La réception des contes basques au fil du temps

Abstract

This article discusses the evolution of the attitude to Basque fairy-tales at the end of the 19th, and the 20th centuries. At the end of the 19th century, a number of researchers of Basque and European folklore claimed the folklore of their countries was original, which seems to be extremely rare in this domain. On the other hand, some folklorists insisted that Basque folklore is not original at all. Some researchers tend to look for original features in the folklore of their country, so Basque fairy-tales are supposed to contain religious motifs, which seem to be less frequent in the neighboring territories. I suppose that the amtibion to find originality in Basque fairy-tales is closely linked to the typological originality of the Basque language.