Folk Narrative Research Articles

Description in Folk Narratives: The Use of Descriptions in the Zümrüdüanka Kuşu (Phoenix) Tale from a Hermeneutic Perspective

Tasvir kültürel, sanatsal ürünlerde, edebî eserlerde bir şeyin ayırıcı ve ayrıntılı özellikleriyle betimlenmesi ya da anlatılmasıdır. Tasvir kültürle vardır ve tasvir olmayan şeyde kültür bulunamaz denilebilir. Tasvir, anlatılarda dil aracılığıyla bazen doğrudan bazen de analojiler ile metaforla yapılmaktadır ve anlaşılmaktadır. Bu edebî unsurlar, masalların hikâye anlatma işlevinin ötesine geçmesine yardımcı olur. Hermeneutik bakış açısıyla bir söz kendiliğinden anlaşılır olmayıp yorum gerektirdiği için masalda kullanılan tasvirlerin özellikle örtük sözleri açığa kavuşturmak için yorumlanması gerekmektedir. Aslında masallar hem anlatıcı hem metin açısından hem de dinleyici ve okuyucu açısından soyut düşünmenin temel ve ilk anlatılarındandır. Dolayısıyla tasvire kültür açısından bakmak, halk edebiyatında özellikle masallarda tasvirin nasıl kullanıldığını ve hermeneutik açıdan metnin nasıl bir anlamlandırma ve yorumlama süreci olduğunu değerlendirmek bu çalışmanın konusunu ve amacını oluşturmaktadır. Hermeneutiğin merkezinde, metni anlamanın sürekli bir yorumlama ve yorumun da tarihsel, kültürel ve bireysel bağlamdan etkilendiği fikri bulunmaktadır. Daha çok dil bilim ve çeviri alanlarında kullanılan hermeneutiğin geleneksel metinleri anlamada ve yorumlamada da bir yöntem olarak kullanılabileceği görülmektedir. Masallardaki tasvirler özellikle semboller analiz edilirken bu süreçte hermeneutik bakış açısıyla metnin daha derin katmanlarına inmek ve metni çeşitli bakış açılarından bütüncül bir şekilde anlamak için kullanılabilir. Zümrüdüanka Kuşu masalının hermeneutiğin perspektifinden incelenmesinin, masalın tasvirlerini, sembollerini, kültürel bağlamını, anlatıcının/yazarın bakış açısını ve içsel anlamlarını anlamak için önemli bir yöntem olduğu düşünülmektedir. Anlatı ortamının değişmesiyle günümüzde masalın yorumlanma biçiminin, tasvirlerin tahayyül edilme biçiminin de değiştiği görülmektedir.

The Interaction of Ancient Turkic Beliefs with the Islamic Religion: Kıdır (Gök Sakallı, Yol Hamisi, Boz Atlı) in Turkish Folk Narratives

Türk milletinin kolektif hafızasının bir parçası olan halk anlatıları, kuşaktan kuşağa aktarılarak günümüze kadar ulaşan kültür ürünleridir. Bu bakımdan Türk halk anlatıları, kültürel kimliği yansıtan önemli bir kaynaktır. 
 İslam öncesi dönemde Türk boylarının eski Türk inançlarına sahip oldukları genel kabul görmektedir. Gök Tanrı inancına dayanan ve onun etrafında şekillenen bu inanç sistemi; İslam dininin Türk topluluklarıyla temasıyla birlikte yeniden şekillenmeye başlamış ve böylece kültürel bir değişim gerçekleşmiştir. Bu değişim, İslami değerlerin Türk milletinin geleneksel inançlarına etki etmesinin yanı sıra halk anlatılarına da yansımıştır. 
 Makalede, eski Türk inancının İslam dininde süregelişini incelemek amacıyla geleneğin yazılı hâle getirilerek toplandığı destan, efsane, hikâye ve masal türlerinde Hızır’ın nasıl bir rol oynadığı ve ne şekilde tasvir edildiği ele alınmıştır. İslam öncesi dönemde Türklerin sahip olduğu geleneksel inançlar ile İslam’ın etkileşimi Hızır üzerinden ele alınan makalede, Türk milletinin sahip olduğu geleneksel inançların İslam diniyle nasıl etkileşime girdiği gösterilmekte ve Türk halk anlatılarına ne şekilde yansıdığı açıklanmaktadır.

