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The Anthropology of Texts, Persons and Publicsby Karin Barber
Cambridge University Press 2007; US$ 28.00Thought-provoking study of the relationship between verbal and oral texts and their role in society. more...
Hyperboreansby Timothy P. Bridgman
Routledge 2005; US$ 44.95Contained in what has come down to us of Greek literary tradition are texts that identify the Hyperboreans with the Celts, or Hyperborean lands with Celtic ones. This groundbreaking book studies the texts that make or imply this identification. more...
The Healing Heart for Communitiesby Allison M. Cox; David H. Albert; Margaret Read McDonald
New Society Publishers 2003; US$ 19.95The only book of its kind that demonstrates the power of storytelling to heal. more...
Urban Legendsby Nick Harding
Pocket Essentials 2006; US$ 7.99In this book Nick Harding sets out to describe a host of Urban Legends suggesting that we should not dismiss them purely as nonsense nor accept them as gospel truth but by striving to understand their underlying meanings we begin to see their true worth as folklore for the modern world. To understand folklore and therefore the realm of the Urban Legend is to understand the psyche of a nation. By understanding Urban Legends we can gain an insight into our own fears and those of our fellow human beings. more...
Storytelling in a Liminal Timeby Dr Boria Sax
Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2006; US$ 199.00This e-book discusses the increased emphasis on storytelling in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries. In the post-industrial world, storytelling is again assuming the central role it had in pre-industrial times imposing structure on the chaos of experience. more...
Why Fairy Tales Stickby Jack Zipes
Routledge 2006; US$ 26.95Explores the question of why some fairy tales ''work'' and others don't, why the fairy tale is capable of getting under the skin of culture and staying there. This book looks at fairy tale as a serious genre with wide social and cultural ramifications. It contains the history and theory of the genre, followed by case studies of famous tales. more...
Imagined Statesby Luisa Del Giudice
Utah State University Press 2003; US$ 18.50An international ensemble of folklore scholars looks at varied ways in which national and ethnic groups have traditionally and creatively used imagined states of existence-some idealizations, some demonizations-in the construction of identities for themselves and for others. Drawing on oral traditions, especially as represented in traditional ballads, broadsides, and tale collections, the contributors consider fertile landscapes of the mind where utopias overflow with bliss and abundance, stereotyped national and ethnic caricatures define the lives of "others," nostalgia glorifies home and occupation, and idealized and mythological animals serve as cultural icons and guideposts to harmonious social life. more...
Dictionary of Plant Loreby D.C. Watts
Elsevier 2007; US$ 59.95Knowledge of plant names can give insight into largely forgotten beliefs. For example, the common red poppy is known as "Blind Man" due to an old superstitious belief that if the poppy were put to the eyes it would cause blindness. Many plant names derived from superstition, folk lore, or primal beliefs. Other names are purely descriptive and can serve to explain the meaning of the botanical name. For example, Beauty-Berry is the name given to the American shrub that belongs to the genus Callicarpa. Callicarpa is Greek for beautiful fruit. Still other names come from literary sources providing rich detail of the transmission of words through the ages. Conceived as part of the author's wider interest in plant and tree lore and ethnobotanical... more...
So They Understandby William Schneider
Utah State University Press 2003; US$ 18.50Illustrated with numerous stories collected from Alaska, the Yukon, and South Africa and further enlivened by the author's accessible style and experiences as a longtime oral historian and archivist, So They Understand is a comprehensive study of the special challenges and concerns involved in documenting, representing, preserving, and interpreting oral narratives. The title of the book comes from a quotation by Chief Peter John, the traditional chief of the Tanana Chiefs region in central Alaska: "In between the lines is something special going on in their minds, and that has got to be brought to light, so they understand just exactly what is said." William Schneider discusses how stories work in relation to their cultures... more...
The Mythic Forest, the Green Man and the Spirit of Natureby Gary R. Varner
Algora Publishing 2007; US$ 29.95In this world tour of folklore and ancient art, Varner examines the images we give to the spirit of nature and explores this important aspect of human perception. more...









