Digital Issue of the College of Transcultural Studies

The Initial Issue:NO.1

Issued:Oct.1,2017

Program:Key project of “ Research for Language,Character of Chinese and Folk Culture from the Perspective of Transcultural Studies”, hosted by the Center of Folklore, Ancient Writing and Chinese Characters, Key Social Science Research Base under the Ministry of Education of P.R.China
Diversity of Folkloristic Narratology:the Dialogue between Zhong Jingwen and Vladimir Propp
Dong Xiaoping

“Singing bone”,a classical type which collected and edited by Antti Aarne in his The Types of the Folktale in the 1910,together with another types became the base of the methodology of folkloristics established the by the Finnish School, and the nature of this methodology is the ethnocentric view and the simplification around the western culture However, the fewer folklorists of oriental countries such as Professor Zhong Jingwen from China and Professor Vladimir Propp from Russian insisted in their research during the 1920th based on the own country’s materials of folktales and finally build up a un –western centralized methodology which have been meeting the needs of the native research of folk narratives. Not only that their works published at that time in the field of folkloristics created a model for the notional scholarly circle ,but also have influenced some other key scholars of Asian and European counties, for instance the research result of Zhong Jingwen has laid foundation for Asian folklorists to conduct research on folktales’type, while that of Vladimir Propp has influences on the research framework of French Structuralism and the Finnish School after 1960th. Meanwhile the type of “singing bone” is the “living” tradition of folklore even has been transmitted in both inland China and the north-west part of China Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region such as within the Epic Manas of Khalkhas. It is of important historical and social significances to conduct comprehensive research on the works of Zhong Jingwen and Vladimir Propp nowadays so as to distinguish, protect and maintain the cultural diversity. (Source:Journal of Beijing Normal University,Vol.6,2017)