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Comment
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ruthofverona
Unregistered User
(4/29/05 5:18 pm)
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folk tales:truth, or myth?
Just like the title says, I want to know what most people want to know. Folk ( or fairy) tales. Truth or Fantasy? I want to know some folk tales that you know, either from other countries, or from your home town, and i want to know if you know any eye witnesses (no names, please) and to tell me if you or anybody else you know believes them (no names included).
for example, you can tell about a ghost story. tell about the cause of the ghost ( the persons death) where it resides and tell of the amount of people who have seen them, if you want to. lastly, you neeeeeed to tell me if you believe the story.
thanks!
-ruth
p.s. this is for a school project. just so that you know.
thanks again!!!!!!!!!!
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catja1
Registered User
(4/30/05 11:43 am)
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folk tales: truth or myth
There are several categories of folk narrative. "Myth" generally refers to the Big Important Stories, which usually feature gods and demigods, and tell stories of crucial importance to that culture: where we came from, our relationship with the gods, how the world came to be, and so forth. Folklorists and mythologists do *not* use it to mean "a lie, untrue." "Folk tales" are stories told for entertainment purposes, and understood as fictional -- fairy tales fall into this category.
It sounds like what you're looking for are "legends," and more specifically "memorates." Legends are kind of like folk history -- they're told as if they were true, even if neither the teller nor the listener believes. They tend to take place in the real world, in real time and space (unlike myths, many of which take place in pre-time or Dreamtime) or folk/fairy tales (which take place "once upon a time"). Legends are things like the stories of King Arthur, Charlemagne, and many ghost stories.
"Memorates" (mem-oh-rah-tees) are *personal* narratives of encounters with the supernatural. Like, "I was walking past that old abandoned house out on the country road one night..." The key is that the teller places him/herself as a participant in the story, and tells it as if it were true.
Given these definitions, "Truth or fantasy?" is kind of, well, not the right question. Some stories are told as if they were true, some are not, and *how* they're told is really what determines their category. And level of belief is a hard thing to determine -- a good storyteller will often tack on an "and i know the man this happened to," or some such: a traditional Russian ending for a fairy tale is "And I danced at their wedding, but the beer ran down my beard and didn't get into my mouth at all." A crucial part of many storytellers' performance is the pose of telling the truth; that's why the categories of myth v. legend v. folktale are so fluid.
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ruthofverona
Unregistered User
(4/30/05 10:25 pm)
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point taken
you have a very good point there. so I shall clerify what I am asking for.
I am looking for a local supernatural tale, for instance, in my town there is a story of a teacher who killed himself at the local highschool. The person in question killed himself after school hours with a knife through the heart. Some people say that that person still roams his room at night, haunting it, unable to go on to the after life.
reason of death? the students made fun of him.
I guess that the "true or false" part of my question is more of a did- it-really-happen sort of thing, instead of a do-you-believe-the-ghost-part stuff.
The other question, the part about the in-other-countries sort of thing is mostly about famous legends, like a*group* of ghosts instead of just one, or a sighting of mythical creatures, like fairies, or dragons. For instance, fairies in Europe, or the "little people" in Ireland. tell some stories, not specific, just stories about it.
If you want to know why I dont just read a book and find out is just that I live too far from the library.
thanks again!
-ruth
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