Folklore and book culture
By: Kevin J. Hayes.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University of Tennessee Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Knoxville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 167
Subjects: Literature and folklore.; Books -- Folklore.; Tales -- History and criticism.; Popular literature -- History and criticism.
Description: To many observers, folklore and book culture might appear to be opposites. Folklore, after all, involves orally circulated stories and traditions while book culture is concerned with the transmission of written texts. However, as Kevin J. Hayes points out, there are many instances where the two intersect, and exploring those intersections is the purpose of this fascinating and provocative study.

Hayes shows that the acquisition of knowledge and the ownership of books have not displaced folklore but instead have given rise to new beliefs and superstitions. Some book have generated new proverbs; others have fostered their own legends. Occasionally the book has served as an important motif in folklore, and in one folk genre - the flyleaf rhyme - the book itself has become the place where folklore occurs, thus indicating a lively interaction between folk, print, and manuscript culture.

Solidly researched and venturing into areas long neglected by scholars, Folklore and Book Culture is a work that will engage not only folklorists but historians and literary scholars as well.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [141]-160) and index.
Table of contents: title: Volksbuch and proverb in early America; title: The sixth and seventh books of Moses; title: Superstition and the book; title: The book in Icelandic magicians' legends; title: Inexperienced use of the black book in Great Britain and America (ML 3020); title: Three brothers in the Philippines (AT 653, 653a, and 654); title: Traditional flyleaf rhymes.