What is Folktale Collection

The publication of folktale collections in the Valencian Country becomes especially notable from the 1980s. Many such publications are aimed at children and young readers, but some are targeted at general adult, or even specialized, audiences. Collections often include explicit references to authors and folklorists who serve as models or references to varying degrees. Sometimes comparisons are made between the plots of specific folktales, sometimes the reference is in the form of a scholarly commentary while at other times the reference serves to locate the collection within a wider literary tradition (Valencian, Catalan, European, international, etc.). The purpose of this chapter is to study these references in Valencian folktale collections after the 1980s, because not only do such references play a fundamental role in understanding and researching folktale collections, but they also make it possible to analyze the way—and the extent to which—these publications identify themselves within a particular linguistic, literary, or cultural framework.