Abstract
This article deals with the concept of "simple forms" (Einfache Formen, 1930) by André Jolles. André Jolles understands each of these nine "simple forms" (myth, legend, joke, saying, case, memorabilia, riddle, fairy tale) as the reflection in language of a distinct mode of human engagement with the world and thus as a basic structuring principle of literary narrative.
Language is defined as a producing, creating, and interpreting entity that stabilizes human labor and that does so with the help of "simple forms" - that is, fundamental ways of organizing the overwhelming diversity of phenomena. Jolles postulates that at the heart of every "simple form" lies a "verbal gesture" (Sprachgebärde), i.e. a gestural basis for speech (and text).
Simple Forms place Jolles in the company of Ernst Cassirer, Vladimir Propp, and other precursors of Structuralism. Using anthropology and literary theory, they investigated the origins of aesthetics.