Abstract
Eleni Kovani
National Centre of Social Research
The polysemia of simple oral stories
Based on material from a community in Eastern Central Greece we will discuss two types of simple oral stories:
i. Those which in a dorian (plain) and theatrical way illustrate experiences of historical moments with elements of a tragic culture which reflect traditional creativity: spontaneity, repetition, unaffected style.
ii. Those which are built around a sense of humour. Simple stories repeated from mouth to mouth reveal elements of the community value system and show the relationship of the community’s universe with the world beyond it, the near and the far, the local and the distant. This is an Aristophanian type of oral stories bearing the stamp of the above elements of cultural tradition.
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