Barre Toelken

Interesting premise of using ghost legends to discover cultural links to every day life in Japan. Liked every much that there was discussion about the rituals surrounding death and how traditional values can be reflected both in them and the legends that spring up around them. Unfortunately, if you're looking for well told legends they are not here. They are short and concise. Also, the explanations for symbology in the legends is told before the text of the tale itself, leading to some anticlimax. Still, if you're interested in ghost stories from Japan and are looking for a deeper understanding of them, this is a good place to start.… (más)

Midwest Book Review: In The Dynamics Of Folklore, Barre Toelken discusses the history, meaning and variety of folklore. He considers "the biology of folklore" and emphasizes the dynamic, everyday, everywhere richness of folk expressions from occupational and ethnic lore to foodways, holidays, personal experience narratives, legends, ballads, myths, provers, jokes, crafts, and others, clearly tracing the cultural worldviews folklore conveys and how it expresses them. Throughout the text Toelken offers students and others practical instruction and advice on methods and study, including field research, cross-cultural understanding, discerning the context and meaning of folk performances, and recording and archiving folklore. Extensive bibliographical essays outline the history and literature of folklore, and over one hundred photographs illustrate examples of folk events, arts, and processes. The Dynamics Of Folklore is a benchmark body of scholarship and essential reading for any serious folklorist.… (más)