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Preface
This study investigates the narrative structures in the folk tales of Burma (now known as Myanmar), collected and translated into English by Maung Htin Aung. The study first sets out to identify the functional events in these tales as the basic components of a story structure. It then examines how these events are linked into various plot structures in different types of tales. The study also attempts to relate the form (narrative structure) of a folk tale to its function (social purpose) and field (narrative content) by comparing two structural patterns identified in the analysis of Burmese folk tales with those proposed by other studies of folk tales from different cultures. The possibilities of using a structural analysis of folk tales as a means of understanding not only the commonalities but also the uniqueness in structural patterns, narrative contents, and social purposes of folk tales from different cultures are also explored in this study.