud"; "He was tall – a real Russian hero" V. Pelevin "Omon Ra"), cinema ("The Last Hero", "Three Heroes", etc.) and other types of art ("Three Heroes" Vasnetsova et al.).

Our task was to study the formation of the concept of "Heroism", the features of its semantics and structure, which gave it such a significant place in the Russian mentality.

Research methodology

In this article, special attention is paid to the meanings that make up the field of the concept of "Heroism". To this end, we analyzed the dictionary definitions and identified the etymological, historical and relevant layers of the concept. Using contextual analysis, lexemes that form the image of the main character of the epic and serve as verbalizers of the concept were identified, the structure of the concept in the discourse of the epic was revealed and the constant semantic shares of the concept under study were determined, which most correspond to the mentality of the Russian person. A semantic experiment conducted by various specialties of Orenburg State University allowed us to establish the specifics of the perception of the concept verbalizers by modern youth.

The field structure of the concept in diachrony

The Russian cultural tradition has its roots in the times of Ancient Russia, in the first centuries of the adoption of Christianity, so the etymological layer of the concept should be sought in the Church Slavonic language. The analysis of the semantics of the concept's name showed that the original word "bogatyr" meant "strong man, brave man" ^{[1, 50]}.  The word "hrabr" itself is defined in Church Slavonic as "brave, strong man, courageous ascetic" and is associated with the Sanskrit sara – "firmness, strength, fortress" and the Greek word meaning "hero gifted with strength, brave" ^{[1, 793-794]}. The word "power" by the compiler of the dictionary of the Church Slavonic language G. Dyachenko is compared with Sanskrit and interpreted as "property, dignity, beauty and power" ^{[1, 596]}. Researchers often refer to the origin of the word "bogatyr", trying to explain why, of the many names of brave warriors, it was the bogatyr that took root in the Russian tradition as a symbol of courage. We think that the main role was played in this by the so-called "folk/naive etymology", which connected the main meaning of the word with God, who richly endowed the hero with spiritual wealth and health, strength, intelligence and courage ^[2]. This is what the sema "courageous ascetic", that is, performing feats, indicated by G. Dyachenko, testifies to. Let us note that for many centuries monks and ascetics have been called ascetics, who took on difficult feats in the name of God.  

V. I. Dahl defines a hero as "a tall, burly, stalwart and prominent man; an extraordinary strongman; a brave and successful, brave warrior; a knight"  In addition, such a meaning is also indicated as "fabulous giant heroes who beat dozens of enemies and monsters in one fell swoop" ^{[3, p. 102]}, which refers us primarily to the "elder heroes" who personified the forces of nature. In the "Explanatory Dictionary of the living Great Russian language", the verbalizer "bogatyr" has a large word-formation nest, among the components of which one can distinguish the ethically significant ones: heroism (state, property of a hero) and heroism (to be ambitious, to seek heroic adventures and to perform valiant military exploits) ^{[3, p.102]}. Interestingly, in the XIX century, heroism was also thought of as a character trait, in other words, courage inherent not only in men, as evidenced by the lexemes: bogatyrka (female hero), bogatyr (boy hero) ^[3].

So, the etymological layer testifies to the ethical significance of the concept (that is, its relation to the system of mental values), and the semantic shares included in its field (hardness, strength, fortress, dignity, beauty, power, God-endowment, feat) indicate its inclusion in the structure of a more complex ethical concept "Courage" ^{[4, p. 136]}. 

In the 20th century, the functioning of the concept is changing, epics become the main "habitat". Russian Russians note that the word "hero" by D. N. Ushakov is defined primarily as "the hero of Russian epics", and although the main semantic share of "feat" remains in the interpretation of the concept's name (in the dictionary: "mainly performing feats"), and Ilya Muromets, the famous Russian saint, is indicated as an example, the limitations of discourse over time, it leads to a stable association of heroism mainly only with the epic genre and with physical strength (the second meaning of the word in the dictionary is "strong man, brave") ^{[5, p. 69]}. Thus, the sema "hero of Russian epics" becomes the main one in the interpretation of the lexeme "bogatyr" throughout the XX century, but the figurative meaning of "a man of very great strength, fortitude, courage" ^{[6, p. 53]}, "a warrior distinguished by extraordinary strength, prowess, courage and intelligence" ^[7] actualizes precisely the original ethical semantic shares of the concept.

