The accomplishments and enduring influence of renowned anthropologist Dell Hymes are showcased in these essays by leading practitioners in the field. Hymes (1927-2009) is arguably best known for his pioneering work in ethnopoetics, a studied approach to Native verbal art that elucidates cultural significance and aesthetic form. As these essays amply demonstrate, nearly six decades later ethnopoetics and Hymes's focus on narrative inequality and voice provide a still valuable critical lens for current research in anthropology and folklore. Through ethnopoetics, so much can be understood in diverse cultural settings and situations: gleaning the voices of individual Koryak storytellers and aesthetic sensibilities from century-old wax cylinder recordings; understanding the similarities and differences between Apache life stories told 58 years apart; how Navajo punning and an expressive device illuminate the work of a Navajo poet; decolonizing Western Mono and Yokuts stories by bringing to the surface the performances behind the texts written down by scholars long ago; and keenly appreciating the potency of language revitalization projects among First Nations communities in the Yukon and northwestern California. Fascinating and topical, these essays not only honor a legacy but also point the way forward.

Jeanne Pitre Soileau, winner of the 2018 Chicago Folklore Prize and the 2018 Opie Prize for Yo' Mama, Mary Mack, and Boudreaux and Thibodeaux: Louisiana Children's Folklore and Play, vividly presents children's voices in What the Children Said: Child Lore of South Louisiana. Including over six hundred handclaps, chants, jokes, jump-rope rhymes, cheers, taunts, and teases, this book takes the reader through a fifty-year history of child speech as it has influenced children's lives. What the Children Said affirms that children's play in south Louisiana is acquired along a network of summer camps, schoolyards, church gatherings, and sleepovers with friends. When children travel, they obtain new games and rhymes, and bring them home. The volume also reveals, in the words of the children themselves, how young people deal with racism and sexism. The children argue and outshout one another, policing their own conversations, stating their own prejudices, and vying with one another for dominion. The first transcript in the book tracks a conversation among three related boys and shows that racism is part of the family interchange. Among second grade boys and girls at a Catholic school another transcript presents numerous examples in which boys use insults to dominate a conversation with girls, and girls use giggles and sly comebacks to counter this aggression. Though collected in the areas of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette, Louisiana, this volume shows how south Louisiana child lore is connected to other English-speaking places: England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as the rest of the United States.

For nearly 70 years, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has played a crucial role in developing policies and recommendations for dealing with intangible cultural heritage. What has been the effect of such sweeping global policies on those actually affected by them? How connected is UNESCO with what is happening every day, on the ground, in local communities? Drawing upon six communities ranging across three continents-from India, South Korea, Malawi, Japan, Macedonia and China-and focusing on festival, ritual, and dance, this volume illuminates the complexities and challenges faced by those who find themselves drawn, in different ways, into UNESCO's orbit. Some struggle to incorporate UNESCO recognition into their own local understanding of tradition; others cope with the fallout of a failed intangible cultural heritage nomination. By exploring locally, by looking outward from the inside, the essays show how a normative policy such as UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage policy can take on specific associations and inflections. A number of the key questions and themes emerge across the case studies and three accompanying commentaries: issues of terminology; power struggles between local, national and international stakeholders; the value of international recognition; and what forces shape selection processes. With examples from around the world, and a balance of local experiences with broader perspectives, this volume provides a unique comparative approach to timely questions of tradition and change in a rapidly globalizing world.

In this Appalachian variant of the traditional tale, Jack trades his old cow to a gypsy for three beans that are guaranteed to feed him his entire life.

The old kingdom of Gwynedd - the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia), Ynys (Anglesey) and the Llyn Peninsula - may be the most mythic landscape in Britain. The ancient Druids and from it sprang the tales of Blessed Bran who protected the land, wizards who made a Woman of Flowers, and Merlin the dragon whisperer whose prophecy echoes still. The poet Taliesin walked these hills, Welsh bards told stories of Arthur by these hearths and saints made pilgrimages along these paths. From these hidden nooks the Tylwyth Teg (Fair Folk) emerged to tease the people, and through these mountain passes rode Llywelyn the Great and Owain Glyndw r, living lives that would be spun into legend. Storyteller and singer Eric Maddern has gathered these old tales here and breathed fresh life into them.

Presenting spectacular photographs of astronomical objects of the southern sky, all taken by author Stephen Chadwick, this book explores what peoples of the South Pacific see when they look up at the heavens and what they have done with this knowledge. From wives killing brothers to emus rising out of the desert and great canoes in the sky, this book offers the perfect blend of science, tradition and mythology to bring to life the most famous sights in the heavens above the southern hemisphere. The authors place this starlore in the context of contemporary understandings of astronomy. The night sky of southern societies is as rich in culture as it is in stars. Stories, myths and legends based on constellations, heavenly bodies and other night sky phenomena have played a fundamental role in shaping the culture of pre-modern civilizations throughout the world. Such starlore continues to influence societies throughout the Pacific to this day, with cultures throughout the region - from Australia and New Zealand in the south to New Guinea and Micronesia in the north - using traditional cosmology as a means of interpreting various aspects of everyday life.

