 |
|||
|
|||
Introduction
Introduction
Every culture in the world has
folklore and a very important aspect of the lore is the tales that are told,
passed from generation to generation. It is within those tales that the seeds of
the culture reside, waiting to be planted into the next generation through the
hearing of those tales. I love folktales. I love telling fairytales, but I
really love to hear folktales. I imagine the scene of a nomadic tribe, camped
for the night, elders and children and everyone in between gathered around a
communal fire at night, the stars shining overhead and the elders begin to
speak, the others listens entranced. Another scene I imagine is a travelling filé, a Celtic Druid-Poet or Bard, being joyfully greeted, his arrival met with feasting and
celebration as he brings news and stories from Tribe to Tribe in pre-Roman
British Isles … and so is passed a culture from young to old. That is what
folktales do; they are cultural artifacts, passed down through the generations.
Sometimes it is difficult to delineate
between folktales, fairy tales, and myths. This difficulty is caused by the
similarities in each genre. In fact, Alan Dundes says that mythology is a
subdivision of folklore (Dundes, 1975, p. 3). I would add some fairy tales to
folklore classification as well. Certainly there is an element of magic in each
of these. The folktale is specifically differentiated by its place in a
culture, however, and it is thought to be related to some actual person or
event, the details of which are often long-forgotten, and their purpose is to
instill cultural values and pass on traditional lore, whereas myths are told to
explain some mystery and fairy tales are pure fiction (Forest, 2000).
Definition and Differentiation
Paulo de Carvalho-Nieto defines folkore
as "a branch of cultural anthropology," and "a study of the
cultural acts of any people." Rooted
in oral tradition, the folktale is identified by several markers (de
Carvalho-Neto 1971, p. 15). He specifies
that these acts are :
- Cultural
- Anonymous
- Non-Institutionalized
- Ancient (Pre-logical) and
- Functional
Carvalho-Nieto elaborates on each of these points in
his book. I will discuss briefly those points which seem germane specifically
to the folktale as opposed to folklore in general.
Cultural
The
cultural aspect is one of the most important to discuss. Although a folktale may
have culture-specific details, its function is to ensure the survival of
cultural practices, traditions, and values.
From an anthropology point of view (versus a more subjective view, like
that of a member of the culture being studied): "The objective of folklore is to discover
the rules governing the formation, organization, and metamorphosis of these
cultural acts for the benefit of mankind" (Carvalho-Nieto, p 15). According to Carvalho-Nieto, for an act, in
this case telling a tale, to be cultural it is to be "extrinsic" or "beyond
our individual conscience" (p. 20); to be "coercive" or endowed with
an imperative strength which imposes patterns of behavior – or even
expectations of a pattern of behavior --
regardless of one's own will (p. 20-21); to be "interdependent,"
influencing others even as it is influenced by those it influences (p. 21); and
"perfectionable" because humans are a work in progress, always improving
and striving (21).
Anonymous
Carvalho-Nieto
states that anonymity is an essential quality to folklore (p. 27). This writer
finds the anonymous factor to be of value
in relation to copyright issues when it comes to the selection of a story for
public performance. I have interpreted Carvalho-Nieto's
discussion of this characteristic of anonymity as essentially the inability to
confer authorship upon a specific individual. Perhaps the culture from which it
arises is of an interdependent society that shares everything including
stories. Perhaps the tale originates from an individualistic society and, as Carvalho-Nieto
writes, "people do not create; they only imitate" (p. 26) and the
work simply cannot be ascribed to an individual. Perhaps the story is just so
ancient that no one remembers where it first began.
Ancient
According to a quote from Enrique de Gandía, "the
chronological limits of tradition cannot be determined in a fixed and exact
manner. The present is not tradition because it is not old" (Carvalho-Nieto,
pp. 32-33). In other words, these things have lasted, "stood the test of
time," so to speak.
Classification
An internet search for "folktale" leads primarily
to sites which host tales. A more specific search will lead the scholar to the
anthropological sites on folklore in general where one will find such names as
Stith Thompson, Vladimir Propp, Alan Dundes, and Antti Aarne. It is a
fascinating study subject, fascinating and extensive. The classification system
created by Thompson and Aarne is thorough, although criticized by Propp on the
grounds that the criteria for grouping some tales by motif was too variable and
Thompson concedes that the classification is rather Eurocentric (Dundes, 1997).
