PACS 108: Pacific Worlds - Folktales: Introduction

When searching for Pacific legends and myths it is useful to keep the following definitions in mind. Librarians use these terms to categorize items in a particular even though in the every-day many people use come of these interchangeably:
 

• Folklore: A broad term used to refer to the traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, which have been passed down orally (or via other non-written means such as dance, theater and etc.).
  • Example: Tales from the South Pacific Islands
• Myths / Mythology: The particular category of narrative deals with the point where the human world blends with the supernatural; the stories often feature interactions between gods and human beings. In oral cultures, these narratives often speak of the origin of things -- the creation of the world, the creation of the things in the world, the ways in which human beings came to live in specific places, the ways in which human beings came to possess technologies like fire. The main characters are often gods or demi-gods.
  • Example: Mandidok yan mamfabulas na hemplon guåhan
• Legends: A traditional narrative that is believed to have an historical basis.
  • Example: Kaan falik : boutures de paroles : contes de la région de Hienghène
• Fables: A story with a moral point. Often includes animals that speak or act as humans.
  • Example: Why the sea cucumber has two mouths (Samoa)
• Tales: The term "tales" is sometimes used interchangeably with "legend," "myth" or "folklore."
  • Example: A collection of Palauan legends
• Cosmogony: Theories specifically about the origins of the universe.
  • Example: The Kumulipo mind : a global heritage : in the Polynesian creation myth
• Cosmology: Theories more generally about the universe, throughout its existence, rather than specifically about its origins.
  • Example: History, Cosmology And Gender: Christianity And Cultural Change Among The Urapmin Of Papua New Guinea
• Origin: Having to do with ancestry based on scientific evidence of migration.
  • Example: Made in Taiwan [videorecording]
• Antiquities: Generally refers to scholarly works that discuss "pre-history" (the era before written histories of a place are available). Sometimes used to refer to things like archeological reports.
  • Example: Archaeological excavation in Tofol, Kosrae eastern Micronesia : ground-truthing oral history at site Ko-A11-32.
• Ethnology: A branch of anthropology that deals with the division of human beings into races and their origin, distribution, relations, and characteristics.
  • Example: The threshold of the Pacific : an account of the social organization magic and religion of the people of San Cristoval in the Solomon Islands.
• Juvenile literature: Use this term to look for children's books. It is a style of writing often used to share folklore.
  • Example: How Maui-Tiki-Tiki-A-Taranga found his mother.
  • Compare to: JPS article.
• Oral Tradition: Describes material that is based on spoken rather than written sources, which is how these stories were originally shared.
  • Examlple: Legends, traditions and tales of Nauru : a transcript of a series of lectures delivered by native teachers