From: Killeen, Erlene <Erlene.Killeen>
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:09:39 -0500

Thank you to all who wrote me about my Folktale question. I love the diversity in answers even though I'm sure most people who ask this question want us to all decide on one thing and stick with it!! I think the answer is like the genre --- full of the wisdom and experience of
"folk" but not very scientific or precise. Anyway, thanks again for the thoughts and observations! Happy Reading!

Erlene

 

Forgive me if I'm not responding in the correct fashion. I'm new to the list and too pushed for time to look up my bylaws.

But in answer to your question, I'd get my hands on an old book that is very helpful on these terms: FAIRY TALES, FABLES, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS: Using Folk Lit in your Classroom by Bette Bosma. It's Teacher's College Press book from '87---old but thorough and helpful. Well, probably not as old as Arbuthnot!

Pat Bloem

Dr. Patricia L. Bloem

Associate Professor, English

211 Lake Huron Hall

Grand Valley State University

Allendale, MI 49401 USA

 

The fairy tale is a sub-class of the Folk Tale.

Folklore is the body of expressive culture
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture> , including tales
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folktales> , music
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music> , dance
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance> , legends
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend> , oral history
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_history> , proverbs
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proverb> , jokes
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke> , popular beliefs
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition> , customs, material culture
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material_culture> , and so forth, common to a particular population, comprising the traditions
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradition> (including oral traditions
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_tradition> ) of that culture, subculture <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subculture> , or group
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_%28sociology%29> . It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The academic and usually ethnographic
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnology> study of folklore is sometimes called folkloristics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folkloristics> .

A tall tale is a story that claims to explain the reason for some natural phenomenon, or sometimes illustrates how skilled/intelligent/powerful the subject of the tale was. In either case, the tall tale is fictional and usually obviously so. It can, however, be based on a real figure in history. Very often, the tall tale is told in a manner that is intentionally ridiculous.

The tall tale is a fundamental element of American folk literature
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore_of_the_United_States> . The tall tale's origins are seen in the bragging contests
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bragging_contest&action=edit> that often occurred when the rough men of the American frontier
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_frontier> gathered. The tales of legendary figures of the American Old West
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Old_West> -such as Pecos Bill
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecos_Bill> and the giant lumberjack
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumberjack> Paul Bunyan
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bunyan_%28lumberjack%29> -owe much to the style of tall tales.

Margie Wirth [mugswirth at yahoo.com]

 

I suggest you consult:

Horning, Kathleen T. "Chapter Three: Traditional Literature." From Cover to Cover. New York: HarperCollins, 1997. p46-68.

Peter Howard [Peter.Howard at lfpl.org]

 

I've attached a short PowerPoint that I used to clarify this for my

Children's Literature students at UW-Oshkosh. They are all types of

what is considered "Traditional Fantasy" by Daniel Darigan, the

author of the text I used called "Children's Literature: Engaging

Teachers and Children in Good Books."

Sherry Freiberg

(I've attached the power point too!)

 

I would venture to say "folklore" comprises all the tale types you list.

I think you are right when you say "... they are all Folk Tales...." I

tend to think of the "folktale" as a tale of the common folk; the fairy

tale as a tale incorporating magic and magical creatures; and the tall

tale as an American invention characterized by outrageous exaggeration.

 

Even mythology is folk lore in the sense that the myths and legends,

once part of religious belief, often are cautionary tales (Pandora's

curiosity) or explain natural phenomena. (i.e. After Persephone is

carried off by Hades, Demeter mourns her daughter, and the crops die

off, until Persephohe is allowed to visit the earth again (so we have

spring and summer).

That's my view .... Please summarize the responses you get and share

them with the list!

Linda Ward-Callaghan

Youth Services Lead Professional

Joliet Public Library

150 N. Ottawa Street

Joliet, IL 60432

815-740-2662

FAX: 815-740-6161

http://www.joliet.lib.il.us <http://www.joliet.lib.il.us/>

 

You can find a definition of folk and fairy tales on my website

at

http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/ftdefine.htm There is a distinction

between them, at least between "literary folk tales" (Kunstmarchen) and

"folk fairy tales" (Volksmarchen). The tall tale may or may not be a

folk tale - e.g., the tales about Davy Crockett were intentionally

written for the Crockett journals in the 19th century, and did not

derive from oral sources (what most people will mean by "folk tale").

Similarly, Paul Bunyan was created for an ad campaign in the 20th

century.

            A list of critical sources on fairy tales can be found on the

same website at http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/ftales.htm#Criticism I

haven't updated it in a while but it still includes a number of

important works in folkloristics.

waller hastings

northern state university

aberdeen, sd 57401

hastingw at northern.edu

 

 

 

 

Erlene Bishop Killeen

Instructional Systems Specialist

Information Center Programs

Department of Defense Education Activity

4040 Fairfax Drive

Arlington, VA 22203

703-588-3132

erlene.killeen at hq.dodea.edu

"Nothing is ever achieved without enthusiasm."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

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Received on Wed 20 Dec 2006 12:09:39 PM CST