Kategoria BISAC: Social Science >> Folklore & Mythology

" Bin Gorion's] crowning achievement was Mimekor Yisrael, a multilayered compendium of post-biblical Jewish lore and demonology." -Commentary

"One of the most extraordinary publishing events in my memory-a huge source of discoveries of the quintessential Jewish experience." -Nat Hentoff

"This is a most important collection, actually unique in its field. I recommend it to all good readers." -Isaac Bashevis Singer

"It is wonderful to have this treasure trove of Jewish Folktales finally available in English." -Bruno Bettelheim

"Indispensable to anyone wishing to learn...

..". its pages come alive with wonderful illustrative material coupled with sensitve and insightful commentary." --Reviews in Anthropology

..". the scope, breadth, and lucidity of this excellent study confirm that Okpewho is undoubtedly the most important authority writing on African oral literature right now... "--Research in African Literatures

"Truly a tour de force of individual scholarship... "--World Literature Today

..". excellent... " --African Affairs

..". a thorough synthesis of the main issues of oral literature criticism, as well as a grounding in...

"These essays... are of immense importance to anyone interested in the issues of origins and folklore texts." Choice

..". this is Bascom at his best.... an attractive and full-bodied book." Fabula

These essays, devoted to traditional narratives found in Africa and in the New World, represent the last major research project of William Bascom (1912-1981), eminent authority on African art and folklore his intention was to demonstrate the African roots of African American folktales.

Propp s essay in Russian Folk Lyrics extends beyond the formalistic analysis of folklore outlined in his classic The Morphology of the Folktale. In this study, newly translated by Roberta Reeder, Propp considers the Russian folk lyric in the social and historical context in which it was produced.

Reeder supplements Propp s theoretical presentation with a comprehensive anthology of examples. Some songs were imitated by or appear in the works of Russia s major writers, such as Pushkin and Nekrasov. Here we find the customs of Russian peasant life expressed through the ritual of song....

"This collection of articles touches upon some important issues in humanistic anthropology.... Folklorists, students of comparative literature, and anthropologists can all find something of interest in these essays." American Anthropologist

"Superbly edited, impeccably researched, and discriminatingly tied together as a coherent gathering of insight, the volume is a welcome addition to a significant field of study that is only now beginning to appreciate the finer achievements of the South Pacific s unique contribution." Rongorongo Studies

..". the defining collection on...

"Excellent." The Reader s Review

"Anybody contemplating the study and pursuit of folklore... will benefit from reading this presentation thoroughly to determine your place in this most exciting scholastic world." Come-All-Ye

This is the most complete and up-to-date study of folklore and folklore methodologies available. The authors describe the pervasiveness of folklore, including its uses in literature, films, television, cartoons, comic strips, advertising, and other media in a variety of cultures.

"A charming and agreeable surprise... A welcome gift to Western readers." Kirkus Reviews

"Editor Jayyusi offers a major example of the Arabic folk epics or romances called siras... The siras are full of heroic adventures, exotic landscapes, love affairs, friendships, supernatural dangers, magical spells, and great Arab heroes.... " Library Journal

"This text should find its place alongside the translations of other epic traditions of the world as a text well suited for use in university courses on the Middle East, world literature, epic, and folklore." Journal of Arabic...

"Pentikainen s exceptional interdisciplinary study will richly reward those interested in the dynamics of artistic creation and cultural construction, ethnic emergence and political nationalism, and shamanistic belief systems." American Anthropologist

..". a splendid contribution to the literature on folk epics... " The Scandinavian-American Bulletin

The Kalevala, created during the 1830s and 1840s, is based on authentic folklore collected and compiled by Elias Lonnrot. It was the Kalevala that initiated the process leading to the foundation of Finnish identity during the...

Now in Paperback
Muhammad and the Golden Bough
Reconstructing Arabic Myth
Jaroslav Stetkevych

Connects pre-Islamic Arabian myth to world mythic traditions.

A Choice Outstanding Academic Book

"Stetkevych succeeds brilliantly in reconstructing the myth of the destruction of the Thamud, an ancient people of north Arabia.... This book will add a new dimension to the study of Near Eastern and Mediterranean myth and legend." Choice

"Stetkevych s critical and wide-ranging perspective reveals a wealth of insights. This book is must reading for everyone in the...

