Folktales Told Around the World [Paperback]

Richard M. Dorson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1978 | ISBN-10: 0226158748 | ISBN-13: 978-0226158747

All the selections in Richard M. Dorson's Folktales Told around the World were recorded by expert collectors, and the majority of them are published here for the first time. The tales presented are told in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North and South America, and Oceania. Unlike other collections derived in large part from literary texts, this volume meets the criteria of professional folklorists in assembling only authentic examples of folktales as they were orally told. Background information, notes on the narrators, and scholarly commentaries are provided to establish the folkloric character of the tales.

Product Details

• Paperback: 622 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (November 15, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226158748
• ISBN-13: 978-0226158747
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Authentic Tales, June 8, 2004

By 

grasshopper4 (Arkansas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Folktales Told Around the World (Paperback)

Dorson's anthology consists of stories told by real storytellers from around the world. It's a great selection. Each tale can be enjoyed for its intrinsic qualities, and Dorson also provides interesting commentary on the texts and storytelling traditions. There's a fine variety of stories, and the texts are transcribed from actual storytelling performances rather than "polished up" as literary recreations. This sense of authenticity adds to the anthology's appeal, and Dorson includes background information on the tellers to provide readers with a better understanding of ways in which these stories are actually told within their communities. One concern, though, if you are planning to read these to children, be aware that some of the stories are a bit "earthy" -- or in Dorson's terms "yeasty." This authenticity is part of the anthology's signficance, and it shows that storytelling isn't just for children. But, some of the stories won't appeal to school librarians and cautious parents.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oral tradition put down on paper, August 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Folktales Told Around the World (Paperback)

Dorson ranges throughout the globe and passes on stories translated into ordinary spoken English. The stories read the way they'd be told in a family or group of friends. This is an invaluable resource: each selection includes notes about the individual sources and the themes covered in the story. It's also just plain fun to read.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not so, grasshopper, May 8, 2011

By 

Bruce D. Wilner "Bruce David Wilner" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Folktales Told Around the World (Paperback)

I cannot criticize the level of scholarship reflected in the University of Chicago folklore series, but I can state categorically that, as a rule, the stories are not fun to read, for either of two reasons: (1) The "stories" are disorganized nonsense that putatively instruct or demonstrate some crucial folk motif without subtending such critical concerns as plot and character, or (2) The editor preoccupies himself with the iotas of difference among N variants of a tale. In the India volume, for example, one finds oneself continually falling asleep, while Pantheon's India volume bristles with rollicking stories. Focus on the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library (I, fortunately, own the lion's share of volumes within both of these top-of-the-line series) and worry about U. of C. only if you insist on pursuing strictly the scholarly vein. (Friends and loved ones are always amazed about the depth of my knowledge about other cultures, even to commanding the uttermost tiny details of this ritual or that practice, and I am proud to tell them that I have learned this material from--guess what--the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library. No, I didn't learn it from Richard Dorson and his bone-dry feathermates.)