|
Narrative Logo - Click for Main Menu Lecture II. Tales Told Around the Fire - The Oral Folk Tradition
The Kinds of Oral Legendstock Fairy tales, nursery rhymes, "tall tales," ghost stories, chants, jokes, songs, "old wives' tales," spells, parables, urban legends, and, of course, fables are all part of this age-old tradition. These folk creations may circulate in cultures for centuries before they are captured in print.
Peasants in a medieval village making noise to bring back the moon during an eclipse Oral tales are as old as Language itself. From the earliest pictographs in caves to the mysterious narratives of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, to the Urban Legends of today, we have always wanted to transform the truths of our lives into universal stories. The roots of oral tradition are unclear - they go back to prehistory. We do not know if there were stories and rituals associated with the cave markings that may be 50,000 years old--or older. However, we can imagine what wonder and mystery accompanied celestial events, illness, death, marriage, and just plain luck.
A poor peasant family of the 18th Century This is a picture of what we must believe is a typical peasant family of the middle ages. They all lived in one small house together, travel was difficult, printing hadn't been invented yet, what information they had came by word of mouth. The ways in which ancient cultures dealt with the world, in the absence of Television, Radio, Telephone, Cell Phone, Movies (did I say TV?) were many. There are many classifications of oral folk material.
We have a folkchart page up on the web that you can look at, and
we will add to it as we find new kinds of oral lore.
|
