The ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'' is a six volume catalogue of motifs, granular elements of

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

, composed by American folklorist

Stith Thompson Stith Thompson (March 7, 1885 – January 10, 1976) was an American folklore studies, folklorist: he has been described as "America's most important folklorist". He is the "Thompson" of the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, which indexes Folklore, ...

(1932–1936, revised and expanded 1955–1958). Often referred to as Thompson's motif-index, the catalogue has been extensively used in

folklore studies Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

, where folklorists commonly use it in tandem with the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index (ATU), an index used for folktale type analysis.

As standard tools

The motif-index and the ATU indices are regarded as standard tools in the study of folklore. For example, folklorist Mary Beth Stein said that, "Together with Thompson's six-volume ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'', with which it is cross-indexed, ''The Types of Folktale'' constitutes the most important reference work and research tool for comparative folk-tale analysis.” Alan Dundes, who was an outspoken critic, also said substantially the same thing, without confining the application to comparative studies: " he indicesconstitute two of the most valuable tools in the professional folklorist's arsenal of aids for analysis". Concise outlines of both indices appear in Thompson's ''The Folktale'' (1946).

Terminology

In the context of the index, Thompson has defined ''motif'' as follows: "A ''motif'' is the smallest element in a tale having a power to persist in tradition. In order to have this power it must have something unusual and striking about it".Thompson (1977: 415). But in the ''Motif-index'' itself, Thompson had also provided a more "cautious" definition: " ything that goes to make up a traditional narrative ... When the term motif is employed, it is always in a very loose sense, and is made to include any of the elements of narrative structure". This use of the noun ''motif'' is specialized to the field of folklore studies. According to the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'', folkloristic use of the noun ''motif'' is not summed up in the definition for literary criticism ("Motif", def. 3a), but deserves its own separate sense of this definition ("Motif", def. 3b)."Motif". Def. 3a and 3b. 2008. ''Oxford English Dictionary Online Database''. 3rd ed. Oxford, Oxford UP, 1989. Web. 10 December 2011. Similarly, the compound noun ''motif index'' is used in

cultural anthropology Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The term ...

to denote "an index of standard motifs, esp. those found in folk tales"."Motif Index". Def. C2. 2008. Oxford English Dictionary Online Database. 3rd ed. Oxford, Oxford UP. Web. 10 December 2011.

System

Thompson discusses composing the ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'' in his autobiography, ''A Folklorist's Progress: Reflection of a Scholar's Life''.Cf. Thompson (1996: 89, 100, 307). In producing the motif-index, Thompson built upon the research of Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne, who in 1910 published an index of European tale-types. Thompson himself had revised this in 1928 to cover the region from Europe to Asia: this is known as the Aarne-Thompson tale type index.Uther (2004: 284-286). In his ''Motif-Index'', Thompson then compiled, classified, and numbered the traditional motifs of the mostly European folktale types in the tale-type index.Dundes (1997: 195-202). Thompson's motif-index organizes thousands of motifs. Entries are first organized by an umbrella topic (for example, category S is "Unnatural Cruelty"). Entries are then divided into more specific subcategories. For example, entry S50 "Cruel relatives-in-law" contains the sub-entry S51.1 "Cruel mother-in-law plans death of daughter-in-law". Thompson's ''The Folktale'' includes the following overview of the motif-index:Thompson (1946: 488-).

Relation to tale-type index

The idea has been expressed that a combined set of motifs (in the motif-index) may constitute a folktale narrative (cf. the description of the ''Motif-Index'' as "a huge catalogue of folk narrative elements that may variously combine to form whole folk narratives" by Jan Harold Brunvand). This idea had already been anticipated by Alexander Veselovsky who wrote that a "cluster of motifs" constituted a "plot", influencing Russian formalists like Vladimir Propp, whose study prefigured Thompson's ''Motif-Index'', as has been pointed out. In the book ''The Folktale'', Thompson invokes this phrase "cluster of motifs" in several passages, as here, in connection with tales involving the dead helper:Thompson (1977:50). But in this instance, Thompson is warning that the motif cluster is rather "only a framework for the adventures of the hero", containing "at least three different tales within". Thompson also explains that a single motif may be found in numerous folktales "from all parts of the earth" (383).

Editions (print and digitised)

Print editions

* Stith Thompson, ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature: A Classification of Narrative Elements in Folk-Tales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediaeval Romances, Exempla, Fabliaux, Jest-Books, and Local Legends'', FF Communications, 106–109, 116–117, 6 vols (Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia/Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1932–36)/Indiana University Studies, 96–97, 100–101, 105–106, 108–112, 6 vols (Bloomington, Ind, 1932–1936). * Stith Thompson, ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature: A Classification of Narrative Elements in Folk-Tales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediaeval Romances, Exempla, Fabliaux, Jest-Books, and Local Legends'', rev. and enl. edn, 6 vols (Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1955–58).

