Proverbs: A Handbook

Wolfgang Mieder

Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004 - Social Science - 304 pages

Proverbs offer a concise record of folk wisdom and have appeared in oral tradition, literature, art, and popular culture for centuries. Written by the foremost authority on proverbs, this reference gives high school students, undergraduates, and general readers a concise yet comprehensive overview of proverbs in world culture. The volume begins with definitions and classifications of proverbs, followed by discussions of several notable examples. The book then examines approaches to the study of proverbs and the place of proverbs in literature, politics, popular songs, and everyday life. It closes with a bibliography of print and electronic resources and a glossary. Included are numerous illustrations.

Just about everyone has heard at least one proverb, and most people have heard more. Proverbs offer a concise record of folk wisdom and have appeared in oral tradition, literature, art, and popular culture for centuries. One of the most varied and fascinating types of folklore, proverbs are studied at all levels and are of interest to a wide range of audiences. Written by the foremost authority on proverbs, this reference gives high school students, undergraduates, and general readers a concise yet comprehensive overview of proverbs in world culture.

The volume begins with definitions and classifications of proverbs and a discussion of their origin and dissemination. It then discusses several representative proverbs from around the world. This is followed by a review of scholarship on proverbs. The book next looks at how several proverbs have appeared in political speeches, literature, popular culture, and everyday life. The handbook closes with a bibliography of print and electronic resources and a glossary. Included are numerous photos illustrating the role of proverbs around the world.

Contents

• Definition and Classification: 1
• DEFINITION ATTEMPTS: 2
• PROVERB MARKERS AND MEANINGS: 4
• ORIGIN AND DISSEMINATION OF PROVERBS: 9
• TRADITIONAL FORMS RELATED TO THE PROVERB: 13
• THE INTERNATIONAL TYPE SYSTEM OF PROVERBS: 16
• TYPES OF INTERNATIONAL PROVERB COLLECTIONS: 20
• MAJOR ANGLOAMERICAN PROVERB COLLECTIONS: 22
• VARIOUS SPECIALIZED PROVERB COLLECTIONS: 25
• SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: 29
• Examples and Texts: 33
• A CLASSICAL PROVERB ABOUT HUMAN NATURE: 34
• A MEDIEVAL LEGAL PROVERB FROM THE MILLERS: 43
• A PROVERBS WAY FROM GERMANY TO AMERICA: 52
• A SLANDEROUS PROVERBIAL STEREOTYPE: 60
• AN AMBIGUOUS PROVERB OF RELATIONSHIPS: 69
• AN ADVERTISING SLOGAN TURNED AMERICAN PROVERB: 79
• PROVERBS FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND LANGUAGES: 88
• AUTHENTIC AMERICAN PROVERBS: 100
• REGIONAL AMERICAN PROVERBS: 106
• NATIVE AMERICAN PROVERBS: 108
• AFRICAN AMERICAN PROVERBS: 112
• SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: 114
• Scholarship and Approaches: 117
• PROVERB JOURNALS ESSAY VOLUMES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES: 118
• PROVERB COLLECTIONS AND FUTURE PAREMIOGRAPHY: 121
• COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEWS OF PAREMIOLOGY: 125
• EMPIRICISM AND PAREMIOLOGICAL MINIMA: 127
• LINGUISTIC AND SEMIOTIC CONSIDERATIONS: 131
• PERFORMANCE SPEECH ACTS IN SOCIAL CONTEXTS: 133
• ISSUES OF CULTURE FOLKLORE AND HISTORY: 135
• POLITICS STEREOTYPES AND WORLDVIEW: 137
• SOCIOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY: 139
• USE IN FOLK NARRATIVES AND LITERATURE: 142
• RELIGION AND WISDOM LITERATURE: 144
• PEDAGOGY AND LANGUAGE TEACHING: 146
• PROVERBS AS ART: 148
• MASS MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE: 150
• SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: 153
• Contexts: 161
• LORD CHESTERFIELDS TILTING AT PROVERBIAL WINDMILLS: 162
• FROM PROVERB TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND BACK: 171
• ABRAHAM LINCOLNS PROVERBIAL FIGHT AGAINST SLAVERY: 180
• CHARLES DICKENSS PROVERBIAL LANGUAGE: 189
• PROVERBIAL WAR RHETORIC OF WINSTON S CHURCHILL: 198
• PROVERBIAL DIALECTICS IN BERTOLT BRECHT: 207
• BENJAMIN FRANKLINS THE WAY TO WEALTH: 216
• PROVERB POEMS AND POPULAR SONGS: 224
• PROVERBS IN CARICATURES CARTOONS AND COMICS: 236
• PROVERBS AND THE WORLD OF ADVERTISING: 244
• PROVERBS AS HEADLINES AND SLOGANS: 250
• Bibliography: 257
• PROVERB JOURNALS: 258
• MAJOR PROVERB STUDIES: 259
• MULTILINGUAL PROVERB COLLECTIONS: 266
• BILINGUAL PROVERB COLLECTIONS: 269
• ANGLOAMERICAN PROVERB COLLECTIONS: 272
• REGIONAL AND THEMATIC PROVERB COLLECTIONS: 275
• Web Resources: 279
• Glossary: 281
• Index: 285
• Subjects: 290
• Proverbs: 295

About the author

WOLFGANG MIEDER is Professor of German and Folklore at the University of Vermont. His many books include A Dictionary of American Proverbs (1992), Proverbs Are Never out of Season (1993), The Proverbial Winston S. Churchill (Greenwood, 1995), The Politics of Proverbs (1997), and numerous others. He is also the editor of Proverbium: Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Proverbs: A Handbook; Greenwood folklore handbooks, ISSN 1549-733X
• Author: Wolfgang Mieder
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004
• ISBN: 0313326983, 9780313326981
• Length: 304 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / General; Social Science / Folklore & Mythology