Reference frame and motifs

grey and brown snake opening mouth — Photo by Donald Tong on Pexels.com

In studying the distributions of motifs, one finds that the same object in different cultures may hold vastly different meanings. For example, snakes are found in the mythology and folktales of many cultures. While in Judeo-Christian tradition the snake usually symbolizes evil, in India it is a sacred creature that plays “a major role in folklore and in many Buddhist, Jaina, and Hindu legends. . . . In southern India, especially on the west coast, many houses have a snake shrine or a snake grove in a corner of the garden, where offerings, especially of milk, are made to the snakes” (Dallapiccola 2002, 139–140). In European folklore the dragon is a guardian of remote, dark regions and often a beast to whom humans must be sacrificed, but in many Asian cultures dragons are helpers of human beings and bring good luck.
Archetypes and motifs in folklore and literature : a handbook / edited by Jane Garry and Hasan El-Shamy

Just as in visual communication. You can’t take colour red meaning the same in Mexico as it does in Vietnam. The meaning will be dictated by the referencial frame of the culture behind, or altered. Either by convention (security manuals stating red is the colour to indicate hot water pipes and water sources for firefighters) or by individual choices. Knowledge alters the way we represent or abstract things.
Someone who has read manga instead of comics won’t see heros the same way someone who has grown up only with superman.

Hereby, motifs in folklore will differ in meaning and use depending on the original culture.

Enjoy thinking outside your cultural frame or enhance the cultural motifs in yours. Pasto kalo.