Spreading the Seeds of Folklore

Tales From the Oral TraditionSusan Knell, Pittsburg State Universitty

sknell@pittstate.edu

Evaluating Traditional TalesThe story should be appropriate to the developmental age of the children who will read and enjoy it.

The oral storytelling style of the original tale should be preserved in the book retelling as evidenced in an oral read-aloud.

The integrity of the original culture of the tale should be retained through authentic names, cultural terminology, and cultural authenticity of language elements.

The illustrated versions of traditional tales should be of high quality and provide assistance in interpreting story, plot, characters, and theme.

An author’s note or introduction should explain the origin of the tale and its connections across cultures and locations to reinforce the source of traditional tales.

Peculiarities of Traditional Fantasy

Character development is lean and spare.Characters are either all good or all evil.Plots are simple and direct.They are usually success stories of overcoming overwhelming odds.The story lines are accompanied by typical themes (mercy, kindness, perseverance, justice, etc.)

The Universal Nature of Traditional Fantasy

From culture to culture, these stories are amazingly alike.Modern literature almost constantly uses the use of allusions to traditional literature.(Sayings, political cartoons)It is the mother of all literature.

No other literature better prepares children to meet the

complexities of adult life.--Bruno Bettleheim, noted child

psychologist

Traditional fantasy is a wonderful metaphor for human existence, and

because of its rich imagery and dreamlike quality, it speaks to us deeply.

The Values of Traditional Fantasy

The sheer delight of “let’s pretend”.

The ability to work on our emotions with the same vividness as a dream

The ability to develop a capacity for belief

The ability to hope.

Types of Traditional FantasyFolktales (cumulative, pourquoi, beast, noodlehead, trickster, realistic, fairy)

Tall Tales

Fables

Myths

Epics, Ballads, & Legends

In Defense of Traditional Fantasy

Psychological Fantasy: A rich fantasy life is important for children.Violence: Much of the violence involved the punishment of truly evil villains.Frightening for Young Children: Dangerous elements are far removed in both time and place.Waste of Time: No genre better fosters creativity than fantasy.

Benefits of Traditional TalesTraditional tales carry on the strong oral tradition of storytelling.

Traditional tales provide an important introduction to simple story structure as repeated readings contribute to comfort and confidence though the predictable nature of the tales.

Traditional tales provide a resource for classroom storytelling by teachers or retellings by children.

Traditional tales provide an added dimension to a child’s cultural literacy as she or he experiences tales from around the world.

Traditional tales provide moral models for children as the struggle between good and evil is applied to incidents in their own lives.