The present thesis examines Japanese folktales through a comparative case study of the tale elements of Fiskarpojken Urashima (The fisher-boy Urashima) in the Swedish children’s book Japanska sagor (Japanese tales) written by Ida Trotzig, published in 1912. The book was part of the book series Barnbiblioteket Saga (The Children’s Tale Library). Trotzig’s tale version is compared to historic and contemporary versions of the tale in Japanese, English and Swedish. The comparative tale elements include motifs defined by the author and classified according to Stith Thompson’s motif classes, structural and formal tale elements, and motifs of the religious substrata defined by McKeon. The time period studied includes the birth of Japanese folklore studies, the Russo-Japanese War with a growing interest for Japan in the West and the influx of Western ideas in Japan. Japanska sagor was published around the time when the Urashima tale was added to the National readers by Japan’s Ministry of Education and the narrative was changed, omitting the original love story. Both narratives are represented in the non-Japanese versions from this time, and still today. Trotzig’s version follows the historic narrative that included a love story and shows relatively many romantic elements in comparison to the significant Japanese tale versions recorded during the last millennium. Trotzig’s version contains two new added romantic and emotional elements at the end of the story and the princess was given a new name, Urana No. Trotzig’s version includes all four original motifs of the basic religious substratum and at least four of the nine motifs of the ōo (romantic) substratum, as defined by McKeon. The age of the tale elements can in several cases be traced back to the 8th century texts. Trotzig’s version shares almost all of the compared tale elements with the Hasegawa/Chamberlain version (1886).

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The purpose of the study was to identify the gender-related themes from a cultural discourse in order to determine how gender is constructed in African society. The study specifically examines the Maragoli Folktale. The Maragoli people mainly inhabit the western part of Kenya and are a sub-tribe of the larger Luhyia community. The Luhyia community is the second largest community in Kenya. The study attempts to uncover how gender is constructed through the examination of dominant themes, characterization, images, symbols, formulaic patterns and formalities of composition and performance in the Maragoli folktales at the time of performance. Based on an eclectic conceptual framework, the study takes into consideration gender theories, feminist literary perspectives, psychoanalysis and discourse analysis paradigms to critically examine the tales as a semiotic system of signification grounded within an African social cultural milieu. The folktales are analysed as a symbolic and ideological discourse of signs encoded by the performer and decoded by the audience at the time of performance. The study therefore situates the tale firmly at the time of performance, taking into consideration the interaction between the performer and the audience in the dissemination and internalization of gender ideology. While establishing that patriarchal structures and values are transmitted through the tales, the study also reveals the methods and interventions that the mainly female performers advance as active agents in their struggle for space within the culture. Women are, therefore, perceived as active agents of change and the folktale as a site from which gender ideology is discussed, contested and subverted. The study is based on a corpus of twenty (20) folktales collected from the Maragoli country in Western Province of Kenya (See maps, Appendix B.) The English versions of the tales appear in appendix A. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)

Narrative therapy provides an opportunity for children to identify what is important to them. The aim of therapy in this research is to open up space for Nguni speaking children, who in their culture, are not allowed to express their feelings freely. The researcher has found that stories allow children an opportunity to realise that they are all human and that we have come through a process where we have to acknowledge that our existence today is largely dependent on the fact that we are not denying our stories as Nguni speaking people. From looking at the results of study, it would appear that these children have benefited from the therapy sessions. From three clients a sense of pride and self-worth was often evident at the end of a session and the overall comment made was that each one felt far better than when they had started the sessions. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (specialisation in Guidance and Counseling)

The northern province of Sweden has in both literature and film been depictured as something foreign and mythical, unlike the rest of the country. It has been my purpose to show in this essay that the systematic categorization of Norrland and its literature reveals multiple criteria known to define the colonial era. By reading the novel Stallo by author Stefan Spjut with postcolonial structures in mind I aim to show how the author uses Swedish mythology and through the presence of The Other criticizes colonial structures in place to this day. By examining the gothic atmosphere I intend to indicate how the trolls in the novel figures as both a horror element as well as a representation of nature itself. It is my belief that the author by further reinforcing the mythological in relation to Norrland addresses the problem at hand. That Norrland is still to this day a colony within its own country. / I Norrland kan ingen höra dig skrika. Det är så det norrländska landskapet har framställts inom både litteratur och film i Sverige. Norrland har genom åren gestaltas som något avlägset och mystiskt, nästintill främmande. Helt olikt resterande delar av landet. Det är min avsikt att visa hur den systematiska kategoriseringen av Norrland och dess litteratur avslöjar flera av de kriterier som per definition beskriver kolonism. Genom en postkolonial läsning av spänningsromanen Stallo (2012), av författaren Stefan Spjut, söker jag visa hur författaren genom svensk folklore och genom en övernaturlig närvaro kan kritisera koloniala strukturer.

