D,avdlkas - Russian Children's Taunts (1)

Balina Weiss, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

The drazni/ka· is a short, humorous verse used by children to tease, taunt and play pranks on

other children (and only rarely on adults). The origins of the draznilka are rooted in adult folklore -

in the ancient tradition of nicknames and in traditional taooting rhymes and songs used in wedding

ceremonies.(2) The coarse humor and the use of nonsense rhymes, inversions, constant epithets and

other fommlaic devices also point to skomoroshina, nebylitsa and raeshnik as sources of

drazni/kas.(3) The drazni/ka raises the general epistemological question of how to define children's

folklore: what are its sources, who are its creators and who are its performers. This is a particularly

important question, since many Russian sources include under the headings of children's folklore

compositions by adults, such as poteshka, pribautka(4) and ko/ybel'naia pesnia (lullaby). Some of

the genres that fell into disuse among adults "descended" from adult literatme and oral tradition and

became subject to creative adaptation by children through a process of genre transformation in

children's games, story-telling, or the draznilka.(5) Early students and collectors of children's folklore

commented on the problem of trying to define the boundaries that separate adult from children's

folklore. Pavel Shein wrote that children's humorous verse (he called it pribautka) constituted the

most authentic examples of children's folklore, since the child and not the adult was the creator and

performer. Shein's description of the drazni/ka is still useful today:

[The drazni/ka is] a pribautka, which mischievous small children use to
poke fun at each other and at adults, making fun of their names, ... their station
and ... their physical shortcomings, as well as their non-Russian origins and so on,
often without even having any reason, just for the love of word-play.( 6)

This last comment about a child's natural affinity for playing with words, written in the second half of

the nineteenth century, is wholly in accord with the views of modem scholarship. A century later,

Iona and Peter Opie made a similar observation, as did others who noted that children use rhymes not

only for practical reasons, to help them remember, but for the deeply ingrained need to play with

words and to experiment with language.(7)

In the 1920s Georgii Vinogradov introduced the term "children's satiric lyrics" (detskaia

satiricheskaia /irika) in his groundbreaking study under the same name. Even though the study has

~ widely quoted and praised, the term did not take root in Soviet scholarship. Kapitsa rejected

Vinogradov's terminology and like many others after him, used the generic drazni/ka to refer to the

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rhymes.(8)

Most Russian collections of the draznilko present a special problem. They rely heavily on

early somces from the nineteenth centuIy, which means that they draw almost exclusively on material

collected from villages and the provinces. Soviet collections also tend to favor traditional somces of

folklore, the village and provincial towns, and underrepresent large urban centers. Moreover, the

draznilko created pedagogical and philosophical problems for Soviet scholars; the crude language and

obvious delight children took in inflicting pain on their chosen victims seemed to point to the amoral

nature of children. Vinogradov, addressing this very issue in his writing, pointed out that children's

taunts were likely to be more direct and more painful because young children do not use irony to

attenuate the attack and because children are more prone than adults to use crude language.(9)

Nevertheless, he insisted on unflinching honesty and faithful recording of children's behavior in their

natmal environment; he also was against the elision of scatological references and obscenities from

children's speech and the use of dots to replace phrases or ideas offensive to adults.(IO)

Vinogradov's position was an exception. In Soviet collections, as well as in some in

post-Soviet ones, offending words are excluded along with the texts in which they occur. Some

scholars disparaged the draznilko as being little more than a vehicle for obscenities.( II) Others were

made uncomfortable by the evidence of aggression and references to the negative aspects of everyday

life. In his introduction to a collection of folkloric texts, Vladimir Bakhtin states that in most

draznilkos the target is not an individual with a particular physical or mental trait over which he has no

control, but undesirable social behavior; thus the draznilko can be viewed as a tool for behavior

modification: "The children as a group instill in themselves and each other the rules of good

behavior. "(12) And Mikhail Mel'nikov went even further in denying the negativism of the draznilko:

