A collection of lectures on the study of fairytales (although Propp insists that skazka is not exactly the same genre as fairytale, structurally speaking), not quite finished - some places are just brief notes about what he wanted to cover. Half of it is history of fairytale studies, mainly in Russia, and some discussion of methodology. The other half is overview of three types of fairytales, mainly focusing on "magic fairytales" - I expect this was mostly a summary of his "Morphology of the magic fairytale".

This is interesting for the methodological discussion, but for focus on the actual fairytale stuff it would be better to read the "Morphology...".

To study the Russian folktale is to study a pillar of Russian history. Its to delve into the minds and peoples who crafted one of the biggest and oldest empires in history. Propp's book is the foundational grandfather piece of literature for those wish to acquire knowledge of this. It spans the definition, the study, the forms, the classifications, the symbolism, as well as the parts. Propp is noted here by himself as being more than the founder of folktale's morphology system, he becomes noted here for the symbolism he stresses about the Russian Folktale and what this brings to the people as well as the study of their past. Incredible text and companion.