Narrative Structures in Burmese Folk Tales By Soe Marlar Lwin

distinct ethnic groups, Burmese culture is also rich with its own local elements. Besides the Bamar (Burman), which make up more than 60% of the population, the other major ethnic groups include the Kachin, the Kayah, the Karen, the Chin, the Mon, the Rakhine, and the Shan.

With an aim to investigate and describe some features of narrative structures in Burmese folk tales, this study will examine the 27 tales collected and translated into English by Maung Htin Aung, a major figure in the literature on Burmese folk tales. The titles of all 27 folk tales analysed in this study are listed in appendix A. The collection of tales includes those of the Bamar, Burma's predominant tribe, as well as those of other ethnic groups. In this first chapter, the background information of the study and some important issues generally related to studies of folk tales will be discussed.

1.1. Folk Tales

Folk tales in general are part of folk literature, which is more widely referred to as folklore. They can be classified as one of the categories of folk storytelling. Many folklorists have labelled myths, legends, and folk tales as major narrative genres in folklore, ‘according to how the narrative is received by the community’ (Swales, 1990, p. 35). Myths are stories that are considered sacred, legends are more secular recounting of actual events, and folk tales are narrative regarded as fiction (Eugenio, 1995). Simply put, a folk tale is a traditional story that has been passed on by word of mouth before writing systems were developed.

Various studies have been conducted on folk tales, reflecting the wide-ranging and multidisciplinary interest in them. In addition to cultural-historical, philological-literary, and comparative research, modern folklore has increasingly employed