The Folklore Muse: Poetry, Fiction, and Other Reflections by Folklorists
edited by Frank de Caro
Utah State University Press, 2008 eISBN: 978-0-87421-727-8 | Cloth: 978-0-87421-726-1 Library of Congress Classification PS508.F66F66 2008 Dewey Decimal Classification 810.803559
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Folklore—the inherently creative expression, transmission, and performance of cultural traditions—has always provided a deep well of material for writers, musicians, and artists of all sorts. Folklorists usually employ descriptive and analytical prose, but they, like scholars in other social sciences, have increasingly sought new, creative and reflexive modes of discourse. Many folklorists are also creative writers, some well known as such, and the folk traditions they research often provide shape and substance to their work. This collection of creative writing grounded in folklore and its study brings together some of the best examples of such writing.
Contributors to this collection include Teresa Bergen, John Burrison, Norma E. Cantu, Frank de Caro, Holly Everett, Danusha Goska, Neil R. Grobman, Carrie Hertz, Edward Hirsch, Laurel Horton, Rosan Augusta Jordan, Paul Jordan-Smith, Elaine J. Lawless, Cynthia Levee, Jens Lund, Mary Magoulick, Bernard McCarthy, Joanne B. Mulcahy, Kirin Narayan, Ted Olson, Daniel Peretti, Leslie Prosterman, Jo Radner, Susan Stewart, Jeannie Banks Thomas, Jeff Todd Titon, Libby Tucker, Margaret Yocom, and Steve Zeitlin.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Frank de Caro’s other books include An Anthology of American Folktales and Legends and (with Rosan Augusta Jordan) Re-Situating Folklore: Folk Contexts and Twentieth Century Literature and Art.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
<hr>Contents
Acknowledgments
The Folklorist's Endeavor: An Introduction
Being or Becoming a Folklorist
Steve Zeitlin, "Rock and Word"
Daniel Peretti, "Shelfscapes"
Libby Tucker, "Travels"
Edward Hirsch, "Work Song"
Jeannie Banks Thomas, "Instructions for Installing
Blinds," "Woman, 41 (Motif GYN041)"
Steve Zeitlin, "Barbara," "Julia," "Amanda in the
Mornings". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Joanne B. Mulcahy, "'Affectionados': What My Mother
Taught Me about Language". . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Mary Magoulick, "Women and Water in Senegal". . . . . . . 60
Elaine J. Lawless, "In Search of Our Mothers . . . and
Our Selves". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Fieldwork, Folk Communities, Informants . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Frank de Caro, "Oral History". . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Cynthia Levee, "White Bluffs and Miss Lena". . . . . . . 112
Steve Zeitlin, "Margaret," "Cat" . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Jens Lund, "Karl and Janie". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Ted Olson, "Historical Sign" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Margaret Yocom, "Opening Camp," "Where the Living
Keep Watch," "Echo, at Lakeside,"
"In Jewelweed". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
William Bernard McCarthy, "Second Growth". . . . . . . . 130
Jeff Todd Titon, "Percy" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Teresa Bergen, from Bigfoot Stole My Husband . . . . . . 154
Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Matt Clark, "Legends, Rumors, Lore, and Revelations
(Some Incomplete) Involving Leaton Troutwine,
a Local Eccentric/Celebrity/Hero (and
Gordon's Owner)". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Steve Zeitlin, "The Storytelling Wake" . . . . . . . . . 208
Leslie Prosterman, "Rant," "Ceci," "Painting Louise
Gl¿ck". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
John Burrison, from Kamp: A Memory Novel . . . . . . . . 214
Jeannie Banks Thomas, "Shins around the Fireside
(Jig)". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
William Bernard McCarthy, "Maybelle and Sara
on the Porch" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
The Powers of Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Frank de Caro, "Ballad Girls". . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Kirin Narayan, "Stella Stories". . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Steve Zeitlin, "Once Upon a Time," "Tickling the
Corpse," "Mirror" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Legend and Myth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Mary Magoulick, "A Cosmology of Women" . . . . . . . . . 253
Carrie Hertz, "Absent Gods". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Paul Jordan-Smith, "Glaukos," "Shadow" . . . . . . . . . 258
Danusha Goska, "The Ramayana . . . as if Sita
Mattered" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Material Traditions, Material Things. . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Holly Everett, "One of My Mothers" . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Steve Zeitlin, "The Quilters". . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Laurel Horton, "Grandma Effie and the Heirloom". . . . . 308
Jo Radner, "My Great-Great Half-Uncle Horace's
Bone-Handled Jackknife" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Margaret Yocom, "The Cane" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Children, Lore, and Language . . . . . . . . . . 312
Susan Stewart, "my mother's garden," "arrowhead,"
"shadowplay," "tag," "red rover". . . . . . . . . . 314
Steve Zeitlin, "The Lulu Bird Nestles in the Daddy O
Tree," "Folksay," "The Tenderness of Swine" . . . . 318
Neil Grobman, from Lost in Redskirt Forest . . . . . . . 320
Ritual and Custom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
William Bernard McCarthy, "The Birthday Horse" . . . . . 348
Rosan Augusta Jordan, "In Praise of Bodies," "Hands
and Hearts in the Days of the Dead in Oaxaca,
Mexico" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Ted Olson, "Christmas Tree". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Steve Zeitlin, "Madhulika" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Margaret Yocom, "Eating Alone" . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Norma E. Cant¿, from Caba¿uelas: A Love Story . . . . . . . 355
Worldview and Belief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Jeannie Banks Thomas, "Salem, Massachusetts,
Playground at Gallows Hill" . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Teresa Bergen, "Haints". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
The Folklore Muse: Poetry, Fiction, and Other Reflections by Folklorists
edited by Frank de Caro
Utah State University Press, 2008 eISBN: 978-0-87421-727-8 Cloth: 978-0-87421-726-1
Folklore—the inherently creative expression, transmission, and performance of cultural traditions—has always provided a deep well of material for writers, musicians, and artists of all sorts. Folklorists usually employ descriptive and analytical prose, but they, like scholars in other social sciences, have increasingly sought new, creative and reflexive modes of discourse. Many folklorists are also creative writers, some well known as such, and the folk traditions they research often provide shape and substance to their work. This collection of creative writing grounded in folklore and its study brings together some of the best examples of such writing.
