The Narrative Structure of Swindler Tales

Résumé du livre

The object of the paper is to design a model for the narrative structure of swindler tales. By 'swindler-tale' is meant an oral narrative (prose or verse) about a clever personage who cheats a less clever one in order to win (usually) a small material gain or gratification. The material on which the discussion is based stems from disparate cultures and thus demonstrates the generality of the proposed narrative structure: Africa (Basuto), Amerindian (Kutenai), India (Ceylon), Yemen (Jewish), and Yugoslavia (narrative songs). (Author).