Structural and Functional Analysis of Bansag Narratives in Barangay Maslog, Legazpi City, Albay Philippines

This paper collected, transcribed, translated, and analyzed the folk narratives on bansag in Barangay Maslog, Legazpi City. It employed the Labovian method to examine the narratives’ structures and Bascom’s functionalism approach to determine the functions of the narratives. This paper concludes that the narrator’s storytelling technique greatly affects the structural pattern of the folk narratives. The completeness or incompleteness of the structure of the narratives will never diminish the essential nature and functions of folk narratives. Folk narratives over time will always be an important oral tradition. They still served their purpose in the community. However, folk narratives as a form of oral literature are under threat since many details of the narratives diminished or were lost through oral transmission from generation to generation. Since oral narratives are on the verge of extinction, this paper recommends incorporating these narratives into the curriculum to safeguard and preserve the oral narratives.

The Review of Axel Olrik’s Folk Narratives in The Context of Epic Laws in The Story of Prince Kalyanamkara and Papamkara

Türk Edebiyatı tarihinde Türk Dili ve Edebiyatı’nın temelini oluşturan eserler, M.S. 6. ve 11. yüzyıllar arasını kapsayan Eski Türkçe Dönemi’nde ortaya çıkmıştır. 8. ve 11. yüzyıllarda hüküm süren Uygur Kağanlığı, bu edebiyat döneminde Eski Uygur Türkçesi Dönemi‘ni oluşturmuştur. Uygurlar, kendilerinden önceki Köktürk Devleti‘nden farklı olarak Manihaizm, Budizm ve Hristiyanlık dinlerini benimsemişler ve ortaya koyulan eserler Budizm ağırlıklı olarak dini metinlerden oluşmuştur. Bu döneme ait olan ve makalemizde çalışılacak Prens Kalyanamkara ve Papamkara Hikâyesi adı ile bilinen, Budizm etkisiyle Eski Uygur Türkçesi ile kaleme alınan, sayfaları bazen 7 bazen 8 satırdan oluşan, 80 sayfalık bu eser günümüze kadar ulaşmıştır. Axel Olrik, toplumun geçmişinde biriken kültürel izleklerinin sagelerde yaşadığını göstermek için Halk Anlatılarının Epik Yasaları başlığı altında on beş maddelik bir çalışma hazırlamıştır. Bu kurallar araştırmacılar tarafından kullanılmıştır ve evrensel olarak kabul edilmiştir. Bu evrensel kabulü ilkel çağda başlayan toplumların ve bireyin doğa ile bütünleşme evresinde gerçekleştirdiği ortak zihin özelliği iki madde ile çalışmada değerlendirilmiştir. Bu çalışmada, halkbiliminin araştırma ve çalışma alanına giren, kültürel etkinin tarih sayfalarında yüzyıllar sonra ortaya konan kuramlarla evrensel bir çekim ile bütünleşmesi ve zihinsel olgunun insanoğlunda yüzyıllara dayanan evrimleşme sürecinin toplumun ortak düşünce yapısıyla birleşerek oluşan metinlerden biri olan, Prens Kalyanamkara ve Papamkara Hikâyesi, Axel Olrik‘in Halk Anlatılarının Epik Yasaları bağlamında incelenecektir.

NARRATIVES AND RITUALS: THE INHERITANCE CONTEXT OF DAI EPICS

The Dai ethnic group in China boasts a rich tradition of poetry and folk narratives, often closely intertwined with folk ritual activities. Behind these folk events, there are usually the associated explanatory text. This paper is based on field research data collected from 2008 to 2016, including interviews with the local people, tracking folk events, and understanding narrative texts. Three cases were selected from the data to elaborate on the relationship between rituals and narratives. The first case is wedding, the pickled fish jars in the betrothal ceremony could be explained in the narrative poem “A-Luang Basom” and the ritual of Crossing-the-Bridge during weddings simulates the typical scene of a hero's return and marriage as portrayed in the A-Luang story. The second case is funeral, where people often transcribe and recite the scripture “Ga Po” to express gratitude for the mother's childbirth. The third case involves the dedication of narratives “Ya Huanhao” or “Bu Huanhao” in Buddhist temples, narrating the story of the struggle between the rice sprite and the Buddha. The ritual of summoning “Ya Huanhao” or “Bu Huanhao” reflects deep respect for the rice sprite. Through these analyses, it becomes evident that folk narratives serve as interpretations of folk rituals. Different rituals, in turn, provide the context for the practice and transmission of narratives. Narratives and rituals complement each other, reflecting the Dai people's profound understanding of traditional poetry.