Digitisations of the second edition (book format)

* Reissued on CD-ROM Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993.See further Allen Smith, 'JAL Guide to Software, Courseware and CD-ROM: Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk Literature', ''Journal of Academic Librarianship'', 20, no. 4 (1994), 255.

Other motif indices

Many folklorists have produced extensive motif and tale-type indices for culture areas not covered by Thompson, or covered only to a limited extent. For surveys, see * Azzolina, David S. 1987. ''Tale type- and motif-indexes: An annotated bibliography''. New York, London: Garland. * Examples of related folklore studies indices include the following: *Baughman, Ernest (1966). Type and Motif-Index of the Folktales of England and North America. * Boberg, Inger M. (1966). Motif-Index of Early Icelandic Literature. Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana 27. Copenhagen: Munksgaard. *Bordman, Gerald (1963). Motif-Index of the English Metrical Romances. *Bray, Dorothy Ann (1992). A list of motifs in the lives of the early Irish saints. FF Communications 252. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica. * Cross, Tom Peete (1952). Motif-Index of Early Irish Literature. Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series 7. Bloomington: Indiana University. * El-Shamy, Hasan (1995). Folk Traditions in the Arab World: A Guide to Motif Classification. 2 Vols. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. *El-Shamy, Hasan (2006). Motif Index of The Thousand and One Nights. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. *Frenzel, Elisabeth (⁶2008). Motive der Weltliteratur: Ein Lexikon dichtungsgeschichtlicher Längsschnitte. Stuttgart: Kroener. *Goldberg, Harriet (1998). Motif-index of medieval Spanish folk narratives. *Goldberg, Harriet (2000). Motif-index of folk narratives in the pan-Hispanic romancero. * Guerreau-Jalabert, Anita (1992). Index des Motifs Narratifs dans les Romans Arthuriens Français en Vers (XIIe-XIIIe Siècles)/Motif-Index of French Arthurian Verse Romances (12th-13th century). Publications Romanes et Françaises 202. Geneva: Droz. * Haboucha, Reginetta (1992). Types and motifs of the Judeo-Spanish folktales. New York, London: Garland. *Jason, Heda (2000). Motif, type, and genre: a manual for compilation of indices & a bibliography of indices and indexing. * Kirtley, Bacil F
''A Motif-Index of Traditional Polynesian Narratives''
Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1971. Accessed September 11, 2021. doi:10.2307/j.ctvp2n3hb. * Kristić, Branislav (1984). Indeks motiva narodnih pesama balkanskih Slovena. Ed. I. Nikolié. Belgrad: Minerva. * Lichtblau, K., S. Obermayer, and C. Tuczay, (1982). Motiv-Index der deutschsprachigen weltlichen Erzählliteratur von den Anfangen bis 1400. ''Fabula'' 23: 293–95. * Marzolph, Ulrich (1983). Motiv-Index der arabischen literarischen Anekdote. ''Fabula'' 24: 275–7. *Neugaard, Edward (1993). Motif-index of medieval Catalan folktales. Binghamton, N.Y: Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies. * Neuland, Lena (1981). Motif-index of Latvian folktales and legends. FF Communications 229. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica. * Ruck, E. H. (1991). An index of themes and motifs in twelfth-century French Arthurian poetry. Arthurian studies 25 Woodbridge: Brewer. * Sakaoǧlu, S. (1980). Anadolu-tiur efsanelerinde tas kesilme motifi ve efsanelerin tip katalogu. Ankara: Ankara Universitesi Basemev. * Smith, R. E. (1980). Type-index and motif-index of the Roman de Renard. Uppsala: Etnologiska Institutionen. * Tracy, Ann B. (1981). The

gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean ...

1790-1830: Plot summaries and index to motifs. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. *Wurzbach, Natascha and Simone Salz (1995). Motif index of the

Child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

corpus: The English and Scottish popular ballad. Berlin: de Gruyter.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * Dundes, Alan. 1997. "The Motif-Index and the Tale Type Index: A Critique." ''Journal of Folklore Research'' 34(3): 195–202. * * Thompson, Stith. 1996. ''A Folklorist's Progress: Reflections of a Scholar's Life''.

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

. * Thompson, Stith. 1977 946
The Folktale
'.

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

. *Uther, Hans-Jörg. 2004. "The Types of International Folktales: A Classification and Bibliography. Based on the system of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson". ''FF Communications'', no. 284–286. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. Three volumes. I.

External links

Digital copy
via HathiTrust {{Authority control Works about folklore 1932 non-fiction books 1955 non-fiction books Recurring elements in folklore Classification systems