Oral Folktales Research Articles

강원도·불·강철이 -문화유산으로서 강철이 설화의 가능성-

Kangcheol-i is a legendary monster from the eastern part of Korea, known from the proverb “Wherever Kangcheol-i goes, autumn and spring are also spring.”, and has been recognized as a type of Imugi. However, according to oral traditions, Kangcheol-i appears as a corrupted Imugi in the Yeongnam region, whereas in the Gangwon-do, Kangcheol-i is a monster associated with fire, unrelated to Imugi. The earliest record of Kangcheol-I is found in Jibong Yuseol by Lee Soo-gwang. The oral folktale is centered in the Gangwon-do region, and Gangwon-do tale tends to use the name Kangcheol-i alone. The lore centered on Gangwon-do frequently includes references to “fire.” The difference between the Gangwon-do tales and those of other regions seems to stem from the distinct local perception of fire. There are two main socio-cultural characteristics of the Gangwon-do region. First, the Yeongseo region of Gangwon-do historically practiced slash and burn farming. The form of the rainmaker rituals in the folk tale of Kangcheol-i corresponds to those of “slash-and-burn” agricultural rainmaker rituals. Next is the geographical and climatic characteristics of Gangwon-do. Gangwon-do is a region prone to forest fires, and Yeongseo was a region prone to droughts and forest fires due to its dry climate. With these two backgrounds, steel tales in Gangwon-do tend to be more strongly associated with fire than those in other regions. For slash-and-burn agriculturalists in Gangwon-do would have created a different transmission pattern from other regions. In this way, the story of Kangcheol-i, which shows the regionalism of Gangwon-do in slash-and-burn agriculture and fire, has been passed down until the 21st century, and since it is a story that reflects the lifestyle of the local people, it may have some significance as an intangible cultural heritage.

Traces of a Greek Myth (?) in Subcultures of Lur-Inhabited Regions of Western Iran

This article aims to introduce, explore, and analyse an oral folk tale called “Ahmad Sādāti and His Companions”, common in some Lur villages in Fārs and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces in Iran. The plot and storyline of this tale correspond to those of the myth of Ulysses and the giant Polyphemus in the Odyssey, attributed to Homer. The significance of this study lies in exhibiting the cultural exchange between Greek and local-indigenous subcultures of Iran. Greek and Persian cultures were in constant mutual contact from the mid-sixth century BC until late antiquity, and this contact became closer after Alexander’s campaign and the rise of the Seleucids in Iran. The study area is located on the western margins of the Iranian plateau – the birthplace of two great dynasties of Iranian rulers in ancient times – which redoubles the importance of the issue under investigation.

VASILY DIMITRIEVICH DIMITRIEV, A RESEARCHER OF THE HISTORY OF THE CHUVASH PEOPLE, IS 100 YEARS OLD (in memory of the scientist)

The relevance of the study is due to the fact that in January 2024, Vasily Dimitrievich Dimitriev, an outstanding researcher of the history of the Chuvash and other peoples of the Middle Volga region, turned 100 years old. His life and work are an example of service to science; his works are of lasting value for modern and future generations of researchers. The purpose of this article is to trace the life path of V.D. Dimitriev and evaluate his contribution to science, socio–political and cultural development of the republic and the country as a whole. Materials and methods. The main source base of the research was made by materials published in various publications about the personality of V.D. Dimitriev as a scientist, organizer of science and public figure, memoirs of his relatives and colleagues, unpublished documents and materials stored in the State Archive of Modern History, the personal archive of one of this article authors V.I. Sokolova, etc. In the context of the problem’s historiography, one can identify the research made by T.S. Sergeev, A. Kappeler, I.I. Boyko, S.M. Kashtanov, Y.P. Smirnov and many other researchers of V.D. Dimitriev’s works. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that the biography, the role and the place of V.D. Dimitriev in studying the history of the Chuvash people, the Chuvash region, the Middle Volga region, the Urals and Russia as a whole are described in detail. Study results. Professor V.D. Dimitriev dominates among the researchers of the Ural-Volga regions of the XVIII–XIX centuries. It should be noted that he was the first who began to study the history of the Chuvash and other peoples of the Volga region since ancient times, the first to include oral folk tales in the study. Conclusions. The article presents a brief biography and results of V.D. Dimitriev’s activities as a scientist, public figure, teacher and organizer of education. His significant contribution to the development of science and education of the republic is noted.

