130122 SE Bachelorarbeit: The Folktale: Comparative Studies (2014S)

"Once upon a time," many folktales begin, and a study of the many ways they have been studied could begin likewise. This course will explore specific types of the folktale in all their complexity, following the classic Aarne-Thompson-Üther tale type index. We shall examine issues of form, content and performance in tales like those commonly known as "Cinderella", "Snow White" and "The Dragon Slayer", using approaches ranging from the psychoanalytic (Sigmund Freud, Alan Dundes) to the structural (Vladimir Propp, Claude Levi-Strauss) to the semiotic (Claude Bremond, Algirdas Greimas) to the contextual (Milman Parry/Albert Lord, Nicole Belmont). Our main emphasis, however, will be on cross-cultural comparison of European, Near Eastern, and African tales using the central concepts of tale type and motif.