Narrative Structures in Burmese Folk Tales By Soe Marlar Lwin

number of connecting links that are necessary to constitute a folk tale. It has been suggested by Ochs and Capps (2001) that linearity as a narrative dimension can be measured in a range of degrees and displayed in a variety of ways. Hence, the present study hopes to advance Propp's model with the findings on how the events can be interlocked with each other linearly in a plot structure, which may or may not comprise identical functional events and combination sequences.

While examining how the events are linked into familiar trajectories, the study will also take note of any deviation from them and will explore what effect such deviation has on the storyline of a tale. With this, the present study will argue that, instead of looking for a single pattern in plots that may be different across different types of tales, an analysis of narrative structures should investigate various possible temporal and/or causal linkage with which events are bound together into well-organised storylines.

The study may prove that Burmese folk tales follow similar patterns, which conform to patterns common elsewhere. Systematic, recurrent aspects of stories do not lead to mere resemblance. A typical storyline can be proposed as a system capable of tracing any structural likeness, especially in folk tales of adjacent nations. The potential analogy of folk-tale structures may add on the possibility of finding a universal model capable of generating narratives in this genre.