The primary objective of this M. A. thesis is to correct some false assumptions found in both older and more recent secondary literature on North American Indian narratives. Many folklorists base their folktale criteria on terms of cultural differences instead of similarities which results in an ethnocentric point of view that holds the Grimms' Kinder- und Hausmarchen as a standard against which all other folktale collections falls short. If we want to strive for a world view that will embrace all types of literature, while respecting the individuality of each culture, then we must focus on the essential similarities among world literatures and not the differences. The purpose of using another culture as a comparison, such as that of the North American Indians, is to question the ethnocentric definitions of folktales and fairy tales which have often been too rigid. Perhaps those cultural values exhibited by North American Indian folktales could prove to be beneficial to the world's multi-cultural society, in that these values could enrich and rejuvenate some Western values, such as respect for animals and the environment. These values may offer solutions to urgent contemporary world problems. Through a comparative analysis of the animal suitor motif found in the Grimms' fairy tales and North American Indian folktales, I hope to call attention to the stark cross-cultural similarities in universal folklore and to bring to light the multiplicity of cultural values which are deeply rooted in fairy tales and folklores around the world.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen, 1923. / Includes bibliographical references.

Inaug.-diss.--Leipzig. / Lebenslauf. "Literaturverzeichnis": p. 98-106.

Thesis (doctoral)--Université Toulouse Le Mirail, 1998. / Cover title. Volume 2 consists of text of all 101 tales in French. Includes bibliographical references (v. 1, 227-229).

Thesis--Zagreb, 1961. / Summary in German. Includes bibliographical references.

This article takes up the challenge of comparative research in Africa by analysing and comparing the oral art of West African griots and Southern African iimbongi or oral poets. Similarities and differences between these performers and their respective societies are highlighted through the use of an ethnographic methodology. A distinction is drawn between the more traditional performers such as Thiam Anchou and D.L.P. Yali-Manisi, and the more modern performers such as M’Bana Diop, Bongani Sitole and Zolani Mkiva. The rich use of genealogy and history in the more traditional performances is highlighted. In comparing the work of the more contemporary, urban poets such as M’bana Diop of Senegal and Zolani Mkiva from Southern Africa, similarities are found in their performances on post-independence leaders such as Senghor and Mandela. Political pressures which have been brought to bear on the performer are also discussed. This article explores the continuity between the past and the present in relation to aspects such as the following: how performers gain recognition, their continued survival, their relationship with politics and religion, the orality- literacy debate, and the stylistic techniques used by these performers. Wherever possible, examples of performers and their work are provided.

This thesis examines Ngugi wa Thiong'o's later writings in order to establish the nature of his quest for a people's literature. It illustrates how the author attempts to break the barriers between traditional oral forms and the relatively new written forms in addressing a basically "illiterate" audience. The research begins with an exploration of Gikuyu oral literature as an essential background to Ngugi's later dramatic and fictional writings as distinct from his earlier literary works in which he initiates the dominant quest for a more just society. Ngugi's return to these roots constitutes the central "homecoming" that characterizes his search for new forms. The analysis is conducted through three significant chronological stages representing Ngugi's writings over a period of about a decade from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. Each stage starts with a play and performance followed by a parallel novel, the first pair written in English and the subsequent ones in Gikuyu. The three stages - designated Transition, Homecoming and Realization - mark Ngugi's involvement in the promotion of Gikuyu culture and orature, both as a source of inspiration and as a cause to which he fully dedicates himself. The transitional stage depicts the convergence between conventional and traditional oral literary forms with which Ngugi begins to experiment. The second stage introduces significant departures as Ngugi begins to use the Gikuyu language as his primary medium of creative expression. The final stage demonstrates his ultimate assertion of the primacy of orality over the written word as a dynamic agent of transmission. The thesis concludes that Ngugi wa Thiong'o in these later works - while leaving the possibilities of his vision of a "New Earth" unfulfilled pioneers the African writers' climb down from an "ivory tower" to deal with the realities of the experience of the predominantly non-reading African masses, acknowledged as both recipients of and active participants in the relatively new written literature which purports to speak for their experiences and their times.

M.A. (French) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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In 1834, Belinsky melodramatically proclaimed, “We have no literature”. He was far from alone; similar sentiments are echoed in numerous critical essays and articles of the 1820s and 30s. These dire assessments of the state of Russian literature reflect the urgent concern the question of national identity had become to intellectuals of the period in the first few decades of the nineteenth century. In the wake of its victory in the Napoleonic War, Russia had won considerable military and political power in Europe. Culturally, however, there was a palpable sense of insecurity vis-a-vis Western Europe. Critics and writers bemoaned the derivative nature of Russian literature, calling for the creation of a national literature that would reflect the unique essence of the Russian national character. The means by which a sense of Russianness or “narodnost’” could be created in literature would become a central concern and topic of debate for writers and critics of the first four decades of the nineteenth century. Folklore was thought to be one way of producing the desired narodnost’. Based on German Romantic theories of nationalism, particularly those of Herder, it was argued that the “folk poetry” of the simple people retained a pure form of the national spirit untainted by foreign influence. It was to this folk poetry that many writers turned in their attempts to create a national literature. There were attempts to create works that imitated folk ballads, songs, and fairy tales as well as incorporating folkloric elements in larger literary works. This period also saw the early efforts to collect authentic examples of folklore from among the people - Pushkin ranks among these early collectors as well as Kireevsky. The practice of introducing elements of folklore into high literature was more complicated, however, than the theory would have one believe. Rather than being the unadulterated voice of the Russian nation taken directly from the people, the “folklore” that appeared in literary texts during this period was more often than not an amalgamation of many influences from both high and low literature and both foreign and native sources. Indeed, it would probably be more productive to think of the folkloric elements of literary texts in this period as being more representations of folklore than as “authentic” folklore. In this dissertation I will examine how writers, through the figure of their various narrators, interact with the folk material of their narratives. My analysis will focus on Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol and Vladimir Dal. My emphasis will be on analyzing how narrators situate themselves in relation to the folk elements of the text and how their attitudes dramatize the various issues and problems that arise from the gentry writer’s encounter with the cultural other represented by the folk. In my exploration of folklore in Pushkin’s works, I trace the development of his relationship with folklore from one of the earliest of his works, Ruslan and Liudmila, through the middle years of his career, represented by Eugene Onegin, where he makes his most explicit statement about Russian national identity. I conclude with a consideration of his fairytales, which were written towards the end of his artistic career. Through these works, I trace the shift of Pushkin’s narrator’s stance from a position of relative distance from the folkloric elements of his narrative toward a greater sense of identification with his folkloric material. The chapter on Gogol is devoted to the first volume of his Evenings on a Farm Near Dikan’ka. My focus will be on how the figure of the author is splintered and diluted as editor Rudy Panko presents the reader with stories he heard from storytellers in his village, who in turn, heard their stories from still other storytellers, leading to series of nested storytellers. I will also examine how these various storytellers display an array of attitudes toward their folk narratives and how these relationships are enacted in the text. My final chapter is devoted to Vladimir Dahl and his First Five collection of folk tales. I will consider the significance of Dahl’s ideas about the centrality of the language of the common Russian people for the construction of a national identity and how these ideas found expression in his folk tales. As with the other chapters, my focus will be on the figure of the narrator and how his attitudes toward the folkloric elements of his tales form an image of Russian national identity. I hope to show through these explorations how the writer’s engagement with folklore contributed to the image of the Russia and the construction of Russian national identity in nineteenth century literature.