Folk and Fairy Tales

Personally, Professor Zaru was one of my favorite presentations we have had this semester! I think she was a very personable, honest, creative, and sweet woman. Furthermore, she developed my knowledge of the Arabic culture far more than any of the other speakers, which I thoroughly enjoyed! One fact Professor Zaru stated was that the Arabian communities think of the community first, instead of themselves (personal aspirations come after family wealth, prosperity, fortune). What makes the Arabic stories special is that they began with oral storytellers sitting in the towns, telling stories to the local shoppers until eventually, they got so good that they were paid for it. I also liked how the stories began with “Kan ya ma kan” (it was or it wasn’t) which was unique, just like the Kenyan introduction and the English introduction of simply, “once upon a time.” By asking “it was or it wasn’t,” it allows the listener to become engaged with the story immediately, because they are provoke...

Personally, I found Margaret Lyngdoh’s presentation insightful and enlightening! When I first heard that we were going to be listening to a presentation from a professor from India, I was so excited, and then I discovered it was about possession, and I was even more curious since the topic is so different and out-there. When Margaret Lyngdoh started talking about the different types of possession—from snake to tiger—it made me question if the people really believed they turned into the animal, or if it was just a spiritual, mindful thing where they take on the aspects of the animal. However, this whole possession, doing weird things reminded me a lot about all of the evil characters in fairy tales—including all of the evil queens such as in “Snow White” and the Sea Witch in the “Little Mermaid” and the witch in “Hansel and Gretel.” I believe that deep down, people are good, and that it is these difficult and troubling experiences that shape a person and turn them into what they are...

Personally, when I think of the question “how are Native-American stories distinctively different from those of European origins, and what makes them unique?” I instantly think that as a whole, humanities stories aren’t all that different. Moreover, I can think of four reasons why humans tell stories: evolutionary, emotional, human, and supernatural reasons. While every tale is told because of one of these four reasons, the story themselves is what sets all of them apart. For example, for the evolutionary reason deals with how to survive, thrive, and procreate (this can also include cautionary tales) and can be seen in the American Indian tale, “How Men and Women Got Together,” where it is discretely implied that procreation is caused by this act that makes the people smile and be happy. This can also be seen in Angela Carter’s European tale, “The Tiger’s Bride” where the woman’s transformation into a tiger is symbolized as both sex and birth. Now, the emotional/personal reason als...

Today I am writing a review on Akire Gaines’ blogs from week seven, five, and four! First, I’d like to state that her blogs are very aesthetically pleasing, easy to read, and enjoyable; she gives a lot of new insights that I have not considered before. The Week Seven blog was very nicely written, and I loved the picture she chose to add (it looks like it was an African tribe/community sitting around a fire and telling stories). Akire chose to write about the guest-speaker, Dr. Ochieng’ K’Olewe—a Kenyan storyteller and professor here at McDaniel. I really liked the part where she added that while his stories were good, she couldn’t really relate to the hardships from her own life to the stories—which I think is a great point. The lives of people in Africa are different from the lives we lead here in America, and therefore, our struggles, experiences, and communities, and legends/fairytales/folktales are all different. Akire’s Week Five blog was on “Sonne”. I really enjoyed how Akire r...

Two fairy tales that we have read lately have children as the hero of the fairy tale! This includes “Little Thumbling” by Charles Perrault, and “Hansel and Gretel” by Brothers Grimm. Freud came up with a concept that everyone’s psyche is made up of three aspects: an ID, ego, and a superego. Freud stated that the ID is primarily (and frankly, only) concerned with satisfying human needs and wants efficiently and timely. The superego is where the human morals are stored, this is the one that tells you to be a good person, to do the right thing. And finally, the ego is the special one that performs a balancing act between the demanding, self-centered ID, and the righteous, do-no-wrong superego. In Charles Perrault’s “Little Thumbling,” the audience can observe all three parts of the human psyche portrayed. For example, the ogre may be an ID element! The ogre only desires to eat the boys, which leads him to accidentally kill his own daughters. This want/need to satisfy that feeling o...

In class on Tuesday, we had the pleasure of having guest speaker Dr. Ochieng’ K’Olewe! I was very excited when I realized he was going to be telling us stories from his own culture. My favorite story he told happened to be the one where the monkey was throwing the mangoes and coconuts in the water only to make friends with a shark. Kenyan folk and fairy tales are unique because they all (at least the ones he told) were surrounded by nature and animals) instead of princesses and other royalty. Furthermore, the different types of nature and animals were used to teach lessons to the people listening—a lot of times regarding being selfless, kind, and accepting. Dr. Ochieng' K'Olewe said that African orature is a part of people’s ecology, which conveys their communities, origin, and social foundation. He compared folklores/tales to a “fabric” because you cannot unweave the folktale from the culture’s history, geography, music, and religion; they are all intertwined and connec...