Z.M. Ulakov's contribution to the development of Karachay-Balkar folkloristics (To the 105th anniversary of birth)

The article presents the facts of the biography of Z.M. Ulakov and the main merits are indicated. The contribution to the Karachay-Balkar folkloristics is determined. The main focus of attention is directed to the consideration of the ideological and artistic originality of fairy tales, genre features. The object of the study was the fairy tales collected in the books "Malkar khalk zhomakla" ("Balkarian folk tales") and "Burungulu taurukhla bla haparla" ("Legends and tales"). The plot of fairy tales is characterized by astronomical, zoomorphic/floristic, cosmogonic interpretations of the world. In Z. Ulakov's fairy tale plots, a significant role is played by zoomorphic stories related to livestock breeding, the life of a hired shepherd of a flock on a pasture (kosh), commodity-money obligations, etc. Fairy tales describe long periods of time, they highlight the life of the Karachay-Balkar people, moral customs, the specifics of figurative thinking. In addition to the entertaining function, fairy tales carry a consciously organized process of spiritual and moral education of the younger generation. The main methods of analysis are systemic, cultural-historical, typological, descriptive.