The author of the textbook is a well-known scholar and folklorist Vladimir Prokopievich Anikin. He has prepared numerous publications of works of Russian folklore, addressed to the general reader. According to his plan and with his direct participation, the books of the valuable series " Folk Wisdom. Human Life in Russian Folklore "(Moscow, "Khudozhestvennaya literatura". Four volumes published). V. P. Anikin's books "Russian Folk Tale" (1959, reprinted 1977); " Folklore as collective creativity of the people "(1969); " Calendar and Wedding Poetry "(1970)are widely known; "Theory of folklore tradition and its significance for the historical study of epics" (1980); "Epics: a method for determining the historical chronology of variants" (1984); " Theory of Folklore: A course of lectures "(1996), etc. The researcher also focused on the problems of literary and folklore relations. The textbook "Russian oral Folk art" (Moscow, 2001) is a kind of result of his activity, the book is intended for students of philological and historical faculties of universities, colleges of humanities, leaders of folk folklore groups. In terms of the scope of the material and the depth of its coverage, it can also be useful for undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers. V. P. Anikin had every right to write in the foreword "From the author": "The book will convince you how extensive and diverse the oral creativity of the Russian people is, what long-standing cultural and historical roots it has, how the country's centuries-old history has been expressed in it plastically, and what a humane culture based on high spirituality was created by our people" (p. 4). The author of the textbook is an unsurpassed connoisseur of the traditional oral art of the people and with great skill reveals its riches to readers. V. P. Anikin always proceeds from the position of the traditional nature of folklore in connection with its non-professional creative basis. The analysis of oral poetic traditions is ... Read more