WHAT ARE TRADITIONAL STORIES? - LITERATURE - 2025

Traditional stories are narratives of a short or medium size, where a lesson or moral is usually taught to those who listen.

The word traditional is applied precisely because these stories are part of the folklore of a specific area. All regions of the world have traditional stories related to their culture.

The form of preservation of traditional stories is usually oral. These stories are rarely brought into the field of writing and survive thanks to word of mouth, passed between several generations seeking to preserve the culture of a place.

A large part of these stories is intended for children, however some contain messages for all ages.

Characteristics of traditional stories

Traditional stories can be tales, fables, myths, or legends. There is a certain element of fiction in any traditional story, which tells a story with a certain touch of supernaturalness or extravagance to be more attractive and thus more easily convince the listener.

They are especially popular in Latin America, where there is a great attachment to traditions, especially oral ones. Some of the most widespread traditional stories in this region are the silbón, the llorona, the pombero or the city of el dorado.

Definition

A traditional story is strictly defined in terms of its title and its main character. Although minor details may vary slightly, the location of the story, its minor characters, and the moral are unchanging.

Given the nature of a traditional story, as it is almost always told orally, various aspects are often confused or changed.

Despite this the main idea will always be the same; the character will have the same name and the name of the story will not change.

Anonymity

These stories never have a specific author, on the contrary, it is said that they arose from people, who through time were shaping and modifying the details of the original story to generate the stories that have survived to this day.

The only reliable roots of the traditional stories are their own characters, which in some cases may have existed or at least are doubted, as in the case of Robin Hood or King Arthur. However, fictional details are often added to stories.

Moral

The main purpose of traditional stories is to provide knowledge or lessons through morals.

Preservation of traditional stories

Since they are rarely written or transmitted as literature, traditional stories have been passed from generation to generation through oral tradition, which can occur within families, schools or communities in general.

Oral tradition

Songs, poems and other musical variants are a classic way of preserving traditional stories. During the last decades, technology has notably improved the musicalization of these stories through cassettes and compact discs.

Theater

Theatrical performances are also frequently used to tell traditional stories.

During basic school training, students learn about the culture of their area and perform plays, poetry reading and typical dances.

Examples

Examples of traditional stories are King Arthur, Robin Hood, the coconut man, the weeping woman, Santa Claus, the Magi…

References

1. Ruth Kaufman (nd). Traditional tale. Retrieved on December 21, 2017, from ANEP Edu.
2. Rossana Costantino (2011). Structure and types of stories. Retrieved on December 21, 2017, from Primary stories.
3. Myths, tales and legends (nd). Retrieved on December 21, 2017, from the Universitat de València.
4. Myths and Legends (nd). Retrieved on December 21, 2017, from Mitos Y Leyendas.
5. Folk tales of the world (nd). Retrieved on December 21, 2017, from Mundo Primaria.