The Relationship Between the Karbi and the Dense Forest Environment: The Role of the Kenglong-Po and Other Entities

Abstract The Karbi are an indigenous community who mainly live in Assam, a state in North-Eastern India. The territory they inhabit includes dense forest, hardly accessible to humans that is said to be populated by different non-human and humanlike entities, such as deities, spirits, and a humanoid figure named Kenglong-po. According to Karbi folk narratives, the Kenglong-po is a jointless entity who used to be a Karbi child or man but was abandoned in the jungle and survived there. The narratives regarding the Kenglong-po are today confined to elders and are vanishing from Karbi folklore due to the disappearance of the dense forest environment. The present work outlines the perception and transformation of the forest environment within the Karbi community through analysis of the Kenglong-po and other entities that are said to inhabit the territory of this indigenous group.

Canonical and Non-Canonical in Charming Texts and Practices

Following a two-year pause due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the eleventh international interdisciplinary conference organized by the International Society for Folk Narrative Research’s Committee on Charms, Charmers and Charming took place 6th to 9th September 2022, both in-person at the National Library of Latvia in Riga and online via Zoom. Although numbers were lower than the previous Charms conference, which took place in May 2019 in Pescara, Italy, the 2022 conference featured twenty-one papers, presented by twenty-six participants, roughly forty percent of them physically in Riga and the remainder online virtually.

(Re)-Killing of a Sacred Deer: Myths, Ecology, and Hegemony in Murathan Mungan’s Deer Curses

Abstract This article traces the motif of the deer hunt from ancient Greek texts to its reinterpretation in contemporary Turkish literature. The motif, which appears frequently in both ancient Greek myths and the legends of Central Asian warrior Turkish societies, is reproduced as a fusion in the works of contemporary Turkish writer Murathan Mungan (*1955). The meanings attached to the motif take on a different dimension during this reproduction, which has implications for themes such as taboo, transgression, and the hierarchy of animal-human relationships in folk narrative. An analysis of Mungan’s play Deer Curses can aid in elucidating the points of folk narrative in regard to these themes and anthropocentrism. This article thus investigates how the motif of the deer hunt, among other deer-related motifs, is revived in a contemporary literary work and what type of conclusions it may bring in analyzing human-animal relationships, as well as hegemony, through a symbolic reading of this relationship.

Cultural motifs in Blaan flalok: Revitalization of oral lore for preservation, development, and sustainability

This study analyzes the culture of the Blaan indigenous peoples (IPs) in General Santos, Sarangani, and South Cotabato, Philippines, as reflected in their flalok (oral lore). Utilizing qualitative-descriptive methods, it discusses patterns of traditional beliefs in myths, legends, and folktales as retold by Blaan ancestors. Thompson’s Motif-Index Theory was used to codify recurring concepts in selected Blaan folk narratives. Frequent Blaan cultural motifs in the flalok include familial relationships, domestic work, tribal war, competitions, animal trapping, and agricultural farming. The research contributes to the continuous enrichment of Philippine Studies and delineates Mindanao Studies as a significant aspect of that work. It provides a reference for cultural workers, researchers, and academics to understand how the lives and works of Mindanaoan Tri-people (IPs, Bangsamoro, and Christian settlers) sustain broader Filipino cultural perspectives. Specifically, it provides more inclusive starting points for enduring cultural motifs to be part of the broader cultural appreciation reflected in Philippine theater, film, creative writing, dance, music, and other arts.

Kirant Folk Narratives: Exploring the Socio-Cultural Implications

The paper analyzes how folk narratives in Kirant Rai shape the socio-cultural and ritual practices and values in day-to-day life. The core meanings of the narratives profoundly impact the formation and structure of socio-cultural beliefs and behaviors not only on people in a particular community but also on people from around the globe. Based chiefly on the two folk narratives— Hechchhakuppa and Sumdima and Paruhang, the paper analyzes the narrative texts under certain thematic issues such as the institutionalization of the human society, ritual performative, and representation by using functional, and socio-cultural theory by Dundes and Bascom respectively to spot the underlying impacts of the narratives on communities and people. The narrative texts which have been collected through fieldwork and transcription of oral narratives serve as primary data for the paper. When analyzing the texts, the folk narratives have been found to have greatly contributed to developing and transferring the belief system, ritual practice, and societal norms in the society.

