Folklore & Mythology

Fairy tales, often said to be "timeless" and fundamentally "oral," have a long written history. However, argues Elizabeth Wanning Harries in this provocative book, a vital part of this history has fallen by the wayside. The short, subtly didactic fairy...

Myth: A New Symposium offers a broad-based assessment of the present state of myth study. It was inspired by a revisiting of the influential mid-century work Myth: A Symposium (edited by Thomas Sebeok). A systematic introduction and 15 contributions from...

Integrating original texts with explanations, interpretations, and theory, Introduction to Mythology: Contemporary Approaches to Classical and World Myths, Fourth Edition, introduces students to a wide range of myths drawn from sources all around the...

New Mexico's twin traditions of the scientific and the supernatural meet for the first time in this long-overdue book by a journalist known for investigating the unexplained. Strange tales of ghosts, monsters, miracles, lost treasure, UFOs, and much more...

Hawaiian legends figure greatly in the image of tropical paradise that has come to represent Hawai'i in popular imagination. But what are we buying into when we read these stories as texts in English-language translations? Cristina Bacchilega poses this...

An unprecedented number of folklorists are addressing issues of class, race, gender, and sexuality in academic and public spaces in the US, raising the question: How can folklorists contribute to these contemporary political affairs? Since the nature of...

Using the myth cycle of the opossum and the theft of fire from the gods as a touchstone, Lopez Austin constructs a definition of myth that pertains to all of Mesoamerican culture, challenging the notion that to be relevant such studies must occur within...

This volume addresses the relation between religion and things. That relation has long been conceived in antagonistic terms, privileging spirit above matter, belief above ritual and objects, meaning above form, and "inward" contemplation above "outward"...

Throughout the ancient world, origin stories were told across the ancient world in many different ways: through poetry, prose, monumental and decorative arts, and performance in civic and religious rituals. Foundation myths, particularly those about the...

Growing old doesn't have to be seen as an eventual failure but rather as an important developmental stage of creativity. Offering an absorbing and fresh perspective on aging and crafts, Jon Kay explores how elders choose to tap into their creative and...

Jokes and Targets takes up an appealing and entertaining topic-the social and historical origins of jokes about familiar targets such as rustics, Jewish spouses, used car salesmen, and dumb blondes. Christie Davies explains why political jokes flourished...

Just exactly where do we find the supernatural in the contemporary world? It's both pervasive-everywhere-and specific-a particular somewhere. Otherworldly traditions and stories still spread through oral narration. They pervade mass media and the digital...

Galilee has been a crossroads of cultures, religions, and languages for centuries, as illustrated in these fascinating Bedouin folktales, which offer excellent examples of the Arabic narrative tradition of the Middle East.Bedouin Folktales from the North...

In this account of the growth of newspapers in modern, industrial society, Helen Hughes traces the development of a mass audience through analysis of the origins of the human interest story in the popular ballads of an earlier day. She shows how such...

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,...

What can you do with a folklore degree? Over six dozen folklorists, writing from their own experiences, show us. What Folklorists Do examines a wide range of professionals-both within and outside the academy, at the beginning of their careers or holding...

The study of folklore has historically focused on the daily life and culture of regular people, such as artisans, storytellers, and craftspeople. But what can folklore reveal about strategies of belonging, survival, and reinvention in moments of crisis?...

Chinese folklorists are well acquainted with the work of their English-language colleagues, but until recently the same could not be said about American scholars' knowledge of Chinese folkloristics. Chinese Folklore Studies Today aims to address this...

In the waning years of the fourteenth century, the household of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster was scandalized when twelve petulant English knights publicly mocked the twelve ladies-in-waiting to the Duke's wife, calling them ugly to their faces...

An illuminating look at Native origins and lifeways, a treasure for all who value Native wisdom and the stories that keep it alive.About the AuthorJoseph Bruchac, coauthor of The Keepers of the Earth series, is a nationally acclaimed Native American...

An astonishingly rich oral epic that chronicles the early history of a Bedouin tribe, the Sirat Bani Hilal has been performed for almost a thousand years. In this ethnography of a contemporary community of professional poet-singers, Dwight F. Reynolds...

Our Folktales: The All-time Favourite Folktales from Asia is a collection of eight beloved children's stories from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Singapore. In these beautifully illustrated tales, you will meet brave...

Combining the concepts and methods of classical ethology with those of social-cultural anthropology, Navajo Infancy describes the major sources of change and continuity in Navajo infant development as a vehicle for discussing the relationships between...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780299338206Author Tim FrandyFormat HardbackPage Count 440Imprint University of Wisconsin PressPublisher University of Wisconsin PressWeight(grams) 178g

"American Folklore Scholarship is rich reading, outlining the intellectual genealogy of American folklore and delivering many interesting historical tidbits. Folklore teachers will want to use this book in their introductory theory classes, while...

A new pottery tradition has been developing along the border of northern Indiana and southern Michigan. Despite the fact that this region is not yet an established destination for pottery collectors, Michiana potters are committed to pursuing their craft...

When heritage becomes a commodity, when culture is instrumental in driving tourism, and when individuals assert ownership over either, social, ideological, political, and economic motivations intertwine. Bestowing value on "culture" is itself a...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781578635863Author Ward RutherfordFormat PaperbackPage Count 160Imprint Weiser BooksPublisher Weiser BooksWeight(grams) 136g

" West Virginia boasts an unusually rich heritage of ghost tales. Originally West Virginians told these hundred stories not for idle amusement but to report supernatural experiences that defied ordinary human explanation. From jealous rivals and ghostly...

In 1976, Ronald Reagan hit the campaign trail with an extraordinary account of a woman committing massive welfare fraud. The story caught fire and a devastating symbol of the misuse government programs was born: the Welfare Queen. Overthrowing the Queen...

In this important ethnography Ziying You explores the role of the "folk literati" in negotiating, defining, and maintaining local cultural heritage. Expanding on the idea of the elite literati-a widely studied pre-modern Chinese social group,...

Here, grounded firmly in American history, is a skilled folklorist's survey of the entire field of America's folklore-from colonization to mass culture. Tracing the forms and content of American folklore, Mr. Dorson reveals the richness, pathos, and...

All the selections in Richard M. Dorson's Folktales Told around the World were recorded by expert collectors, and the majority of them are published here for the first time. The tales presented are told in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North and...

This book discusses the origin and dispersion of the Aryans, the mythopoeic world view of early man, the animistic philosophy of savages, and the survivals of primitive belief among peasants, which enlivened the folklore controversies.Book...

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1784 - 1817) was born in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1806 he first travelled with an African Association expedition to explore the interior of Africa. Three years later he was in North Africa, where disguised as an Arab, he...

The zombie apocalypse hasn't happened-yet-but zombies are all over popular culture. From movies and TV shows to video games and zombie walks, the undead stalk through our collective fantasies. What is it about zombies that exerts such a powerful...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781990539046Author Dan AsfarFormat PaperbackPage Count 216Imprint Ghost House BooksPublisher Ghost House BooksWeight(grams) 236gDimensions(mm) 209mm * 55mm...

The Aesop's Fable Paradigm is a collection of essays that explore the cutting-edge intersection of Folklore and Science. From moralizing fables to fantastic folktales, humans have been telling stories about animals-animals who can talk, feel, think, and...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780930664282Author Theodore K. RabbFormat HardbackPage Count 272Imprint Society for the Promotion of Science & Scholarship Inc.,U.S.Publisher Society for...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780930664299Author Takahiro UeyamaFormat HardbackPage Count 378Imprint Society for the Promotion of Science & Scholarship Inc.,U.S.Publisher Society for...