The Folklore About Storytelling Stone

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In this assignment, I will analyze the folklore about storytelling stone. But first of all, I will describe the definition about folklore itself. Folklore encompasses the customs, games, beliefs, festivals and some practices which human societies have owned through tradition from generation to generation; the literature, performing and non-performing arts, paintings, sculptures, arts and crafts, alpanas; and their related mechanism and designs, which have been handed on by tradition of the societies from previous generations through word of mouth or traditionally by normal means; the patterns of houses, fences, tools, and many other material being used by the societies, as well as those materials, their traditional manufacturing techniques and architectural designs, which the human societies have inherited from their forefathers; the medicines and other objects invented through experimentations and traditional scientific method which passed on as heritage to the societies through generations.

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The process of creation, making, designing and construction of these elements as well as their substance in the societies, has been in operation since ancient times and in a similar manner their transmission diffusion, creation of variants, reshaping and renewal have also been a continuous phenomena since long past.

Some of these elements were handed down through the oral tradition, some through the written method, practice and imitation, some through observation, but all have been the products of tradition. The process of their transmission is still vague in the present day societies and this will remain so in the future to come. A primary emphasize in folklore studies is on tradition.

A second key emphasize in folklore is on those activities that are generated by people themselves, rather than formal institutions. It encompasses myths, legends, jokes, proverbs, fairy tales and folk tales. The term was coined in 1846 by William Thomas who wanted to come up with generic term to encompass the rich oral tradition of culture around the world. Folklore is "compound of folk as in common people and lore as in knowledge or tradition". Folklore is the creation of the ordinary illiterate people. It is normally the creation of an individual, but at times it may be the creation of a group such as some songs, proverbs. Though it is the creation of an individual or a group, with the passage of time, it becomes the property of a large number of people, and then it appears as Folklore. Folklore is normally orally born, nourished and transferred from one generation to the next. With the passage of time, it may emerge as the property of the whole mankind.

Orally it travels from one country to another. Folklore has two aspects, its material aspect such as traditional implement, and its artistic aspect such as folk song and folk tale etc. Folklore is the outcome of the human mind imbued with creative feelings. Since ancient time, two faculties of the of the human mind have been responsible for the creation, preservation and transmission of folklore; First, the creative idea and urge. Second, aesthetic and artistic impulse. Traditional learning was inspired by there two to help creation of folklore. The field of folklore expanded as the experience of man became broader and deeper. The knowledge in folklore is the result of experience of not a person, but of the community or the society at large. It may be called as the wisdom of the people or the learning of the community. The individual earns knowledge through experience and when experience and knowledge are combined together, they voice the same feelings which becomes the feelings of the society.

Folklore is dynamic in the sense that with the social and culture and cultural change, as an important part of culture, it also accepts some changes to suit the new situation. Folklore is timeless and is as much a part of the present as it is of the past. Folklore is made up of informal expressions passed around long enough to have become recurrent in form and context, but changeable in performance. The greatest quality of the folk literature is its unwritten form. It is orally created and memory dependant. Almost all the researchers call folk literature oral literature. In this opportunity, I will explain about brief analysis of Storytelling Stone.

This is a Native American tale from the Seneca tribe. It is like a creation story, but not quite. This story is about all the stories of the world. It's about how stories came to the Seneca. It mentions, animal tales, creation stories and all the tales told in their culture, but this story places importance on the oral tradition, and why passing on stories is a gift. But before that, let us take a peek about the synopsis of the story. Storytelling Stone. Long, long ago in a Seneca there lived a young boy. Both of his parents had died and he was sent to live with a woman who had no children of her own. In time they began to enjoy each other's company and she taught him many things. Most importantly, she taught him to hunt so he could one day provide them with food. That day came, and the boy's foster mother sent him out to the forrest with a new bow and an ear of parched corn for lunch. He was to return with as many birds as possible.