The effect of nationalist movements on Turkish and Irish children’s literature: swans and epic heroes: ‘Fly like great birds, who have no voice’

The establishment of the Turkish and Irish republics took place nearly simultaneously, under the influence of the nationalist movement. This study discusses the cultural foundations of nationalism that emerged during the independence struggles and the necessity of transferring them to children in comparison. In particular, it is claimed that nations that have fought for independence want to create myths about these difficult times, immortalize them with works such as poetry, stories, and novels, and then pass them to the next generations. This study indicates that although they have different languages, religions, and traditions, these two countries tell fairy tales and epics for children in almost the same period for the same purposes. To illustrate this, two folk narratives of both cultures were compared in this study. In conclusion, these comparisons show that the Irish and Turkish nationalist movements exercise their freedom to ‘conceive themselves’ and hope to benefit somewhat from reflecting this on children’s literature.

Mediating between Credence and Trepidation in Amitav Ghosh?s Jungle Nama: A Cultic Folk Narrative of Forbidden Forest

Mediating between Credence and Trepidation in Amitav Ghosh?s Jungle Nama: A Cultic Folk Narrative of Forbidden Forest

Exploring Rituals as Integral Non- Material Culture of Subanens in the Zamboanga Peninsula

Subanens occupy a vast territorial domain, constituting seven major sub-groups in specific localities in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Philippines. These Indigenous people perform rituals throughout the different stages of their lives. This study was conducted in Lakewood and San Miguel municipalities in Zamboanga del Sur, while in Katipunan and Mutia in Zamboanga del Norte. The research highlighted the indispensability of rituals among Subanens in the peninsula. Folk narratives were gathered orally and directly from the Subanen tribal leaders and elders as the informants of the study. Among the narratives gathered, six exemplify the conduct of rituals as a core non-material culture of Subanens. The analysis made on the narratives disclosed that rituals serve several functions aside from these Indigenous peoples’ act of reverence to God as the Supreme Being. Thus, amid the passing of time, they remain steadfast to the ritual practice as a mark of their cultural identity. More importantly, rituals are indispensable for them to perform as a means of precaution and to ensure sound well-being in their lifetime.

Folklore in fashion- preserving intangible cultural heritage through fashion.

Folklore has been an integral part of Sri Lankan culture for centuries and the story of Kuweni is one such entrancing narrative with historical significance, since it is directly linked to the origin of the Sinhalese nation. Kuweni’s importance extends beyond folk narratives and is also evident in ancient literature, describing her as a superhuman being, yet her true identity remains shrouded in mystery. Her shape-shifting abilities, as described in various legends, make Kuweni a fascinating character worthy of contemplation from many perspectives. Folklore is distinct from mythology, as it contains factual elements such as practices and customs that have a solid sociological background. Therefore, it is essential to preserve them ensuring that future generations can benefit from the sociocultural and anthropological values embedded to narratives. Folklore in Fashion PhD study addresses the crucial question of how to preserve folklore in a way that resonates with contemporary society.

On Some Selected Slavic Motifs of the Collection Klechdy, starożytne podania i powieści ludu polskiego i Rusi by Kazimierz Władysław Wójcicki

The two-volume collection of Klechdy, starożytne podania i powieści ludu polskiego i Rusi (Fables: Ancient Legend and Folk Narratives of Poland and Russia) by Kazimierz Władysław Wójcicki, a writer and popularizer of folk tales, aroused interest in Poland and among lovers of Slavic folk culture. K. W. Wójcicki wrote his book in the 1830s, in an era of strong Slavophile sentiments and under the influence of Polish Romantics from Lviv. The author mentions earlier research by Julian Krzyżanowski, Julian Maślanka, Ryszard Wojciechowski and Violetta Wróblewska concerning the collection Klechdy, starożytne podania i powieści ludu polskiego i Rusi. In fairy tales in the collection by K. W. Wójcicki, apart from motifs and content from the Polish folk tradition, there are elements from other Slavic traditions. The author analyzes the presence of Serbian, Slovak and Ukrainian motifs, pointing to the sources, methods of Polonization and the author’s stylization of Slavic folkloric motifs.

Teaching Tale Types to a Computer: A First Experiment with the Annotated Folktales Collection

Abstract Computational motif detection in folk narratives is an unresolved problem, partly because motifs are formally fluid, and because test collections to teach machine learning algorithms are not generally available or big enough to yield robust predictions for expert confirmation. As a result, standard tale typology based on texts as motif strings renders its computational reproduction an automatic classification exercise. In this brief communication, to report work in progress we use the Support Vector Machine algorithm on the ten best populated classes of the Annotated Folktales test collection, to predict text membership in their internationally accepted categories. The classification result was evaluated using recall, precision, and F1 scores. The F1 score was in the range 0.8–1.0 for all the selected tale types except for type 275 (The Race between Two Animals), which, although its recall rate was 1.0, suffered from a low precision.

