Reading Reflection
Defined by the Marion Webster's Dictionary folklore is “traditional customs, tales, sayings, dances, or art forms preserved among a people” While, a folktale is “a characteristically anonymous, timeless, and placeless tale circulated orally among a people”. In my mind folktales are explanations or knowledge that your ancestors would prefer to be passed on forever and ever. Before there was the written word there was a fire through which warmed us all, and around that fire, we spread tales to teach the children values and lessons that they can take with them into the dark unknown.
I have personally always been fascinated by Oral storytelling. Even as an English language arts teacher I believed that having a deeper understanding of varying folklore and how they come into today's society was critically important. Take for example the story of “the emperor's new clothes”
This story humorously tells us of an emperor being tricked by two conmen and no one in his village except for a child has the bravery to stand up and speak the truth. It describes a situation where people are afraid to criticize something or someone because they want to be a part of the crowd they are stuck as bistandards. it goes deeply with what is happening in the Modern Age of everyone seeing things on social media and instead of standing up to the crowd they instead will silence themselves and participate in cancel culture instead of speaking for what they truly believe to be right.
Now to head into the 21st century a new understanding of what it means for something to be a folktale needs to be considered. Tales are art forms passed down among people and their interpersonal language is used to convey new ideas. So going forward with our ever-evolving language be it the "lavender language" or the "African American vernacular" the internet is having an increased power over what is being shared and used. New folk tales and new folklore is being invented in the digital age.
In the video, Leanne McNeil, a folklorist, talks about digital culture and belief as they move us away from having just thought that folklore is this old, rustic thing into now having us understand the nature of folklore in digital culture as communication and informational technologies like phones, tablets, and computers and social media platforms take Center stage.
As I look at them, That I would love to analyze different fables, folktales, and fairy, tales paying close attention to their original meaning and context and then bringing that forward into the modern era maybe with a BIPOC Focus. To kind of analyze how these stories and their messages can be relevant to today's youth and our World At Large!
Looking at the historic preservation and presentation of cultural mythoi like folklore, mythology, and the various tales that stand somewhere along the spectrum I hope that this blog to be a place where I can start to do the basic work of analyzing those and seeing what should come next.
Read List
Picture books
1. Blueberries for Sal
2. The Lorax
3. Stone Soup
4. Miss Nelson Is Missing!
5. The Story of Ferdinand
Fables
1. THE HOUSE DOG AND THE WOLF
2. THE ELEPHANT'S CHILD
3. THE BEAR AND THE TWO TRAVELERS
4. CHEESE FOR DINNER
5. THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF
Fairy tales
1. Peter Pan
2. Cinderella
3. The Three Little Pigs
4. Hansel and Gretel
5. Little Red Riding Hood
References
Little Cozy Nook. (2019, January 19). The Emperor’s
New Clothes READ ALOUD book for Children - Classic Tales for Kids [Video].
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyIFXsGJgcI
Merriam-webster. (n.d.-a). folklore. The
Merriam-Webster.Com Dictionary. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/folklore
Merriam-webster. (n.d.-b). folktale. The
Merriam-Webster.Com Dictionary. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/folktale
TEDx Talks. (2015, December 18). Folklore doesn’t meme
what you think it memes | Lynne McNeill | TEDxUSU [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBDJ2UJpKt4&feature=youtu.be
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