Archetypes and Motifs in Folklore and Literature: A Handbook

Archetypes and Motifs in Folklore and Literature: A Handbook
Author: Jane Garry
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 514
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351576151

This is an authoritative presentation and discussion of the most basic thematic elements universally found in folklore and literature. The reference provides a detailed analysis of the most common archetypes or motifs found in the folklore of selected communities around the world. Each entry is written by a noted authority in the field, and includes accompanying reference citations. Entries are keyed to the Motif-Index of Folk Literature by Stith Thompson and grouped according to that Index's scheme. The reference also includes an introductory essay on the concepts of archetypes and motifs and the scholarship associated with them. This is the only book in English on motifs and themes that is completely folklore oriented, deals with motif numbers, and is tied to the Thompson Motif-Index. It includes in-depth examination of such motifs as: Bewitching; Chance and Fate; Choice of Roads; Death or Departure of the Gods; the Double; Ghosts and Other Revenants; the Hero Cycle; Journey to the Otherworld; Magic Invulnerability; Soothsayer; Transformation; Tricksters.

A Motif-Index of Traditional Polynesian Narratives

A Motif-Index of Traditional Polynesian Narratives
Author: Bacil F. Kirtley
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 522
Release: 2019-09-30
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 0824884078

This reference work analyzes and classifies the story themes of Polynesian myths, tales, and legends according to an internationally employed system developed by Stith Thompson in his Motif Index of Folk-Literature ( 1955-1958). Thousands of tales, including those from almost all of the major original collections from the Polynesian area, have been examined and their thematic contents cataloged in this work. In his introduction, the author explains the concept of the motif as a basis for cataloging. He quotes from Professor Thompson's definition of a motif: “the smallest element in a tale having the power to persist in tradition,” for example, gods, marvelous creatures, magic objects, and certain kinds of incidents. The author believes “the function of an index of motifs is to cite bibliographical sources of narratives containing these viable (often irreducible) story elements, and thus to provide the investigator of specific story ideas with comparative Information.” The present work is an attempt to survey thoroughly the totality of Polynesian oral tradition and to indicate the distribution and relationships of narrative materials. Not since the publication of Roland B. Dixon's work on Oceanic mythology in 1916 has this been attempted. This index will be an invaluable reference tool for anyone doing research in Oceanic ethnology and folklore.

Motif-index of Folk-literature

Motif-index of Folk-literature
Author: Stith Thompson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 566
Release: 1955
Genre: Folk literature
ISBN:

This index is organized by motif, or subject, so related versions of particular stories are classified together, across cultures and time periods. Very detailed, with source citations, is a classic work of its type.

The Folktale

The Folktale
Author: Stith Thompson
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 524
Release: 1977
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780520033597

As interest in folklore increases, the folktale acquires greater significance for students and teachers of literature. The material is massive and scattered; thus, few students or teachers have accessibility to other than small segments or singular tales or material they find buried in archives. Stith Thompson has divided his book into four sections which permit both the novice and the teacher to examine oral tradition and its manifestation in folklore. The introductory section discusses the nature and forms of the folktale. A comprehensive second part traces the folktale geographically from Ireland to India, giving culturally diverse examples of the forms presented in the first part. The examples are followed by the analysis of several themes in such tales from North American Indian cultures. The concluding section treats theories of the folktale, the collection and classification of folk narrative, and then analyzes the living folklore process. This work will appeal to students of the sociology of literature, professors of comparative literature, and general readers interested in folklore.

How to Read a Folktale

How to Read a Folktale
Author: Lee Haring
Publisher: Open Book Publishers
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2013-10-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1909254053

How to Read a Folktale offers the first English translation of Ibonia, a spellbinding tale of old Madagascar. Ibonia is a folktale on epic scale. Much of its plot sounds familiar: a powerful royal hero attempts to rescue his betrothed from an evil adversary and, after a series of tests and duels, he and his lover are joyfully united with a marriage that affirms the royal lineage. These fairytale elements link Ibonia with European folktales, but the tale is still very much a product of Madagascar. It contains African-style praise poetry for the hero; it presents Indonesian-style riddles and poems; and it inflates the form of folktale into epic proportions. Recorded when the Malagasy people were experiencing European contact for the first time, Ibonia proclaims the power of the ancestors against the foreigner. Through Ibonia, Lee Haring expertly helps readers to understand the very nature of folktales. His definitive translation, originally published in 1994, has now been fully revised to emphasize its poetic qualities, while his new introduction and detailed notes give insight into the fascinating imagination and symbols of the Malagasy. Haring’s research connects this exotic narrative with fundamental questions not only of anthropology but also of literary criticism.