A major contribution to the heritage of the Great Plains region, this volume is a compilation of over 7,000 separate items, relating to the folk customs, beliefs, and superstitions of Kansas. More than 2,000 people, representing every county in the state, were interviewed during a fifteen-year survey conducted by Koch and his assistants. Individuals of all ages contributed material that has lived in oral tradition for decades--items ranging from superstitions about when to hold a wedding ceremony to remedies for hiccups and warts.

The collection is particularly strong in farming and ranching material and cowboy and rodeo lore. Included are rules to protect one from harm, to ensure good luck, and to help predict the future. The pages are rich with holiday customs, ethnic lore, and beliefs concerned with rites of passage.

A listing of general subject areas reveals the wealth and range of material collected: courtship and marriage; pregnancy, birth, and infancy; the prevention and cure of illnesses and injuries; death and funeral customs and beliefs; people; making wishes; the significance of dreams; luck; the weather; animal signs; plants and planting; animals, birds, and insects; and hunting and fishing. Interestingly, more than half the items are related to the categories of health, weather, and luck.

Folk beliefs make fascinating and delightful reading. If a possum hangs by its tail in the moonlight, the persimmon tree won't bear persimmons. If you want curly hair, shave your head, then place slices of onion on the bare skin. Boil an egg, fill the space of the yolk with salt, go to bed, and whoever you dream about will be your future marriage partner. When you see a load of hay, make a wish and turn away. If an east wind blows on a baby's bare chest, he will always have stomach trouble. Taken together, they illustrate a pseudo-scientific rationale for understanding life and nature.

This volume contains twenty-four photographs and an appendix with an abundance of statistical information, including maps, tables, and diagrams. it will help scholars and the general public alike too appreciate the traditional folklore that will always have a powerful influence on Mid-American culture.

A landmark work that demystifies the rich tradition of Indian art, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization analyzes key motifs found in legend, myth, and folklore taken directly from the Sanskrit. It provides a comprehensive introduction to visual thinking and picture reading in Indian art and thought. Ultimately, the book shows that profound Hindu and Buddhist intuitions on the riddles of life and death are universally recognizable.

The Arthurian legend closes with a promise: On a distant day, when his country calls, the king will return. His lost realm will be regained, and his shattered dream of an ideal world will, at last, be realized. This collection of original essays explores the issue of return in the modern Arthurian legend. With an Introduction by noted scholar Raymond H. Thompson and 13 essays by authors from the fields of literature, art history, film history, and folklore, this collection reveals the flexibility of the legend. Just as the modern legend takes the form current to its generation, the myth of return generates a new legend with each telling. As these authors show, return can come in the form of a noble king or a Caribbean immigrant, with the mystery of an art theft or a dying boy's dream.

When Carl Jung and Carl Kerenyi got together to collaborate on this book, their aim was to elevate the study of mythology to a science. Kerenyi wrote on two of the most ubiquitous myths, the Divine Child and The Maiden, supporting the core 'stories' with both an introduction and a conclusion. Jung then provided a psychological analysis of both myths. He defined myth as a story about heroes interacting with the gods. Having long studied dreams and the subconscious, Jung identified certain dream patterns common to everyone. These 'archetypes' have developed through the centuries, and enable modern people to react to situations in much the same way as our ancestors. From nuclear annihilation to AIDS and Ebola, we continue to engage the gods in battle. Science of Mythology provides an account of the meaning and the purpose of mythic themes that is linked to modern life: the heroic battles between good and evil of yore are still played out, reflected in contemporary fears.

All Lando Cooper wants is to be a stand-up comedian and marry his girlfriend in peace. But when you're the human incarnation of God, The Most High, The Burning Bush etc., life isn't always that simple. His abdication of the throne has led to an uprising from desperate deities forgotten in Earth's history, all looking for the absolute power Lando has given up. Forced to defend Himself from an army of forgotten immortals, Lando must also figure out how to navigate life as a powerless human with a whole host of heavenly problems. Not to mention that there's a mysterious godeater on the loose whose powers are growing stronger with every devoured victim. ...And where the hell is Lucifer? File Under: Fantasy [ Gods Behaving Badly | Power Struggle | The Way He Tells 'Em | Simply Devine ]

