Folklorism in Chuvash prose: its ideological-thematic and plot-forming significance

The study aims to reveal the conscious and unconsciously hidden forms of interpretation of folklore examples at the lexical, figurative, and compositional levels and to identify the connection between folk culture and the writer’s worldview (folklorism). The article analyzes small and medium genres of Chuvash narrative literature from the late 19th to the early 21st century. A range of works is identified, the ideological and thematic analysis of which clearly demonstrates different goals of writers’ appeal to folklore: strengthening instruction, revealing heroism, spiritual beauty and strength, and creating the Chuvash world. The scientific novelty of the research lies in determining the distinctive features of chronological periods in the history of literature, which differently actualize the use of examples of folk literature in a work. The study revealed typical features of the manifestation of folklorism in Chuvash prose: as if “on the surface”, which involves direct application of proverbs and sayings; as an organic part of literary works; as one of the genre-stylistic varieties; as a new form of expressing the author’s worldview within the framework of postmodernism.