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Keeping Myths, Legends and Folktales Alive

  • 10/09/2024
  • 19:00-20:30
  • online talk

Keeping Myths, Legends and Folktales Alive

A Folklore Society online talk

by Rosalind Kerven

Tuesday 10 September, 19:00 BST [NB: later start time than usual]

The Folklore Society describes the study of folktales, fairy tales, myths and legends as vital aspects of folklore and tradition. This talk will consider whether they are simply historical curiosities – or living, organic entities which are still being developed today. Rosalind will use examples from her numerous books of world traditional stories to illustrate the various issues raised.

  • What exactly are folktales, fairy tales, myths and legends? What is the difference between the various categories
  • Do they belong exclusively to the country or people from which they originate; or are they part of universal human culture?
  • How can the researcher / re-teller identify the most ‘authentic’ versions of such stories?
  • Should they be studied as historical entities set in stone? Or should folklorists encourage their continuing development in the modern age, as new people from each generation retell them?
  • How should the re-teller adapt the ‘original’ version of the story for modern audiences?
  • If the story was collected directly from an oral recount, how should this translate to a written version? Should it be reproduced verbatim, even when that makes it difficult to digest on the page; or should it be reworked into a more ‘literary’ format?
  • What are the ethical aspects of retelling traditional tales? For example, when working with a story from a different historical era, should the re-teller omit or change aspects which offend modern sensibilities? Is it acceptable for someone from one culture to retell stories from a totally different culture?

Rosalind Kerven is an independent scholar who has been working with world myths, legends and folktales for over 40 years, and most of her 70+ books published in 22 countries are in that genre. She started off with retellings for children, but now writes full-length collections for adults, meticulously researched from the oldest archives. These have been highly praised by reviewers in The Times Literary Supplement, The Independent, Grammarye and the Folklore Society’s own journal, Folklore. Her website is workingwithmythsandfairytales.blogspot.com

Tickets £6.00 (£4.00 for Folklore Society members with Promo Code–just log in to https://folklore-society.com/members-only to get the Promo Code) from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/keeping-myths-legends-and-folk-tales-alive-tickets-989134847957?

iPhone/iPad users: in-App purchases from Eventbrite are not currently possible through the Eventbrite app on Apple devices, so please copy-paste this link into your browser to purchase a ticket: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/keeping-myths-legends-and-folk-tales-alive-tickets-989134847957?

Every ticket sold helps to support the work of The Folklore Society

Image: Medley of Illustrations from some of Rosalind Kerven’s collections of world myths, legends and folk tales.