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Morphology of the Folk Tale 2nd Edition, Kindle Edition

by V. Propp (Author), Louis A. Wagner (Editor), Svatava Pirkova-Jakobson (Introduction), Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 118 ratings
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This seminal work by the renowned Russian folklorist presents his groundbreaking structural analysis of classic fairytales and their genres.

One of the most influential works of 20th century literary criticism, Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folk Tale is essential reading for anyone interested in examining the structural characteristics of fairytales. Since it first appeared in English in 1958, this groundbreaking study has had a major impact on the work of folklorists, linguists, anthropologists, and literary critics.

“Propp’s work is seminal…[and], now that it is available in a new edition, should be even more valuable to folklorists who are directing their attention to the form of the folktale, especially those structural characteristics which are common to many entries coming from different cultures.”—Choice
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0292783768
  2. Edition
    2nd
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    University of Texas Press
  5. Publication date
    June 3, 2010
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    6911 KB
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"It was primarily Claude Lévi-Strauss who made Propp's book popular outside the small circle of Western Slavicists: he immediately recognized the importance of Propp's methodology not only for the study of the fairy-tale, but generally for the study of narrative folklore. [Lévi-Strauss] expressed his admiration for all those”'who for a long time have been Propp's successors without knowing it."" (Times Literary Supplement)

"Morphology will in all probability be regarded by future generations as one of the major theoretical breakthroughs in the field of folklore in the twentieth century." (Alan Dundes)

"Propp's work is seminal...[and], now that it is available in a new edition, should be even more valuable to folklorists who are directing their attention to the form of the folktale, especially to those structural characteristics which are common to many entries coming from even different cultures." (Choice)

Review

"Morphology will in all probability be regarded by future generations as one of the major theoretical breakthroughs in the field of folklore in the twentieth century." (Alan Dundes)

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003P9XMDU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Texas Press; 2nd edition (June 3, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 3, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6911 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 239 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 118 ratings

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
118 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Oakali
5.0 out of 5 stars Fundamental text in Narrative Structure
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2023
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While Propp limited his analysis to just a few hundred Russian tales, the elements that constitute the narrative’s structural functions, the connective elements,and the players in the fairy tale form are clearly discussed. He also provides a schema in which complex tales are constructed. This methods in foundational work could easily be applied to current cognitive studies of narrative processing and process. In addition, writers may find inspiration for their own work by using this functional paradigm and reimagining it within their own story worlds. If you study story, you need this book.
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Susan
5.0 out of 5 stars Brain Teaser
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2021
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Read this for class and honestly would not recommend it to anyone casually. You have to want (or need) to read it. Fascinating, but definitely puts your brain through the meat grinder. If fairy tales are your jam and you want to turn them into a science project, then Propp is your guy.
10 people found this helpful
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Aelfwine Anglecynne
4.0 out of 5 stars Almost, but not quite a perfect study.
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2012
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In this book, Propp attempts to map out the plot functions of the characters of Russian Fairy Tales in Alexander Afanasẻv. Propp finds over thirty such functions and assigns them alphabetic letters. There are many variations of each function, and these Propp designates by adding a number to the letter as a superscript. He also makes use of a few symbols to represent some important functions: (↑), (↓), (-), (+), (<), (§), and (⋮). Additionally, he uses lower-case letters of the Greek alphabet for introductory functions. He not only uses these symbols to define and represent plot functions, he devises a specific ordering scheme for these symbols and identifies four different possible (fairy) tale types based on this order. Propp's work proves that these Russian (fairy) Tales are all specifically structured. Though he was a Russian Formalist, this work is an important contribution to structural critical theory.