Draznilkos attacking ethnic dignity have disappeared from the repertoire of
Soviet children ... [along with] texts about. ..lice, and ...poverty, that is, everything
that is unfamiliar to today's children.( 13)

FUNCTION AND USES OF DRAZNILKAS

While the draznilko has roots in adult folklore, specifically, in the tradition of assigning

nicknames, important differences also occur. Nicknames are attached to an individual as a pertnanent

epithet, while the use of a draznilko is tied to a particular occasion.(14) Moreover, nicknames can be

used in place of proper names in conversations about the person, while draznilko cannot be. (Cf. the

nickname Ivan the Terrible and the draznilko Andrei-vorobei.) Nicknames are frequently used behind

a person's back, while a draznilko has to be said directly to the victim's face.(15)

The draznilko can cover a rather wide range of aggressive behavior: from mild, friendly

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Alesha-balesha,
[Hislyour] mother is no good.(18)

ribbing to "ritualized taunts~ between competing groups of children (similar to the African-American

"dozens") to grievous insults that serve as a prelude to physical violence. Teasing, or a "license to

joke," is based on a "joking relationship" between two individuals (or groups); it can be interpreted as

a symbolic inversion of a real message.(16) A teasing droznilko tends to bridge the distance between

two players and to emphasize equality between them. A teasing draznilko directed at two friends

acknowledges the strong bond between them and can be interpreted as a positive statement:

Boba s Kokoi, Boba and Koka
Koko c Boboi - Koka and Boba
pami udalye: are brave lads.
Boba - kuritsa slepaia, Boba is blind as a bat
Koko - misko supovaia, Koka is like a soup bowl
Boba - angel, Bobo - bog Boba is like an angel,
i izodrannyi sapog. Boba is like God

and a worn out boot.( 17)

An even cruder example can be interpreted as having a positive meaning, since it emphasizes the

friendship between two boys: "[Vot idutJ Dva akrobata: odin Jehui,drugoi lopata" (Here are two

acrobats: one is a dick and the other a spade.)

A teasing draznilko can be used to cement a new friendship as in the following telling

example from Vinogradov: .

Girls sometimes like to use an affectionately jocular tone in their
conversations. "Let's see, how can I needle you?" a seven- or eight-year-old girl
pensively asks [her new friend] Olia. And, after a moment...she quickly repeated
in a sing-song fashion the non-offensive line: "Olia-bolia, Olia-bolia" ... The
nickname Alesha-balesha was born in the same way ...as was a jocular ditty from
the same village:
Alesha-balesha,
Mat' nekhorosha.

In contrast to the teasing draznilko, a taunt is an expression of aggression, a deliberate insult

meant to hurt and publicly humilate another person. A taunting draznilka tends to reinforce

hierarchical order within the group. Above all, it creates an insmmountable gap between the

aggressor, whose moral or physical superiority is asserted, and the designated victim.(19) Most

draznilka-taunts are directed against an individual child and focus on physical or mental shortcomings:

"cross-eyed," "stupid," "red-head" are common insults. The draznilko also derides undesirable

behavior, e.g., "iabeda-goviadina," "plaksa-vaksa," "zhadina-pomadina" (tattle-tale, a cry-baby, a

greedy child, respectively). Among younger children, who still belong to sexually segregated groups

and have not yet begun to date, one of the most common and painfully embarrassing taunts is to pair a

boy and a girl and call them bride and groom as "Ti/i-tili-testoIZhenikh i nevesta" (Tili-tili, dough!

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here are the bride and groom).

A child who participates eagerly in the activities promoted by adults is often viewed as a

traitor. Belonging to a govemment-(adult)-sanctioned group, in other words, being seen as part of the

"adult establishment" will earn a heap of scorn: "Predsedadulia, dulia, dulia!" (CbainDan-fig, fig, fig)

(directed against a good student, presumably someone active in school organizations, hence

"predsedater). This occurs in another taunt from Soviet times:

Oktiabrenok, RIOl'ehikPetia, Little"Octobrist Peter,
podavilsia pri minete, Choked while "eating".
a posmertno govoriat, It's rumored that after
isk/iuehen iz oktiabriat. he died, he was kicked out

of the October organization.(20)

Taunts ridiculing individuals can be expanded to include an entire family, father, mother,

grandparents. It must be noted, however, that the draznilko rarely targets adults. Some draznilkos

focus on adults in particular professions and occupations. For example, priests are a common subject

of derision, as in a very popular ditty:

Grom gremit,
zemlia triasietsia,
pop no kuritse nesetsia.

