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structural pattern, the narrative contents of a tale (e.g., elements taking up the narrative roles) remain culture specific. This has pointed to several interesting issues, such as the (im)possibilities of finding a universal grammar of folk tales and the viability of claims about commonalities among folk tales from adjacent countries, given that adjacent countries are most likely to have influenced each other's culture.
This study is presented in seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides some background information about Burma and its folk tales analysed in this study. Chapter 2 reviews relevant literature on studies of narrative and events as its fundamental requirement. The chapter also looks at the structural analyses of folk tales performed in the earlier studies and comments on the different approaches to an analysis of narrative structures. The pivotal issues and some justifications are also explained. Chapter 3 outlines the research methodology used in this study for the analysis of Burmese folk tales. It details the procedures of the analysis and offers a sample analysis of a tale using the proposed frameworks.
Chapter 4 presents the analysis and findings from all 27 tales included in the collection. All the functional events identified in these tales are recorded before they are classified into various structural patterns. Tales with different models in the storyline, and the linkage in each model, are illustrated in detail with some sample analyses. Chapter 5 moves on to discuss the findings from the analysis, with a focus on such notions as functions, moves, connectives, linearity, and well-organised storylines in the narrative structures of folk tales. Attempts are then made in chapter 6 to discover the relationships between the narrative structure (form), social purpose (function), and narrative content (field) of a tale by comparing two structural patterns commonly