The Universality of Traditional Tales of the Portuguese Speaking Countries

Authors

M.Margarida Pereira-Müller 177152, infobus, Queluz, PortugalFollow

Publication Date

October 2016

Abstract

Throughout the ages, the traditional tale has been the vehicle used for transmitting the culture from generation to generation - the memory of a community. Since the beginning of mankind there have always been tales in all countries and in all cultures of the world. Many of the traditional stories we think are Portuguese or European are to be found as well in other parts of the world, told in a very similar way. Sometimes the only difference is the physical frame: the landscape, the flora and the fauna, how people dress or eat.

Most of these tales have animals as main characters that are always inserted in a social context, thus portraying life itself with its intrigues, ambitions, generosity, violence, and justice. They were used to explain the origin of habits and customs, natural phenomena and to teach fundamental concepts in human relations, as, for example, what is good and what is evil.

Author Bio(s)

M.Margarida Pereira-Müller, with a graduation in American English and German Studies and with a Pos-Gradution as Scientific Documentalist and another Pos-Graduation in Publishing and E-Publishing, has already published five books:

O macaquinhos do narizito branco (1993)

Os mais belos contos tradicionais (1998/2006)

Os mais belos contos do mundo (2005)

Contos e lendas da lusofonia (2010)

Contos populares de Angola (2012).

She has also been working as a storyteller, with multiple sessions in Portugal, Libya, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Georgia.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.