The tale and the enchantment: approach to the popular tale in the textbook from the perspective of BNCC and Literary Literacy

This article aims to present the traditional oral folktale and how this literary genre is approached in textbooks. It is the result of a research of a basic nature that aims to explain in a quantitative and qualitative way the approach to the folktale in these manuals. The research was carried out through a bibliographic survey on popular tale, such as studies by Propp (2010), Jolles (1976), Dundes (1996), Cascudo (2004), Romero (2008), Lima (2005) among others. The teaching of literature was also discussed from the perspective of how the BNCC (BRASIL, 2018) addresses the importance of the folktale in the classroom, specific guidelines for this modality of Popular Literature are presented, since the oral story enriches the our cultural identity. As a theoretical framework, we used studies by Cosson (2021) and Coenga (2010) on literary literacy to analyze the sampling of selected textbooks. The analysis of 51 manuals showed that the approach to folk tales in these books does not satisfactorily promote literary literacy, therefore, it is necessary for this genre to be approached in a more efficient way, considering the aesthetic aspects of folk tales.

Genre features of historical legends of the Ingush

The author examines in detail the features of the variety of Ingush prose – historical legends. In the analysis of the genre features of oral folk tales about historical legends based on certain historical facts, it is demonstrated that, despite the hype and the presence of elements of exaggeration, embellishment, they are mainly dominated by the attitude of authenticity. The Ingush have a rich history and a unique colorful culture. Studying the folk traditions and history of Ingushetia is an important way to preserve the historical heritage, the ancient roots of which are associated with the Scythians and tribes of the North Caucasus. Today, the Ingush preserve their traditions and culture. Taking into account the peculiarities of the historical traditions of the Ingush people, the groups of historical legends reflecting the historical past of the people are analyzed. The study also provides a brief description of the most important texts of historical legends. The research methodology is based on textual analysis using comparative typology, comparative history and variational methods. The author's special contribution to the study of the topic is the fact that the idealization of the heroes of historical legends has undergone significant changes over time. The almost fabulous heroes were replaced by characters close to reality. There is an obvious trend in the artistic work of storytellers, who sought to depict the events of the heroic-historical plan with a focus on authenticity. In modern conditions, when the desire for the formation of culture is extremely increasing in society, the appeal to the historical memory of ancestors acquires special importance. The historical traditions of Ingushetia, written by different collectors of folklore and recorded in different eras, are valuable not only for researchers of oral creativity, but also for historians. These are stories about important events that have happened, about people with illustrated biographies or about those who played a memorable role in the fate of the people.

구비설화 속 일생의례 관련 속신(俗信)의 양상과 의식체계

구비설화 속 일생의례 관련 속신(俗信)의 양상과 의식체계

남사고 묏자리 구전설화 연구

남사고 묏자리 구전설화 연구

The Song of the Kedidi: The Embodiment of a Hero in a Malay Folktale as an Intangible Cultural Heritage

The present study is part of a movement to safeguard Malay folktales as an unsung intangible cultural heritage (ICH). A folktale is a representation of oral traditions and expressions. This study converges on literary folktales as a revitalized form of oral folktales. As urged by UNESCO, the viability of the ICH is achievable via scientific research, among other things. Therefore, considering the small amount of study on Malay folktales at the moment, the current study endeavors to examine the folktale The Song of the Kedidi (TSoK) of its hero embodiment as one of the dramatis personae. The framework of Propp’s dramatis personae, which is based on Russian folktales, grounds the examination. This study examines whether the heroes from the Russian folktales embody TSoK. The thematic qualitative text analysis (TQTA) was employed to examine TSoK. It was conducted in Atlas.ti environment to assure rigor and trustworthiness. The study’s findings suggest that TSoK embodies heroes from Russian folktales. However, a conundrum exists in the embodiment of the hero. There is a conflict between the dramatis personae’s role, and such an enigma calls for the involvement of other dramatis personae, which is reserved for future works. As a crusade to safeguard the Malay folktales as the unsung ICH, the findings create a platform for scholars of similar interests to pursue the examination of heroes in other Malay folktales. Most importantly, the findings are necessary for endless recreation and transmission of knowledge to safeguard the Malay folktale as a living heritage. This act echoes one of UNESCO’s formal education measures to foster society’s respect, recognition, and awareness of the ICH.

