Folk Tales

Front 1

traditional literature

Back 1

-born of the oral tradition

-includes folk songs, tales, legends, riddles, rituals of pre-literate societies (could not read or write yet)

Front 2

monogenesis

Back 2

-inherited from a single culture ex. the grimm brothers

- tales come from Aryans as they took their tales with them each time they went to a different country

- 19th century scholars ?

Front 3

polygenesis

Back 3

- has multiple origins

-reoccurring themes

-rituals recounted in dramas and naratives

- "Each story was an independent invention growing out of universal needs and desires"

-

Front 4

folktales (a type of traditional literature)

Back 4

-stories passed on my word of mouth (broken telephone effect often occurred)

-often based off of life problems

-adventurous/comic/romantic

-involves mythical creatures

Front 5

Characteristics of Folktales

Back 5

Setting, plot structures, characterizations, style, theme, motifs,

Front 6

Subcategories of folktales

Back 6

cumulative or formula tales, pourquoi tales,

beast tales, noodlehead tales, trickster tales, wonder tales, realistic tales

Front 7

Setting

Back 7

"some far away land" (unspecific location),

"once upon a time (a time where anything may happen)

Front 8

Plot Structures

Back 8

repetition, the quick passing of time, climax right near the end, conflicting characters either represent good or evil, underdog outsmarting powerful character

Front 9

Characterization

Back 9

each character represents a symbol such as wisdom, good, evil etc. and many are used to show societal norms

Front 10

Style

Back 10

dialogue, rhymes and verses, proverbs, figurative language and imagery, imitation of the sounds

Front 11

Themes

Back 11

culture,

traits (hard work, courage, humility, kindness etc.,

rewards/punishments

kings and nobles vs the poor

Front 12

Motif

Back 12

"the smallest part of the tale that can exists independently" , elements that stand out and are easily remembered,

simple tales have fewer motifs than more complex ones

common motifs: supernatural adversaries and helpers, extraordinary animals, magical powers, transformations, magical objects, wishes, and trickery.

Front 13

How do researchers/folklorists use/study motifs?

Back 13

Folklorists analyze folktales based on their motifs and patterns and organize each tale by a certain number

Researchers use motifs to analyze and identify the similarities in tales from various cultures

Front 14

Types of Tales: Culmative Tales

Back 14

structure based on a "formula"

accumulation of incidents is central to the plot

repetition

Front 15

Types of Tales: Pourquoi Tales

Back 15

answers questions (typically about how things are in nature)

Front 16

Types of Tales: Beast Tales

Back 16

animals that are the main characters and represent humans (anthropomorphic)

ex. The Three Little Pigs

Front 17

Types of Tales: Noodlehead Tales (or numbskull or droll)

Back 17

humorous stories about dumb characters

has a moral

Front 18

Types of Tales: Trickster Tales

Back 18

usually a variety of a beast tale

there is a character who outsmarts the other characters

Front 19

Types of Tales: Wonder Tales

Back 19

contains enchantment, magical, supernatural elements

objects and character often include, magic objects like mirrors, witches, members of a royal family,

ex. Snow White, Cinderella

Front 20

Realistic Tales

Back 20

likely historical fiction- fictional story based off of real-word event or real person