Folklore in the Oral Tradition, Fairytales, Fables and Folk-legend
Julie Carthy
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Give FeedbackThree Types of Oral Folklore and Suggested Objectives for Each
Rather than making an attempt at classification of types of folklore which will stultify this study or tack arbitrary labels on the various works in the oral tradition, my objective is only to clarify, by pointing out, distinguishing features of each. Nomenclature is not critical here. In this case, I have chosen Adam’s terms “folktale”, and “folk-legend”. These terms serve only as guidelines. The student must be made aware that these are not fixed terms in which to pocket each story, and that there will be interesting cross overs and cunningly intricate ambiguities which is what makes the study worthwhile. With this preface in mind, to facilitate lesson planning, I will attempt to trace features which tend to make some stories fall into one unique group or another because of their nature.