The Song of the Kedidi: The Embodiment of a Hero in a Malay Folktale as an Intangible Cultural Heritage

The present study is part of a movement to safeguard Malay folktales as an unsung intangible cultural heritage (ICH). A folktale is a representation of oral traditions and expressions. This study converges on literary folktales as a revitalised form of oral folktales. As urged by UNESCO, the viability of the ICH is achievable via scientific research, among other things. Therefore, considering the small amount of study on Malay folktales at the moment, the current study endeavours to examine the folktale The Song of the Kedidi (TSoK) of its hero embodiment as one of the dramatis personae. The framework of Propp’s dramatis personae, which is based on Russian folktales, grounds the examination. This study examines whether the heroes from the Russian folktales embody TSoK. The thematic qualitative text analysis (TQTA) was employed to examine TSoK. It was conducted in Atlas.ti environment to assure rigour and trustworthiness. The study’s findings suggest that TSoK embodies heroes from Russian folktales. However, a conundrum exists in the embodiment of the hero. There is a conflict between the dramatis personae’s role, and such an enigma calls for the involvement of other dramatis personae, which is reserved for future works. As a crusade to safeguard the Malay folktales as the unsung ICH, the findings create a platform for scholars of similar interests to pursue the examination of heroes in other Malay folktales. Most importantly, the findings are necessary for endless recreation and transmission of knowledge to safeguard the Malay folktale as a living heritage. This act echoes one of UNESCO’s formal education measures to foster society’s respect, recognition, and awareness of the ICH.

Constructions with ‘take’ in Latgalian: The limits of diachrony

A collection of Latgalian oral folktales published in 1895 shows a great frequency of multi-verb constructions with a modifying verb ‘take’, including Serial Verb Constructions. These constructions are not found in Old Latgalian written texts, while in modern writing, only one type is attested: pseudo-coordination. Although the documentation of Latgalian spans almost three centuries, it is not possible to show grammaticalization paths of multi-verb constructions, as these are register-specific.

Using Tenggerese Oral Folktales for Teaching Paragraph Writing: How Good Are the Students’ Composition?

Indonesia is a nation that is rich in cultural artifacts. One of the cultural artifacts is the oral literature which is spread across the archipelago. This study is intended to describe the use of documented local Indonesian oral folktales applied for a paragraph writing class. The oral literature chosen was the Tenggerese oral literature in Pasuruan, East Java, Indonesia. The study used a mixed-method design. The subjects of the study were 46 students of the English Education Study Program who joined a paragraph writing class in Universitas PGRI Wiranegara, Pasuruan. The students’ writing was assessed by using a primary trait scoring rubric. The result shows that 98% of the students were able to make a topic sentence that shows comparison and contrast paragraphs. Although most of the students were able to make comparison and contrast paragraphs (83%), half of them were still unable to develop the ideas in the paragraph well (52%). The probable causes identified were first, the students were not given enough chance to revise and edit their composition, and secondly, the documented local oral literature lacked details in its story development. Yet, the study implies that local oral folklores have a chance to be used as one of the teaching materials for skill courses.

텍스트마이닝 기법을 활용한 구비설화 전승집단의 이야기적 관심사와 그 의미

This paper examines the aspect and meaning of narrative interests of the whole tradition group and the tradition group according to gender by using text mining technique targeting each 26,542 oral narratives in the digital archive of 〈Korea Oral Literature Daegye〉. For this purpose, the nouns were extracted by analyzing the morphemes from the titles of 26,542 oral narratives using the Mecab class of the KoNLPy package, and then the high frequencies were extracted using the Counter class of the collection package. As a result, looking at the 30 nouns occupying the highest frequency, the oral folktale tradition group consists of ‘the story of the origin of the place name’, the tale of the ‘tiger’, the story of the ‘goblin’, the narrative showing the ‘relationship of family relationships’, ‘wealth, filial piety, fortune, it is confirmed that he mainly told stories about the values pursued by humans’, such as famous places. The result of the most oral tales of ‘place name origin’ shows that the narrators perceive ‘story that is worth investigating’ as a place name origin story. The story of ‘Tiger’ brought laughter to the enjoyment class and revealed the value of ‘filial piety’. The story of ‘Goblin’ is a means to satisfy ‘story pleasure’ by conveying the fictional situation in the story as if it were a real event and arousing interest to the enjoyment class to feel ‘creep’ or to solve problems that are difficult to explain in reality. it became. Among the stories that show ‘family relations’, in particular, the story about ‘daughter-in-law’ was overwhelmingly told, which shows that the family relationship that causes the most conflict in reality is that surrounding the daughter-in-law. Nouns such as ‘son’, ‘myeong-dang’, ‘filial piety’, ‘rich man’, ‘grave’, ‘blessed’, ‘filial piety’, etc. It shows that he cares about ‘filial piety’ above all other ideologies. The character’s earnest wish for this is shown to be realized through ‘Myeongdang’, and it can be interpreted in this context that many stories about ‘myongdang’ and ‘grave’ are handed down. Meanwhile, narrative interest according to gender was examined through 15,088 stories told by 2,916 male narrators and 7,467 stories narrated by 2,004 female narrators. Male narrators recounted many stories about the origin of the place name, and female narrators enjoyed telling stories that showed problems between families. This shows that the lives of female speakers are focused on ‘in the home’ with a ‘family’, which is different from male speakers who enjoy telling stories about ‘Park Moon-soo’, ‘Middle’, and ‘Jeong-seung’ and expand their area of interest outside the house. will be.