Thunder roars
the ground is shaking,
the priest is galloping on a hen.

Most taunts, however, challenge adults and adult authority indirectly by breaking taboos and the rules

of "good" behavior expected of children through the use of parody, crude expressions and references

to genitalia.

Both adults and children can be ridiculed for belonging to a particular ethnic group as in the

following taunt: "Evrei - po/no zhopa ehervei," (Jew with an ass full of worms), or, directed at

another group, "Armiashka - v zhope dereviashka," (Armenian with a piece of wood in the ass ).(21)

Some insults have literary sources, drawn from the names of folkloric heroes or literary

characters.(22) A little boy with a name like ll'ia could be called jokingly lI'ia-prorok (the Prophet

Elijah) or taunted as

1/'ia Muromets, ll'ia ofMurom
no zhope 7pugovits. with 7 buttons on his ass.(23)

A spat between two boys can grow to involve other children and lead to a verbal contest or

duel between Opposing sides. The insults traded are delivered in a sing-song unison with increasingly

louder voices as each group tries to drown out its opponent. The stand-off lasts until children exhaust

their creative and physical resources.(24)

STRUCTURE OF DRAZNILKAS

Drazni/kos are mymed, epigrammatic verses, usually no longer than six lines. The drazni/ko,

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Baba-yaga
with a leg of bone
with a hooked nose
with a head like a stump
with an ass like a box.(30)

like other fonns of folklore, is built on fonnulas: cliches, stock expressions, snippets from popular

songs. rhymes, or epithetic pairs, that serve as building blocks in creating a new draznilka.

Paradoxically. it is the very natme of the cliche that makes improvisation and endless variability

possible.(25) These ready-made formulas, moreover. facilitate communication among children and

help them comprehend and cope with the "ridiculousness of life ... [and] the absurdity of the adult

world" around them.(26)

Vinogradov described three types of teasers: the draznilka - a rhymed couplet based on an

expanded nickname (name-epithet combination); izdevka - a taunt, a more hostile draznilka, usually

3-6 lines long; and a poddevka - a verbal prank based on questions and answers. Draznilka is a

generic term applied to the first two groups and sometimes includes verbal pranks as well.

The draznilka is usually based on rhymed nicknames - a binmy construction which is a

common feature of Russian folklore. Rhymed nicknames us~y Consist of proper name-epithet

combination with an obligatory internal rhyme. At the heart of such combinations is wordplay based

on similarly sounding yet semantically unrelated words. A name can be paired with another noun -

"lvan-bolvan" (Ivan-blockhead), "Vitia-titian (Vitia-teat); with a variation of the same name-

"Vasia-Vasenok" or with a similar sounding name - "Sema-Eroma."(27) The epithet in the paired

combination can also be a nonsense word, as in "Fedia-media." This. in fact, is the most productive

means of rhymed-nickname formation in the draznilka. The epithet is derived from the proper name

by replacing the first consonant by one or sometimes two other consonants. If the word begins with a

vowel, one or two consonants are added. as in "Olia-bolia. "(28)

The paired unit does not always have to contain a proper name. It can be replaced by a noun

denoting some trait, usually a negative one:(29) "zhadina-goviadina." (stingy-beef) "reva-korova"

(cry-baby-cow) or the more fanciful "predsedadulia, dulia dulia." a clever porbnanteau creation from

predsedatel' (chairman) and dulia (fig). Such pairs of common nouns can be used by themselves as a

draznilka. especially when it is repeated several times in a sing-song fashion and very loudly to drown

out protest.

