As a child and throughout your life, you have definitely heard several folklore stories, such as the one about a woman who was cursed for having a relationship with a priest and turned into the Mula Sem Cabeça (headless mule), or the one about a man with hair made of fire and feet that point backwards, who protects the forests and the animals, known as Curupira.
Historically, folktales have always been present throughout the world and are essential to the construction of a community’s culture. But have you ever heard a tale from another country, where habits and other cultural aspects are very different from yours, and felt like you had already heard that story before? Among so many distinct tales and figures, how is it possible that some of these narratives can be so similar?
What is folklore and why is it so important?
Before answering these questions, let’s review what “folklore” means. This term refers to the various forms of popular cultural expression, such as music, dance, traditional festivals, and, of course, folktales. These narratives are passed down from generation to generation through verbal communication, and are often created to teach lessons, explain the existence of natural or unknown events, among so many other things.
They can be a reflection of how certain societies function, what their people believe in, their values, fears, and various other elements that constitute the culture and identity of a community, and may even have an influence on politics.
Comparative mythology and the similarities between myths
Looking at Brazilian folklore, we can highlight two very famous characters: Iara, the mermaid who attracts men to the bottom of the ocean by using her beauty and singing abilities, and Lobisomem, the classic werewolf, the human who transforms into a wolf at night, but only when the sky has a full moon. However, you’ve probably heard other stories involving mermaids and werewolves in many other countries.
These similarities are studied in a subject known as “Comparative Mythology“, where myths from different cultures are compared and analyzed as an attempt to identify where their similarities and differences come from. This led to the creation of a few hypotheses to explain why some of these tales and figures are so similar, despite the geographical distance and cultural differences between these communities.
One of the many explanations for these parallels is that, at some point in the past, different groups had the same ancestors, implying that they shared the same customs, beliefs, and folk myths. Over time, those societies got divided, started living in different areas of the world and went through several cultural changes, provoking a separation between what used to be a common belief. Still, certain aspects of these stories have persisted over time, resulting in folktales that may be quite different, but maintain very similar elements.
Another possibility involves cultural exchanges between different communities that have had some kind of contact throughout history. Remember the mermaid called Iara I mentioned earlier? The idea of a figure that is half-fish and half-woman was brought by the Portuguese, who already had mermaid tales as part of their culture. When they came to Latin America, specifically to Brazil, these myths got mixed up with other beliefs that the indigenous communities who lived in the territory already had, creating a new myth while preserving some aspects of both cultures.
All of this shows us how important folklore is and how it is related to the history of humanity, preserving elements from different eras, places, religions and values as those stories are created and circulated over the years, bringing all of us together over shared tales.
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The article above was edited by Marina di Bernardo Babichak.
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