Les rondalles del tipus <i>The Wise Brothers</i> (ATU 655) i la seva projecció en tres obres de literatura culta

Summary: The article analyses the relationship between folktales of the ATU 665 type such as The Wise Brothers, specifically between three Majorcan oral versions collected towards the end of the 19th century, and three works of learned written literature from different countries and periods: The Catalan novel Tirant lo Blanc by Joanot Martorell (15th c.), the French novel Zadig by Voltaire (18th c.) and the Italian novel Il nome della rosa by Umberto Eco (20th c.). From a narrative with the same origin in folklore, which develops a plot based on the hero’s extraordinary capacity for deductive reasoning and sensory perception, each writer inserts it into his work and uses it in a particular way with a specific purpose. The analysis shows that the structures, characters and plots in oral folktales can be highly effective from a communicative perspective when they are inserted into works of more learned written literature.Keywords: folk narrative, ATU 655 folktales, Tirant lo Blanc, Joanot Martorell, Zadig, Voltaire, Il nome della rosa, Umberto Eco

"El conte de n'Isop" (ATU 785A + ATU 921B)

Summary: In this article I publish, analyze and comment on two Majorcan versions of «Aesop’s Tale», reported in 2016 and recorded in 2018 in the Majorcan town of Pina. The folktale consists of five episodes: three of them are taken from anonymous Aesop’s Life, presumably from one of the various Catalan translations of which there is evidence, and the other two come from other oral folktales (ATU 875 and ATU 785A). This Majorcan folktale is the third documentation of the ATU 785A type and the first of the ATU 921B (1) type in Catalan-speaking territories. Keywords: literature, Aesop’s Life, oral literature, folktale, tale type.

Sara Ahmed’s Politics of Citation and Student Scholarship: Uncovering Indigenous Co-authors of British Folklore Collections

In 2021, I taught an introductory literary seminar in which students read the folklore of colonized subjects and supernatural fiction by writers of color who had lived under British rule or Western imperial influence. We partnered with Adrian Wisnicki's digital humanities project One More Voice to create an online anthology and video series that critically frame folklore collections from Japan, India, South Africa, and Jamaica. The students learned about Sara Ahmed's politics of citation and applied her ideas in giving credit to the Indigenous coauthors who sourced, transcribed, and translated oral folktales for British colonizers. I argue that we should regard the students as scholars who modeled ways of undisciplining Victorian studies in their work on Lafcadio Hearn and Setsu Koizumi's Kottō (1902).

Resolving Constraints in Translating Modifiers in Mungaka Oral Folktales into English

A major challenge encountered when translating Mungaka oral folktales into English centres on the use of modifiers, precisely adjectives and adverbs. The manner in which these grammatical categories are employed in Mungaka oral folktales engenders numerous constraints that render their translation into English difficult. This paper sets out to identify the specific translation constraints that originate from the use of modifiers in Mungaka oral folktales and establish methods to resolve them when translating from Mungaka into English. With the help of unstructured interviews, five Mungaka oral folktales are recorded, transcribed and analyzed qualitatively to identify excerpts that pose translation problems. The use of modifiers in Mungaka gives rise to 16 translation problems (problematic excerpts). The study uses mainly Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS), buttressed by the linguistic, interpretative and aesthetic communication theories of translation, employed to resolve the translation problems in the excerpts. Findings reveal that the translation of Mungaka modifiers is stymied by lexical, semantic and syntactic constraints, and strategies such as transposition, amplification, modulation, omission, substitution, adaptation and reformulation can help in resolving these translation constraints. These strategies are thus recommended for the translation works from Mungaka into English.