A taunting draznilka-izdevka is derived through the process of accretion, when the child

extends the epithet in the paired nickname by piling up additional modifiers; as the verse lengthens,

the dramilka gains in strength:

Babaiaga
kostianaia noga
nos kriuchkom
golova suchkom
zhopa iashchichkom

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Baba-yaga is of course a common nickname applied to any old(er), mean woman. Lines 3-5

transform a widely-known and rather boring draznilko (lines 1-2 borrowed from folktales) into a

funny, biting taunt

The paired unit usually appears in the opening line of the verse, where it sets the rhythm. But

its location is not fixed, and it can appear in the middle or in final position. Moreover, the pair itself

can be split:

Jdi priamo. priamo-priamo, Go straight ahead where
tam bol'shaia iama, you'll find a large pit
tam zhivet Boris, Boris, the chairman
predsedotel'dokhlykh krys, of dead rats, lives there
a zhena ego Larisa with his wife Larisa,
zamechatel'naia krysa. who is a splendid rat herself.

Here we have a popular pairing "Boris - predsedotel' dokhlykh krys" and "Larisa-

zamechatel'naia krysa" inserted in the middle and end of a draznilko; internal rhymes are turned

inside out as it were to mark the ends of lines: Boris/krys, Larisa/krysa.

A rhymed nickname is frequently developed to include another set of mOdifiers. Such

extended epithetic pairs can appear as a list of undesirable traits, as in

Anna-banna, Anna - [bath]tubby
vshivyi bok lice-infested [side]
tit'ki miagki with teats as soft
kok klubok. as a ball ofyam.(31)

Most extended epithetic pairs are realized as rhymed couplets: "Baba- Yaga/Kostianaia noga".

Other lines or couplets can be added and tied with simple rhymes: aabb; aabbcc, or aabbb and aabbc

are the most common rhyme schemeS.(32) As the stanza lengthens, the epigrammatic draznilko

changes and acquires a narrative character; direct or rhetorical questions (and even rhetorical answers)

are frequently employed devices:(33)

Reva-korova, Cry-baby cow
doi moloko. give [melus] some milk.
Skol'ko stoit? How much does it cost?
Dva piatako. Two nickels.

Humor, rhythm and rhyme are the sine qua non of the drazni/ko. Humor is achieved in a variety of

ways. Rhyme, unusual combinations of disparate elements and hyperbole are perhaps the most

commonly used devices in achieving a comic effect:

Iasha, Iasha ne balui Iasha, Iasha don't kid around
A to slon otkusit Jehui. Or an elephant will bite off your dick.34

The draznilko has a strong rhythmic structure and regular beats. Although many collectors

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refer to the draznillca as a ditty (pesenlca). Vinogradov describes it as "choral poetry". He points out

that children discriminate between chanted texts that rely on precise meter and rhythm. such as

counting rhymes. and texts that are executed in a sing-song. such as the draznilka. It is not unusual to

find irregularities in the rhythm and meter of the draznilka that would not be tolerated in counting-out

rhymes. However a child singing or reciting a draznilka in a sing-song will readily make up for

missing beats by adding a syllable or lengthening a vowel.(35) Group perfonnance - chanting in

unison - is an important component of taunts. as are sjJecial gestures. rhythmic movements and the

skipping or hopping that frequently accompany the draznillca.(36)

And finally. as has been demonstrated, the draznillca cannot exist without rhyme. Rhyme

binds together absurd combinations and "underscores the unreal. made-up and ludicrous [shutovskogo]

elements in the text "(37) In addition to playing a crucial role in the structure of the draznilka. rhyme

acts both as a conservative force. and as a dynamic device, the very feature that allows a child to adapt

a shop-worn expression to a particular situation within formulaic constraints.(38) The efficacy of an

adult joke depends on delivery and timing. In the draznillca. rhyme plays a similar role; it is what

makes a draznillca work.(39) "Zhid parkhatyi" (lousy Jew) is a common insult, but it takes a rhyme to

turn it into a draznillca: "Zhyd parkhatyilNomer piatyi. " which is realized here as a rhymed couplet.

