Analytical Categories and Ethnic Genres

"Was ist eine Sage?" This question, raised by Carl Herman Tillhagen a few years ago,1 is equally applicable to other folklore genres. The search for the thematic and strucutral attributes which distinguish one form from another has continuously occupied folklorists who aspire to establish research in this field on a systematic basis. Thus, Alan Dundes states that "the problem...of defining folklore boils down to the task of defining exhaustively all the forms of folklore. Once this has been accomplished, it will be possible to give an enumerative definition of folklore. However, thus far in the illustrious history of the discipline, not so much as one genre has been completely defined."2