Post by Allec on Feb 6, 2015 12:33:47 GMT -6
Probably one of the hardest things to define are the differences between the types of stories associated with cultures and religions. These definitions overlap themselves, which demonstrates the versatility certain stories possess.
An important thing to remember when looking at definitions such as these is that they came after the works themselves. People of Ancient Greece did not sit down and think, “I shall invent mythology!” Instead, they wrote down the stories and centuries later, scholars invented the system of classification.
Mythology
Wikipedia describes mythology as "the collected myths of a group of people—their body of stories which they tell to explain nature, history, and customs [...] As a collection of such stories, mythology is an important feature of every culture. [...] A culture's collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experience, behavioural models, and moral and practical lessons." But does a myth necessarily need to have all of those criteria?
Other definitions of mythology and myth vary. Bruce Lincoln from University of Chicago defines myth as "ideology in narrative form."
Huntington Encyclopedia writes that myth is a “[genre] of traditional stories symbolically underlying a given culture. These stories describe gods and other supernatural beings with whom humans may have relationships, and are often intended to explain the workings of the universe, nature, or human history.”
Folklore
Wikipedia defines folklore as the following: “Folklore (or lore) consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs included in the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group.”
The Canadian Encyclopedia defines folklore as: “Folklore [...] refers to information, wisdom and human expression that is passed on, usually anonymously, from generation to generation or transmitted and circulated as traditional cultural behaviour.”
Collier’s New Encyclopedia defines folklore as “the science which embraces all that relates to ancient observances and customs, to the notions, beliefs, traditions, superstitions, and prejudices of the common people.”
Legend
Unlike mythology, legends typically have more truth to them--or, at least, are more believable. Wikipedia defines legend as “a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude.” (“Verisimilitude” means “ the likeness or semblance of a narrative to reality, or to the truth.”)
Huntington Encyclopedia has a similar definition: “Traditional or undocumented genre of story about famous people, commonly religious in character and frequently posing problems of authenticity. [...] It is typical for legends to avoid a strict documentary account in favour of a more poetic and religious interpretation of reality.”
Fairy-Tale
The simplest way to look at Fairy-Tales is that they contain Fairies! However, simplicity would be too simple...
Wikipedia defines Fairy-Tale as “a type of short story that typically features European folkloric fantasy characters, such as dwarves, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, mermaids, trolls, or witches, and usually magic or enchantments.”
Huntington Encyclopedia gives a very acute definition; fairy tales are a “[genre] of magical story.”
A fairy tale is understood to be a type of folklore.
Wonder Tale
A newer category of tales (at least in relation to the list), Wonder Tales are meant to stand apart from Fairy Tales in that Wonder Tales do not contain Fairies. Dáithí Ó hÓgáin writes, “[...] wonder tales are long, very stylised and open to ornamentation, and are quite bombastic in their content and form.”
The Wikipedia article on Fairy Tale writes: “Some folklorists prefer to use the German term Märchen or ‘wonder tale’ to refer to the genre over fairy tale[...]” and cites Stith Thompson in his work The Folktales: “a tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms and marry princesses.”
So all together now...
These terms all overlap, but what is important by defining them is how modern day can also create these stories. Folktales aren’t something from just the 1500s, but expand into today. And with that too means that legends and mythology can also be created today--either purposefully or accidentally. A useful exercise would be to find your favorite story--modern day, ancient, or otherwise--and figure out where it may fall in these lists.
"fairy tale." Hutchinson Encyclopedia. 2011. eLibrary. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
"Folklore." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore>.
"Folklore." The Canadian Encyclopedia. 2012. eLibrary. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
Ó HÓgáin, Dáithí. "Wonder Tales." The Lore of Ireland. Rochester: Boydell, 2006. Print.
"Legend." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend>.
"legend." Hutchinson Encyclopedia. 2011. eLibrary. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
Lincoln, Bruce. "An Early Moment in the Discourse of “Terrorism:” Reflections on a Tale from Marco Polo." Comparative Studies in Society and History48.02 (2006): 242-59. JSTOR. Web. 6 Feb. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.torontopubliclibrary.ca/stable/3879351>.
"Mythology." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology>.
"mythology." Hutchinson Encyclopedia. 2011. eLibrary. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
"Verisimilitude (narrative)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verisimilitude_(narrative)>.
