Fable

Related Topics:
Fables :: Fable_Series :: Fable :: Fable_2 :: Fables_and_Fairy_Tales :: Fable_-_The_Lost_Chapters :: Fables_of_the_Reconstruction

For other uses of the term or its plural, see Fable (disambiguation).

In its strict sense a fable is a short story or folk tale embodying a moral, which may be expressed explicitly at the end as a maxim. "Fable" comes from Latin fabula (meaning 'conversation', 'narrative', 'tale') and shares a root with faber, "maker, artificer." Thus, though a fable may be conversational in tone, the understanding from the outset is that it is an invention, a fiction. A fable may be set in verse, though it is usually prose. In its pejorative sense, a fable is a deliberately invented or falsified account.

A fable often, but not necessarily, makes metaphorical use of an animal as its central character. Medieval French fabliaux might feature Reynard the fox, a trickster figure, and offer a subtext that was mildly subversive of the feudal order of society. A familiar theme in Slavic fables is an encounter between a wily peasant and the Devil. But the device of personification may be extended to anything inanimate, such as trees, flowers, stones, streams and winds.

In some usage, "fable" has been extended to include stories with mythical or legendary elements. The word "fabulous" strictly means "pertaining to fables," although in recent decades its metaphorical meanings have been taken to be literal meanings, i.e. "legendary," "mythical," "exaggerated," "incredible." An author of fables is called a fabulist.

History

Fables have long been told. The first notable fabulist was Aesop, a supposed Greek slave ca. 600 B.C. Although no solid evidence exists proving Aesop was a real person, some consider him the father of the genre. Hundreds of fables have been attributed to him, though most may have been told earlier. Fables had a further long tradition through the Middle Ages, and became part of European literature. During the 17th century, the French fabulist Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) saw the soul of the fable in the moral — a rule of behavior. Starting with the Aesopian pattern, La Fontaine set out to satirize the court, the church, the rising bourgeoisie, indeed the entire human scene of his time. La Fontaine's model was subsequently emulated by Poland's Ignacy Krasicki (1735-1801) and Russia's Ivan Krylov (1769-1844).

In modern times, the fable has been trivialized in children's books. Yet it has also been fully adapted to modern literature. For instance, James Thurber used the ancient style in his book, Fables for Our Time; and in a book, The Beast in me, unmasked by fables. George Orwell's Animal Farm satirizes Stalinist Communism in particular, and totalitarianism in general, by using the animal story.

Epicharmus of Kos and Phormis are reported as having been among the first to invent comic fables.P.W. Buckham, p. 245