Traditional stories
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Words such as myth, legend, folklore, fairy tale, and fable are used interchangeably in common speech as a synonym for fiction, "popular belief", "popular misconception", factoid, etc. Similar terms include anecdote, parable, and fairy stories. In the academic circles of literature, religion, history, and anthropology, these terms are important jargon to identify and interpret stories more precisely.
Not every story will fall into exactly one category. Some stories belong in multiple stories and some stories do not fit in any category.
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[edit] Simple comparison
This table is a brief comparison and oversimplifies some points.
| Name | Literally true | Supernatural elements | Anthropomorphism | Allegorical | Didacticity | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myth | Debatable | Always | Sometimes | Sometimes | Sometimes | Any length |
| Legend | Sometimes | Usually | Sometimes | Sometimes | Sometimes | Any length |
| Fable | Never | Always | Always | Always | Always | Short |
| Anecdote | Often | Never | Never | Never | Never | Short |
| Parable | Never | Never | Never | Never | Always | Short |
| Apologue | Never | Always | Sometimes | Always | Always | Short |
| Fairy tale | Never | Always | Sometimes | Sometimes | Sometimes | Any length |
[edit] Fable
A fable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities), and that illustrates a moral lesson (a "moral"), which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.
A fable differs from a parable in that the latter excludes animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as actors that assume speech and other powers of mankind.
[edit] Parable
A parable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. It differs from a fable in excluding animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as actors that assume speech and other powers of mankind.
[edit] Apologue
An apologue is a brief fable or allegorical story with pointed or exaggerated details, meant to serve as a pleasant vehicle for a moral doctrine or to convey a useful lesson without stating it explicitly. It is exactly like a parable except that it contains supernatural elements, often the personification of animals or plants.
[edit] Anecdote
An anecdote is a short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always based on real life, an incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, in real places. However, over time, modification in reuse may convert a particular anecdote to a fictional piece, one that is retold but is "too good to be true". Sometimes humorous, anecdotes are not jokes, because their primary purpose is not simply to evoke laughter, but to reveal a truth more general than the brief tale itself, or to delineate a character trait or the workings of an institution in such a light that it strikes in a flash of insight to their very essence.