An important thing to remember when looking at definitions such as these is that they came after the works themselves. People of Ancient Greece did not sit down and think, “I shall invent mythology!” Instead, they wrote down the stories and centuries later, scholars invented the system of classification.
Mythology
Wikipedia describes mythology as "the collected myths of a group of people—their body of stories which they tell to explain nature, history, and customs [...] As a collection of such stories, mythology is an important feature of every culture. [...] A culture's collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experience, behavioural models, and moral and practical lessons." But does a myth necessarily need to have all of those criteria?
Other definitions of mythology and myth vary. Bruce Lincoln from University of Chicago defines myth as "ideology in narrative form."
Huntington Encyclopedia writes that myth is a “[genre] of traditional stories symbolically underlying a given culture. These stories describe gods and other supernatural beings with whom humans may have relationships, and are often intended to explain the workings of the universe, nature, or human history.”
Folklore
Wikipedia defines folklore as the following: “Folklore (or lore) consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs included in the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group.”
The Canadian Encyclopedia defines folklore as: “Folklore [...] refers to information, wisdom and human expression that is passed on, usually anonymously, from generation to generation or transmitted and circulated as traditional cultural behaviour.”
Collier’s New Encyclopedia defines folklore as “the science which embraces all that relates to ancient observances and customs, to the notions, beliefs, traditions, superstitions, and prejudices of the common people.”
Legend
Unlike mythology, legends typically have more truth to them--or, at least, are more believable. Wikipedia defines legend as “a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude.” (“Verisimilitude” means “ the likeness or semblance of a narrative to reality, or to the truth.”)
Huntington Encyclopedia has a similar definition: “Traditional or undocumented genre of story about famous people, commonly religious in character and frequently posing problems of authenticity. [...] It is typical for legends to avoid a strict documentary account in favour of a more poetic and religious interpretation of reality.”
Fairy-Tale
The simplest way to look at Fairy-Tales is that they contain Fairies! However, simplicity would be too simple...
Wikipedia defines Fairy-Tale as “a type of short story that typically features European folkloric fantasy characters, such as dwarves, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, mermaids, trolls, or witches, and usually magic or enchantments.”
Huntington Encyclopedia gives a very acute definition; fairy tales are a “[genre] of magical story.”
A fairy tale is understood to be a type of folklore.
Wonder Tale
A newer category of tales (at least in relation to the list), Wonder Tales are meant to stand apart from Fairy Tales in that Wonder Tales do not contain Fairies. Dáithí Ó hÓgáin writes, “[...] wonder tales are long, very stylised and open to ornamentation, and are quite bombastic in their content and form.”
The Wikipedia article on Fairy Tale writes: “Some folklorists prefer to use the German term Märchen or ‘wonder tale’ to refer to the genre over fairy tale[...]” and cites Stith Thompson in his work The Folktales: “a tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms and marry princesses.”
So all together now...
These terms all overlap, but what is important by defining them is how modern day can also create these stories. Folktales aren’t something from just the 1500s, but expand into today. And with that too means that legends and mythology can also be created today--either purposefully or accidentally. A useful exercise would be to find your favorite story--modern day, ancient, or otherwise--and figure out where it may fall in these lists.
Works Cited
"Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Folklore." - Wikisource, the Free Online Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Collier%27s_New_Encyclopedia_(1921)/Folklore>."fairy tale." Hutchinson Encyclopedia. 2011. eLibrary. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
"Folklore." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore>.
"Folklore." The Canadian Encyclopedia. 2012. eLibrary. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
Ó HÓgáin, Dáithí. "Wonder Tales." The Lore of Ireland. Rochester: Boydell, 2006. Print.
"Legend." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend>.
"legend." Hutchinson Encyclopedia. 2011. eLibrary. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
Lincoln, Bruce. "An Early Moment in the Discourse of “Terrorism:” Reflections on a Tale from Marco Polo." Comparative Studies in Society and History48.02 (2006): 242-59. JSTOR. Web. 6 Feb. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.torontopubliclibrary.ca/stable/3879351>.
"Mythology." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology>.
"mythology." Hutchinson Encyclopedia. 2011. eLibrary. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
"Verisimilitude (narrative)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verisimilitude_(narrative)>.
