Synopses & Reviews
Telling Tales explores the interlocking relationships among written medieval texts, the oral tradition, and the influence of folklore, and examines folklore and culture within literary and historical contexts. The diverse essays in this collection highlight the mutual shadowing of literature and oral narrative and how they relate to other areas of cultural production and performance, including systems of learning, political ideologies, gender formation and conflicts, folk religion, ethnic tensions, and legal practices. Folklore from a variety of literary and folk traditions including Arabic, Celtic, French, Jewish, Christian, Spanish, and Scandinavian are analyzed using multiple theoretical approaches such as psychoanalysis, feminist theory, new historicism, and semiotics. The relationship, and often the interchangeability, of high culture (such as canonical writings) and popular/folk culture (such as amulets or storytelling) is also explored. A more contemporary essay on the impact of the printing press on folkloric traditions concludes this collection that crosses disciplines, genres, and nationalities, penned by prominent European and American folklore scholars. The result is a work that is at once diversified, contrasted, and provocative. Telling Tales is an exemplary addition to the world of medieval studies and literature.
Synopsis
Crossing disciplines, genres, and nationalities, "Telling Tales examines folkore and culture within a multitude of historical and literary contexts.
About the Author
Francesca Canadé Sautman teaches French literature and cultural studies at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate School. She is the co-editor of the journal Medieval Folklore Studies. Diana Conchado teaches Spanish literature at Hunter College and works on the Golden Age mock epic. Giuseppe Carlo Di Scipio is Chair of the Department of Romance Languages at Hunter College and is a noted Dante scholar.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Texts and Shadows: Traces, Medieval Narratives, and Folklore *
Part I: Sources and Traditions * Oral Transmission and Medieval Legends--John McNamara * Scientific Discourse, Travel Literature, and Folklore--Jeffrey Jerome Cohen * Folklore, Myth, and Medieval Narratives--Philippe Walter *
Part II: Textual Variations * Fluctuating Narratives and Competing Authorities--Leslie Abend Callahan * Exempla, Models, and Variants--Jacques Berlioz * Language and Myth--J. Michael Stitt * Motifs and the Mythic Subtext--Madeleine Jeay * Variations on a Tale--Bonnie D. Irwin *
Part III: Hagiography * Artefacts and Hagiography--Edina Bozoky * Hagiography and Folklore--Giuseppe Carlo Di Scipio * Hagiography and the Appropriation of Motifs--Joseph Falaky Nagy *
Part IV: Historical Contexts * The Historians' Territories--Francesca Canadé Sautman * Folklore and the Historical Context--Carl Lindahl * From the Middle Ages to Modern Times: Oral Tradition and the Printed Word--Catherine Velay-Vallantin * Notes on Contributors * Bibliography * Index Introduction: Texts and Shadows: Traces, Medieval Narratives, and Folklore *
Part I: Sources and Traditions * Oral Transmission and Medieval Legends--John McNamara * Scientific Discourse, Travel Literature, and Folklore--Jeffrey Jerome Cohen * Folklore, Myth, and Medieval Narratives--Philippe Walter *
Part II: Textual Variations * Fluctuating Narratives and Competing Authorities--Leslie Abend Callahan * Exempla, Models, and Variants--Jacques Berlioz * Language and Myth--J. Michael Stitt * Motifs and the Mythic Subtext--Madeleine Jeay * Variations on a Tale--Bonnie D. Irwin *
Part III: Hagiography * Artefacts and Hagiography--Edina Bozoky * Hagiography and Folklore--Giuseppe Carlo Di Scipio * Hagiography and the Appropriation of Motifs--Joseph Falaky Nagy *
Part IV: Historical Contexts * The Historians' Territories--Francesca Canadé Sautman * Folklore and the Historical Context--Carl Lindahl * From the Middle Ages to Modern Times: Oral Tradition and the Printed Word--Catherine Velay-Vallantin * Notes on Contributors * Bibliography * Index