Unpacking World Folk-literature: Thompson's Motif Index, ATU's Tale Type Index, Propp's Functions and Lévi-Strauss's Structural Analysis for folk tales found around the world
Explore the motifs, tale types, Propp functions and mythemes of world folk-literature, with example motifs and tales.
Curated and compiled from several sources by Shawn Urban.
Unpacking Folk Tales
Lévi-Strauss Structural Analysis
Definitions
Across many folk tales,
- Motifs are persistent, indivisible and defining narrative elements or story details.
- Tale types are recurring, self-sufficient plots or motif groupings.
- Propp functions are common, ordered, principal kernels of story-plot.
- Mythemes are minimal contextual analogies that expose subjective culture-specific meanings.