Free indirect speech in Croatian oral folk tales

This paper considers free indirect speech (FIS) in Croatian oral folk tales (fairy tales, legends, oral tradition and fables). Oral folk tales (folklore) from all parts of Croatia, and that in all three Croatian dialects (the Shtokavian, the Chakavian, and the Kajkavian) have been analysed. Special attention is paid to first-hand accounts according to authentic tellings in recent times. The types of FIS that are commonly attributed to the linguo-stylistic characteristics of modern art prose have been con[1]sidered. Additionally, some techniques that also indicate SNG have been analysed, which has neither been noticed nor described in the hitherto Croatian philological literature. It is concluded that FIS is a linguo-stylistic device which affects the way of delivering (creating) a story, but it is also a feature which distinguishes one tale from another.

Free indirect speech in Croatian oral folk tales

This paper considers free indirect speech (FIS) in Croatian oral folk tales (fairy tales, legends, oral tradition and fables). Oral folk tales (folklore) from all parts of Croatia, and that in all three Croatian dialects (the Shtokavian, the Chakavian, and the Kajkavian) have been analysed. Special attention is paid to first-hand accounts according to authentic tellings in recent times. The types of FIS that are commonly attributed to the linguo-stylistic characteristics of modern art prose have been con[1]sidered. Additionally, some techniques that also indicate SNG have been analysed, which has neither been noticed nor described in the hitherto Croatian philological literature. It is concluded that FIS is a linguo-stylistic device which affects the way of delivering (creating) a story, but it is also a feature which distinguishes one tale from another.

Observation on value conversion of Disabled in Folktales and its literary value

이 연구의 목적은 구비설화 가운데 장애인을 대상으로 한 각편에서 장애인의 가치가 전가치화되는 것을 문제 삼았다. 따라서 이를 바탕으로 인문학적 가치에 대한 성찰을 중심으로 논의하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 이 설화의 심층에는 사회적 약자, 소수자 등과 같은 인문학적 가치와 연관되는 중요한 개념어들이 내재 되어 있었다. 그 속에 내면화되어 있는 장애인에 대한 인식의 성격과 내용을 비판적으로 검토하면서 장애인을 바라보는 설화 구연자의 시선에 중점을 두었다. 논의의 결과 다음과 같은 결론에 도달하였다. <구비설화 속 장애인의 전가치화와 인문학적 가치 성찰>에서 설화 속 장애인 인물에 대한 배타적인 시선과 반성적인 시선을 동시에 반영하고 있음을 알 수 있었다. 즉, 배타적인 시선에서는 장애인을 ‘우리’가 아닌 ‘남’으로 인식하기 때문에 신체적 기능장애를 웃음의 기저로 삼았고, 반성적인 시선에서는 그들의 지혜나 능력이 뛰어남을 기저로 삼았다. 따라서 구비설화 속 장애인이야기는 ‘우리 안의 이방인’이 되기도 하지만 ‘남에서 우리로’ 함께 하려는 의미가 있다는 것으로 해석했다.This study is about the value of the disabled being fully valued in each episode that targets the disabled among the stories. Therefore, the purpose of the discussion is to focus on reflection on humanistic values. In the depth of this narrative, important concepts related to humanistic values such as the socially disadvantaged, minority were embedded. While critically examining the nature and content of the internalized perception of the disabled, it focused on the perspective of the narrator looking at the disabled. The discussion resulted in the following conclusions. In < Observation on value conversion of Disabled in Folktales and its literary value>, it is obvious that the closed and reflective views of the disabled in the stories are reflected at the same time. In other words, because the disabled are perceived as the others rather than us in the closed view, physical dysfunction is used as the entry of laughter, and their wisdom or ability is excellent in the reflective view. Therefore, it was interpreted that the story of the disabled in the oral folktales becomes a stranger among us, but that they intend to be together from others to us. Thus, the story of the disabled was embedded with humanistic values that we can reflect on in depth in the modern society.

Characteristics and Meaning of Epidemiological Stories in Oral Folktales

Characteristics and Meaning of Epidemiological Stories in Oral Folktales