Folktales are the beginning of the oral tradition of tales. For thousands of years people have been telling tales to teach lessons to their children. The stories were critical to helping children learn and understand customs and consequences of their village. Folktales were used to explain the wonders of nature, seasons, stars and animals.
Folktales can help us to understand a lot about other people and their cultures. Dr. Bruno Bettelheim, a famous psychologist, believes, The form and structure of fairy tales suggest images to the child by which he can structure his daydreams and with them give better direction to his life. More can be learned from folktales about the inner problems of human beings, and of the right solutions to their predicaments in any society, than from any other types of story within a child's conprehension.
We are all familiar with folktales, from creation stories to Hansel and Gretel to Snow White, they hold universal appeal to all regardless of class, culture or continent.
In the classic book by Vladimar Propp,The Morphology of the Folk Tale the author states that there is only one type of story. He states all stories follow the same pattern:
Wholeness
Breakup
Reformation
Often the break-up phase is caused by and/or blamed on some sort of villain or evil figure, whom the hero/heroine has to track down and defeat.
There are seven segments to the folklore/folktales:
1. epics
2. ballads
3. legends
4. folklore
5. myths
6. fables and parables
7. fairy tales
Types of tales include:
1. Formula tales-those that have a definite pattern.
a. accumulative or repetitious stories
b. endless tales
2. Beast tales
3. Noodle-head stories
4. Wonder tales
5. Realistic tales
Folktales, especially those in the tradition of Brer Rabbit Tales, are often put in the category called trickster tales. These are stories that are always funny because they depend on wit of the smaller and more vulnerable creature. This character has to outwit a larger usually predatory evil one. These folktales use and value cleverness as an answer to brute force.
Others are a twist on the trickster story and teach us to never think too much of ourselves and our own cleverness.
Tall tales rely on exaggeration and disbelief at the same time. They give us heroes and values and always a good laugh.
Folktales will always be a permanent part of children's literature. Retelling folktales is not an easy project to undertake but can be worthwhile if done right. A retelling is an opportunity to accurately represent and educate about another culture. Of course, a folktale still has to meet all the same requirements that are necessary for a picture book or short story.
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