Scand/CompLit 331: Folk Narrative
Autumn Quarter 2004; Class
meets Tuesday and Thursday,
Instructor: Guntis Smidchens
Office: Raitt Hall 305 T
Office Hours: TBA
e-mail: guntiss@u.washington.edu
Phone: (206)
616-5224
Course
Description
Folk narratives
(folktales, legends and jokes) are a window into a group's worldview.
This course will study folk narrative from
Grades
Three research
papers: 60%
Class Participation: 10%
Final Examination: 30%
Required
Required textbooks:
·
Alan Dundes, ed., International Folkloristics
·
Jan Brunvand, The Vanishing Hitchhiker
·
Sehmsdorf and Kvideland, All the World's
Reward
·
Sehmsdorf and Kvideland, Scandinavian Folk
Belief and Legend
·
Required
readings also include websites and selected articles in the Lecture
Schedule.
Supplementary
readings, available on Reserve at Odegaard Library:
·
Stith Thompson, The Folktale
·
Jan Brunvand, The Baby Train
·
Linda Degh, Folktales and Society
Written
Assignments
Assignment #1: 1-2
pages, due October 7 (10 points)
Present the text of a
joke that you have heard in the natural context. Ask the teller to retell the joke; if
possible, work with a tape recorder and transcribe the text as accurately as
possible; describe your interview methods in a sentence or two. Describe the natural context: the narrator,
his or her storytelling tradition, and the audience. Interpret: Why do they tell and listen? Why do they laugh (or not laugh)? What is the “meaning” of the joke?
Assignment #2: 4-6
pages, due Oct 28 (25 points)
Write an essay about
a legend of your choice (if possible, write about a legend that you yourself
have recently heard). First, present the text of the legend; discuss your
fieldwork methods. Apply ideas discussed
in class readings and lectures. Identify international motifs, and compare to
variants found in published sources. Discuss the relations between this legend
and belief. How is this legend related to the worldview of its tellers?
Reference:
·
Motif Index of
Folk Literature, on UW Library's "Databases" page,
<http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/databases/>
·
Jan Brunvand, Baby Train
·
Marjatta Jauhiainen, Type & Motif
Index of Finnish Belief Legends and Memorates
Assignment #3, (4-6 pages. Due December 9. 25
points)
Write an essay about
a folktale of your choice. Apply the methods and ideas discussed in class
readings and lectures. Include a discussion of variants found in published
sources, and interpret its meaning (or meanings).
Reference
(on course reserve):
·
Antti Aarne and Stith
Thompson, Types of the Folktale
·
Stith Thompson, The Folktale
·
Motif Index of
Folk Literature, on UW Library's "Databases" page,
<http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/databases/>
Class Schedule and
Week 1 (Sept
30): Introduction
Th: Introduction. Stories, Storytellers and
Audiences. Jokes
and their meanings.
Week 2 (Oct
5-7): Legends and History
T: Contemporary/Urban Legends.
Scandinavian Folk Belief, 375-392; Vanishing Hitchhiker, 1-73;
*Reference: Baby Train, 325-367.
Th: Folk History
Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend, 317-374;
"Historical Legends and Historical Truth" (C 1-7).
Reference: Motif Index of Folk Literature (on the UW Library’s website,
<http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/databases/> ).
Week 3 (Oct
12-14): Encounters with the other world
T: Legend and Experience.
Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend, 43-81;
"A New Approach to the 'Old Hag'" (C 9-15); “Legend Tellers” (C 17-26)
Th: Death and return of the dead.
Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend, 87-125;
"Visits to the Realm of the Dead" (C 27-35)
Week 4 (Oct
19-21): Unworldly Powers
T: Everyday Magic; Evil among us.
Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend, 131-200 and 281-296,
"Legend and Belief" (C 43-58)
Th: The Supernatural World.
Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend, 299-313 and 205-275;
“Belief in the Legend Climate” (C 36-42)
Week 5 (Oct
26-28): Continuity in Legend Traditions
T:The Supernatural World, continued. Summary
Discussion; paper presentations.
"UFO Abduction Reports" (C 59-71);
"Ostension" (C 73-84).
Th: Paper presentations, continued. Introduction to Folktale
Studies.
Folktale, pp. 3-10 & 406-412.
Week 6 (Nov
2-4): Classic Tales and Interpretations
T: The beginnings of folktale research. Folktales
and Myth.
"Little Red Riding Hood" (Variants by Perrault and Grimm)
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0333.html;
International Folkloristics, 1-7 and 31-35;
“Interpretation of Fairy Tales” (C 85-91);
*Folktale 367-390.
Th: Psychological Interpretations of Myth and Tale: Ideas from
Sigmund Freud.
"Sleeping Beauty" (variants in 1001 Nights, Basile)
*optional: variants by Perrault & Grimm)
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0410.html;
International Folkloristics, 177-195;
"The Relation of Jokes to Dreams and to the Unconscious" (C 103-116);
“Interpretation of Fairy Tales (C 93-101); Folktale 93-97.
Week 7 (Nov
9): Traveling Tales
T: Historic-Geographic Folktale Studies.
International Folkloristics, 37-45 and 137-151;
"The Enchanted Brahman's Son" (Panchatantra)
and "King Lindorm"
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/snake.html (*optional: other variants on this website);
“Several Versions of One Tale Type” (C 117-126)
Folktale 97-102, *391-405.
Th: Veterans Day
Week 8 (Nov
16-18): Folktale Art and Artists
T: Form and Structure of the Magic Tale.
International Folkloristics, 83-97 and 119-130;
"The Three Swords" (C 127-136)
Th: Folktale Narrators.
International Folkloristics, 73-82;
"The Soldier and the Devils" (G.E. Medvedev,
recorded by Sokolovs); "Ivan Tsarevich"
(Two variants, narrated by N.O.Vinokurova and E.I. Sorokovikov, recorded by Azadovsky)
(C 137-152)
"I Don't Know" (narrated by Zsuzsanna Palko, recorded by Degh) (C 153-175);
*Folktale 449-461; *Folktales and Society, pp 63-119. .
Week 9 (Nov 23):
Five Scandinavian Storytellers
T: Stories of Austad, All the
World's Reward, 13-117;
*Thompson 188-271;
Th: Thanksgiving Day
Week 10 (Nov
30-Dec 2): Women and Men Telling Stories
T: Stories of Hansen, All the
World's Reward, 121-200;
*Folktales and Society, 165-186.
Th: Stories of Glader and Backstrom, All the World's Reward,
203-261
Week 11 (Dec
7-9): Storytelling Today
T: Stories of Jonasdottir, All the World's Reward, 265-310;
Holbek, “Conclusion” (C 117-180)
Th: Conclusion. Storytelling today. Paper presentations.
“Once upon a Time beyond Disney” (C 181-192);
"Storytelling Revival"; "Five Interviews with Storylisteners" (C 193-209).
Friday, December 17,