Folktales of Egypt

by Richard M. Dorson and Hasan M. El-Shamy

Book Overview

In this book Hasan M. El-Shamy has gathered the first authentic new collection of modern Egyptian folk narratives to appear in nearly a century. El-Shamy's English translations of these orally presented stories not only preserve their spirit, but give Middle Eastern lore the scholarly attention it has long deserved.

"This collection of seventy recently collected Egyptian tales is a major contribution to African studies and to international...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226206254
• ISBN13: 9780226206257
• Release Date: October 1982
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

excellent and unique, but could be more comprehensive

I stopped by on a dedicated hunt for a variety of anthropologic resources and couldn't believe that nobody had reviewed this fine work (I hope that doesn't mean that nobody has read it!). The stories range from Arabic classic archetypes to trickster stories (here attributed to Goha, who is quite the same as Hodja, Djuha, etc.) to modern Cairene "street tales." To whet the prospective reader's interest I will merely sketch the story of the modern youth whose girl friend is so upset over "losing" her virginity over and over again that rather than have her sewn up the third time it happens, he has the doctor install a zipper . . .