COMPLIT 303 : Interpreting Folktales

Arts

2024 Semester Two (1245) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

An introduction to the study of folktales, including collection and classification, oral and literary tales, structure, interpretative frameworks, revisions and film versions. Tales from many cultures will be examined. Contrasting theories on the origins and meanings of folktales will be explored.

Course Overview

 Every society has its stock of traditional stories, passed on orally from one generation to the next, sometimes committed to writing, painting, video, or other semi-permanent media.    These narratives may be roughly divided into "myths", sacred narratives purporting to express truths about the creation of the world, the origins of human mortality and so on, and "folktales", regarded even by members of the social group in which they are told as playful products of collective fantasy yet having "truth value".    Tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Sleeping Beauty,” best known as children's stories through the Grimm Brothers and Walt Disney, derive from folktales which have been recounted in various versions by oral tellers to audiences of all ages across Eurasia for hundreds (in some cases, thousands) of years.    These stories also use motifs and narrative devices (journey or quest, transformation of humans into animals and back again, magic, subversion of authority, injustice avenged) similar to those found in folktales from cultures elsewhere in the world -- China, Japan, the Caribbean, the Americas, South Asia, West Africa and Polynesia.    This course explores international and regional aspects of folktales and fairy tales.    Are these stories products of culturally specific ways of knowing and feeling, or do they express universal human preoccupations present in the collective unconscious? What are the relations between folktales and other popular narrative forms, e.g., fairy tales, tall tales, ballads and myths? Are folktales formal constructions which are given different meanings by the particular cultures that make, reuse, or preserve them? What are the relations between the rich oral traditions of tale telling and the literary or media narratives which sometimes rely on folktale motifs and forms, for example, superheroes? What do folktale narratives as cultural forms tell us about the making and uses of stories in general?

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: 30 points at Stage II Restriction: COMPLIT 202

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 2: Sustainability
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Arts

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Analyse a variety of folktales from a range of cultural milieux (Capability 1, 3, 4 and 6)
  2. Understand and critically evaluate the folktales in their historical and cultural contexts (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6)
  3. Discuss and compare meanings of folktales with classmates (Capability 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)
  4. Critically analyse and compare texts (Capability 3, 4, 5 and 6)
  5. Research and present an aspect of a folktale in a group (Capability 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Coursework 100% Group & Individual Coursework

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week on each 15 point course that they are enrolled in, including class time and personal study and assignment preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is expected at scheduled activities including tutorials to receive credit for components of the course.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including tutorials will not be available as recordings.
The course will not include live online events including tutorials.
Attendance on campus is required for the test.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

This course is available for delivery to students studying remotely outside NZ in 2024.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

 The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar. NY/London: W. W. Norton, 2016, 2nd Edution. ISBN  978-0393602975 (pbk).    
Course readings -- folktales and critical materials -- will be posted to the CANVAS course website.    Course text is required and can be purchased through the University Bookstore or online.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

This course has received consistent and positive feedback on content, delivery, and lecturers/convenor. 

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894, which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.

Published on 26/10/2023 08:24 a.m.