Interpreting Folklore

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Indiana University Press, Aug 22, 1980 - Literary Criticism - 304 pages

" . . . Dundes has produced a work which will be useful to both students and teachers who wish to broaden their understanding of modern folklore." —Center for Southern Folklore Magazine

"It is impossible ever to remain unimpressed with [Dundes'] excursuses, however much one may be in disagreement (or not) with his conclusions." —Forum for Modern Language Studies

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.

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Contents

Texture Text and Context
20
The Curious Case of the Widemouth Frog
62
A Folkloristic Reflection of
69
Seeing Is Believing
86
An Essay in IndoEuropean and Semitic Worldview
93
The Number Three in American Culture
134
A Psychoanalytic Study of the Bullroarer
176
The Hero Pattern and the Life of Jesus
223
REFERENCES
241
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