Compiled to accompany the best-selling textbook, Folk Groups and Folklore Genres: An Introduction, the selections in this anthology extend the discussion in diverse directions, alert the reader to new problems, and introduce alternative perspectives. The essays include folklore classics and recent works, and are organized in sections that correspond to the chapter headings in An Introduction.

• Contents 
• Preface
• Section I 
• On the Concepts of Folklore
• Folkloristics: A Conception of Theory
• Burns, Thomas A.
• Herder, Folklore and Romantic Nationalism
• Wilson, William A.
• Tradition, Genuine or Spurious
• Handler, Richard
• Linnekin, Jocelyn
• The Portal Case: Authenticity, Tourism, Traditions, and the Law
• Evans-Pritchard, Deirdre
• Section II 
• Ethnic Groups and Ethnic Folklore
• The Letter in Canadian Ukrainian Folklore
• Klymasz, Robert B.
• Folk Medicine and the Intercultural Jest
• Paredes, Américo
• Carnival in Canada: The Politics of Celebration
• Manning, Frank E.
• Spacey Soviets and the Russian Attitude Toward Territorial Passage
• Moyle, Natalie K.
• Section III 
• Religious Folklore
• Brothers and Sisters: Pentecostals as a Religious Folk Group
• Lawless, Elaine J.
• Ethnicity and Citizenship in the Ritual of an Israeli Synagogue
• Deshen, Shlomo A.
• You Are What You Eat: Religious Aspects of the Health Food Movement
• Dubisch, Jill
• Section IV 
• Occupational Folklore
• Risk and Ritual: An Interpretation of Fishermen's Folklore in a New England Community
• Poggie, Jr., John J.
• Gersuny, Carl
• Tending Bar at Brown's: Occupational Role as Artistic Performance
• Bell, Michael J.
• The Last Forty-Niner: The Uses of History in the Mother Lode
• Frank, Russell
• Section V 
• Children's Folklore
• The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren
• Iona,
• Opie, Peter
• Transformations: The Fantasy of the Wicked Stepmother
• Bettelheim, Bruno
• Strategy in Counting Out: An Ethnographic Folklore Field Study
• Goldstein, Kenneth S.
• Section VI 
• Folk Narratives
• The Structure of the Turkish Romances
• Başgöz, İlhan
• The Wife Who Goes Out Like a Man, Comes Back as a Hero: The Art of Two Oregon Indian Narratives
• Ramsey, Jarold W.
• Family Misfortune Stories in American Folklore
• Brandes, Stanley H.
• Personal Experience Narratives: Use and Meaning in Interaction
• Allen, Barbara
• Section VII 
• Ballads and Folksongs
• A Model for Textual Variation in Folksong
• Burns, Thomas A.
• Oral Formulas in the Country Blues
• Barnie, John
• The Battle of Harlaw Child Editor
• James, Francis
• History and Harlaw
• Buchan, David D.
• Section VIII 
• Riddles and Proverbs
• “Wine, Women and Song”: From Martin Luther to American T-Shirts
• Mieder, Wolfgang
• “Wise Words” of the Western Apache
• Basso, Keith H.
• “The Land Won't Burn”: An Esoteric American Proverb and Its Significance
• Leary, James P.
• Totemism and the A.E.F. Revisited
• Oring, Elliott
• Section IX 
• Folk Objects
• The Nebraska Round Barn
• Welsch, Roger L.
• The Palauan Story-Board: The Evolution of a Folk Art Style
• Mitchell, Roger
• Objects of Memory: Material Culture as Life Review
• Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara
• Section X 
• Documenting Folklore
• Mediating Structures and the Significance of University Folk
• Mechling, Jay
• The Study of Folklore in Literature and Culture: Identification and Interpretation
• Dundes, Alan
• Documenting Folklore: The Annotation
• Oring, Elliott
• References Cited