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Oct 17, 2024 · Proverb, succinct and pithy saying in general use, expressing commonly held ideas and beliefs. Proverbs are part of every spoken language and are related to such other forms of folk literature as riddles and fables that have originated in oral tradition. Comparisons of proverbs found in various.
- Study, collection, and preservation
Folk literature - Proverbs, Riddles, Charms: Three of the...
- Folk Literature
folk literature, the lore (traditional knowledge and...
- Study, collection, and preservation
- Overview
- Proverbs, riddles, and charms
- Children’s use of folk literature
- Study, collection, and preservation
Three of the shorter forms of folk literature—proverbs, riddles, and charms—are not confined to oral expression but have appeared in written literature for a very long time. The proverb that expresses in terse form a statement embodying observations about the nature of life or about wise or unwise conduct may be so much an oral tradition as to serve in some preliterate societies as a sanction for decisions and may even be employed as lawyers employ court precedents. In literature it dominates certain books of the Old Testament and is found even earlier in Sumerian writings. There has been a continual give and take between oral and written proverbs so that the history of each item demands a special investigation.
While the proverb makes a clear and distinct statement, the purpose of the riddle is usually to deceive the listener about its meaning. A description is given and then the answer is demanded as to what has been meant. Among examples in literature are the riddle of the sphinx in Sophocles and the Anglo-Saxon riddles, based on earlier Latin forms. In oral literature the riddle may be part of a contest of wits. But even if the answer is known, the listeners enjoy hearing them over and over. In Western culture the riddle is especially cultivated by children.
Three of the shorter forms of folk literature—proverbs, riddles, and charms—are not confined to oral expression but have appeared in written literature for a very long time. The proverb that expresses in terse form a statement embodying observations about the nature of life or about wise or unwise conduct may be so much an oral tradition as to serve in some preliterate societies as a sanction for decisions and may even be employed as lawyers employ court precedents. In literature it dominates certain books of the Old Testament and is found even earlier in Sumerian writings. There has been a continual give and take between oral and written proverbs so that the history of each item demands a special investigation.
While the proverb makes a clear and distinct statement, the purpose of the riddle is usually to deceive the listener about its meaning. A description is given and then the answer is demanded as to what has been meant. Among examples in literature are the riddle of the sphinx in Sophocles and the Anglo-Saxon riddles, based on earlier Latin forms. In oral literature the riddle may be part of a contest of wits. But even if the answer is known, the listeners enjoy hearing them over and over. In Western culture the riddle is especially cultivated by children.
During their play activities, children not only play old games but repeat counting-out rhymes and retain play-party songs that have long ceased to be a part of adult activity in Western culture. Although the knowledge of those matters is available to children in their books, in actual practice it is passed on by word of mouth or by imitation, and t...
As abundant as folk literature is and has been, its investigation has been seriously undertaken only within the past two or three centuries. The principal difficulty has been the assembling of material on which to base such studies. Its very oral nature makes it impossible for one person to be acquainted firsthand with more than an extremely small part of this activity. It is only when some sort of written record has been made of the oral material that any general studies are possible.
For the still unlettered peoples, the reports of ethnologists and anthropologists, as a part of their general studies of the cultures of widely distributed groups, have often given good accounts of folk literature and have frequently furnished texts of material they heard. Though these reports are extremely uneven and often fragmentary, they do give a sampling of the literary expression of many and diverse parts of the world.
When attention is shifted to the ancient world before the use of writing, scholars are almost entirely dependent on analogies from the unlettered groups just mentioned. It will never be known what tales were told or what songs were sung by the builders of the Egyptian pyramids or the temples in Sumer, but it seems fair to assume that even then these peoples were not silent. Of course it must be remembered that they did eventually develop a written literature, so that the analogy with modern unlettered peoples may not be completely valid.
For folk literature since the development of writing, scholars are dependent on several things. There may be specific references in literary documents to the existence of particular tales or songs and often to their manner of production. The Old Testament is a good source for these, and both the Odyssey and Beowulf contain good pictures of the performances of folk minstrels and bards.
Many collections of folktales and legends, of lyric and heroic songs, and of riddles and proverbs have been recovered directly from popular tradition within the past three or four centuries. When the collection of this material began, it was nearly always rewritten in the prevailing literary fashion. Excellent examples of such rewritten tales will be found in the collections of the 17th-century Italian Giambattista Basile, the 17th-century Frenchman Charles Perrault, and various German writers such as Johann Karl August Musäus and Clemens Brentano in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The Brothers Grimm with their Kinder und Hausmärchen (1812–15) have as their ideal the exact recording of tales as heard from oral tellers, though it is clear that many stories in their famous work are not folk literature at all. In the same way, collections of folk songs and ballads were severely edited well into the 19th century.
Partly as a result of the Romantic Movement in literature and partly because of the interest in primitivism and the common folk, the recording of all sorts of songs and oral tales since about 1800 has been phenomenal. Increasingly scholars attempt to recover material as it actually exists. Many thousands of volumes are to be found in great libraries that give a good sampling of folk literature in all parts of the world; and large regional or national archives have been established, many of them containing hundreds of thousands of items available for study. All these books and manuscripts have become increasingly valuable as the techniques of collecting have progressed from casual longhand notes and rewritings through various stages to mechanical recording on discs and tapes. With mechanical recording, it has become possible to assemble properly attested literary folk material from all parts of the world. This improved collecting has proceeded at an impressive pace and makes possible comparative studies of all kinds, based on the oral record.
- Stith Thompson
folk literature, the lore (traditional knowledge and beliefs) of cultures having no written language. It is transmitted by word of mouth and consists, as does written literature, of both prose and verse narratives, poems and songs, myths, dramas, rituals, proverbs, riddles, and the like. Nearly all known peoples, now or in the past, have ...
- Stith Thompson
A proverb is a brief, simple, and popular saying, or a phrase that gives advice and effectively embodies a commonplace truth based on practical experience or common sense. A proverb may have an allegorical message behind its odd appearance. The reason of popularity is due to its usage in spoken language, as well as in folk literature.
This ancient literature, carried from one generation to the next by word of mouth, consisted of poems, prose narratives, myths and legends, dramas, proverbs, riddles, and other forms, all of which are called folklore. Until about 4000 bc all literature was folk literature.
Jun 10, 2024 · The history of folk literature is rich, vast, and varied. It encompasses the entirety of human history, and includes the very first stories humans told each other to make sense of the world around them. As part of folklore, which may be understood as “the knowledge of the people,” folk literature usually refers to the narratives and stories ...
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Mar 1, 2024 · The three types of short forms of folk literature: proverbs, riddles, and charms are not limited to oral tradition; however, they have been evident in writing for an extended period. The
