Jack in Two Worlds: Contemporary North American Tales and Their Tellers (Publications of the American Folklore Society. New Series)
Richard Chase made the"Jack" tales famous, but also-it turns out-altered them. (Jack, of "Jack and the Beanstalk" fame, is featured in a series of tales brought here from the British Isles.) The nine scholarly contributors here are clear about collecting norms and about the relation between the tale's history and the source family's or community's history. These essays bring the tellers, their world, and their styles to life. They combine insights into the tales and their traditional analog, especially in Britain, with attention to "revivalist" tellings. Fidelity to features of performance (e.g., transcription in lines to mark rhythm) inhibits casual reading, but it does reflect contemporary emphasis on individual creativity in process and performance within the tradition. Scholars will find this juxtaposition of tales and essays useful, and anything that sustains and spreads these vibrant stories should be applauded.Patricia Dooley, Univ. of Washington Lib. Sch., SeattleCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.