Dictionary of the turn of the last centuries T. F. Efremova reinforces the ethically significant seme "defender of the motherland, a warrior distinguished by extraordinary strength, courage, and prowess" and introduces another meaning "an outstanding, outstanding person in any field", also related to the ethical sphere ^[8].

Thus, the word "hero" and its derivatives in the historical layer of the concept retain their original ethical meaning (a person richly endowed with physical and spiritual strength, capable of feats leading to holiness) as a minor one, but in the first meaning they are clearly associated with the epic epic.

Epic as a habitat for the concept of "Heroism"

There are about a hundred epic plots in Russian literature, and each of them is variable. At the same time, the composition of the epic work is standard and consists of a refrain (not directly related to the plot of the epic), a beginning (the beginning of the narrative, such as the departure of the hero from home, a meeting in an open field, a feast, the beginning of an enemy invasion), a climax, or the main action, and an outcome (the final part, that it follows after the resolution of the conflict, after the victory of the hero). In an epic work, there are always stable images: a hero, a heroic horse and an open field – all of them are an integral part of the traditional epic plot, without which narration is impossible.

The image of the hero is inseparable from certain actions that he must perform: staying in the open field, fighting the enemy and defeating him. This led to the special "existence" of the concept of "Heroism" in the epics and its presentation as a concept script or script. By the latter, we mean a concept that represents a sequence of events unfolding in time and space, that is, a concept that has a plot character: it includes an object, a subject, an action, a cause and a goal. Thus, according to M. Minsky, "the scenario <...> can branch out into many possible paths that converge at points that are particularly characteristic of the scenario – elementary actions" ^{[9, p. 133]}.

Consequently, the static representation of the concept, characteristic of the Russian worldview, as a frame, which consists of several static parts, otherwise called reference points, slots, which we defined as "spiritual force" and "physical force" ^[10], is structured differently in epic discourse.

At the present stage, we already have a stereotypical idea of heroism, therefore, the scenario that unfolds in the epic text, in isolation from it, narrows down to a frame that reflects the key meanings, that is, the ideas of heroism in the Russian linguistic picture of the world. During the period of writing epics, the stereotype of heroism and heroes had not yet formed in the minds of people, therefore, the plots of epics play a special role in the explication of the concept. According to N. V. Volosukhina, "a frame as a conceptual structure implies the possibility of its transformation into a scenario during the transition to a dynamic state when terminal nodes and slots function in action" ^{[11, p. 43]}. Thus, the basic slots of the "Heroism" frame – "spiritual strength" and "physical strength" – acquire a dynamic state under the influence of the epic genre. The general model of the "Heroism" script in the epics includes such plot elements as 1) the appearance of the hero (the road to Prince Vladimir or the instruction of parents), 2) the hero receiving motivation for further battle / receiving a task from the prince or a request from people to protect his native land, 3) the hero's battle with the enemy, 4) the hero's victory over the enemy. In a single epic, the plot can be modified: elements can be supplemented, duplicated or swapped.

The first plot action in the epic is always the appearance of the main character. There are certain toposes in the epic work about heroes. The first one is represented by the road to Kiev: "We should go, not go to Kiev-grad, / Yes to Kiev - the city for defense..." ^{[12, p. 97]}; "From that city from Muroml, / From that village yes Karochirov / A good fool left <...> For Stolno-Kiev-grad" ^{[12, p. 75]}. Note that the main character always goes to Kiev, pursuing good intentions: he wants to prove himself as a defender of his native land, to serve the prince and the people: "Yes to Kiev-the city for defense, / And to us, good fellows, for bragging rights" ^{[12, p. 97]}.