Cinderella’s Family Tree. A Phylomemetic Case Study of ATU 510/511

Abstract This case study contributes to recent attempts to apply “phylomemetic” methods derived from computational biology to oral traditions, where the aim is to trace the mutation and diversification of folk narratives as they get passed on from generation to generation and spread from society to society. Our study focuses on one of the most famous and widespread tales in the folktale record: Cinderella. Thousands of Cinderella-like stories have been documented from around the world, which folklorists have attempted to classify into different “types” representing distinct, though related, international traditions. The most comprehensive of Cinderella typologies was developed by Anna Birgitta Rooth (1951), who divided the tales into five principal types: A, B, AB, BI and C, and suggested several hypotheses pertaining to their origins and relationships to one another. Here, we test Rooth’s theories on a sample of 266 versions of Cinderella using Bayesian phylogenetic inference, phylogenetic networks (NeighborNet) and a model-based clustering method that was originally designed to elicit population structure from multi-locus genotype data (implemented in the program STRUCTURE). Our results find varying levels of support for the types identified by Rooth, and suggest that mixing among traditions was widespread, especially in Type AB tales. Despite these complexities, it was still possible to delineate and quantify the influence of distinct ancestral sources on the variation observed in contemporary versions of Cinderella. Our study highlights the value and versatility of phylomemetic methods in uncovering the historical relationships among types and sub-types of international folktale, as well as the evolutionary processes that have shaped them.

Mythological Criticism of a Turkish Folk Narrative Poem

The word “hapsane” is another form of the word “usane” and “legend” and the poem “hapsane ha hapsane” is one of the common poems in the language of Azeri-speaking people of West Azerbaijan. This legendary poem, with its simplicity and sincerity and having most of the basic features of folklore, includes mythological elements such as travel, the companionship of the wise old man, meta-realities, magic, etc., which gives it a special privilege. It reveals the reason for its permanence and reputation. It is clear that folk tales have a strong connection with myths and by eliminating time and place and in the transcendental space of the ethnic unconscious, they connect the wishes and the very distant past to the present time. This research, using a descriptive-analytical method and a library study, has tried to show that folktales, along with being related to good and goodness and the way of collective production and having elements of life, are related to the beyond and are of mythological contrasts. O like the system of two elements of good and evil; pragmatism in national or ethnic spirit; They have the vividness of the whole existence and the archetype of traveling and searching for the father, ... and with the help of all these elements, they invite people to goodness. On the one hand, they are a tool to preserve the indigenous and ancient culture, and on the other hand, with all hope, they are the foundation for the upbringing and education of the new generation based on the good and popular teachings embedded in the collective unconscious.

Use of Translated Saudi Folk Narratives to Improve Reading and Speaking Skills of Saudi EFL Learners

The present study aims to explore how the use of translated Saudi folk narratives could help improve Saudi EFL learners' reading and speaking skills. (41) EFL elementary-level students from Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University were selected for this study to identify and assess the influences of the translated Saudi folk stories in enhancing the reading and speaking skills of Saudi EFL learners. An experiential teaching method using selected translated Saudi stories into English was adopted. The preliminary findings in the pre-intervention stage have shown that the students were neither motivated to read the content nor speak in English as the students encountered some kind of difficulties in comprehending the translated stories. The post-intervention results demonstrated that the students were motivated to read the Arabic stories in English. It also showed that the students were engaged to speak about Saudi / Arabic oral stories and culture. The effect of using Saudi-translated stories was observed in improving the reading and speaking skills of EFL Saudi learners. Thus, the study concludes that it is essential to use the translated Arabic folk stories as supplementary teaching material in the EFL reading and speaking classes. It also suggests that we need to translate Saudi folk stories into English for the benefit of Arabic and non-Arabic readers and speakers.

Memory, Folk Narratives, and Social Critique: Notes on Jane Addams and the “Devil Baby” Legend

Abstract The article focuses on the link between memory, folk narratives, and critical thinking. I suggest in particular that there are instances in which the transmission of a folkloric story, such as a legend or a tale, can intersect with a person’s life experiences and facilitate the articulation of critical perspectives on society that might otherwise go unexpressed. The opportunity for discussing this idea is offered by the work of early twentieth-century Chicago sociologist Jane Addams. In her book The Long Road of Woman’s Memory (1916) Addams dealt with the modern revival of an ancient legend and investigated its interplay with the recollections, grievances, and aspirations of working-class women.