An acquaintance. a redhead, remembers the following taunt as the one that caused her the most pain:

"Ryzhaia psina. bez benzina!" (Red-head doglbitch, without gasoline). She could understand the first

part, but "why 'bez benzina'?" she asked plaintively. Indeed, her tormentor effectively used the rhyme

to bring together two semantically unrelated phrases. The unexpected combination and the rhyme

heightened both the hwnor and the derision and increased the pain.

Verbal tricks (catch rhymes) are a special form of victimization. As in the draznillca. verbal

tricks depend on rhymes; the victim is set up so that he or she falls for a false premise.(40) The

chosen victim is weaker. usually younger. and less experienced than the aggressor. Moreover. the

same trick cannot be played twice on the same victim. Tricks can also be accompanied by a physical

action:

-Skazhi Idop. -Say "bedbug"
-Klop. -Bedbug
-Po lbu khlop! -Bang your head! [slapping the head].

The structure of the draznillca is stable: there is a great consistency and regularity among the

vast number of examples across many generations. Children rely on a fairly small repertoire of

ready-made "derision formulas. " that is. well-known texts of jeers and taunts, in which a word or a

phrase can be replaced by another to fit a particular situation. A child's creativity and originality are

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expressedm a particularly apt choice and adaptation of a ready-made formula to a given situation and

in a felicitous combination ofmaterials borrowed from various sources.(41) A successfuldraznilka

will make its victim feel singled-out and isolated, even though it is made up almost entirely of cliches

and stereotypical images:

The tearful child tends to feel that the calls are entirely personal; newly
made up to apply only to him. He wonders if he will ever escape from the shame
of the hateful verses ...Yet, newly made-up as the children often believe these
verses to be, most of them have been helping tears to flow faster for generations.( 42)

It is common to find the same line appearing in different draznilkas: "tebia/ee liubit muzykant" is a

popular ending. Equally widespread are echoes of well-established lines: the above-cited example

"podavilsia pri minete" is an updated version of "govnom podavilsia." Children often resort to

popular songs in creating new draznilkas. The chastushka (ditty) and hmnorous "novelty" song.

which like the draznilka can be crude and funny, are especially well-suited for such use.(43) In Odesa

a popular draznilka addressed to an overweight Jewish child in the 1950s was:

1a nikomu ne dam, I won't give away [food] to anyone,
pust' kushaet Abram, let Abram eat,
pust' budet zhimyi may he be fat
i zdorovyi kak baran. and healthylbig as a ram.

These lines are borrowed from the refrain of a song popular in Odesa. "Starushka ne spesha.

dorozhku pereshla ... " (An old woman slowly crossed the street).

In a draznilka we know who is being attacked, but we can only surmise who the aggressor is.

One example of an identifiable male voice is the following:

"Na/osha, dva rublia i nasha"
Natasha, two rubles and she's ours.

"Ours" here clearly refers to boys. Overall, however, the draznllka does not have an easily identifiable

male or female voice. Vinogradov associated friendly jocular teasing. like the "Olia-bolia" example

cited earlier, with girls. Virtanen, in her study of Finnish children's lore based on 30,000 samples

collected from 6- to 18-year-olds, observes that, by and large, girls tease other girls while boys

torment other boys. Erotic and sexual teasing. she writes, are the girls' "special province".(44) Her

study, however, does not include truly obscene taunts and it is difficult to imagine most girls yelling:

Prikhodi ko mne Alesha Come visit with me, Alesha,
U menia pizda khorosha! fve got a nice cunt!

