Decoding the Typologies and Structural Patterns of Folktales in the Eastern Visayas Region, Philippines

This study addresses a critical gap in Philippine folklore research by applying Vladimir Propp’s morphology of the folktale (1968) to a corpus of oral narratives—locally known as susumaton—collected from Eastern Visayas. While Propp’s structural framework has been extensively applied to Western folktales, its application to Philippine contexts remains limited. This study argues that theoretical models originating from Western traditions such as Propp’s narrative morphology can be applied to local oral narratives in ways that preserve and respect their distinct cultural meanings. Through a folkloristic ethnographic approach, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with 35 elders across selected barangays and validated the collected narratives against secondary sources, resulting in the documentation and analysis of seven folktales. These narratives were categorized typologically and mapped using Propp’s 31 narrative functions. Results show that Eastern Visayan folktales span diverse genres, reflecting a rich and varied oral tradition. The analysis reveals both structural alignments with Propp’s classical sequence and notable deviations, such as non-linear plots, reordered functions, and open-ended conclusions. It supports the idea the Eastern Visayas folktales are fluid and responsive to cultural values. More broadly, the study affirms that folktale structures vary across cultures and highlights the importance of culturally contextualized narrative analysis in comparative folklore studies.

Folklore studies; Propp’s Morphology; Philippine Oral Tradition

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