Product Description
by Béla Bartók (Contribution by), Séamus Ó. Duilearga (Contribution by), James George Frazer (Contribution by)
International folkloristics is a worldwide discipline in which scholars study various forms of folklore ranging from myth, folktale, and legend to custom and belief. Twenty classic essays, beginning with a piece by Jacob Grimm, reveal the evolving theoretical underpinnings of folkloristics from its nineteenth century origins to its academic coming-of-age in the twentieth century. Each piece is prefaced by extensive editorial introductions placing them in a historical and intellectual context. The twenty essays presented here, including several never published previously in English, will be required reading for any serious student of folklore.
Author Biography
Alan Dundes is known as one of the world's leading authorities on folklore. In more than 30 books he has unveiled the meanings in the oral traditions of many cultures. His most recent book is Holy Writ as Oral Lit: The Bible as Folklore (Rowman & Littlefield,1999). He lives in Berkeley, where he is professor of anthropology and folklore at the University of California.