As far as obscene rhymes are concerned, girls are frequently passive consumers of a culture

shared with boys. Thus, while both sexes could recite a ditty popular in Odesa in the 1950s: "Khui i

pizdajbrat i sestra" (Dick and cunt are brother and sister), only boys could be seen scribbling the

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Kat'ka - stupid procedure
consists of three parts,
a [radiator] fan, a car battery
and a gear-box.(47)

graffitti on the walls of buildings. Similarly, while both boys and girls knew a bawdy parody of the

1920's street song "Tsiplenok zharenyi ... " (Fried chick], only boys would indulge in a public

perfonnance. The identity of the speaker is more often revealed in a teaser-rejoinder, as in the

following example, where the speaker is intentionally misinterpreting "nakhaf' (boor) and turning it

into "makhaf' (masculine fonn of "waved"):

[to an insult ending in "nakhal!" (a boor)]
"Ne makhal. a dirizher! "
I did not wave; I am a conductor!

An identifiably female voice can be heard in the response of a girl who was probably called

"dura" (stupid) and who in turn calls her tonnentor "sop/ivyi nos" (snot-nose):

1a durochka, Snegurochka, I am a stupid Snowmaiden,
Moi papa-ded Moroz, Uncle Frost is my daddy,
A mamochka fialochka, My mother is a violet,
A ty - sop/ivyi nos. And you are a snot-nose.

As can be seen from the above examples, the target of a draznilka is not entirely without

resources. The chosen victim can use a draznilka counter-taunt to turn the table and mock his or her

tormentor. In answer to "Mishka - medv.ed'INauchi menia perdet" (Mishka-bearl Teach me how to

fart) one can say:

1apemu, ty POimai. I will fart, and you catch it.
Nikomu ne otdavai. Don't give it away to anyone.(45)

A boy or girl may choose to use a magical incantation to undo the evil effect of a jeer:

Shel shel krokodil A crocodile walked by,
tvoe slovo proglotil, he swallowed your word,
a moe ostavil but he let my word stand
i pechat' postavil. and sealed it.

The draznilka' unlike other fonns of children's satire, contains very few references to the

realia of every-day life or to social interactions among children. Vinogradov sought an explanation

for this in the fact that the draznilka, as a rule, is directed ag8inst an individual, not against an enemy

group or an abstract system.( 46) The Soviet draznilka contains little detail that reflects the society in

which the children were raised. References to city life, work in the factory, modem technology are

not very common. One example with references to Soviet industrial society is a draznilka composed,

as it were, from spare parts:

Kat'ka dura protsedura,
sostoit iz trekh chastei,
ventilator, kumulator
i koroboka skorostei.

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Another example reflects Soviet bureaucracy:

Zhenia, Zhenia Zhenia, Zhenia
Zhenotde/! Women's section! (48)

The widespread crises of the 1920's gave rise to a draznilka-chastushka with indirect references to

poverty and deprivation:

Fu-ty nu-ty, Fie, fie on you,
lapti novye obuty. she is wearing new slippers.
Lapti novy, Her slippers are new,
piatki goly, but her heels are bare
soma /chodit bosiakom. and she walks barefoot.(49)

Bezprizomiki, the children lost and orphaned in the wake ofWWI and later during the Civil War, rode

trains under cars, and in coal boxes. The following draznilka is directed at a "voobrazhulia"

(braggard) who has a fancy hat, but leads the life of a vagabond

Voobrazhulia pervyi sort, Hey, first class braggard
Kudo edesh'? Na kurortl Where're you going? To the spa?
Shapochka s pumponchikom Your hat has a pompon
Edesh' pod vagonchikom. But you're riding under a car.(50)

In the last ten to fifteen years we have witnessed trends that may spell the end of the draznilka

in its present form. A relatively new form of satire has become popular among elementary-school-age

children and young adolescents. The origins of "sadistic verses" (sadistskie stishla) are literary and

urban; they are quite distinct from the draznilka. It is easy to find areas, however, where both overlap.

We need only to replace the impersonal mal'chik (boy) or devochka (girl) that populate "sadistic

verses" with, for example, Fedia to turn it into a draznilka:

Malenkii mal'chik [FediaJ igral v vodolaza A little boy [Fedia] was playing diver
smelo spuskalsia no dno unitaza, he boldly dived to the bottom of the toilet bowl
dobraia teta nazhala pedal' A nice auntie stepped on the flush-pedal
mal'chik [FediaJ umchalsia vpodvodnuiu and the little boy [Fedia] disappeared under the

dal'. (51) water.
Perhaps what we are witnessing is a process of transforming the draznilka into a form with a darker

and more cynical world view.

