![]() ![]() The fourth, and most important, of Perry's four criteria is that a fable at least pretends to be told for the sake of a moral, not merely for entertainment. Since I question this view, let me quote Ziolkowski's summary of Perry on this fourth point: The presence of a moral, as Ziolkowski sees it, distinguishes fable formally from other types of short narrative such as riddles, allegory, parables, and animal folktales. 4) Fable must at least pretend to be told for the sake of a moral, not merely for entertainment. 3) Fables must relate the actions of specific characters, not those, e.g., of allegorical figures. 2) Fables must record a single action, short chain of actions, or speech that took place once in the past they are thus unlike proverbs, which usually show a consuetudinal present. 1) Fables must be fictitious they are therefore different from pseudo-scientific nature observations, anecdotes, legends, etiological stories, and myths. Let me recount those delimitations here and question the last of them. En route to that goal, Ziolkowski summarizes Perry's delimitations on the field of Aesopic fable succinctly. ![]() Ziolkowski's goal is to frame the basic questions that lead to an understanding of the form of beast fable. Perry dissociates fable from any particular content and sees it rather as a specific literary form. It is a past fictional narrative understood to be metaphorical, that is, to picture a metaphorical truth (Babrius xxii-xxiii). For Perry, fable "relates a fictitious event in the past for the obvious purpose of illustrating an ethical truth" ( Studium 19). Of particular value are Perry's careful essay "Fable" ( Studium Generale 12, 17‑37) and the introduction to Babrius and Phaedrus (Cambridge, MA, 1984). The foundational work for fable definition in recent scholarship has come from Ben Edwin Perry, to whom both Ziolkowski and Carnes are indebted. ![]() Shaped and reshaped by every good contributor to the genre, this kind of story has a typical form and a typical effect. With Ziolkowski, I am speaking not of "fables by Aesop" but of "fables that are felt to be in the manner of Aesop" (4, italics his). I believe that there is a particularly effective and engaging kind of story that we associate with the name of Aesop. As the word "fable" continues to enjoy popularity and even increases its extension, we need to define Aesopic fable all the more carefully. In fact, "fable" seems to be in vogue today as a romantic word that can be applied to folktale, legend, fairy tale, and more. ![]() The tides of time have shifted sands in peculiar fashion around the word "fable." Bulfinch's The Age of Fable has nothing to do with what we most often mean by "fable." A recent cartoon book called Freaky Fables is a funny account of ancient legends, including the story of the Trojan War, in which a can of cleanser labeled " Ajax " runs around the battlefield. It has of course not been easy to define Aesopic fable. I move on finally to offer two comments on fable definitions operative in recent publications. I attempt then to demonstrate the value of the definition by trying it out in some test cases. This article reviews briefly what they offer on the definition of Aesopic fable, questions one point, and proposes a more specific definition. In its short history, Bestia has already furthered discussion on the definition of fable, in particular through the keynote addresses of Professors Jan Ziolkowski ("The Form and Spirit of Beast Fable," Bestia II 4-40) and Pack Carnes ("The Fable and the Anti-Fable: The Modern Faces of Aesop," Bestia IV 5-34). (Note: Those who want immediately to find the definition I offer should use this bookmark link.) ![]()
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