Vol. 14 (2020): XIV International Symposium Contemporary Issues of Literary Studies : The Silk Road Countries` Folklore
History and Collective Memory

Vladimir Propp and his „Morphology of the Folktale“: (The Interrelationship of Functions in Folktales and Medieval Chivalry Romance)

Maka Elbakidze
Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature

Published 2020-10-20

Keywords

  • V. Propp,
  • Folktale,
  • Functions,
  • Character Types,
  • Chivalry Romance,
  • Rustaveli
  • ...More
    Less

Abstract

Russian literary scholar Vladimir Propp in 1928 published “The Morphology of the Folktale” to study the narrative structure of Slavic folktales. Propp focused exclusively on the abstract form of the text, paying particular attention to the events (or functions) and character types in the tale. He argued that there are 31 basic functions and 7 character types and that all folktales are created using an amalgam of these standard ingredients. Algidras Jullien Greimass, in 1966 developed an actant model, also called actantial narrative schema – the model which considers the action divided into six facets, called actants; Donald Maddox used this scheme in connection with French chivalry romances. These paper is an attempt to use actantial narrative schema in connection to Rustaveli’s romance The Knight in the Panther’s Skin.