The major divisions of the article deal with the following topics: introduction, situations of innovation, symbolism, structure of the tale, psychological functions, sociological functions, relation to reality and research suggestions. The term folktale is used broadly to refer to any traditional dramatic narrative of more or less fixed form, transmitted primarily in oral tradition. Myths, legends, fables, etc., are thus intended by the term as well as tales in the narrow sense of stereotyped narratives told for entertainment without concern for their truth value. It is tempting to subtract the "folk" from "folktale" and extend the scope of discussion to include written tales as well. For some purposes there is no objection to doing this, but the introduction of writing brings in additional problems as to structure and function so written literature is not specifically discussed. In the sociopsychological study of folktales at least three semi-independent systems are involved: (1) the tale itself, conside...