Folk Groups And Folklore Genres: An Introduction

Chapter 6. Folk Narratives

.:. .:. .:. .:. .:. .:. .:. Chapter 6 Folk Narratives Elliott Dring .:. .:. .:. .:. .:. .:. "Narrative" is another word for story. Narrating is a method by which an experience is transformed into a verbal account. Experience is recapitulated by matching a verbal sequence of statements to some sequence of events which is purported to have occurred. For example: (1) At first he refused the drink that she offered. (2) She persisted in her demand that he at least taste it. (3) He finally consented and drained the glass. (4) Suddenly, he felt a searing pain in his stomach. (5) He knew that he had been poisoned. There are, indeed, other ways of communicating this same information which do not depend upon a re-presentation of the temporal sequence of events. For example, "He knew that he had been poisoned when he felt the searing pain in his stomach from draining the drink that she insisted that he taste, but which he had first refused." Although this second formulation is perfectly logical and communicative, we will not consider it a narrative because it does not re-present experience in the order in which the events took place. Maintaining the order ofevents in the verbal recapitulation is basic to our definition of narrative. This distinguishes a narrative from other kinds of event reporting. l A narrative is conceptualized as a whole, not as a mere list ofclauses or sentences. A sentence links words together, whereas a narrative links 121 Elliott Dring actions and events. The individual sentences in our example above could possibly be regarded as a random list ofsentences for parsing in a grammar exercise. However, once we perceive that they are related ("narrate" comes from the Latin word for "relate," a word we also use to characterize the telling of a story), these sentences are transformed into powerful, cognitive and affective verbal organizations. Even in our rather anemic example, the temporal sequence of events assumes significance. Consequently, we may respond to the man's initial refusal of the drink as wise and founded upon a just suspicion, but to his subsequent succumbing to the woman's entreaty as foolish. We surmise that the pain in the man's stomach is the result of a poison which perhaps an evil or vengeful woman has pressed upon him. As a whole, the narrative might imply that people in general, or women (or some particular woman), are dangerous and not to be trusted. However, none of the constituent sentences bear these messages. They can be derived only from a consideration of this narrative sequence as a whole. Note that narrative has the ability to ensnare us. It engages us intellectually and causes us to make demands of it. Why did the woman put poison in the drink? What did the man do when he realized that he was poisoned? Did he survive? What, if any, was his revenge? Narrative has affective import as well. That is, it engages the emotions as well as the mind. We may feel anger, fear, joy, sorrow, suspicion, hope, despair, or triumph - the full range ofhuman emotions. Indeed, narratives may serve as important vehicles to communicate emotion. All in all, a narrative is a medium for communicating experience. Its ability to engage the mind and arouse the emotions greatly depends upon the sensitivity and artistry of the narrator. A good narrator may engage his audience totally, directing or redirecting their thoughts, emotions, and perhaps their future behavior as well. What makes a narrative a "folk" narrative poses a somewhat different question. The notion of folk narrative is based upon a conceptualization of what folklore is, and there is no unanimity among scholars about the basic defining characteristics of folklore. Suffice it to say that folk narratives are generally conceptualized to be those narratives 122 FOLK GROUPS AND FOLKLORE GENRES which circulate primarily in oral tradition and are communicated face'to' face. Since they communicate through oral rather than written channels, such narratives tend to exhibit certain other characteristics: (1) Folk narratives tend to exist in multiple versions. No single text can claim to be the authoritative or "correct" one. Rather, different narrators perform narratives differently in different circumstances. A folk narrative, in other words, must be re'created with each telling. (2) As a result of this process of re'creation, the folk narrative reflects both the past as well as the present. Narrators must draw upon past language, symbols, events, and forms which they...