Into The Woods: A Motif Mainstreaming of “Imontanosa’s†Eschatological Legends

Abstract

Abstract

A noteworthy body of traditional legends in the Philippine hinterland exists, but these narratives are very challenging to locate, because they are out of print, and/or excluded from the local literature anthologies. This study focused on the survey of selected eschatological legends that are untold, published and unpublished in the contemporary society today. Sociological approach that examines the cultural context through narrative inquiry is used in this qualitative study. Specifically, it presents the findings of an extensive survey of the selected tales translated in English and analysis on their cultural connotations; it offers also the classification of these eschatological legends and their arrangements by geographical regions with in the province of Mountain in (CAR) Cordillera Administrative Region and provides a thorough narrative analysis based on Thompson’s Motif Index in Folk Literature. Ninety eight traditional tales were chosen according to the selection criteria, grouped according to Eschatological Legend category by Linda Degh, classified according to Stith Thompson’s motif indexing. Although there are multitudes of motifs revealed in the narratives, it was found out that common motif in the selected narratives are concentrated on mythological. Cultural connotations are concentrated on “Og-ogfo†(sharing), sanctity of culture, role of men and women in the family, practice of naming places based from the legends and, lastly, the performance of rituals.