Sitting at the Feet of the Past Retelling the North American Folktale for Children |
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Author:
| Hettinga, Donald R. Schmidt, Gary D. |
Series title: | Contributions to the Study of World Literature Ser. |
ISBN: | 978-0-313-27635-4 |
Publication Date: | Sep 1992 |
Publisher: | Bloomsbury Publishing USA
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Imprint: | Praeger |
Book Format: | Hardback |
List Price: | USD $95.00 |
Book Description:
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Must a folktale be connected to its culture? Can a tale with universal applications be transmitted from one culture to another without loss? Does a teller from one culture have the ability--or even the right--to relate a tale from another culture? What happens to a tale when it leaves the oral and adult arenas and appears in print for children? Is it legitimate for a reteller to create variants to suit a child audience? Children's literature is today the major conduit...
More Description
Must a folktale be connected to its culture? Can a tale with universal applications be transmitted from one culture to another without loss? Does a teller from one culture have the ability--or even the right--to relate a tale from another culture? What happens to a tale when it leaves the oral and adult arenas and appears in print for children? Is it legitimate for a reteller to create variants to suit a child audience?
Children's literature is today the major conduit for folklore, and professionals in the field must consider these questions. Editors Gary Schmidt and Donald Hettinga have brought together twenty-three writers of children's literature, illustrators, storytellers, and literary critics, who explore the issues and offer their experiences and views. The scope of the volume is the North American folktale, a rich amalgam of four major distinct traditions: the Native American folktale, the African American folktale, the retold Western European folktale, and the American tall tale. Each tradition is separately presented with an introductory survey and a selection of essays by the writers and critics. This focused collection will be valuable to scholars and professions in folklore, anthropology, American literature, and children's literature and useful also as a text in courses on children's literature and folklore.