CUR 513, Fall 2014, Professor J. Sapp
Presentation by:
Andrea T., Chris P., Ja’hnae J.

CUR 513, Fall 2014, Professor J. Sapp
Presentation by:
Andrea T., Chris P., Ja’hnae J.

Traditional Literature
● How many of us can remember the stories that we were told during our childhood? Start naming some of these tales.
Most of us can recall stories such as “Little Red Riding
Hood” “Jack and the Beanstalk” “Cinderella” “Beauty and the Beast”, etc. Well most of the stories are not indigenous to North America. They come from all around the world.

Trad’l lit. continued
● Firstly, What is traditional literature?
o
“Traditional literature is the body of stories and poems that have come to us from teller to hearer, and from hearer to teller…” ( C. Temple, M.
Martinez, J. Yokota 209)


Passed down from generation to generation which is also known as oral tradition
Trad’l lit. consists of: folktales
● folktales- fairy tales, popular tales, household tales.

What makes trad’l lit. so endearing?
● simple stories with ambiguous characters and strong plots
● didactic in nature: most of these stories serve as moral lessons, learning tools
● international & universal; almost every culture represented in the world have tales that they have passed down and there are certain archetypes present in every culture which can translate over into any text o Walt Disney was known for “borrowing” many different tales from around the world for his stories which generated millions, if not billions, of dollars.

Value of traditional literature
● trad’l lit. has the ability to teach historical and cultural lessons o most cultural stories are infused with actual historical occurrences and they also do a good job at synthesizing the intricacies of diff. cultural phenomena
● free talk therapy: gives children an avenue for revealing and addressing their own fears and urges that they may not be able to tackle on their own

Elements of trad’l literature
● Setting: certain motifs are present in the setting of folk tales.
Most take place in: o a cottage or hoval e.g. Snow White, Hansel & Gretel o castle e.g Rapunzel, Cinderella o forest e.g Little Red Riding Hood, Robin Hood, The Crane Wife
● Characters: characters in folktales are usually ambiguously described giving the narrator/ orator, more wiggle room to expand or reduce according to the plot. In folktales, the character is assigned a role according to the plot not the character is given a clear identity and is involved in the plot

Elements of trad’l lit
● Characters cont.: four main characters in folktales o
The Hero: their needs and desires drive the story o e.g Jack in the Beanstalk
The Rival: this person stands in between the hero o and his or her goal e.g. The Giant in Jack in the
Beanstalk
The Helper: the person or force who helps the hero towards his goal

Elements cont.
● Contrasts in Folktales
● Charles Levi-Strauss (1957) stated that contrasts are not accidental in folktales.
o
“Humans learn about the truths of the world by first paying attention to those things that are starkly opposite to each other” (213)
 e.g hero v. villan, home sweet home v. lands of adventure, good v. bad

What makes trad’l lit endearing?
● It’s human nature; “the instinct to make stories is one of our defining features as human beings” (209)
● engaging for many audiences, both young and old
● a rich source of multicultural material
● unification: can unite different cultures due to the similarities in characters, plots, etc.
● source material is part of the “public domain” o no authors= no copyrights

Examples of various cultural folklore: English Folklore
Due to density, this tale (epic poem) is recommended for grades 6-12 but can be read to all ages
has all sort of “goodies,” dragons, a grendel
(malformed human boy), a serpent/Medusa woman, a heroic almost superhuman protagonist, a round table, 14th century castle
good v. evil, strenght and skill, violence, religion

French Folklore- Beauty and the Beast
“Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast…”
Themes: inner beauty v. outward beauty, perception, judgment, societal pressure, society. v the individual

Native American Tales - Coyote, A Trickster Tale from the American Southwest
Brief synopsis: Wherever Coyote goes you can be sure he’ll find trouble. Now he wants to sing, dance, and fly like the crows, so he begs them to teach him how. The crows agree but soon tire of Coyote’s bragging and boasting. They decide to teach the great trickster a lesson. This time, Coyote has found real trouble!

