Interpreting Folklore

by Alan Dundes

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 025320240X
• ISBN13: 9780253202406
• Release Date: August 1980
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (Ips)
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Great Resource for Understanding Folklore Beliefs

This book should have been called how to help you to interpret folklore because the information is very useful in making the switch between the physical and spiritual realm, which is where folklore comes alive. I lucked upon this book because I was doing some personal study into the Evil Eye. Being raised in a Christian home, we weren't told or taught about the Evil Eye per se. We were just told that it is impolite to stare at people and that it was even more impolite for others to stare at us. Usually when someone stared at us when defensively stared back at them. One of the subjects the author talks about is the Evil Eye as it exist in the Indo-European and Semitic cultures, but I believe the concept came from Kamit (Ancient Egypt) considering the drying desert was related Set and the Eye of Ra (or Hru) is one of the defense mechanism against malochia. Anyway, I liked this book because it helps one to think from a right-brained perspective. Hope this was helpful.

Interpretive Leaps

Dundes' writing is always interesting to read. He has such wide ranging interests, and his scholarship is thorough and fascinating. This book is a collection of articles that show how he interprets folklore in relation to psychoanalytic theory and by piecing together ways in which folklore is part of a society's worldview. The article on the number "3" in American culture is especially interesting as he charts out ways in which unconscious patterns about numerical sequences greatly influence everyday activities. I also enjoyed his article on thinking ahead. He demonstrates how so many aspects of American culture provide templates for imagining that we are living for a brighter and rosier future. The book also shows how his main interest focuses on psychoanalytical interpretations of folklore and culture. These are always intriguing reading although some interpretations are stronger than others. The great part about this book is that Dundes provides all kinds of ways to look at folklore to show how we can think about everyday aspects of experience to learn intriguing things about ourselves.

Great from personal experience..

I'm a UC Berkeley student who has recently taken prof. Dundes' folklore class...this book is part of the reading list (hehe, well, if you're going to teach, might as well use your own book, right?). You'll enjoy "interpreting folklore" for it's interesting stories and witty writing...Dundes really knows what he's talking about and has always been very clear about getting his point across, even in his lectures...his books, then, are even more succinct and concise. Buy this book and support the work of a down to earth, awesome professor/folklorist who is passionate and dedicated to this topic. ...plus, be entertained and educated at the same time! Great deal!

Cutting Edge Folklore Work

Not only is he one of the finest folklore scholars in the world, but Alan Dundes is also a witty thinker and a very fine writer. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in folklore studies. Dundes offers a collection of articles that deal with the history of folklore studies, conceptions about the scope and method of study, analysis of folklore within American culture, and an array of psychoanalytical interpretations of folklore and popular culture. Read this book to find out why the number three shows up ubiquitously in ritual, sayings, rhymes, and countless cultural patterns in America. Find out why stories and jokes project anxieties about a range of troublesome concerns. Look at this book to see how the game of football relates to something other than macho expression. Above all, check out this book to see how a creative and innovative thinker solves puzzles that he sees in seemingly mundane forms of cultural expression. You'll never look at the NFL in the same way again!