The next topos is a pure field, which is inextricably linked with the road to Kiev, it is like an intermediate point between the stepfather's house and the capital: "From far, far from the open field..." ^{[12, p. 97]}; "A good fellow is riding in an open field" ^{[12, p. 67]}. In the plot, this topos is associated with the hero receiving a blessing or a punishment from his parents, as well as thoughts about the upcoming path. These elements perform a plot-predictive function, as they set and predict those parts of the concept scenario that will be performed by the hero. The punishment of the parents is expressed in the form of a negative mood, the violation of the punishment is presented in the form of the past tense of the indicative mood. This ratio of verbal forms provides dynamics: the unreal modality is transformed into a real one, and the action is thought of not just as being performed, as a process, but as already committed, and in this fragment of the plot it is not the action itself that is important, but the violation of the order: "You don't go to Sorochinskaya Mountain, / Don't trample on small snakes there, / Don't help out a lot of Russian there, / Don't swim in Mother Puchai River..." ^{[12, p. 104]}; "He went to Sorochinskaya Mountain, / He trampled on small snakes here, / Helped out a lot of Russian here, / Swam here and Dobrynya in the Puchai River..." ^{[12, p. 104]}. Let's also pay attention to the verb forms used in conveying the main character's thoughts about choosing a path. When describing the beginning of the path, the verb of the present tense of the indicative mood is used. This indicates that the hero is currently making a choice that will determine the further plot: "From far away, far away from the open field / Two good fellows are going here..." ^{[12, p. 97]}. The reflections themselves are conveyed using verbs of the future tense or infinitive, conveying possible scenarios and their consequences: "May the good fellows hurry up, / The unkind slavushka will pass about us..." ^{[12, p. 97]}. The path chosen by the hero and the movement along it are given in the form of the past tense of the indicative mood: "But the good fellow went to the path where he was killed" ^{[12, p. 68]}. We also discovered the use of the verb of the present tense with the prefix with the meaning of completeness, achievement of the result: "They come to the city to Kiev, / To that prince to Vladimir..." ^{[12, p. 97]}. This form indicates the conditionality of the choice made by the hero: he cannot have any other way. Russian russians believe that such determinism of choice, emphasized by verbal forms, expresses, in our opinion, the idea of heroism in the minds of the Russian people as the fate of the defender of the Russian Land, inscribed from above, about the path of life, from which the hero cannot turn away.

So, the verbs with the meaning of movement used at the beginning of the epic ("get in", "go", "walked-walked", "left") and lexemes naming the space and the path itself ("pure field", "path-path") demonstrate the dynamism of the concept of "Heroism". It is also worth noting that the hero's means of transportation is always a heroic horse, which acts as his faithful assistant in battles. Russian Russian culture has a close connection with two images that are fundamental to Russian culture – the heroic horse as a constant assistant to the national hero and the clean field as the main space for testing the Russian spirit. Therefore, the hero in the epics reflects the main meaning of the Russian concept of "Heroism", he is not some kind of separate hero, but embodies heroism and courage in general.

A prerequisite for creating an epic hero is faith in God. This is indicated by the lexemes representing the Christian worldview of the hero: "prayer", "forgiveness", "Christ's", "blessing", "God", "cross", "Jesus", "Mother of God" and others. Russian Russian emphasizes the Christian worldview of the hero and the reverence of parents, and the undivided service to his native land and the Russian people, and the very topos of the Russian Land and the pure field as its integral element, which always becomes the main place of the hero's battle with enemies. The main motive of the hero's actions and decisions is always the desire to protect the homeland, which refers us to the static structure of the concept.

However, it is worth noting that in the plot of the epic, the hero's battle with the enemy takes place at the request of his parents, the people, Prince Vladimir, or out of necessity. Such a constant willingness to engage in battle with an enemy for the sake of another, "for one's own friends" is a manifestation of true heroism. For example: "There are forces there in black and black, / And in black and black as a black crow, / They want to knock out black peasants and cut them all down, / They want to let the churches of God go up in smoke" ^{[12, p. 67]}. At the same time, the hero is driven by the desire to save a Russian peasant, a peaceful peasant who is in danger, to protect his native land, which the enemy is going to destroy, to save churches. The hero has no other choice, he is a warrior who is destined to defend the Russian Land. It should be noted that the impossibility of abandoning the battle is dictated, among other things, by the genre feature of the epic work. Both the first and second elements of the concept scenario mainly display the "spiritual power" slot in its mobile state: we can not only identify the elements of this slot, its explicators, but also understand why it is the basic one in the structure of the concept. The concept of "Heroism" is understood through spiritual power, because the hero is perceived by the Russian people as a hero, always ready to defend his native land. At the same time, he is driven not by selfish motives, but by a sense of duty and sincere love for the motherland, a desire for a feat in the name of faith. The heroes rely on God, offer prayers and act in the name of the Russian people, in the name of Russia: "Holy Mother of God! / And I stood for the faith of Christ, / I held on to that crucified cross..." ^{[12, p. 115]}, "... He is in the mountains, Olesha son Popovich-from, / He prays to the Savior abstainer, / Wonderful Mother of God..." ^{[1, p. 100]}, "Prays to Mikola Mozhaisky, / More to the Most Holy Theotokos, / to Christ Himself, the king of heaven..." ^{[12, p. 316]}.

