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Overview
By defining folklore as artistic communication in small groups, Dan Ben-Amos led the discipline of Folklore in new directions. In Folklore Concepts, Henry Glassie and Elliott Oring have curated a selection of Ben-Amos's groundbreaking essays that explore folklore as a category in cultural communication and as a subject of scholarly research. Ben-Amos's work is well-known for sparking lively debate that often centers on why his definition intrinsically acknowledges tradition rather than expresses its connection forthright. Without tradition among people, there would be no art or communication, and tradition cannot accomplish anything on its own—only people can. Ben-Amos's focus on creative communication in communities is woven into the themes of the theoretical essays in this volume, through which he advocates for a better future for folklore scholarship. Folklore Concepts traces Ben-Amos's consistent efforts over the span of his career to review and critique the definitions, concepts, and practices of Folklore in order to build the field's intellectual history. In examining this history, Folklore Concepts answers foundational questions about what folklorists are doing, how they are doing it, and why.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780253052445 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Indiana University Press |
| Publication date: | 09/01/2020 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 260 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Dan Ben-Amos is Professor of Folklore and Comparative Literature in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. He is author of numerous titles, including Sweet Words, Folklore in Context, Jewish Folk Literature; translator of In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov (with Jerome Mintz); and editor of Folklore: Performance and Communication (with Kenneth S. Goldstein), Folklore Genres, and volumes 1 through 3 of Folktales of the Jews. He is also editor of the Rafael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology at Wayne State University Press.
Table of Contents
The Project / Henry Glassie
The Contours of the Book / Elliott Oring
Foreword / Dan Ben-Amos
1. The Idea of Folklore: An Essay
2. The Encounter with Native Americans and the Emergence of Folklore
3. Toward a Definition of Folklore in Context
4. Analytical Categories and Ethnic Genres
5. The Seven Strands of Tradition: Varieties in Its Meaning in American Folklore Studies
6. A History of Folklore Studies – Why Do We Need It?
7. The Concept of Motif in Folklore
8. "Context" in Context
9. Two Benin Storytellers
10. "Induced Natural Context" in Context
11. The Name is the Thing
12. A Definition of Folklore: A Personal Narrative
Bibliography
Index
What People are Saying About This
"Dan Ben-Amos rocketed into the firmament of cultural scholarship fueled with ideas on context, text, genre, structure, and performance that have opened our minds to new intellectual vistas. This book brings together the essays that taught a generation, shook our world, and re-shaped multiple fields. With this book, readers can view the development of Ben-Amos's thought over his illustrious career and use it to inspire exciting forays into lore and life."
In Folklore Concepts: Histories and Critiques, Dan Ben-Amos traces the emergence of a voice that has upset and reconfigured disciplinary truths for a half century. More than a 'must-read' for folklorists, it is a prolegomenon to analytic revolutions that are yet to come.
At his advanced and vibrant age of more than eight decades, Dan Ben-Amos is without doubt the distinguished doyen of international folklore studies. He has enriched scholars and students throughout the world with his groundbreaking books and erudite articles. Twelve of his magisterial essays make up this comprehensive volume of Folklore Concepts: Histories and Critiques. They deal with such theoretical matters as communication, context, definition, genres, orality and literacy, motifs, and the history of folklore as well as the name of the discipline itself. Together they present a critical overview of the multifaceted nature of folkloristics. As such, they have been and will continue to be guideposts for the informed direction of the study of folklore as a system of communicative acts in ever-changing contexts.
Dan Ben-Amos rocketed into the firmament of cultural scholarship fueled with ideas on context, text, genre, structure, and performance that have opened our minds to new intellectual vistas. This book brings together the essays that taught a generation, shook our world, and re-shaped multiple fields. With this book, readers can view the development of Ben-Amos's thought over his illustrious career and use it to inspire exciting forays into lore and life.
At his advanced and vibrant age of more than eight decades, Dan Ben-Amos is without doubt the distinguished doyen of international folklore studies. He has enriched scholars and students throughout the world with his groundbreaking books and erudite articles. Twelve of his magisterial essays make up this comprehensive volume of Folklore Concepts: Histories and Critiques. They deal with such theoretical matters as communication, context, definition, genres, orality and literacy, motifs, and the history of folklore as well as the name of the discipline itself. Together they present a critical overview of the multifaceted nature of folkloristics. As such, they have been and will continue to be guideposts for the informed direction of the study of folklore as a system of communicative acts in ever-changing contexts.
Dan Ben-Amos rocketed into the firmament of cultural scholarship fueled with ideas on context, text, genre, structure, and performance that have opened our minds to new intellectual vistas. This book brings together the essays that taught a generation, shook our world, and re-shaped multiple fields. With this book, readers can view the development of Ben-Amos's thought over his illustrious career and use it to inspire exciting forays into lore and life.
"Dan Ben-Amos rocketed into the firmament of cultural scholarship fueled with ideas on context, text, genre, structure, and performance that have opened our minds to new intellectual vistas. This book brings together the essays that taught a generation, shook our world, and re-shaped multiple fields. With this book, readers can view the development of Ben-Amos's thought over his illustrious career and use it to inspire exciting forays into lore and life."
In Folklore Concepts: Histories and Critiques, Dan Ben-Amos traces the emergence of a voice that has upset and reconfigured disciplinary truths for a half century. More than a 'must-read' for folklorists, it is a prolegomenon to analytic revolutions that are yet to come.
This welcome collection brings into clear relief just how foundational Dan Ben-Amos's writings have been to modern folklore thought. His complementary efforts at elucidating the history of the discipline and at charting new directions for the future, brought conveniently together in this volume, forge a powerful intellectual synthesis that will stand as a model for years to come.
This welcome collection brings into clear relief just how foundational Dan Ben-Amos's writings have been to modern folklore thought. His complementary efforts at elucidating the history of the discipline and at charting new directions for the future, brought conveniently together in this volume, forge a powerful intellectual synthesis that will stand as a model for years to come.