Folklore Rules
100 pages, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
12
Hardcover
Release Date:10 Oct 2013
ISBN:9780874219050
Folklore Rules
A Fun, Quick, and Useful Introduction to the Field of Academic Folklore Studies
Utah State University Press
Folklore Rules is a brief introduction to the foundational concepts in folklore studies for beginning students. Designed to give essential background on the current study of folklore and some of the basic concepts and questions used when analyzing folklore, this short, coherent, and approachable handbook is divided into five chapters: What Is Folklore?; What Do Folklorists Do?; Types of Folklore; Types of Folk Groups; and, finally, What Do I Do Now?
Through these chapters students are guided toward a working understanding of the field, learn basic terms and techniques, and learn to perceive the knowledge base and discourse frame for materials used in folklore courses. Folklore Rules will appeal to instructors and students for a variety of courses, including introductory folklore and comparative studies as well as literature, anthropology, and composition classes that include a folklore component.
This simple, straightforward handbook gives students essential background on the current study of folklore and its basic concepts and questions. It will be useful for a variety of classes that do not allow for a full introduction or focus solely on the field—film and folklore, literature and folklore, or introduction to cultural/comparative studies.'
—Martha Sims, Ohio State University
Recapturing the 'fun' of folklore—not just for students, but for instructors as well—drives McNeill's book, and is ultimately where it succeeds the most. . . . McNeill has put forth an engaging and concise but deceptively detailed text that will surely find its way into syllabi across the country. For instructors, and the students they teach, Folklore Rules will be a valuable new addition to their pedagogical toolbox, and one that will surely be useful in scholars' ongoing efforts to expand the scope and reach of folkloristics to new generations of learners.'
—John E. Price, New Directions in Folklore
Folklore Rules is an absolute joy to teach. It is a fabulous introductory tool to major themes and concepts in the discipline and delightfully customizable to an individual instructor's strengths.'
—Kimberly J. Marshall, University of Oklahoma, Dept. of Anthropology
McNeill's books is confidently situated at the portal of academic folklore studies, ready to give directions and conscisely explain the rules of folklore, and how folklore rules.'
—Journal of American Folklore
'This concise introduction to the study of folklore offers an appealing alternative to existing folklore textbooks. Lynne McNeill's talent for teaching undergraduates is clear in this eloquently writter text, which presents the fundamentals of folklore study in a uniquely engaging way.'
—Folklore
'[A] perfect introduction to the field of folklore studies. . . . Folklore Rules is a delightful book that accomplishes what it sets out to do. It makes the field of folklore understandable without diminishing its complexities, and it shows how exciting and culturally insightful folklore study can be.'
—Journal of American Culture
Lynne S. McNeill, PhD, is an instructor and director of online development for the folklore program at Utah State University and co-founder of and faculty advisor for the USU Folklore Society.
