Synopses & Reviews
"This book shows how folklore--magic, miracles, and tales of enchanted princesses and genial giants--is still alive and well in the modern mass media.... contains a wealth of facts and observations with which to conjure." --Journal of Communication
"Dégh brings her decades of expertise in folk narrative to bear in this well-researched, provocative study of the interrelationship between traditional processes of folk narrative performances and modern mass media.... Highly recommended... " --Choice
"Spanning folk cultural developments as old as feudalism and as new as today's TV ad, American Folklore and the Mass Media demonstrates how vital folklore remains, how often it absorbs--rather than being absorbed by--the most dramatic technological innovations and social realignments." --Carl Lindahl
"... all six essays are meaty and informative contributions to vital folkloric issues..." --Contemporary Legend
Synopsis
As we will demonstrate in this discussion, the phenomenon we identity as folklore permeates all society assisted by mass media; it is not ruled out as folklore simply because its bearers manipulate new instruments to fit the needs of modern consumers.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 194-213) and index.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
The Varient and the Folklorization Process in the Basic Forms of Narration: Marchen and Legend
Magic for Sale: Marchen and Legend in TV Advertising
Magic as a Mail-Order Commodity
Beauty, Wealth, and Power: Career Choices for Women in Folktales, Fairy Tales, and Modern Media
Tape-Recording Miracles for Everyday Living: The Ethnography of a Pentecostal Community
Letters to the Dead
Appendix: Sample Texts of In-Memoriam Advertisments
Notes
Bibliography
Index