Oral Tradition
Lesson Overview
What is a fairy tale? Before you start to read on, please take a piece of paper and write down the titles of fairy tales you can recall.
In an undergraduate children's literature course, students called out the following titles The Three Pigs, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rumplestilskin, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, The Emperor's New Clothes, Pinnocio, Aladdin, Princess and the Pea, Sword and the Stone, and Wizard of the Oz. Are these all categorized as fairy tales? What are the differences between myth, folktale, literary fairy tale, and legend?
For some of the titles above we can easily identify an author but others are really part of the oral tradition for which it is impossible to trace back the "original" versions and creators. Some popular tales, such as those collected by Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, are so well-known for their collectors that they are sometimes misconceived to be the authors of stories. Children and adults alike are oftentimes attached to the versions of tales they grew up with and believe them to be the best versions for children. It is not uncommon today to encounter children who would tell you that the Snow White or Cinderella you read to them from books didn't get the story right because that is not how Walt Disney told them. In this lesson we will be looking at some "myths" about fairy tales and understand the changing nature of folktales.
Lesson Objectives
In this lesson you will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of literary terms related to traditional literature such as "motif," "ontogenesis," and "monogenesis."
- Define the different sub-genres within traditional literature such as myth, legend, folktale, fairy tale, wonder tale, and fable.
- Understand how folktales were circulated and recorded in early times.
- Explore many versions of Little Red Riding Hood.