Home What are family legends/family misfortune stories? Read an analysis of this story Click to view photo of Depression Era Montreal Posted Message Board My Bubby:

What are family legends/family-misfortune stories? According to Jan Harold Brunvand, in his book entitled “The Study of American Folklore,” family misfortune stories belong to the broader category of oral folklore called personal legends. Personal legends, as defined by Brunvand, “are stories attached to individuals and told as true.” This particular area of folklore study is also often referred to as “First-person reminiscences” or “family stories.” Such stories tend to develop specific themes” says Brunvand: “family-misfortune stories might explain “why we are not a rich family today,” “How Grandpa lost his fortune or failed to capitalize on his invention” or “The time someone failed to marry money.” “Courtship stories may follow such themes as “love at first sight” or “meant for each other,” or be interlarded with fairy-tale or romance conventions (Brunvand, 214). What makes this a family-misfortune story? Let it first be stated that Folklorists define legends separately from myths although they do tend to resemble one another. This category of traditional prose narratives are, like myths, “stories regarded by their tellers as true, despite being partly based on traditional motifs or concepts. Unlike myths, however, legends are generally secular and are set in the less remote past in a conventional earthly locale. Because many legends reflect folk beliefs, the term “belief tale” is also applied to them; and just as myths serve the function of validating religious rites in a primitive culture, legends are often told to validate superstitions or other traditional beliefs in modern folklore. [They are] concerned with remarkable, even bizarre, events that allegedly happened to ordinary people” (Brunvand, 196). My Bubby’s Story could be studied as a quintessential example of what Brunvand terms a “family-misfortune story.” It is a tale surrounding a remarkable event that is set in the not so remote past, as you will all learn from reading my analysis serves as a validating formula to my families’ history. Identifying and working with your own family legends: When I approached this project I wanted it not only to offer up an exploration into my families’ roots but also a format for others to begin looking at some of their own backgrounds. I wanted people who explored my site to start asking questions to begin exploring their stories (and we all have them) that exist in their homes and communities. This process became a forum for me to gain a closer look at my history and how legends are born. That is why I will offer up these questions for those of you interested in beginning this process of understanding for yourselves: To begin ask yourself: Is there a story in my family that I have heard again and again? Which elements of it seem true and which are more difficult to believe? Why does this story have legendary status in my family? Is it an exaggeration? Perhaps a grandparent has told about his/her wilder younger days. What is the difference between the way people remember themselves and the way we see them now? Write a family legend and consider the following questions: Why is this story a family legend? What does it say about my family? What does it say about the person telling the story or the person involved with the story? How is the legend similar or different from the way I see the person? How does this legend affect me and my beliefs? Does the story inspire me or caution me? What is the purpose of this legend for my family?