First published in 1964, Indaba, My Children is an internationally acclaimed collection of African folk tales that chart the story of African tribal life since the time of the Phoenicians. It is these stories that have shaped Africa as we know it.

Originally published in London, 1910. A collection of eleven important early Chinese Folk Lore Tales. The book is rich in the myth and legend of early China. Contents include: The Widow Ho, Kwang-Jui and the God of the River, The Beautiful daughter of Liu-Kung, The Fairy Bonze, The Mysterious Buddhist Robe, The Vengeance of the Goddess, The Wonderful Man, The God of the City, The Tragedy of the Yin Family, Sam-Chung and the Water Demon, The Reward of a benevolent life. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Hanuman, the Hindu monkey-god, is best known in the west for his role in the ancient epic Ramayana (he is also considered the tales first author), in which, as the devoted servant of Rama, the tales hero, he leads a ferocious monkey army to help defeat the evil Ravana and rescue Ramas wife
Sita. But because he does not figure as prominently as others in the ancient Sanskrit texts that have traditionally been studied by western scholars, Hanuman has often been relegated to the status of minor deity. Philip Lutgendorf moves beyond these texts to examine Hindu popular literature, art,
and ritual, and shows that Hanuman is perhaps the most beloved deity in the Hindu pantheon. Far from being a mere sidekick, Hanuman is worshipped widely in India and the diaspora, across lines of caste and sect. There are more temples devoted to Hanuman than to any other god or goddess, and there
has even been something of a competition to erect the largest statue in his honor (the tallest so far, in Paritala, stands 135 feet high). Lutgendorf offers a comprehensive examination of this remarkable figure, exploring every facet of his legend. Drawing on an enormous treasure trove of previously
untapped sources that he has gathered through years of fieldwork, as well as on interviews with devotees, he traces the history of Hanumans character, teases out the many variations on his story, and examines the sources of his enormous appeal.

Narrative as Social Practice sets out to explore the complex and fascinating interrelatedness of narrative and culture. It does so by contrasting the oral storytelling traditions of two widely divergent cultures - Anglo-Western culture and the Central Australian culture of the Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara Aborigines. Combining discourse-analytical and pragmalinguistic methodologies with the perspectives of ethnopoetics and the ethnography of communication, this book presents a highly original and engaging study of storytelling as a vital communicative activity at the heart of socio-cultural life. The book is concerned with both theoretical and empirical issues. It engages critically with the theoretical framework of social constructivism and the notion of social practice, and it offers critical discussions of the most influential theories of narrative put forward in Western thinking. Arguing for the adoption of a communication-oriented and cross-cultural perspective as a prerequisite for improving our understanding of the cultural variability of narrative practice, Klapproth presents detailed textual analyses of Anglo-Western and Australian Aboriginal oral narratives, and contextualizes them with respect to the different storytelling practices, values and worldviews in both cultures. Narrative as Social Practice offers new insights to students and specialists in the fields of narratology, discourse analysis, cross-cultural pragmatics, anthropology, folklore study, the ethnography of communication, and Australian Aboriginal studies.

Of all the countless legendary beasts that have been conjured forth from the seemingly limitless capacity of the human imagination, none can remotely compare with the dragon for its sheer diversity of form, its symbolic significance, and its cross-cultural presence. Dragons are everywhere-still glimpsed in the living, breathing beasts around us that inspired and engendered their birth in our far-distant ancestors' dreams, and nightmares; perennially encountered in the myriad of traditional myths and folklore woven into the fabric of every creed and culture around the world; and ever-visible within the innumerable outpourings of artistic creation that have graced and enhanced our species' existence across all temporal, political, social, and geographical boundaries. So from where, and from what, has such widespread-indeed, worldwide-belief in these creatures stemmed? There can be no doubt that a major factor influencing the origin of the dragon is early humanity's observations and interactions with various distinctive and potentially inimical creatures of reality sharing our world. Equally thought-provoking is how and why the dragon has become so intimately associated with our own species. This multi-faceted monster of mythology is more than amply represented visually, for example, by artwork of every conceivable style, age, and category. And the dragon's status in religion, dreams, alchemy, psychology, astrology, literature, movies, and music is as compelling as it is complex. These many diverse but equally captivating themes are all fully explored in this spellbinding book's uniquely comprehensive coverage, and provide ample confirmation that there is no sign whatsoever of waning interest for what must surely be the most vibrant, tenacious, and fascinating creature that has never existed-the dragon.

Laurence Coupe offers students a comprehensive overview of the development of myth, showing how mythic themes, structures and symbols persist in literature and entertainment today. This introductory volume:

• illustrates the relation between myth, culture and literature with discussions of poetry, fiction, film and popular song
• explores uses made of the term myth within the fields of literary criticism, anthropology, cultural studies, feminism, Marxism and psychoanalysis
• discusses the association between modernism, postmodernism, myth and history
• familiarizes the reader with themes such as the dying god, the quest for the Grail, the relation between chaos and cosmos, and the vision of the end of time
• demonstrates the growing importance of the green dimension of myth.

Fully updated and revised in this new edition, Myth is both a concise introduction and a useful tool to students first approaching the topic, while also a valuable contribution to the study of myth.

The sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps, whether swimming vigorously, gambolling amid the waves, attacking ships, or simply displaying themselves for our appreciation, are one of the most visually engaging elements on these maps, and yet they have never been carefully studied. The subject is important not only in the history of cartography, art, and zoological illustration, but also in the history of the geography of the 'marvellous' and of western conceptions of the ocean. Moreover, the sea monsters depicted on maps can supply important insights into the sources, influences, and methods of the cartographers who drew or painted them. In this highly-illustrated book the author analyzes the most important examples of sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps produced in Europe, beginning with the earliest mappaemundi on which they appear in the tenth century and continuing to the end of the sixteenth century.

From unicorns and trolls to werewolves and griffins, this comprehensive guide is the key to discovering every magical creature from myth, folklore and legend around the world. This compendium of magical creatures explores the history, folklore and mythology of fascinating beasts throughout all the magical worlds. Including stories, celebrations, traditions, and amazing facts, the book spans every major culture across the globe. Many of the fantastic creatures described in the book have appeared in the fictitious worlds of the Brothers Grimm, Lewis Carroll, J.K. Rowling, Tolkien and countless other writers who have stirred our imaginations since childhood fairytales. From unicorns, giants, fairies, elves, goblins, dwarves and trolls to nymphs, mermaids, sphinxes, ogres, cyclops, dragons, salamanders, basilisks, banshees, werewolves, griffins, centaurs, satyrs and gremlins - this is the ultimate reference book on creatures from the magical world. Organized from A to Z for easy reference, the cross-cultural focus spans from the most ancient of creatures to those which have come to prominence more recent ly. Discover everything from obscure magical beings to everyday animals that carry magical symbolism. Find out more in The Fantastic World of Magical Creatures.

Did you know that the father of psychoanalysis believed in ghosts, or that Frederick Engels attended seances? Ghosts: Deconstruction, Psychoanalysis, History is the first collection of theoretical essays to evaluate these facts and consider the importance of the metaphor of haunting as it has appeared in literature, culture, and philosophy. Haunting is considered as both a literal and figurative term that encapsulates social anxieties and concerns. The collection includes discussions of nineteenth-century spiritualism, gothic and postcolonial ghost stories, and popular film, with essays on important theoretical writers including Freud, Derrida, Adorno, and Walter Benjamin.