Despite these disclaimers, Dundes states that, " the six-volume Motif Index of Folk-Literature and the Aarne-Thompson
tale type index constitute two of the most valuable tools in the professional
folklorist's arsenal of aids for analysis" (1997). I think it must be an occupational affinity
for librarians to classify, sort, organize,
and catalogue. Perhaps that's why Thompson
and Aarne's classification system seems so attractive. Among the categories to
which the team distributed the collected folktales are:
- Animal Tales (Types 1-299),
- Ordinary Folktales (Types 300-1199),
- Tales of magic
- Religious tales
- Aitiological tales
- Novelle (romantic tales)
- Tales of the stupid ogre
- Jokes and Anecdotes (Types 1200-1999),
- Numskull stories
- Stories about married couples
- Stories about a woman (girl)
- Stories about a clever/stupid lucky/unlucky man(boy)
- Jokes about parsons and religious orders
- Tales of lying
- Formula Tales (Types 2000-2399),
- Cumulative tales
- Catch tales
- Unclassified Tales (Narrationes Lubricae) (Types 2400-2499)
Propp (1968) used Motifs such as Mythology, Animals, The Taboo, Magic, The
Dead, Marvels, etc. rather than types to classify folk and fairy tales. I
am inferring from this seemingly similarity in classification systems that
Propp looked for a theme running through the entire story; Aarne and Thompson's
system seems to use specific sets of criteria for each tale to determine where
it falls in their classification system.
Whichever method of
classification is used, this writer
concurs that the study of folklore is a fascinating and distracting one,
but is really outside the scope of this paper. The value of the classifications in this
context is that it shows the similarity between tales of somewhat disparate
cultures and it also shows an evolution of sorts in the adoption of the values
of one cultural group by another. For
example, Dundes relates a time he collected a folktale from a 74-year old man
who was a member of the Potawatomi tribe. The tale was Euro-centric but had
been adapted to change the hero of the tale from a European to an Indian boy
who outsmarted the white man in the story (Dundes, 1975 pp 31-35). Dundes recognized the European elements of
this type of tale from the AT classification system. In my own work,
particularly the in the selection of stories to tell for this class as well as
some of my fiction writing, I have come to recognize "types" of
tales, for example the "rags to riches" of a Cinderella type story.
It is, however, the details of the protagonist's personality which designate
such stories as folktales rather than just fairy tales. Folk tales are used to
pass on a culture's values to its younger members, so it stands to reason that
a story in which the protagonist is rewarded for being kind, generous, patient
as Cinderella is often portrayed could be considered a folk tale. By the same
token, a myth could also be made into a folktale. For example in the Greek myth
of Pandora as related by Thomas Bulfinch, Pandora was sent to earth with a box
of evils and one Hope. Unable to resist temptation, she opened it and released
all the evils on mankind. Jane Ellen
Harrison, however, discusses the myth of
Pandora in context to her depiction on a vase in the British Museum (see below).
 |
Depiction
of Pandora from a calyx at the British Museum
|
Here Pandora is seen as rising from the earth, being born, as
it were, from the Mother. Harrison comments on the alteration of her myth to
patriarchal terms: "Pandora is in
ritual and matriarchal theology the earth as Koré, but in the patriarchal
mythology of Hesiod her great figure is strangely changed and minished. She is
no longer Earth-born, but the creature, the handiwork of Olympian Zeus"
(Harrison 284). Pandora was originally
depicted as rising from the earth with her pithos or jar. Pandora,
"she who gives all gifts" is also known as Anesidora, which
means "she who sends up gifts." Her denigration to the woman who
loosed all the woes of mankind upon the earth is parallel to the Abrahamic
tradition of Eve bringing the curse of original sin upon humans as fits with
the value system of the patriarchal cultural that changed it. Another
Pre-Hellenic story, that of Persephone and Demeter was also changed to match
the values of a conquering culture. In the Cretan myth of Persephone as related
by Charlene Spretnak, (pp 105-118), Hades is absent. Demeter has domain over
both the living and the dead, but feels that it is more important to feed the
living than to tend to the spirits of the dead. Persephone chooses to descend to the
underworld and become queen of the dead.
This tale could illustrate or explain a cultural practice involving the
handling of the dead, as in burial or funereal practices of the Cretan culture.
Having Persephone raped by or "married" to Hades transfers her
authority as goddess of the underworld to the male god. Since humans tend to
anthropomorphize their deities, it is likely that the method of the transfer of
power between deities mirrors the method that the conquerors used to overthrow
the indigenous culture. Thus, the myth becomes a folktale when it is used to
define acceptable gender roles in a culture.
Relevance: Past, Present and Future
So the question arises, what do
folktales have to offer us today, particularly folktales of other cultures? According
to Catlin Matthews, "one of the major duties of poets and storytellers was
to be a genealogical guardian, keeping the memory of long dead ancestors fresh
in praise-songs" (Matthews, p. 115). In this context, folktales are rather
like a time machine; they can transport listeners back to another time. I have
read somewhere along time ago (and now I forget where I read it) that the Druid
bards, the storytellers described above by Matthews were so well-trained that
they could tell a story first told by another bard centuries before and it
would be as if that bard from long ago were telling the story; they would
convey the story in the voice with the gestures and mannerisms of the original
bard. Perhaps this talent was the origin of the notion that Druids could
shape-shift.
