Unconscious Literary Use of Traditional Material

Abstract

THE unconscious use of traditional material by authors of fiction is a subject which has been comparatively little studied. It has been touched on by psychologists and literary critics; but it is also part of the history of folklore, and has a claim to consideration by students of that subject. Examples are to be found in many romantic novels, adventure stories, thrillers and science fiction. The majority are comparatively modern, because it is only in the last two or three hundred years that authors have become concerned about originality. Earlier writers borrowed from folktales openly and consciously, as they borrowed from the classics, or from history or mythology; in the Faerie Queene, for instance, it is clear that Spenser expected the reader to take pleasure in identifying the various sources. It is only in modern times that an author is expected to produce an original story. In pursuit of this impossible goal, he must conceal his sources not only from his readers but also from himself. The influence of the folktale appears sometimes in the general plan of the story. In The Three Musketeers, a young man sets out to seek his fortune, and meets three men, one of whom is distinguished by his bravery, another by his cleverness, and the third by his strength; these men become the hero's friends and help him in his adventures. This is on the lines of the folktale (Type 513) of the young man with the supernatural helpers. Each of the Musketeers is introduced to the reader in turn, in a series of episodes contrived to display the character of each; each in turn challenges D'Artagnan to a duel; and so on throughout the book, in a formal arrangement reminiscent of the three bears in the nursery-tale. All this is very folkloristic. Again, in more than one of John Buchan's stories the hero does some service to a person who turns out to be a member of some kind of underground organization; thereafter the services of the organization are at the