The boy did this with great success for many weeks and his foster mother was so proud. One day, the boy was not having too much luck at the edge of the woods where usually hunted so ventured further into the woods and found many birds. At lunch time he found a clearing with a large stone in the center. So he climbed up on the stone and began to munch on his parched corn when he heard a voice, "Shall I tell you stories?" The boy looked around the clearing, but there was no one there. He slowly went back to munch his corn. The voice came again, "Shall I tell you stories?" The boy suddenly realized there was no person in the clearing, this was the stone speaking. He had never heard of a talking stone but he responded anyway, "What does this mean - to tell stories?" For this was a time when there were no stories. "It is to tell of things that happened a long time ago." The boy thought and quickly decided, "I think I would like that."

And so the stone told the boy stories. It told stories from the time when people lived up in the sky. It told stories of the earth's creation. It told stories of long, long ago, when then animals could talk to each other. The boy was enchanted, he couldn't get enough. But when the sun went down he knew it was time to return home to his village. He asked the stone if he could return again the next day and the stone said, "Only if you promise not to tell anyone what you have heard." The boy quickly agreed. When he returned home with less birds than usual his mother was confused but decided that you cannot be lucky every day.

The following day she watched him run into the forrest at top speed, and she hoped that this meant he would be returning with many birds. Instead of hunting though, the boy immediately returned to the clearing and sat on the stone, closed his eyes and listened to stories. On his way back home at sunset he shot a few lingering birds and returned to a now upset foster mother. Something bad was happening to the boy in the woods and she was determined to find out. So, she sent another boy from the village to follow her foster son into the forrest. When the boy reached the clearing and saw the other boy sitting on the stone he confronted him, "What are you doing? Why aren't you hunting for your family?" "I am listening to the stone tell stories. Would you like to listen?" "What does this mean - to tell stories?" the boy asked. "It is to tell of things that happened a long time ago."

So the boy jumped onto the stone, they closed their eyes and spent the day caught up in every word of the stones. They returned every day to hear the stones stories, and still the foster mother had no answers. So she sent two men, hunters in fact, into the woods to discover what her foster son was up to. When the men saw the two boys sitting on the stone in silence they confronted them, "What are you doing? Why aren't you hunting for your family?" "We are listening to the stone tell stories. Would you like to listen?" "What does this mean to tell stories?" the men asked. "It is to tell of things that happened a long time ago."

The men cautiously agreed but when they too sat on the stone they were whisked away to magical lands in the sky, and to times where animals could talk. They could not get enough. When the last story was told and the sun was setting in the sky the stone spoke to all four of them, "You must bring all of your people to hear my stories tomorrow. Everyone must come and everyone must listen." And when the entire village arrived the next day the storytelling stone told all of its stories. It told stories from the time when people lived up in the sky. It told stories of the earth's creation. It told stories of long, long ago, when then animals could talk to each other.

The people were overwhelmed and undone. They had never heard anything so beautiful. They had never been so transported and when the sun began to set the stone spoke its final words, "You must keep these stories until the end of time. Tell them to your children and your children's children, for I am now done." And the stone fell silent and the people returned home recounting the stories they had heard sharing them again and again. Ever since the time that stone brought all the stories into the world the people of the world have been less lonely, less cold and much, much happier. The End. So, the story above is the example of folklore. Most folk stories embody the hopes and aspirations of the majority of people in the society and are used to transmit and preserve cultural values of the group. The stories help in showing how society views itself and also conveys their notions of justice, rights and social obligations of its citizens.

Laziness, greed and selfishness are therefore portrayed as negatively as possible with the offending characters. On the other hand, goodness, honesty and unity are depicted as important virtues which the heroes and heroines of folk tales always use to prevail over their problems. The use of animals as human characters is done to highlight attitudes and behaviours of people in a way which pokes fun at their awkward actions in real life. Animals are used as tools to convey messages to audiences without seeming to personalise issues or pointing certain individuals. In addition, animal imagery makes it possible for children and other people to easily understand the relevance of the story being told due to the simplified character of the animal. Folklore is also told in order to educate children into cultural values of the society as well as give them motivation and a sense of well-being. Some folk tales portray animals gathering and discussing issues which affect them as a group with arguments and discussion used to highlight democratic process and the importance of unity and agreement in society.So next time you begin to think that folk stories are pastimes for old people and infants to while away the time, remember that the stories convey moral as well as historical issues which affect everybody in the community.