Notes

1. I wish to thank Natalie Kononenko for her encouragement, James Bailey and Snejana Tempest for
their helpful comments, Roman and Irina Yakub for updating my obsolete arsenal of draznilkas and
Robert A Rothstein for his indispensable help.
2. James Bailey, Three Russian Lyric Folk Song Meters (Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishing, Inc.,
1993), p. 203.
3. Skomoroshino - satirical or humorous epic songs or tales of Russian minstrels (skomorokhs);
works of mixed genres that often parody the style and characters of Russian bylinas (epic heroic

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songs). Russell Zguta described these as "nonheroic" epic songs. See R. Zguta Russian MiD!;trels-
HistOty of the Skomorokhi (philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978), pp. 92-98.
Nebylitsa - "humorous plotless skomoroshina," long considered to be too trivial for the adult world, is
particularly closely associated with children's literature and children's !;jlklore. L.M. lvleva,
"Skoromoshiny" in Siavianskii fol'k/or (Moscow: Nauka, 1972), pp. 12, -122. Raeshnik or raek-
humorous vers libre with varying meter and length of lines tied together with paired rhymes: aabb, etc.
4. Poteshka and pribautka refer to nurseIY rhymes. The poteshka is accompanied by physical
activity, such as touching, counting or massaging different parts of the child's body. The distinction
between the two can be quite murky. NurseIY rhymes of all kinds, as well as lullabies, belong to what
G. S. Vinogradov aptly named poeziia pestovania (poetry of nuituring the child with tender, loving
care) orfol'klor materinstva (folklore of motherhood). Cited by 0.1Kapitsa in Detskii fol'klor
[Children's folklore] (Leningrad: Priboi, 1928). pp. 52-53.
5. E. V. Pomerantseva, 0 FUsskomfol'klore jf'n Russian folklore] (Moscow: Nauka, 1977), p. 70; G.
S. Vinogradov, "Detskaia saliricheskaia IiriJw" [Children's satirical lyrics ] in Sibirskaia zhivaia
starina 3-4 (1925), 66.
6. Cited by Vinogradov, p. 67.
7. "[T]he rhymes expressing general dislike have an impersonal air. One has a feeling ...that the
children are being rude just for the fun of being rude." lona Opie and Peter Opie, The Lore and
Language of Schoolchildren (London: Oxford University Press, 1973 [1959]), p. 175.
8. Kapitsa p. 109.
9. Vinogradov, p. 76.
10. Vinogradov, p. 95.
11. V. P. Anikin, Russkoe narodnoe poeticheskoe tvorchestvo [RDssian folk poetIY] (Leningrad:
Prosveshchenie, 1987), p. 364.
12. V. Bakhtin, Skazki. pesni. chastushki. prislov'ia Lenins:radskoi oblasti [FaiIY tales, songs, ditties,
sayings of the Leningrad region] (Leningrad: Lenizdad, 1982),p. 471.
13. M. Mel'nikov, Russkii detskii fol'k/or [Russian children's folklore] (Moscow: Prosveshchenie,
1987), p. 68.
14. Mel'nikov, p. 66.
15. CfM. Jorgensen, "Teasers and Pranks" in Children's Folklore - A Source Book. ed. B.
Sutton-Smith et al. (New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1995), p. 222.
16. Jorgensen, p. 220; also J. Mechling, "Children's Folklore" in Folk Groups and Folklore Genres.
ed. E. Oring (Utah: Utah University Press, 1986), p.104.
17. Vinogrado~, p. 101.
18. Vinogradov, p. 74.
19. Cf. Mechling, p. 104.
20. M. Armalinskii, (comp), Detskii eroticheskii fol'k/or [Children's erotic folklore] (Minneapolis:
M.1.P. Company, 1995). p. 36. This is a more obscene version of a popular draznilkacited by A. N.
Martynova, comp., Detskii poeticheskii fol'klor. Antolo~ia [Children's poetic folklore. An anthology]
(Sl. Petersburg: Dmitrii Bulanin, 1997), p. 281:

Vas'ka-Vasenok Vas'ka- Vasenok
khudoi porosionok poor piggy
na kamushke rodilsia was born on a rock
govnom podavilsia and choked on a piece of shil.

