What are Folktales?

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Traditional stories are narratives with cultural significance and adhere to traditional storytelling rules. They include myths, fables, and fairy tales. Many exist in various forms by different authors, and their origins are often unknown. They have recognizable themes and motifs that are reused by writers and artists. Some scholars use the term to refer to stories that follow conventional narrative practices.

Traditional stories are narratives that have meaning in the cultural history of a given group of people. The term “traditional stories” is also sometimes used to refer to narratives that adhere to traditional storytelling rules and practices, whether or not the story has cultural significance. Traditional stories are often important parts of a given culture’s literary canon. There are many different types of such stories, including myths, fables, epics, fairy tales, and other narrative forms. In many cases, such stories exist in many different forms by a variety of writers; the origin of the story may not even be known with certainty.

In most cases, the traditional stories are quite old. They are significant to the cultural history of a certain group of people and can also provide alternative stories of the origins and deeds of a certain group’s ancestors. Such stories were, in some cases, originally told orally and were not recorded on paper until some time after their original narration. The actual origin of some traditional stories is not known for certain.

Many traditional stories, especially those that have greater cultural significance, exist in many versions by different authors. The story of Faust, which tells of a brilliant scholar dissatisfied with his life who makes a deal with the devil, for example, is a traditional German story that has been told in many different guises throughout history. Literary scholars and historians cannot say for sure when the story originated.

The themes and motifs of traditional stories are easily recognized and are often reused by writers, artists, musicians and scholars. The Faustian deal with the devil, for example, appears in many different works of art. This is especially true in the German artistic tradition in which the Faust story originated. Borrowing one or more themes or motifs from a traditional story tends to bring others to mind. Many writers rely on this fact when borrowing from a traditional story and intend the work to have greater weight and significance due to the literary or artistic tradition behind it.

Scholars may also use the term “traditional stories” to refer to stories that follow conventional narrative practices. Such stories tend to follow normal grammatical rules, follow traditional and chronological story arcs, and focus primarily on details relevant to the narrative itself. Non-traditional stories, in contrast, may follow unusual, non-chronological story arcs and may focus on details that are largely irrelevant to the progression of the narrative itself. In such works, the writer often tries to make a point and create an aesthetic effect that is not directly related to the narrative events.




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