Through the lens of expressive culture, Performing Folklore tracks Portugal's transition from fascism to democracy, and from imperial metropole to EEC member state. Kimberly DaCosta Holton examines the evolution and significance of ranchos folcloricos, groups of amateur musicians and dancers who perform turn-of-the-century popular tradition and have acted as cultural barometers of change throughout 20th-century Portugal. She investigates the role that these folklore groups played in the mid-twentieth-century dictatorship, how they fell out of official favor with the advent of democracy,...

Irish Christmas mumming, the subject of this carefully researched and beautifully written book, is approached in Part I through the recollections of four old people of the hamlet of Ballymenone who recall the mumming from their youth. In Part II, the author examines the form and function of the mummers' play, showing that contrary to the theories of some folklorists it is not a truncated fragment of a much larger whole but a complete "presentational" statement. He shows how the mummers' play functioned as a means of drawing the community closer together and as an expression of dangers and...

Ancient Tales in Modern Japan makes available for the first time in English a unique collection of Japanese folk tales. More than half of these tales have never before been translated. Fanny Hagin Mayer, a pioneer Western scholar in the field of Japanese folklore, has selected 347 folk tales from the standard Japanese reference work, the Meii. Ninety early collectors from throughout Japan, among them key figures such as Sasaki Kizen and Iwakura Ichiro, furnished tales for this selection.

This remarkable anthology presents a vivid picture of centuries of Japanese folk culture....

..". a cross-cultural consideration of kinship and family relations as captured in traditional folktales and other lore genres.... This valuable contribution in the areas of anthropology and folk literature will be a treasured acquisition... " Library Journal

..". rare, intriguing, and highly readable... presents tales from the Arab world in a fluent and attractive way." Ulrich Marzolph

This cross-cultural examination of kinship and affinal relations as expressed in traditional folktales is based on field data compiled by the author. The gender factor and its impact on the...

"This monumental work has now become... the indispensable tool of all folk narrative scholars." Southern Folklore Quarterly

"A work of this kind can never be quite complete, but in this work Stith Thompson has approached perfection." Volkskunde

"An invaluable aid to students and scholars... " Reference & Research Book News

Indiana University Press, with the generous support of the L. J. and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation, is pleased to announce the republication of this folklore classic, in honor of the centenary of the American Folklore Society.

"This monumental work has now become... the indispensable tool of all folk narrative scholars." Southern Folklore Quarterly

"A work of this kind can never be quite complete, but in this work Stith Thompson has approached perfection." Volkskunde

"An invaluable aid to students and scholars... " Reference & Research Book News

Indiana University Press, with the generous support of the L. J. and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation, is pleased to announce the republication of this folklore classic, in honor of the centenary of the American Folklore Society.

"This monumental work has now become... the indispensable tool of all folk narrative scholars." Southern Folklore Quarterly

"A work of this kind can never be quite complete, but in this work Stith Thompson has approached perfection." Volkskunde

"An invaluable aid to students and scholars... " Reference & Research Book News

Indiana University Press, with the generous support of the L. J. and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation, is pleased to announce the republication of this folklore classic, in honor of the centenary of the American Folklore Society.

Legend and Belief
Dialectics of a Folklore Genre

Linda Degh

An acclaimed folklorist asks "What is legend?"

Legend and Belief is a descriptive and analytical study of the legend, the most prolific and characteristic form of folklore in contemporary Western civilization. Not that the legend does not have ancient roots; like the tale, the joke, the ballad, the proverb, and mummery, it was also a part of an archaic preindustrial tradition. But the legend--as old as conversation and debate, and similarly questioning the human condition--was able to survive technological...

..". one of the richest, clearest, and acutest surveys to date of the course of theorizing about myth from the eighteenth century on. I know of no more useful volume on the topic. Despite the postmodern connotations of the title, Von Hendy is writing not to expose the concept of myth but simply to show the array of ways in which it has been used from time to time and from place to place. A superb work." --Robert A. Segal,
University of Lancaster,
author of Theorizing about Myth

Andrew Von Hendy offers an integrated critical account of the career of myth in modernity. He takes...

""This monumental work has now become... the indispensable tool of all folk narrative scholars."" -- Southern Folklore Quarterly

""A work of this kind can never be quite complete, but in this work Stith Thompson has approached perfection."" -- Volkskunde

""An invaluable aid to students and scholars... "" -- Reference & Research Book News

Indiana University Press, with the generous support of the L. J. and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation, is pleased to announce the republication of this folklore classic, in honor of the centenary of the American Folklore Society.