Contributors to this collection include Teresa Bergen, John Burrison, Norma E. Cantu, Frank de Caro, Holly Everett, Danusha Goska, Neil R. Grobman, Carrie Hertz, Edward Hirsch, Laurel Horton, Rosan Augusta Jordan, Paul Jordan-Smith, Elaine J. Lawless, Cynthia Levee, Jens Lund, Mary Magoulick, Bernard McCarthy, Joanne B. Mulcahy, Kirin Narayan, Ted Olson, Daniel Peretti, Leslie Prosterman, Jo Radner, Susan Stewart, Jeannie Banks Thomas, Jeff Todd Titon, Libby Tucker, Margaret Yocom, and Steve Zeitlin.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Frank de Caro’s other books include An Anthology of American Folktales and Legends and (with Rosan Augusta Jordan) Re-Situating Folklore: Folk Contexts and Twentieth Century Literature and Art.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
<hr>Contents
Acknowledgments
The Folklorist's Endeavor: An Introduction
Being or Becoming a Folklorist
Steve Zeitlin, "Rock and Word"
Daniel Peretti, "Shelfscapes"
Libby Tucker, "Travels"
Edward Hirsch, "Work Song"
Jeannie Banks Thomas, "Instructions for Installing
Blinds," "Woman, 41 (Motif GYN041)"
Steve Zeitlin, "Barbara," "Julia," "Amanda in the
Mornings". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Joanne B. Mulcahy, "'Affectionados': What My Mother
Taught Me about Language". . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Mary Magoulick, "Women and Water in Senegal". . . . . . . 60
Elaine J. Lawless, "In Search of Our Mothers . . . and
Our Selves". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Fieldwork, Folk Communities, Informants . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Frank de Caro, "Oral History". . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Cynthia Levee, "White Bluffs and Miss Lena". . . . . . . 112
Steve Zeitlin, "Margaret," "Cat" . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Jens Lund, "Karl and Janie". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Ted Olson, "Historical Sign" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Margaret Yocom, "Opening Camp," "Where the Living
Keep Watch," "Echo, at Lakeside,"
"In Jewelweed". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
William Bernard McCarthy, "Second Growth". . . . . . . . 130
Jeff Todd Titon, "Percy" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Teresa Bergen, from Bigfoot Stole My Husband . . . . . . 154
Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Matt Clark, "Legends, Rumors, Lore, and Revelations
(Some Incomplete) Involving Leaton Troutwine,
a Local Eccentric/Celebrity/Hero (and
Gordon's Owner)". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Steve Zeitlin, "The Storytelling Wake" . . . . . . . . . 208
Leslie Prosterman, "Rant," "Ceci," "Painting Louise
Gl¿ck". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
John Burrison, from Kamp: A Memory Novel . . . . . . . . 214
Jeannie Banks Thomas, "Shins around the Fireside
(Jig)". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
William Bernard McCarthy, "Maybelle and Sara
on the Porch" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
The Powers of Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Frank de Caro, "Ballad Girls". . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Kirin Narayan, "Stella Stories". . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Steve Zeitlin, "Once Upon a Time," "Tickling the
Corpse," "Mirror" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Legend and Myth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Mary Magoulick, "A Cosmology of Women" . . . . . . . . . 253
Carrie Hertz, "Absent Gods". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Paul Jordan-Smith, "Glaukos," "Shadow" . . . . . . . . . 258
Danusha Goska, "The Ramayana . . . as if Sita
Mattered" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Material Traditions, Material Things. . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Holly Everett, "One of My Mothers" . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Steve Zeitlin, "The Quilters". . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Laurel Horton, "Grandma Effie and the Heirloom". . . . . 308
Jo Radner, "My Great-Great Half-Uncle Horace's
Bone-Handled Jackknife" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Margaret Yocom, "The Cane" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Children, Lore, and Language . . . . . . . . . . 312
Susan Stewart, "my mother's garden," "arrowhead,"
"shadowplay," "tag," "red rover". . . . . . . . . . 314
Steve Zeitlin, "The Lulu Bird Nestles in the Daddy O
Tree," "Folksay," "The Tenderness of Swine" . . . . 318
Neil Grobman, from Lost in Redskirt Forest . . . . . . . 320
Ritual and Custom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
William Bernard McCarthy, "The Birthday Horse" . . . . . 348
Rosan Augusta Jordan, "In Praise of Bodies," "Hands
and Hearts in the Days of the Dead in Oaxaca,
Mexico" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Ted Olson, "Christmas Tree". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Steve Zeitlin, "Madhulika" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Margaret Yocom, "Eating Alone" . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Norma E. Cant¿, from Caba¿uelas: A Love Story . . . . . . . 355
Worldview and Belief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Jeannie Banks Thomas, "Salem, Massachusetts,
Playground at Gallows Hill" . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Teresa Bergen, "Haints". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE