A Typology and Classification of Three Literary Genres : Songs, Folktales, and Initiation Tales in Iranian Oral Literature and their Educational Function

Abstract

The present study explores the definition, distinctive features and classification of three genres of children’s oral literature, taraneh, matal and afsaneh. It also presents new findings regarding the unique linguistic structure of each genre and describes the method developed by older Iranian women to educate children in a traditional oral education system. Numerous literary examples of each genre are cited, as narrated by old and illiterate female informants. The research comprised library and field studies. 50 Iranian women participated in the field study and were divided into two groups, one in Iran and one in Sweden. This study aims to show that the addressees of the above-mentioned genres are children of different ages. It also aims to prove that these types of narratives were meant to educate children at a time when oral traditions were the only way to teach fundamental lessons in a concrete form. Therefore these stories are fundamentally different from narratives meant for adults. The work aims to be useful for other researchers working in the field of oral literature. The texts published here can also serve as a resource for comparing oral and written language, and may be helpful for child educators, parents and children’s writers.