Interpreting Folklore

Alan Dundes

Indiana University Press, 1980 - Social Science - 304 pages

..". Dundes has produced a work which will be useful to both students and teachers who wish to broaden their understanding of modern folklore." -- Center for Southern Folklore Magazine "It is impossible ever to remain unimpressed with [Dundes'] excursuses, however much one may be in disagreement (or not) with his conclusions." -- Forum for Modern Language Studies Often controversial, Alan Dundes's scholarship is always provocative, perceptive, and intelligent. His concern here is to assess the material folklorists have so painstakingly amassed and classified, to interpret folklore, and to use folklore to increase our understanding of human nature and culture.

Contents

• Texture Text and Context: 20
• The Curious Case of the Widemouth Frog: 62
• A Folkloristic Reflection of: 69

About the author

Anthropologist and folklorist Alan Dundes was born in 1934 in New York City. He received his BA in English in 1955 and his MAT in English in 1958, both from Yale University. He received his Ph.D in Folklore from Indiana University in 1962 and in 1963 he joined the teaching staff at the University of California, Berkley. He wrote over 250 journal articles and12 books and co-wrote more than 20 other books. In 1993, he became the first American to win the Pitre Prize's Sigillo d'Oro, which is an international life-time achievement award in folklore and ethnography. He died of a heart attack on March 30, 2004 at the age of 70.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Interpreting Folklore
• Author: Alan Dundes
• Edition: 2, illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Indiana University Press, 1980
• Original from: the University of Michigan
• Digitized: Oct 8, 2008
• ISBN: 0253143071, 9780253143075
• Length: 304 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Folklore & Mythology