rical Space in Songs of the Eighteenth Century About the Russian-Turkish Wars

This article deals with historical songs of the eighteenth century dedicated to the Russian-Turkish wars of 1768–1774 and 1787–1791. The focus of the study is the historical space depicted in the songs as expressed by toponyms. It analyzes the opposition “own” / “alien” in connection with the toponyms Russia and Turkey and examines the place of the capital cities Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev in their poetics. Attention is drawn to the fact that in folklore the capital of Turkey is called both by its official name and by the ancient name Tsargrad. Historical and song folklore of the eighteenth century accumulates toponyms of different time layers, preserving the heritage of previous centuries. Toponyms are very expressive in demonstrating the continuity of tradition. Thus in historical songs Moscow is in the first place, not St. Petersburg. The article also considers the Turkish loci of the Black Sea region which became relevant for Russian soldiers in connection with military operations in this region (Ochakov, Berezan). The second region that is in the focus of attention is the Dniester-Prut-Danube area (Danube, Silistria, Khotyn, Bender, Izmail). Notably, the toponyms Danube and Troyanova Doroga (Troyanov Way) lack the mythological subtext found in other (non-song) works of folklore. The author also considers the connections between the historical and song folklore of the eighteenth century with the earlier folklore tradition.