Definition and function of a folk tale: background of the problem

Abstract

Considering folklore, psychological, historical, literature and linguistic studies devoted to folk tales (which primarily are oral tales recorded as texts about people meeting a supernatural force and conventions for such cases), the article introduces the most important features of a folk tale as a text genre, which are concerned to be: spoken language; commitment to paper; mimesis; temporal, local and personal evidences of the fact, that the reported episode actually took place; documentation of supernatural occurrences; authenticity of a psychologic perception; multidimensionality; believability attitude. The differential criteria from other folklore genres are reproduced.