Traditions and Transitions folk narrative in the contemporary world
16-20
July 2001 The University of Melbourne, Australia
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Traditions and Transitions folk narrative in the contemporary world |
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Traditionally, in Japanese folktales, there is no concept of a magician transforming a human being into an animal or other non-human thing. The power of transformation belongs to animals and other natural objects. In this context, in the British ballad The Three Ravens the female deer (who is the knight’s paramour) would be interpreted by traditional Japanese readers of folktales as a real deer that has transformed herself into a human being to become the knight’s wife. However, a recent survey shows that young Japanese today tend to interpret the deer in the same way as British people do: she is either a wife transformed into a deer by a witch, or a poetic device for portraying an ideal wife. This may suggest that the younger generation in Japan is breaking away folkloristically from their traditional world. This paper explores how and why this transition is occurring, and at the same time will present some other problems arising from this new interpretation.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | main abstract index | main congress page |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |