Narrative Analysis Frameworks
Dundes’s Narrative Morphology
Alan Dundes’s 1964 study of North American Indigenous folktales develops the study of recurring sequences of narrative actions beyond the Russian wonder-tale corpus used by Propp.
The original book title uses historical terminology; it is retained in the citation below. Individual communities and their traditions should be identified precisely when analysing narratives.
Motif, motifeme and allomotif
These distinctions separate story content from its structural role.
| Reference | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Motif | A recognisable element of narrative content. |
| Motifeme | A structural position or action within a narrative sequence, comparable to a function. |
| Allomotif | An alternative motif filling the same motifemic position across versions. Demonstrating this variation requires comparison of versions. |
Reading action sequences
A starting point is the relation between a lack and its resolution.
| Reference | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Lack | A need or imbalance establishes a problem for the narrative. |
| Lack liquidated | The deficiency is removed or the imbalance resolved. |
| Compare the intervening actions | Document how each version moves between these positions. Similar structural positions may be realised through different content. |
Using this reference
Do not reduce every narrative to one mandatory sequence. Record the order, repetitions and unresolved endings in the actual text before proposing a pattern.
For later comparisons, retain passage references and community-specific context alongside each proposed motifeme. This page’s concept links are reference aids, not new official type identifiers.
Each heading has a stable link for citation and future cross-referencing. Narrative associations will follow later analysis.
Sources and further reading
Dundes, Alan. The Morphology of North American Indian Folktales. FF Communications 195. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1964.
- Folklore Fellows’ Network 55: publisher’s catalogue listing for FFC 195 (PDF)
- Dundes, collected essays: The Symbolic Equivalence of Allomotifs, in The Meaning of Folklore (PDF)
The explanations are concise editorial summaries. Published identifiers are distinguished from this page’s reference headings and suggested recording practices.
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