Résumé
Résumé de Contes populaires des Philippines
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
For readers who love myths, legends and the oral stories of other cultures, and teachers or parents looking for tales to read aloud.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
Philippine Folk Tales is a collection of stories gathered in the early twentieth century by Mabel Cook Cole, an American who studied the peoples of the Philippine Islands. It appeared in 1916, after she had spent time in the islands with her husband, the anthropologist Fay-Cooper Cole. Her aim was to set down tales that people told aloud, before they were lost.
The book gives you stories of how the world began, how people and animals came to be, and how spirits and heroes shape ordinary life. It also gives you a sense of the many communities who told them, each with its own customs and beliefs. To understand the tales, it helps to start with the woman who wrote them down and the way she worked.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A fieldworker writes down spoken talesFree
- 2The tales come from many different peoples
- 3Origins, spirits and clever creatures
- 4How to read these tales today
Point clé 1 sur 4
A fieldworker writes down spoken tales
Mabel Cook Cole was not a novelist inventing stories. She was a fieldworker who listened to people in the islands and wrote down what they told her. Her husband, Fay-Cooper Cole, was an anthropologist, and the couple worked among several peoples of the Philippines in the years before the book was printed.
This background shapes the collection. The tales are short and plain, and they keep the feel of stories told by a fire or in a village house. They are built to be remembered and passed on by mouth, so they use clear scenes, simple turns and strong images.
Cole also gave her readers some background on the peoples she met. She wanted the stories to be understood as part of living communities, not as curiosities. When you read them, keep that in mind. Each tale belongs to a people who had their own reasons for telling it.
That’s 1 of 4 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Contes populaires des Philippines
What is Philippine Folk Tales about?
It is a collection of traditional stories from several peoples of the Philippine Islands. The tales cover the beginnings of the world, spirits, heroes and clever animals, and they show the beliefs and daily concerns of the communities who told them.
Who was Mabel Cook Cole?
Mabel Cook Cole was an American writer and fieldworker who spent time in the Philippines with her husband, the anthropologist Fay-Cooper Cole. She wrote down tales told by island peoples and published them in the book in 1916.
When was Philippine Folk Tales written?
The book was published in 1916, based on tales gathered during Cole's time in the islands in the years before. The stories themselves are much older, passed down by word of mouth among the communities that told them.
Are the stories true or made up?
They are traditional tales, not history. Each belongs to a community that told it to explain the world, teach values or entertain. Cole did not invent them. She recorded stories that people told her.
Is Philippine Folk Tales easy to read for children?
Yes. The tales are short, with clear scenes and simple turns, so they work well read aloud.