A motif’s age and ways to determine it

Abstract

The paper is written within the context of the project aimed at creating a database of world folklore and mythology. As soon as we outline the areas of expansion of thousands of folklore motifs, we can compare the results with the data provided by other historical disciplines. Patterns of motif distribution can be explained via cultural and demographic processes present in certain periods. S. Thompson’s views concerning the aim of his research inspired the structure of his folklore indexes and overwhelmingly influenced the development of folklore studies between 1940 and 1990. This influence was not always for the better. For the author of the current paper, the main analytical unit is the motif. Unlike the elementary motifs of S. Thompson, it means any elements of the text that are subject to replication, including narrative episodes, images reflecting worldview, clichés, personal names and the like. In the paper particular attention is paid to the motifs characteristic for animal tales. Episodes of such tales and the animal characteristics of the protagonists are independent from each other, the latter being more stable than the former. Areas of distribution of the corresponding motifs (trickster fox, trickster hare, etc.) must have formed earlier than the areas of distribution of particular episodes.