Editing Storytelling (section)

===''Märchen'' and ''Sagen''===
[[File:Schlesisches Märchen.png|thumb|upright|Illustration from ''Silesian Folk Tales'' (The Book of [[Rubezahl]])]]

Folklorists sometimes divide oral tales into two main groups: ''Märchen'' and ''Sagen''.<ref>Storytellingday.net. "[http://www.storytellingday.net/oral-traditions-storytelling-explored.html Oral Traditions In Storytelling ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208125620/http://storytellingday.net/oral-traditions-storytelling-explored.html |date=2013-12-08 }}." Retrieved November 21, 2013.</ref> These are [[German language|German]] terms for which there are no exact [[English language|English]] equivalents, however we have approximations:

''Märchen'', loosely translated as "[[fairy tale]](s)"  or little stories, take place in a kind of separate "once-upon-a-time" world of nowhere-in-particular, at an indeterminate time in the past. They are clearly not intended to be understood as true. The stories are full of clearly defined incidents, and peopled by rather flat characters with little or no interior life. When the supernatural occurs, it is presented matter-of-factly, without surprise. Indeed, there is very little effect, generally; bloodcurdling events may take place, but with little call for emotional response from the listener.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

''Sagen'', translated as "[[legend]]s", are supposed to have actually happened, very often at a particular time and place, and they draw much of their power from this fact. When the supernatural intrudes (as it often does), it does so in an emotionally fraught manner. Ghost and [[Lovers' Leap]] stories belong in this category, as do many UFO stories and stories of supernatural beings and events.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

Another important examination of orality in human life is [[Walter J. Ong]]'s ''Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word'' (1982). Ong studies the distinguishing characteristics of oral traditions, how oral and written cultures interact and condition one another, and how they ultimately influence human epistemology.