The dynamic part of the plot itself is significant – the battle of the hero with the enemy. To a greater extent, the "physical strength" slot is verbalized in this episode. The place of the heroic battle never changes: the action takes place in an open field. V. V. Kolesov's reflections on the special semantic content of the concept of "Clean Field", which reflects its poetic and historical interpretation, are interesting. Thus, the "open field" was understood by medieval man as an endless space that "you can't even look at", which is unlimited, and in the XIV-XVI centuries. in epic works, this image acquires the meaning of "the place of battle". We believe that an important characteristic of the "clean field" is not only its unlimited and endless extent, but also that it is a certain boundary that historically separates countries and peoples, and epically – good and evil, one's own and another's, hero and enemy. Russian russians, however, perceive the field as a border space, but still remain "their own": here the hero fights with the enemy – a "stranger" to the Russian people, in this place he grows up physically and spiritually, during the battle we hear the enemy's threats directed at the field, that is, the enemy also perceives this place as part of the Russian land. In general, in the epic tradition, the field is "a world open to exploits, the limits of familiar life ^{[13, p. 171]}. The scientist also mentions the distinctive feature of the field as a place of battle: in an open field, all heroes are equal, not only in front of each other, but also in front of fate. And the threats of the enemy in the epic are directed not only to Russia, the people and the hero, but also to the open field: "How all the grass-ants ate away, / All the azure flowers fell off, / Small forests bent down to the ground..." ^{[12, p. 77]}. In this case, the image of a clear field becomes a symbol of Russia itself. As V. V. Kolesov notes, the open field is also the place of the death of the hero. The field, stained with heroic blood, becomes holy.

In general, the structure of all battles and their outcome in the epic are the same. The hero, driven by a deep sense of justice, engages in a battle with an enemy. Usually, the enemy is not inferior to the hero in strength. The question arises: why is victory always on the side of the hero? In our opinion, the reason lies in the different nature of the forces. Russian Russian heroic power embodies all the strength of the Russian people, it comes from the Russian land itself, is blessed by God and is always directed for the good. The enemy's strength is extraordinary, but its purpose is to seize land and kill people. These forces seem to represent a confrontation between "one's own" and someone else's, so victory always remains for the hero, who stands on the side of good. According to the law of the epic genre, there can be no other outcome. However, this invariably manifests itself as a spiritual law, a key idea inherent in the mentality of the Russian people.

Note that in the description of enemies there are always signs of something inhuman or alien: Tugarin – "snake" and "dog", robbers – from the Indian land, the Robber Nightingale has bestial features in appearance. When describing the hero, the constant epithet "good fellow" is often found, he always has parents, he is named by an ordinary Russian name and has a patronymic – everything indicates that he is a man of his kind, of his land.

The Christian attitude of the hero, the sense of justice and the desire to destroy evil translate the battle into the spiritual sphere. This component of the battle is manifested in the fact that the hero bravely enters it, relying on God-given incredible physical and spiritual strength. However, in some plots there are episodes when the divine power itself becomes an assistant to the hero in a terrible battle. Such power is not surprising for the hero, since he is the defender of the holy Christian land and fights for a just cause, saving the Russian people from the filthy force desecrating their native land. For example, Alyosha Popovich fights Tugarin the Snake, who "... the dog does not pray to God" ^{[12, p. 98]}, Ilya Muromets – with Tatars trying to destroy the Christian faith, and with robbers who plundered valuables in an Orthodox church, Dobrynya Nikitich – with a snake that kidnapped the Russian people.

The plot of any epic tends to describe a heroic feat, the culmination of which is always the victory of the hero over the enemy force. At the same time, the hero does not just defeat a certain enemy, but eradicates in his person all the alien force that brought destruction to the Russian land. At the end of a battle, the enemy always dies, and his death is described in as much detail as the battle itself. Note that this episode is based on a certain formula that has developed in the epic tradition. So, filthy blood is shed in the traditional place of battle – in an open field, and the severed body of the enemy and the severing of his head is the personification of the complete victory of the hero: "He is waving a shallowly roadside / On Tugarinova-de on a violent head – / The head rolled off his shoulders like a button <...> With his right hand yes he whips the corpse, / Dissected the corpse in small pieces, / Scattered it in a clear field..." ^{[12, p. 101]}, "Cut off his boisterous head here, / He digs half for gray wolves, / And the other half for black crows" ^{[12, p. 83]}. At the end of the narrative, there is a confirmation of the heroic power expressed in the impossibility of the enemy's return to the Russian land: "How since that time, since that time, the Robber Nightingale has not become" ^{[12, p. 83]}.

