Jess
Unregistered User
(3/24/03 10:38:20 am)
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When you say
When you say "them" do mean understanding of fairy tales or animals? Are you including folktales? You might enjoy reading through some of the threads about North American (NA) tales. Animals are often used in these tales as messengers and tricksters. By reading some of these, you will gain an understanding of both the animals and tales, and how a give NA society viewed these animals.
What is interesting about the use of animals in tales is that often the animal is symbolic of a type of person. The obvious types are the wolves, donkeys, birds, and foxes because these characters are used over and over in tales in like or similar manner. But then there are also those animals that are used in a variety of roles, such as the serpent. What does that tell you about how these animals are valued?
You might also want to compare differing treatments of a single animal by diffent peoples. I think if you look through the archives here, you may find quite a bit that can get you started.
Good luck.
Jess
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