sub+genres+of+tradtional+literature

=What are the sub genres of traditional literature?=

Traditional Literature is also referred to as Folklore or Folk Literature. It encompasses the rituals, customs, superstitions, and manners of a particular group that are passed orally or in writing from generation to generation. There are several subgenres of traditional literature. These subgenres include: fairytales, folktales, Mother Goose rhymes, legends, myths, proverbs, epics, and fables.

Folktales are generally tied to and reflect another culture. According to some definitions, folktales encompass epics, ballads, legends, folksongs, myths, and fables. Fables are very short folktales with animals as the main character and a very obvious moral lesson, often summed up in a single line at the end. For example, Aesop’s Fables is a collection of fables supposedly written by the Greek storyteller Aesop, although many scholars debate this. Included in this collection is the tale of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” which carries the moral lesson that if we tell lies, nobody will believe us when we speak the truth. Epic and heroic legend stories stemmed from mythology, but humans became the heroes, such as in “Iliad” and “Odyssey.”

Folktales can also be broken down into cumulative tales, pourquoi tales, beast tales, wonder tales, and realistic tales. Cumulative tales are characterized by repetition and rhythm. Some examples of cumulative tales include, “The Gingerbread Man” (Run, run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man) and “The Little Red Hen” (Not I).

The point is not that we have to figure out which group any particular story belongs in; these stories often overlap and many stories fit into several categories. It is just helpful to realize that a wide variety of traditional literature is out there.

Aylesworth, Jim. //The Gingerbread Man//. New York, NY: Scholastic Press, 1998. Print. Galdone, Paul. //The Little Red Hen//. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1973. Print. Homer. //The Odyssey//. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. Print. Homer. //The Iliad//. New York: Penguin Books, 2003. Print. Morgan, Mia. “Traditional Literature.” PowerPoint presentation for LBS 803. Fall 2009. Pinkney, Jerry. //Aesop's Fables//. San Francisco, CA: Seastar Books, 2000. Print. Taylor, Eric. //Using folktales//. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print.