So sacred were some of the stories
that any deviation from the way it was originally told, even a change in inflection, regional accent, or pronunciation
was considered a sacrilege punishable by death. Even writing the story rather
than telling it was taboo, although Celtic bards did have a written alphabet
that they used for messages to one another, called the ogham (see below). The cypher alphabet was used particularly after the Roman invasion and the Christian incursion
and persecution of pagans in the British Isles to relay information and pass
messages between Druids (Matthews, p. 22-23).
Conclusion
A storyteller can use
folktales to not only pass on his or her own culture to the next generation, but can
focus on the similarities between folktales from several different cultures and
share these as a way of celebrating diversity. Tales of a type from different
cultures can be told to groups of people to illustrate what people have in
common as well as offering a look through the window of the story into a
culture with which we may not be as familiar our own. Thus, storytelling can foster
greater understanding between people of varying cultures by way of folktales.
As the Grandma puppet in the "Story Watchers" DVD says, "Well,
kids, remember, the more we understand other people and other cultures, the world
will be a friendlier place." I cannot think of a better reason to tell
folktales than that.
References
Baker, A., & Greene, E. (1987).
Storytelling: Art and technique. New York, NY:
R. R. Bowker Company.
Bascom,
W. R. (1954). Four Functions of
Folklore. The Journal of American
Folklore , 67(266), pp.
333-349 American
Folklore Society Article Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/stable/536411
Bulfinch,
T. (2009). Bulfinch's Mythology.
Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition. Retrieved from Project Gutenberg at
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3327.
de Carvalho-Neto, P. (1965). The concept of folklore. (J.M.P. Briggs, trans.). Coral Gables, FL: University of Miami Press.
Dundes, A. (1975). Analytic essays in folklore.
Paris, France: Mouton The Hague.
Dundes, A. (1997).
The
motif-index and the tale type index: A critique. Journal of Folklore Research, 34(3), 195-202 Published by: Indiana
University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/stable/3814885
on 04/11/13.
Figueroa,
R. (2013). Storyteller doll workshop at
Los Angeles County Library, Live Oak Branch.
Folktales types (N.D.) Retrieved from http://scandinavian.wisc.edu/mellor/taleballad/pdf_files/motif_types.pdf
on
04/13/13
Forest, H. (2000). " First...what is a folktale?" in
StoryArts.org , retrieved 04/08/13
from
http://www.storyarts.org/classroom/retelling/findingtales.html
Grimm, J., & Grimm, W. (2002). The complete fairy tales of the brothers
Grimm. (J. Zipes, Trans.). New York, NY:
Bantam Books.
Harrison, J. E. (1908). Prolegomena
to the study of Greek religion. New York, NY: Putnam and Sons.
Haven, K., & Ducey, M. (2007).
Crash course in storytelling.
Westport, CN: Libraries Unlimited.
Matthews, C., & Matthews, J.
(1994). Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom. Rockport, MA: Element Books, Inc.
McGreavey, R. (Director). (2006). Storywatchers
club: World folktales, vol.1. United
States. Sax Media Group. (DVD).
Propp, V. (1968).
Morphology of the
folktale (excerpts). retrieved
from http://homes.di.unimi.it/~alberti/Mm10/doc/propp.pdf on 04/16/13.
Rudy, J. T.
(2004). Transforming Audiences
for Oral Tradition: Child, Kittredge, Thompson, and Connections of Folklore and
English Studies. College English, 66(5). 524-544.
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4140733
on 04/16/13.
Schlosser, S. E. (2012). Folklore
definitions. Retrieved 04/05/13 from http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/folklore_definitions.html
Shepard, A. (1996). Researching the folktale. Aaron Shepard's storytelling page.
Retrieved 02/03/13 from http://www.aaronshep.com/storytelling/A65.htm
Spretnak. C. (1992). Lost goddesses of early Greece: A collection of pre-Hellenic myths.
Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Striebe, C. (1922).
Norwegian fairy book (F.
Martens, Trans.). New, NY: Frederick A.
Stokes Company. Kindle edition.
Webster,
M. (N.D.) The hero's three-part journey. Retrieved 4/10/13 from
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Hero.htm
Wiggin, K. D., & Smith, N. H.
(1909). Tales of wonder every child
should know. New York, NY:
Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc.
Wong, B. (2013) Chinese story program
presented for Chinese New Year, 2013 at Los Angeles County Public Library, Live
Oak Branch. http://www.barbarawong.com/
Wright, G. O. (1954).
Projection and displacement: A cross-cultural study of folk-tale
aggression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology,
49 (4), 523-528. doi:
10.1037/h0063386.
Yeats,
W. B. (2011). Fairy and folk tales of the Irish peasantry. Kindle Edition. Amazon
Digital Editions.
No comments:
Post a Comment