The flaws of this book are as follows:

1) Propp cites most of Afanasẻv's tales by their number, and this numbering system has changed a number of times since he wrote Morphology. The book does have a section that presents the numbering system Propp used and the new numbers of the newer editions of the same 100 tales whose structure Propp studied. But the problem is that these are all Russian editions. The only compilation of Afanasẻv's Russian Fairy Tales in English is the Pantheon edition, which reorganizes the tales and does not number them. Since Propp rarely refers to the titles of these tales, and rarely describes the contents of any tale, it is not possible to verify his conclusions if one does not speak Russian and does not have access to one of the Russian versions of Afanasẻv's collection. A new critical edition of this work is needed that identifies the title of the tale nos. he cites, or the significance of this book will continue to be overlooked, though it deserves much more consideration by literary scholars of any genre. I have obtained the contents pages of the Russian 3-volume version and will soon have it translated in order to be able to use Propp's study more capably. But this is the most significant problem of the book, and it does not begin or end with any problem of the Author's.

2) The functions Propp proposes are incomplete. They apply to the 100 Russian tales he studied. In a preparatory paper for my own Master's Thesis on folk and fairy tale literature, I applied his method to twelve Grimm's tales and found so many possible functions that were undesignated by Propp, that if they were added to Propp's functions, would make his system too unwieldly to use. The varieties of plot functions possible could be infinite, but if not, would make Propp's system too complicated for most researchers to remember.

3) Propp's functions are imprecise and assume too much of a modern viewpoint when the makers of the tales held a pre-modern world-view and were expressing ideas based on that. For an example of Propp's imprecision, his Donor (D) functions are probably meant to refer to magical or supernatural entities encountered in the tales, but they can be applied equally to kings or other powerful natural beings the main character comes into contact with and by whom he/she must obtain some beneficence (magical, as in a magic item; material, as in a monetary reward or food or lodging; or relational, as when a king gives his daughter in marriage to the main character). Propp makes no distinction between natural and supernatural donors. Also, the forms of the magical effect (F--for fantastic elements? But this is an English term and Propp wrote in Russian) do not represent all the kinds of magical possibilities. These elements could be objects, or they could be magical people: if the latter, they could be individuals on their own account or else only exist in our world when called upon by the character, as part of the power of a magic item--Propp lumps them all together in this category, but is that prudent?

4) Propp's functions do not work in the order he prescribes in the Grimm's Tales I studied. For example, the plot functions involving reconnaissance by the villain of the hero, by the hero of the villain, or by other people (of anyone?) Propp organizes as only part of the introductory material and designates them with lower case Greek ε. But I discovered, in the German tales of the Brothers Grimm, that these functions often happened later in the tale, and nothing could prevent these functions from being part of the ending section of the tale. It seems that Propp ignored the creative variety and placement of plot functions in general.

5) Propp is a modern evolutionist, convinced of the claims of empiricism. If one simply posits his designated functions in the right order, one will have a certifiably proper fairy tale. Compound or complex tales could be had by simply adding tales to tales. However my own study revealed that the Grimm's tales, though they often seemed to be constructed of two tales, in reality the second part was really only another representation or furtherance of the tale's main theme. Propp derives themes from the proper elements arranged in the proper way--the result has an evolved "thematic" meaning. But the tales of the Grimm's seem to be the reverse of this: they can be seen, using Propp's own methods, to be built around a main theme--the plot functions seem to be selected æsthetically to support the idea or ideas of the main theme of the tale, and also the arrangement or structure of the tale is also so arranged to support the main theme. This makes Propp's view too partitive to be of definitive use. However, as part of a larger, more inclusive world-view of æsthetic possibilities, his analytical methods can still be very useful--just not in his own terms.

6) The physical form of the paperback book has cut signatures. One will want to use this book over and over again if one studies the structure of literature. The pages easily fall out, necessitating, for me, the purchase of the Kindle version of the book. I have not seen the hardcover version, but if it also has cut signatures, the same problem will occur. The problem with the Kindle version is that it does not mark the page number divisions, which make the Kindle version useless for study, except for its facility of easier searches and the copy and paste abilities making it easier to quote the text and one's own notes added to the text, as is often needed when writing a research paper in a word-processor.

