While doing some research on Don Tumasonis's "The Swing", I did not find a lot about the actual story, but I got started thinking about an interesting question - where should the line be drawn between fantasy and folklore? When I was reading the story, there were obviously fantasy elements within, but they were based on like ancient Native American legends.
So is there a line between what is fantasy and what is folklore?
I did some more research, and now I don't think so. I think they are separate entities, although a lot of folklore involves some fantasy elements. Folklore specifically involves stories passed down orally for many years, while fantasy is everything we described it as at the beginning of the semester. At least, that's the conclusion I've come to. Here's a website I stumbled upon, that while random, was useful.
http://www.ccsd.edu/link/LMS/GENRE/folklore.htm
What do ya'll think?
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I definitely agree where you are going with this. Folklore is filled with morals and history for different societies. A lot of Native American folklore is simply considered part of their history although it does contain some purely fantastical elements. For example the Native American trickster tales are completely unrealistic and even humorous at times, but they are almost regarded like stories in the Bible are regarded by Christian societies.
ReplyDeleteGood question. Perhaps it was your own native american roots, Kayla, that inspired you to ponder this? (haha)
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree necessarily, but I do think that there is at least some form of line between what is fantasy and what is folklore. It is clear that whatever is folklore, is fantasy, but not everything that is fantasy is folklore. You said this basically when you said you think they are infact, separate entities, so then perhaps you actually think there is a line that separates them afterall.
Unlike fantasy, folklore is always characterized by certain traits that it alone has in comparison to the former: no known author, passed from generation to generation, stemming from oral tradition, having a universal theme, etc. With these characteristics, perhaps a better question is: Is there a line between what is folklore and what is legend? Those two seem slightly more similar to me, but then again, I say this based on how I personally defined fantasy earlier.
Whenever I hear folklore, I always do instantly think of those Anansi classics (besides being good reads, there were also some good Wishbone episodes on them....win). I think it is odd that something like The Three Little Pigs was considered folklore, as i have never thought of it as such, but it does fit the definition.
As a random sidenote...has anyone ever played the PS3 game "Folklore"? I would consider it the PS3 version of the x-box game "Fable"....haha, go figure. Worth it though, if you enjoy those things