Folk Tradition vs. Literary Tradition Flashcards
How do folk and literary traditions engage with each other?
folk tradition lives parallel to literary tradition, so sometimes elements of each influence the other
What audiences were associated with folktales and literature, respectively?
folktales = poor people (those who had to tell stories to pass time, oral traditions being seen as more primitive)
literature = rich people (those who could read, buy books, etc.)
How is ‘fun’ incorporated into literary tradition?
- in the Wild texts the fun energy of the story is squished into a moral → thus containing the fun energy and almost making it null
- fascism of narrative / moralism → bringing all of the energy of the narrative/story to one point (core, definitional moment, etc.)
- energy being fun, performance, etc.
Why is ‘fun’ important in stories?
- we need delight and chaos (to be stressed out a little bit) in order to be interested in a piece of literature/art
- escapism → requires for one to be attached and attentive to something
How is ‘sentimentality’ incorporated into literary tradition?
this fascism of literature is also relevant to sentimentality → it centralizes it to make it more impactful (since all of it is working together)
How are folktales ‘depthless’?
- the lack of intense descriptions around characters, context, and settings
- character’s names are based on what they look like → Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Snow White
- folk tales often rely on adjectives in their naming things → Iron City, etc.
- all one needs to know about them can be deduced from their name
- makes the world less ‘deep’ which allows for more imagination to be used
How did folktales evolve?
they evolved in different ways when different people told the stories, culturally and regionally different
Who originally owned folktales?
no one particularly owned or financially benefited from the creation of folklore - however literary works commodified them
What is folklore/folktales?
- stories from before writing
- is alive in its performance (no authors, only performers)
- doesn’t have an original form or final forms
What is the story of a folktale based in?
the story is based in moments and the performance, not the narrative itself
able to emphasize different parts of the story through performance
folklore relies on moments, and doesn’t really need any other elements to be successful
How are morals present in folklore?
folklore doesn’t have a moral because it would take away from the freedom and fun in the performance
What is a specific element required from the reader to make fiction successful?
- suspension of disbelief is important to fiction
- we know fiction stories are fiction, but are still able to be immersed into those stories
What is the gist of “Breaking the Disney Spell” by Jack Zipes?
- articulated how oral tradition of folktale turned into literary/film tradition
- explains how a literary tale comes to a moral conclusion
- they’re a pedagogical tool and not meant to inspire bad behaviour
- whereas folktales which are performed without ‘rules’
- could influence bad behaviour, could not, but is not required to do either by conventions
- fairytales are a moment where you can see literacy/a literary genre develop, relatively organically
What is dialectical appropriation?
- one appropriates something, but in appropriating it one is appropriated by it
- ex. RuPaul’s Drag Race → brought a sub-culture into the dominant culture and benefits financially from it, this sub-culture is now integrated into the dominant culture though
- ULTIMATELY drag changed because of its introduction to the mainstream → changed because it was appropriated
How does dialectical appropriation apply to fairy tales?
- animated film enabled the performance of folktales to be commodified → Disney thus ‘owned’ the folktales that he produced in film, and their folktale-y vibe
- the community aspect was stripped from the ‘performance’ though
- the originality and nuance that came with each telling of a folktale was also stripped
What themes are at the core of fairytales and folktales, respectively?
fairytales are about meaning/moral and folktales are about community and fun
What is the gist of “Yours, Mine, or Ours?” by Donald Haase?
- certain national movements use folk energy to strengthen their national authority
- using folk and community to unite people under them
- questioning why and how the Nazis ‘owned’ Grimms’ fairytales
- urges readers to engage in performance of folk art → the non-commodified (not Disney) forms of folk art
What happens if nationalism and folk energy are decoupled?
then the community and non-commodification are rediscovered
How do folktales insist upon modes of thought and humanity that are meant to be normative?
- stereotyping the cultures they are from/represent and humanity → developing ‘norms’
- ‘this is how to be a German’
- ‘this is how to be a mother’
- can narrow a reader’s views on reality and humanity → “fairytales own us, we don’t own them”
