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 folkloristics transcends binaries, can it help others develop critical personal narratives? Advancing Folkloristics covers topics such as queer, feminist, and postcolonial scholarship in folkloristics. Contributors investigate how to apply folkloristic approaches in nonfolklore classrooms, how to maintain a folklorist identity without a "folklorist" job title, and how to use folkloristic knowledge to interact with others outside of the discipline. The chapters, which range from theoretical reorientations to personal experiences of folklore work, all demonstrate the kinds of work folklorists are well-suited to and promote the areas in which folkloristics is poised to expand and excel. Advancing Folkloristics presents a clear picture of folklore studies today and articulates how it must adapt in the future.

A mixed-media volume with text by Hoyt Hilsman and original artwork by Nancy Kay Turner

Embarking upon a New Year we always prepare to celebrate, looking forward with excitement toward the unknown and unexpected. We precariously began making New Year's Resolutions, promises and a "To Do List." We often say, "Out with old and in with the new." Why can't that new, be you? This 40-Day Fast Book challenges you to give yourself to a 40-day Fast, seeking God with an earnest desire to make permanent and perpetual changes in your life. This Outline Guide will lead you to make a difference in your spiritual life, thus, making a difference in the Kingdom of God. This is an Outline Guide to assist you in reading scripture daily, writing your thoughts and prayer concerns throughout the day and closing each day with a prayer of Thanksgiving. When you apply this practice, the time spent in God's presence and in the presence of the Holy Spirit, builds strength, faith and increases wisdom and knowledge of the Word and Spirit of God. Your relationship with God will grow by making these daily sacrifices and spending time in the Word of God and in the anointing of His presence. It will lead you to deepening awakening of the moving power of His Holiness. You may choose any type of Fast as well as the time of day for your Fast. We highly recommend this to churches, church groups, as well as church leaders. This book is designed with the hope to build Christian character, leadership development and a daily walk that will lead you to holy living as the Holy Spirit cleanses, corrects and restores your Spiritual awareness. The goal and purpose is for you to spend actual and significant time reading, studying, writing and praying. Decide on your purpose of the Fast as a group as well as individually. Prepare to meet at intervals, share your experiences and watch God move. Expect a difference. Look for the change. Welcome the New You as God makes the transformation. Remember there will be spiritual and physical oppositions, but stay the course. God is your strength. Jesus is your Guide. The Holy Spirit is your Comforter.

The stories in the Grimm brothers' Kinder- und Hausmarchen (Children's and Household Tales), first published in 1812 and 1815, have come to define academic and popular understandings of the fairy tale genre. Yet over a period of forty years, the brothers, especially Wilhelm, revised, edited, sanitised, and bowdlerised the tales, publishing the seventh and final edition in 1857 with many of the sexual implications removed. However, the contributors in Transgressive Tales: Queering the Grimms demonstrate that the Grimms and other collectors paid less attention to ridding the tales of non-heterosexual implications and that, in fact, the Grimms' tales are rich with queer possibilities. Editors Kay Turner and Pauline Greenhill introduce the volume with an overview of the tales' literary and interpretive history, surveying their queerness in terms of not just sex, gender and sexuality, but also issues of marginalisation, oddity, and not fitting into society. In three thematic sections, contributors then consider a range of tales and their queer themes. In Faux Femininities, essays explore female characters, and their relationships and feminine representation in the tales. Contributors to Revising Rewritings consider queer elements in rewritings of the Grimms' tales, including Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, Jeanette Winterson's Twelve Dancing Princesses, and contemporary reinterpretations of both "Snow White" and "Snow White and Rose Red." Contributors in the final section, Queering the Tales, consider queer elements in some of the Grimms' original tales and explore intriguing issues of gender, biology, patriarchy, and transgression. With the variety of unique perspectives in Transgressive Tales, readers will find new appreciation for the lasting power of the fairy-tale genre. Scholars of fairy-tale studies and gender and sexuality studies will enjoy this thought-provoking volume. Contributors: Emilie Anderson-Gregoire, Cristina Bacchilega, Anita Best, Joy Brooke Fairfield, Andrew J. Friedenthal, Kevin Goldstein, Pauline Greenhill, Bettina Hutschek, Jeana Jorgensen, Kimberly J. Lau, Elliot Gordon Mercer, Margaret A. Mills, Jennifer Orme, Catherine Tosenberger, Kay Turner, Margaret R. Yocom

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 folkloristics transcends binaries, can it help others develop critical personal narratives? Advancing Folkloristics covers topics such as queer, feminist, and postcolonial scholarship in folkloristics. Contributors investigate how to apply folkloristic approaches in nonfolklore classrooms, how to maintain a folklorist identity without a "folklorist" job title, and how to use folkloristic knowledge to interact with others outside of the discipline. The chapters, which range from theoretical reorientations to personal experiences of folklore work, all demonstrate the kinds of work folklorists are well-suited to and promote the areas in which folkloristics is poised to expand and excel. Advancing Folkloristics presents a clear picture of folklore studies today and articulates how it must adapt in the future.