"The Arabian Nights" has become a synonym for the fabulous and the exotic. Every child is familiar with the stories of Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba. Yet very few people, even specialists in oriential literature, have a clear idea of when the book was written or what exactly it is. Far from being a batch of stories for children, "The Arabian Nights" contains hundreds of narratives of all kinds - fables, epics, erotica, debates, fairy tales, political allegories, mystical anecdotes and comedies. It is a labyrinth of stories within stories. Widely held in contempt in the Middle East for its frivolity and occasional obscenity, the work has nevertheless had a major influence on European and American culture, to the extent that the story collection must be considered as a key work in Western literature. A full understanding of the writings of Voltaire, Dickens, Melville, Proust and Borges, or indeed of the origins of science fiction, is impossible without some familiarity with the stories of the "Nights". This companion aims to guide the reader into this labyrinth of storytelling. It traces the development of the stories from prehistoric India and Pharaonic Egypt to modern times, and explores the history of translation and imitation. Above all, it uses the stories as a guide to the social history and counter-culture of the medieval Near East and the world of the storyteller, the snake charmer, the burglar, the sorcerer, the drug-addict, the treasure hunter and the adulterer.

This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.

Katharine Briggs enjoys an unchallenged reputation in the world of folklore studies. The theme of this volume, the witch figure as a malevolent intermediary in folk belief, was chosen to reflect that aspect of Briggs's scholarship exemplified in her study of witchcraft, Pale Hecate's Team. The contributors draw on the disciplines of archaeology, comparative religion, sociology and literature and include: Carmen Blacker, H.R. Ellis Davidson, Margaret Dean-Smith, L.V. Grinsell, Christina Hole, Venetia Newall, Geoffrey Parrinder, Anne Ross, Jacqueline Simpson, Beatrice White, John Widdowson. Originally published in 1973.

In this beautifully illustrated gift edition, you'll discover more than 240 mythological tales from around the world, featuring gods, heroes, princesses, villains, magicians and monsters, as well as animals with extraordinary powers. Let this collection guide you through stories from every corner of the globe, from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome through the Vikings to the Slavic East, Japan and China and the Americas. Each culture is rich in folklore and magical tales, and this book offers a fascinating introduction to them all. This is a radical collection of stories, filled with voltage. Whether ninety or nine, there's something in these tales that wants to speak directly to you. From tales of creation and the first humans to apocalyptic battles at the end of time, explore the most thrilling tales in all mythology: thunder god Thor losing his hammer, Theseus callously abandoning Ariadne after defeating the Minotaur, Hindu god Shiva destroying his rival Kama with a blast of flame, Egyptian goddess Isis forcing the sun god to reveal his name ... and much more.

All the wonder, terror and delight of Greek mythology springs forth from the pages of this unique and much-needed anthology. Rhonda Hendricks has not only selected from the works of the ancient authors the best -- and often earliest -- versions of these tales; she has also arranged them so as to give a cumulative view of classical mythology beginning with The Creation and The Birth of Zeus. Of particular interest are: The Ages of Mankind, The Birth of Athena, Oedipus the King, Heracles, Theseus, Jason and Medea, The Judgement of Paris, The Trojan Horse, Pygmalion, and Cupid and Psyche. These texts offer a new perspective on classical mythology and, by so doing, cast a new light on this cornerstone of Western culture.

The British countryside is a national institution; most people aspire to live there, many people use it for leisure and recreation and we can all watch rural life played out on our television screen, read about it in novels or consume its imagery in art and cinematography. The aim of this book is to explore the way that these aspirations and perceptions influence the way that the term "rural" is interpreted across different academic disciplines. Definitions of rural are not exact, leaving room for these interpretations to have a significant impact on the meanings conveyed in different areas of research and across different economic, social and spatial contexts. In this book contributors present research across a range of subjects allowing critical reflections upon their personal and disciplinary interpretations of "rural". This resulting volume is a collection of diverse chapters that gives an emergent sense of how the notion of "rural" changes and blurs as the disciplinary lens is adjusted. In drawing together these strands, it becomes clear that human relations with rural space morph materiality into highly complex representations wherein both disadvantage and social exclusion persist within a rurality that is also commodified, consumed and cherished.

Through this book, herbalist and author Holly Bellebuono aims to educate readers about sixteen plant-based world healing traditions and thirty women who have practiced them. The recent trend toward holistic living has heightened our fascination with herbal remedies and less conventional therapies such as acupuncture, yoga, aromatherapy, and ethnobotany. Now, this intimate and inspiring book opens up the world of herbal medicine to those interested in learning about the history of these techniques and approaches. Women Healers of the World shares with readers an extraordinary variety of healing plants from around the world that have inspired today's "alternative" medicine, as well as the stories, challenges, and triumphs of remarkable women healers from past and present-all of whom promote the use of medicinal herbs. Holly Bellebuono explores the geography, history, and medical heritage of twenty countries where these traditions originated. With thorough knowledge of the uses and effects of these healing traditions, readers can then move on to featured recipes for herbal remedies they can make in their home kitchens. Following Bellebuono's instructions, readers will produce remedies such as soothing lip balms, wound pastes, face masks, arthritis oils, relaxing bath salts, and revitalizing teas.