Sources I: Myths, Folktales, and Fairy Stories
Introduction
This is the first of five seminars which discuss the wide range of primary sources available to the historian of folklore. In this seminar we will analyse myths and folktales, and fairy stories. These are amongst the oldest as well as the newest forms of folklore. Their influence is vast. They shape the identities of individuals, communities, and nations. They reveal the nature and values of societies. They are a major source for literature, drama, music, dance, and the visual arts.
We will divide into two groups to examine myths and folktales, and fairy stories. Each student will be engaging directly with a primary source as well as with a key secondary study of the genre.
Seminar Questions
- What are myths, folktales, and fairy stories?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of myths and folktales, and fairy stories as sources for the historian of folklore in Europe?
Required and Further Reading
- For the group looking at myths and folktales
- Each student should read this article:
William Bascom, 'The Forms of Folklore: Prose NarrativesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', The Journal of American Folklore 78/307 (1965), 3–20.
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- Each student should also choose and read the equivalent of two chapters from one of the primary sources listed here:
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- How can Bascom's arguments be applied to your primary source?
- For the group looking at fairy stories
- Each student should read this chapter:
Jack Zipes, Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: The Classical Genre for Children and the Process of CivilizationLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 2nd ed. (London, 2006), Chapter 1 'Fairy-Tale Discourse: Toward a Social History of the Genre'.
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- Each student should also choose and read the equivalent of two chapters from one of the primary sources listed here:
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- How can Zipes' arguments be applied to your primary source?