So is the book worth buying--if you are a literary scholar or a lover or writer of fairy tales who is interested in their structure, or interested in how to make fairy tales by using a predefined structural model, then this book is definitely worth buying. It is readable, but is written for professional adults, and requires some thoughtful effort on the part of the reader. Overall, it is an excellent study as a place to begin a structural investigation of stories in general. I have only docked it one star because of its flaws listed above--its value and readability earn it the other four I gave it.
27 people found this helpful
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simone belcampo
5.0 out of 5 stars Source Text
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2012
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Modern narratology tends to forget that narrative theory, if not
structuralsim itself, came of age with this book. Why?
Because m.n. likes to cast its net wider that folk-tales,
not just into fiction, but also into the way we tell stories in 'fact' -
in our everyday life (including law). The real attraction of
this book, though, is not just its exegesis of Russian folk art,
but its steely, unsentimental discipline, its awareness of what it
sets aside to reveal deep structures, and its sensitivity to the
crossing of categories. It is concise, easy to read, and the folk-tales
Propp examines are also available in translation in p/back.

Propp is not like Genette: he doesn't need you
to read the whole of Proust first. But he is essential,
not least for those who plunge into the turbulent
waters of comparative literature.
10 people found this helpful
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Jayasree Lahiri
3.0 out of 5 stars Meant for Advanced Students of Literary Theory and Folktale Study
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2014
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This book is one of the seminal texts in the field of literary theory (Russian Formalism) and a must read for every serious student of literary theory and folktale. However, this is a highly scholastic work and is strictly meant for advanced students. The book would hardly appeal to general readers.
2 people found this helpful
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Ethics Gradient
5.0 out of 5 stars The best analysis of the story out there
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2016
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The best analysis of the story out there. Sometimes the Russians produce something so far beyond and more advanced than anyone else, you just have to sit back in awe. Think Mendelev's Table, Sputnik's Orbit, Perelman's Proofs. Through the apparently simple task of analyzing Russian folk stories, Propp extracts the essence of human narrative with analytical exactitude. If you read or write fiction you should go through this book.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read!
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2016
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Great book to read if you are taking a course in literature and you want an in-depth analysis of Propp's 100 folktales and children stories. I thought I love my Cliffnotes until I read this little gem! I am pleased to have purchased it as it allows me to understand the analogy and comparison of his beautiful work.
2 people found this helpful
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yelena gagarin
5.0 out of 5 stars Very boring, but one of the best
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2017
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this is the book, that explained a human nature. One of the few that you must read to be an educated human. The basic brick of knowledge. Very boring, but one of the best. Not enough stars here to price.
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Top reviews from other countries

Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars Exhaustive, a little exhausting, but a classic
Reviewed in Australia on July 29, 2023
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Propp’s project was a fascinating, if somewhat mad one. There is power in reduction, and Propp is able to see patterns and make classifications that are very interesting. Reduction/formalisation is also reductive, so this rightly has not become the only approach to studying literature. I would recommend the edition of this text with the reddish colour and white silhouettes (University of Texas Press) because other reviewers have cautioned that the newer edition omits some of the supplementary material. Not that many of us will need the supplementary tables etc., but it is nice to know when you buy a classic text like this that you are getting the whole thing. Plus, it is a much more beautiful cover!
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David Tickner
5.0 out of 5 stars I cannot stress how much I love this book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2014
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I cannot stress how much I love this book. Twenty years ago I managed to get the original print in a library that I ordered it from. It was the only copy in Ireland. That it has been reprinted is a sigh of relief for me. Not a book for the feint hearted lover of paradigms though. This is a highly academic and mathematical analysis of folk story structure. I do not understand the equations Propp cleverly designed. However these can be found online under Proppian Folklore Calculator and compliment this groundbreaking book very well. Worth noting Propp inspired Vogler and George Lucas.
6 people found this helpful
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Zarathustris
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2022
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Just what I expected
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aidan1564
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2013
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This is a relatively complex book, but his central argument about repeating functions within particular story-types is fascinating: if you study story structure. Probably not a book to read on the lawn in the sun!
4 people found this helpful
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John Anastasiadis
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2014
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May be the first one constructed approach for this subject (folktale), common in the mankind.
This seminal work gave rise to many others, from the age it was written, until nowadays
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