Narrative Logo - Click for Main Menu Lecture IV: The Origins of Tales
Training the Culture (culture/social control) There is no question that, if Harris and Krupp are correct, each culture would have attempted to create a means by which knowledge of what enabled the group to survive or explained the relationship of chaos and order would be passed down to succeeding generations. Harris maintains that this effort is often seen in religious rites and rituals, and, to a great extent, Krupp would agree. Other authors you will read, such as Zipes and Joseph Campbell, would add a corollary motive into this effort - the desire to shape the behavior and values of the young through initiation and indoctrination. Whether a story began as a way of explaining, say, the movement of the stars or not, there is ample evidence that as stories persisted in cultures, they became useful vehicles for sharing the values of the culture. For example, there is much social control that comes to be associated with Osiris, even though we have seen how clearly he is tied to the celestial signs of monthly and yearly cycles.
Caption: Egyptian goddess of the sky, Nut, bends over the world Sometimes the legend takes on a whole company of other gods and goddesses that fill out a pantheon representing either the primeval society, the ideal society, or the netherworld. Regardless of who else gets added to the story, these additions are often for the purpose making a moral. At the Cathedral of Chartres, we have a wonderful example of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. They have no real place in the Bible, but they become an important symbol of proper comportment for young women.
Caption: Chartres - The Wise and Foolish Virgins here are the foolish virgins, about to take the apple from the nasty seducer, who has ugly snakes crawling down his back.
Caption: Chartres - The Wise and Foolish Virgins this is the group of nearly-doomed virgins.
Chartres - The Wise and Foolish Virgins here are the wise virgins, holding their lamps, ready to be brides of Christ. Images from Mary Ann Sullivan's Digital Imaging Project, Bluffton College.
We will further explore the Social Uses of Folklore in future lectures.
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