How do folklorists define folklore? How do they collect, classify, and analyze it? How do we approach world mythologies? Why do we need folklore and mythology?

We will discuss the creation and re-creation of the world and man as depicted in ancient Babylonian and Biblical narratives.

Titanic Clashes. Stories about rivalry, family relationships, betrayals and alliances among gods and goddesses. The fundamental role of destiny and determination of the world order.

Examples of diffusion and similarities to the Near Eastern tradition. We will discuss the tension between human fate and free will depicted in the stories, foundation myths and the nature of demigods.

A Northern version of creation that follows destruction, and a new world that is born out of the destruction. We will analyze the motif of self-sacrifice and the importance and complex role of giants and dwarves in the Norse culture.

An examination of Náhuatl and other ancient Mesoamerican myth, including justifications for human sacrifice and another version of self-sacrifice commenced by a god. We will discuss the symbolism of natural phenomena.

Tales of creators, tricksters and culture heroes – a single god can be all of those at once. We will examine the dubious nature of deities in animal form and summarize the first part of the course (mythology).

Meaning and structure in folktales. We will look at the variety of the popular tale about two siblings abandoned by their parents, discuss its meaning and explain how and why particular variants differ.

Meaning and structure in folktales. Another popular folktale type, frequently interpreted from a feminist perspective. We will take a closer look at the plot itself and discuss the scheme according to which it’s constructed.

We’ll examine a European place legend, an Appalachian ghost legend, and a contemporary teenagers’ legend-superstition as a way of defining this elusive folklore genre. We’ll discuss the nature and meaning of legends and superstitions.

An examination of a range of European, British and American ballads, which are a musical form of narrative oral folklore. We will discuss the contents and origin of the ballads.

The wisdom of many, the wit of one. The class focuses on the use of proverbs around the world, especially in Africa where they have earned a privileged position in the lives of many ethnic groups. We will also discuss different types of riddles - one of the oldest forms of folk wisdom in history.

An introduction to non-verbal folklore and case studies of multiple genres of folklore within a single folk group. We will discuss folklore as a story, as an artefact, but also as a tool of identity.

We will have a guided tour at the Ethnographic Museum where we will get more familiar with various customs and traditions from the Czech lands and examine various artefacts related to them.