American Folklore

ARBA

Packed with entries on folklorists, multiracial performers, crafts, music, and academic discussion, this comprehensive folklore encyclopedia is useful to most readers, and informative. Coverage is thorough. Above all, the encyclopedia is scholarly. -- ARBA '97

Library Journal

Within limits carefully delineated in the preface (e.g., "American" is to be understood as North American but not, except for select articles, as Native American), editor and folklorist Brunvand, best known for his collections of urban legends (The Baby Train, LJ 2/1/93), has produced an excellent and understandable reference on American folklore. Brunvand asserts that his is the first attempt at an encyclopedia of American folklore from a serious academic slant, and from this reviewer's searches, he may be correct. Each article is signed, and the contributors' credentials are clearly stated at the beginning of the volume. All but a few entries are followed by cross references and a bibliography. Articles cover holidays, festivals, and rituals from Ground Hog Day to Passover; geographic areas; ethnic groups; types of folklore (from Jack tales to jazz); theories of folklore; folklore scholars; folklore characters from Jesse James to the Tooth Fairy; folk crafts, music, and dance; and the folklore of historical events as diverse as Juneteenth (the celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation) and the Gulf War. Highly recommended for all high school, public, and academic libraries.-Katherine K. Koenig, Ellis Sch., Pittsburgh

From The Critics

In the preface to this work, the editor, the compiler of several collections of urban legends, differentiates between "folklore in America" and "American folklore." American folklore is defined as stories, tales, mythology, and lore based on experiences unique to American history and the North American continent. This encyclopedia does not address such topics as European or African folklore, except in passing; instead it concentrates on phenonema that have become part of American culture. Topics range from rodeo and the Great Lakes to Elvis, "Xeroxlore," and UFOs The overall tone of the book is scholarly. The editor suggests specific articles for readers interested in a scholarly survey: "American Folklore Scholarship" and "Material Culture" to provide background; treatments of Marxist or feminist approaches to the study of folklore; and "Regional Folklore" as an introduction to specific entries such as "Appalachia", "Rocky Mountains", "Basque Americans", "Dutch Americans", and so on. The articles, arranged in alphabetical order and varying in length from one paragraph to several pages, come from more than 200 contributors. Most of them are professors of American studies, English, anthropology, or folklore. Additional topics include people (fictional characters such as Paul Bunyan, folk singers, anthropologists), institutions (LC's American Folklife Center), holidays, styles of folklore (proverbs, tongue twisters), games, arts and crafts, musical forms, historical eras (New Deal, Atomic Age), the paranormal, and folklore unique to special groups or situations: truckers, disasters, hunting, academic life. Information is current; several entries refer to tales circulating over the Internet While maintaining an academic approach, some of the articles are also humorous. Children's author Rosemary Wells contributed to the article on the tooth fairy. The article begins with a description of ancient folk methods of disposing of baby teeth and goes on to document the rising popularity of the tooth fairy as evidenced through trends in children's literature: six stories appeared in the 1960s, 11 in the 1970s, 29 in the 1980s, and 18 in the first two years of the 1990s. In his article on cow tipping, Ed Zotti wonders why the scientific community has yet to launch a major investigation into the physical feasibility of this activity, despite the abundance of supposed participants. "Computer Folklore" contains several amusing examples. References to scholarly literature are listed at the end of each article. Limited "see also" references direct readers to related entries, and a general index is provided. Black-and-white photographs accompanying the text include pictures of folk ceremonies, examples of crafts, and traditional occupations, such as dowsing This work is more inclusive than popular works that organize information according to historical period, such as "American Folklore and Legend" (Reader's Digest, 1978) or Richard M. Dorson's "America in Legend" (Random, 1973). Coverage is more comprehensive than in "Folklore on the American Land" by Duncan Emrich (Little, Brown, 1972), which classifies folklore by literary style (tall tales, proverbs, etc.). This fascinating new work really has no competition on the reference shelf and will be useful in high-school, public, and academic libraries.

Booknews

A reference for scholars, students, and the general public on American folklore, which is defined here as North American folklore, including Canadian but excluding, except for a few general topics, the folklore of Native Americans (planned for coverage in its own encyclopedia). Some 500 articles encompass folk literature, music, and crafts of major and minor ethnic groups, urban and rural, traditional and contemporary traditions, as well as including entries for folklorists (those whose body of work is completed, i.e. nonliving), and scholarly terms and approaches. Some entries are brief descriptions; others are extensive essays. Each includes references and cross-references. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)