21. Armalinskii, p. 82.
22. Martynova, p. 292; V. A. Vasilenko, ROb izuchenii sovremennogo detskogo fol'k/ora" [On the
study of contempoTaIY children's folklore] in Sovremennyi FUsskiifol'k/or. ed. E. V. Pomerantseva
(Moscow: Nauka, 1966), pp. 192-3; also Vinogradov.

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23. Vinogradov, p. 75.
24. For a detailed description see Vinogradov, pp. 69 if
25. Vinogradov, p. 77; also G.!. Mal'tsev, Traditsionnye formu/v russkoi narodnoi neobriadovoi
liriki [Traditional formulas of Russian non-ritual folk lyric poetry] (Leningrad: Nauka, 1989), pp. 13,
43-44. Cf. Ivleva's comments on the chain-like structure of the nebylitsa: they are built of discrete
components with vmying contents. Such a chain can be broken off at any link and other links can be
added. The structure of the nebylitsa accounts for its dynamic character and makes improvisation
possible (p.122).
26. Opie & Opie, p. 18.
27. Vinogradov, p. 78.
28. See E. A. Zemskaia, "Iazykovaia igra" [Word play] in Russkaia raz~ovomaia rech' (Moscow:
Nauka, 1983), pp. 193-194, on "s/ovo-ekho" and parallel constructions in Turkic languages and L.
Virtanen, "Children's Lore," Shldia Fennica 22 (1978), pp.62-63, on rhymed nicknames in Finnish
taunts. Roman" Noveishaia russkaia poeziia" [The Latest Russian Poetry] in his Raboty po poetike
(Moscow: Progress, 1987 [1921]), pp. 271-316. English speakers are familiar with this process from
the Yiddish-based structure, where "shm" replaces the initial consonant or consonants:
"president-shmesident. "
29. Vinogradov, p. 77.
30. Vinogradov, p. 100.
31. Vinogradov, p. 97.
32. For more details see Vinogradov, pp. 79-84.
33. Vinogradov, p. 70.
34. Annalinskii, p. 36 ..
35. Vinogradov, pp. 80-81. One of the most readily recognizable American taunts dispenses with the
text altogether and is based on a chanted melody: nya-nya, nya-nya, nya-nya.
36. D. S. Likhachev, "Smekh kalemirovozzrenie" [Laughter as worldview] in "Smekhovoi mir"
drevnei Rusi (Leningrad: Nauka, 1976), p. 64; also Virtanen, pp. 80-81.
37. Likhachev, pp. 64.
38. Mechling, p. 109.
39. Cf. J. Sherman and T.K.F. Weisskopf, Greasy Grimy GQpher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of
Childhood (Little Rock: August House, 1995), p. 12.
40. Jorgensen, p. 214.
41. Vinogradov, p. 77.
42. Opie & Opie, pp. 187-188.
43. Vinogradov, p. 98; Martynova, p. 299.
44. Virtanen, pp. 69-70.
45. Vinogradov, p. 98.
46. Vinogradov, p. 76.
47. Martynova, p. 299.
48. Martynova, p. 296.
49. Martynova, p. 311.
50. Bakhtin, p. 182.
51. Cf. a popular drazni/ka-chastushka from the 1930s:

Andrei-vorobei Andrei-sparrow
v ozere kupalsia was swimming in the lake.
ruki-nogi utonuli His arms and legs drowned
a zhivot osta/sia. but his belly stayed on the surface.

(Martynova, p. 275)

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