African American FolktalesThe Tales of Uncle Remus:
The Advntures of Brer Rabbit
Generations of children have been captivated by the hair-raising adventures and misadventures of
Brer Rabbit. Come along as he sneaks into Mr.
Man's garden, persuades Brer Wolf to be burned in a hollow log, and kicks Brer Fox's Tar Baby.
Jerry Pinkney's lively and humorous illustrations are a perfect match for Julius Lester's contemporary approach, which expertly introduces a modern sense of humor to these forty-eight tales while paying homage to their roots as traditional American folklore.

African folklore - Anansi the Spider
Ghana
Anansi the spider knew there was something missing from the earth, and that thing was stories.
He was a very clever trickster but getting the stories from the Sky God would not be easy. There would be a high price to pay and Anansi would need all his trickery if he was to succeed.

The
Giovanni Francisco Straporo la (1550)
❧
First collection of written stories for children.
Giambattista Basile
❧
The Tale of Tales/Entertainment for Little
Ones
❧
Adult themes

❧
French Tales
❧
Extravagant
❧
During Louis XIV
❧
Mother Goose
( 1628-1703)

❧
People and culture of Germany resides in old tales and legends
❧
Collected stories from around the country
❧
Nursery and Household Tales

Joseph Jacobs (1854-1916)
❧
Father of English folklore
❧
English response to invasion of French tales
❧
Most tales came from secondary sources
❧
Put well known tales into circulation

❧
Mother introduced him to folktales
❧
Retold traditional tales with his own twist
❧
But most tales original
❧
Hans Christian Anderson Award

❧
Stories from slaves
❧
Native American Stories
❧
Tall Tales
❧
Cowboy Songs

❧
Cumulative tales
❧
Animal tales
❧
Trickster tales
❧
Humorous tales
❧
Tall tales
❧
Ghost stories

❧
Fairy tales
❧
Realistic tales
❧
Legends
❧
Epics
❧
Ballards
❧
Fables
• Myths
• Religious stories
• Literary tales

The House that Jack
Built
❧
The House That Jack Built
❧
This is the house that Jack built
❧
This is the Malt
❧
That lay in the house that Jack built.
❧
This is rat
❧
That ate the malt
❧ That lay in the house that Jack built…

The Three Little Pigs
Chicken Little

❧
Have been around for
1000’s of years
❧
Native Americans
❧
European folktales are rich with animal characters
❧
The Three Little Pigs
❧
The Three Bears
❧
Henry Penny

❧
Trickster tales feature a clever, devious animal or character whose pranks usually cause trouble for another character. In most instances, the trickster goes away gloating and unpunished, though in some tales there is a turnabout, and the trickster falls prey to the mischief he started.
❧
The trickster figure is found all over the world. Sometimes this figure is either creative or subversive. They are mischievous, cunning and humorous and usually have the ability to switch between animal and human form.

❧
Numbskull tales
❧
Hans Clodhopper
❧
Hans Christian Andersen

❧
Pippi Longstocking
❧
Pecos Bill
❧
John Henry

❧
Northrop Fry- Literature shows us the heaven we seek and the hell we wish to avoid…
❧
And
❧
Bloody Mary Ritual

❧
Generally involve:
❧
Magic
❧
Royalty
❧
Commonly associated with apprenticeship tales or hero tales.

❧
The Eggs
❧
Sea Captain and the
❧
Ripple effect of not paying
❧
For his meal
❧
Story remains in the realm of
❧
Possibility.

❧
Stories about saints or other heroes who might actually have lived.
❧
King Arthur
❧
Robin Hood

❧
Ballads are narratives in song, and mostly built of four-line stanzas.
❧
Popular in England from the 14 th century on.
❧
Epics are extended accounts of the exploits of national heroes.
❧
Beowulf: a
Scandinavian hero from the 16 century.

❧
Myths
❧
One method in which stories try to explain the mysteries of he universe to society.

❧
Classical Myths from
Greece and Rome:
❧
Our planets:
❧
The Tale of Icarus
Daedalus- A boy and his father
Moral of the story
Aim for the middle course and avoid extremes. In other words, be balanced.

Considered to be SPECIAL because they are sacred to one group of people or another.
Stories range from:
The Life of Jesus by Katherine Paterson
Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland (inspired by
Saint Valentine) – Robert Sabuda
My Jewish Holidays (Peter Catalanatto)
Budda and Muhammed - A picture book by
Demi