東方朔為西漢時期漢武帝人臣，因其博聞閎覽、言詞敏捷、機智聰穎又性格滑稽，而於史籍留名。自漢魏六朝小說文人藝術加工後，其形象漸趨轉變而為天上仙人。今民間傳說中，除了既有的形象延續外，還增添了民俗的色彩，而與民間信仰及節日風俗產生聯繫，豐富了東方朔的傳說體系。據東方朔的形象特質，可將相關傳說分作「機智型」、「博物型」、「神仙型」三類；以故事類型分類，則有「不死酒型」、「推遲死期型」、「神奇受孕型」、「見屈原型」、「老頭子型」、「石子變銀子型」等六類。 結合了文人敘事與民間敘事的東方朔傳說，其敘事型態具有穩定模式。各類型傳說的角色多具備「給主人公出難題」、「難題被解答」的角色功能，而情節皆以「起因──過程──結果」的序列，依時間先後排列，形成單線式、對立式等情節類型。而透過傳說中的環境特質，可反映出求仙風氣鼎盛、迷信讖緯流行、佛教道教大興等社會的時代與風俗背景。 此外，東方朔傳說還照應了民間信仰與節日風俗，如歲星、太白星等星辰的崇拜，算卦、盲藝人、相聲界等行業祖師的信奉，又與元宵節的由來有所依附，則東方朔傳說實豐厚了中國文化特質與民俗風貌。 / Donfang-Shuo, a Western Han Dynasty scholar-official in Emperor Wu period, left a glorious reputation in history for his erudite knowledge, glib tongue, many smart conversations and humorous words and deeds. During the Six Dynasties period, the image of Donfang-Shuo was gradually transformed into the Daoist immortal in Chinese mythology by the literature and arts; he became an immortal legend who had miraculous birth and supernatural powers. Nowadays, along with the continuation of Donfang-Shuo’s existing image, these folktales have been added more connections with folk customs. The connections with folk beliefs, customs and festivals enriched the integrity of the folktales system of Donfang-Shuo. Folktales about Donfang-Shuo could be categorized into six types, including the types of ‘the immortal wine’, ‘changing other’s destiny ’, ‘the unusual phenomenon of birth’, ‘meeting Qu-Yuan’, ‘elders’, and ‘the Midas touch ’. Combining intellectual narration and folk narration, the narrative pattern of the folktales of Donfang-Shuo had certain modes and features. First, most characters in the six types of folktales above had common functions in the plot, including giving tough questions or solving the questions. Second, from the perspective of plot, the stories basically developed by the timeline, following the order of ‘cause-process-consequence’ and then forming the plot of one-way type or confronting positions. Through examining the background features provided by these folktales, the author found the folktales of Dongang-Shuo could reflect the social circumstances and custom background during the Han Dynasty age, the age which was filled with superstitious beliefs, folk customs and the Chinese mythology about Buddhism and Daoism. In addition, Dongfang-Shuo legends also had important influences on folk customs and some festivals. For instance, the belief of his embodiment of ‘Sui’(歲,or Jupiter) and ‘Taibai’(太白,or Venus) led to the worship of the stars, even Donfang-Shuo himeslf was worshiped by lots of fortune tellers and was believed to be one of the earliest ancestors of Daoism. His humorous and wise legends were highly praised by many Chinese story tellers and who worked in Chinese comic dialogues as well. Moreover, Donfang-Shuo had deep relation with the origin of Lantern Festival. To conclude, the folktales system of Donfang-Shuo truly nourished the Chinese culture and enriched the style and features of folk customs.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Communication, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 40-42).

The purpose of the study was to identify the gender-related themes from a cultural discourse in order to determine how gender is constructed in African society. The study specifically examines the Maragoli Folktale. The Maragoli people mainly inhabit the western part of Kenya and are a sub-tribe of the larger Luhyia community. The Luhyia community is the second largest community in Kenya. The study attempts to uncover how gender is constructed through the examination of dominant themes, characterization, images, symbols, formulaic patterns and formalities of composition and performance in the Maragoli folktales at the time of performance. Based on an eclectic conceptual framework, the study takes into consideration gender theories, feminist literary perspectives, psychoanalysis and discourse analysis paradigms to critically examine the tales as a semiotic system of signification grounded within an African social cultural milieu. The folktales are analysed as a symbolic and ideological discourse of signs encoded by the performer and decoded by the audience at the time of performance. The study therefore situates the tale firmly at the time of performance, taking into consideration the interaction between the performer and the audience in the dissemination and internalization of gender ideology. While establishing that patriarchal structures and values are transmitted through the tales, the study also reveals the methods and interventions that the mainly female performers advance as active agents in their struggle for space within the culture. Women are, therefore, perceived as active agents of change and the folktale as a site from which gender ideology is discussed, contested and subverted. The study is based on a corpus of twenty (20) folktales collected from the Maragoli country in Western Province of Kenya (See maps, Appendix B.) The English versions of the tales appear in appendix A. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)

Narrative therapy provides an opportunity for children to identify what is important to them. The aim of therapy in this research is to open up space for Nguni speaking children, who in their culture, are not allowed to express their feelings freely. The researcher has found that stories allow children an opportunity to realise that they are all human and that we have come through a process where we have to acknowledge that our existence today is largely dependent on the fact that we are not denying our stories as Nguni speaking people. From looking at the results of study, it would appear that these children have benefited from the therapy sessions. From three clients a sense of pride and self-worth was often evident at the end of a session and the overall comment made was that each one felt far better than when they had started the sessions. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (specialisation in Guidance and Counseling)

A collection of short stories based on Korean folk and fairy tales.