Each element of the epic tells exactly about the feat performed by the hero. If in the frame structure of the concept "Heroism", the heroic feat becomes part of a stereotype, then here, in the concept scenario, we see the process of unfolding a heroic feat - from the appearance of a hero in an open field to defeating the enemy, and this feat is comprehended on a global scale: the hero fights for all Russia, for all the Russian people.

Summing up the results of studying the functioning of the concept in the epic text, it is necessary to emphasize that the frame structure is the basis of the concept, whereas before the scenario, the concept unfolds under certain conditions, in our case – in the epic. The units that were conceptualized statically in the frame are now given in dynamics: the entire "physical force" slot is now not just called, but unfolds to a whole epic action. It is fully expressed in the elements "The hero's battle with the enemy", "The hero's victory over the enemy". The slot "spiritual power" also runs through the whole epic: the very urge to active action, feat is highly spiritual in nature.

The idea of heroism in the minds of modern native speakers

To study the modern representation of the concept of "Heroism", we conducted a semantic experiment among 147 students of different specialties of Orenburg State University. It should be noted that the number of female and male respondents was almost the same (75 boys, 72 girls), and there was no difference in the content of the answers. The respondents were asked to determine the meanings of the words-names of the concept "hero" and "heroism". The results of the experiment showed that 19% of the subjects correlate the lexemes "hero" and "heroism" with the hero of the epics. Russian Russian epic (m), hero of Russian fairy tales (m), hero of Russian epic (m), hero of Russian epic (m). Most of the answers contained semes related to the slots "spiritual strength" and "physical strength". However, there were very few answers in which the frame structure of the concept was not involved: the character of epics (g), the hero of fairy tales (g), the hero of Russian fairy tales (m), the hero of Russian epics (m). Most of the answers contained semes related to the slots "spiritual strength" and "physical strength" Russian Russian fairy tales, describing a brave, courageous, strong hero-defender (g), a hero in stories with a positive set of qualities: honesty, strength, bravery (g), the hero of epics, strong and brave (m), the hero of Russian works. Russian Russian hero, hero of Russian folklore, symbol of honor, valor, strength and justice in Russia (m), hero of fairy tales, performing feats (g), hero of Russian epics, strong, brave, brave man (w), strong, sturdy man, hero of Russian fairy tales (w) and others.

The answers, where only the "physical strength" slot was indicated, turned out to be a minority – 10%. For example, a person with strong physical strength (g); a person with high physical performance (m); a person with great strength (m); a person with great strength (m) and others. The vast majority of responses showed the actualization of the slot "spiritual power" for modern native speakers: a person endowed with willpower, character, courage, helping people without selfish goals (g); a person who loves his country, has incredible strength and bravery, performs heroic deeds (g); a patriot with high spiritual values values, always ready to defend his homeland (g); a strong, strong-willed, courageous Russian man with a strong physique (g); a hero, a warrior of strong physique, capable of doing a brave, courageous act (m); a courageous, brave and brave man (m); a strong, courageous man, ready to come to help in difficult times (g); a man with great strength and performing feats (g); a physically and mentally strong man who is able to stand up for himself, his family and his native land (g); a courageous and strong man who knows how to stand up for his homeland (g); a Russian man who commits some kind of feats, a strong, brave, honest man (g); a Russian defender who has strength and intelligence (g); a man strong in spirit and physically gifted, who helps with the best intentions (g); a strong, courageous, brave man who is ready for anything for the sake of the Motherland, family (m); a strong man who always stands for good (m); a valiant warrior who defends the honor of the people (m) and others.

The analysis of the answers showed how relevant the original meaning (etymological layer of the concept) is today, almost all dominant verbalizers of the concept of "Heroism" were used in the answers, combining it with the ethical macro concept of "Courage": selfless, ready for a feat, kind, sacrificial, defender of the Motherland, defender, courageous, gifted, courage, fortitude, brave.

Conclusions:

1) the etymological, historical and actual layers of the concept are indicated,

2) the structure of the concept in diachrony is traced from a static concept script to a concept script and a stereotype,

3) the study of the texts of epics allowed us to trace the formation of reference points that formed the basis of the stereotypical idea of the concept of "Heroism", which was fixed in the Russian linguistic picture of the world,

4) the semantic experiment made it possible to determine the relevance of the slot "spiritual power" in the minds of modern native speakers and to confirm the inclusion of the concept of "Heroism" in the semantic field of the ethical concept of "Courage".