Legend and Belief: Dialectics of a Folklore Genre PDF
Preview Legend and Belief: Dialectics of a Folklore Genre
legend and belief legend and DialecticsofaFolkloreGenre belief Linda De´gh indiana university press bloomington and indianapolis Publicationofthisbookismadepossibleinpartwiththeassistance ofaChallengeGrantfromtheNationalEndowmentfortheHu- manities,afederalagencythatsupportsresearch,education,and publicprogramminginthehumanities. Thisbookisapublicationof IndianaUniversityPress 601NorthMortonStreet Bloomington,IN47404-3797USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephoneorders 800-842-6796 Faxorders 812-855-7931 Ordersbye-mail [email protected] (cid:1)2001byLindaDe´gh Allrightsreserved Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorutilizedinanyformor byanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying andrecording,orbyanyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem, withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.TheAssociation ofAmericanUniversityPresses’ResolutiononPermissionsconsti- tutestheonlyexceptiontothisprohibition. Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequire- mentsofAmericanNationalStandardforInformationSciences— PermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials,ANSIZ39.48- 1984. ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData De´gh,Linda. Legendandbelief:dialecticsofafolkloregenre/LindaDe´gh. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-253-33929-4(cl:alk.paper) 1.Legends.2.Urbanfolklore.3.Beliefanddoubt. I.Title. GR78.D442001 398—dc21 00-054014 1 2 3 4 5 06 05 04 03 02 01 contents Acknowledgments | vii 1.TheTopic,Purpose,andDestinationofThisBook | 1 2.IsThereaDefinitionfortheLegend? | 23 3.LegendasTextinContext | 98 4.Legend-Tellers | 204 5.TheLandscapeandtheClimateoftheLegend | 311 6.Texts,ContextualizedandProcessed | 400 Notes | 443 Bibliography | 461 Index | 489 Acknowledgments Thisbookshouldnothavetakensolongtowrite,andImustapologizefor mytardiness.Myhusband,AndrewVa´zsonyi(theatercritic,authorofnovels, short stories, and children’s literature, doctor of jurisprudence, aestheticist, philosopher,analyticalpsychologist,linguist,semiotician,andself-madefolk- loristtowhomIowethanksforteachingmehowtobecomeafolklorist)and Imadepreliminarypreparationstowritethisbookthroughbrainstormingses- sions that resulted in six co-authored theoretical papers between 1969 and 1983. Our arguments were sharpened through fierce debates. Billy, our En- glishfoxhound, disappearedwhen heheard loudvoices; tomakehim come back, we had to convince him that we were not fighting. Unfortunately, I could not resist temptation and strayed away to other folklore matters that required less hard thinking and less discipline. Andrew died in December 1986,leavingmewithaheapofhandwrittennotesthatIcouldnotread,and an outline of chapters that I did not follow. In writing now I am relying on ideashewroteinasmallnotebookandonourfieldworknotesanddiaries.I couldnothavewrittenthisbookwithouthim. IwanttoexpressmygratitudetothemanypeoplewithwhomIspentmany longhoursindiscussionandwithoutwhomIcouldnothavesucceeded. First, I thank the folk narrative specialists, my teachers, colleagues, and fellow travelers: Lutz Ro¨hrich, Hermann Bausinger, Rudolf Schenda, Utz Jeggle, Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann, Max Lu¨thi, Lauri Honko, Juha Penti- ka¨inen, Bengt af Klintberg, Carl-Herman Tillhagen, Bengt Holbek, Alan Dundes, Donald Ward, Richard M. Dorson, Jan Brunvand, Ronald Baker, GaryAlanFine,DanBen-Amos,andHenryGlassie. Second,Ithankmyfriendlyandtolerantfoes,withmyapologiesforbeing soargumentative.Iwillbealwaysgratefultothemfortheirwritingsandcriti- cismwhichmademethink,andrethink:BillEllis,BillNicolaisen,andGil- lianBennett. Third, I thank my former students who turned out to become my col- leagues, and who helped me learn how to teach and keep them happy in spite ofthe heavyload of workI imposed onthem. Iam very proudof their perseverance.Weexperiencedandexploredanunknownnewfieldtogether— my endeavor would not have been possible without their advice: Carl Lin- dahl, Joe Goodwin, Sylvia Grider, Janet Langlois, Kay Stone, Elizabeth Tucker,ChristineGoldberg,SabinaMagliocco,andLindaSpetter.Butwhy doIwriteLinda’snameasthelastwhenshebelongsupfront,rightafterAn- vii Acknowledgments Thisbookshouldnothavetakensolongtowrite,andImustapologizefor mytardiness.Myhusband,AndrewVa´zsonyi(theatercritic,authorofnovels, short stories, and children’s literature, doctor of jurisprudence, aestheticist, philosopher,analyticalpsychologist,linguist,semiotician,andself-madefolk- loristtowhomIowethanksforteachingmehowtobecomeafolklorist)and Imadepreliminarypreparationstowritethisbookthroughbrainstormingses- sions that resulted in six co-authored theoretical papers between 1969 and 1983. Our arguments were sharpened through fierce debates. Billy, our En- glishfoxhound, disappearedwhen heheard loudvoices; tomakehim come back, we had to convince him that we were not fighting. Unfortunately, I could not resist temptation and strayed away to other folklore matters that required less hard thinking and less discipline. Andrew died in December 1986,leavingmewithaheapofhandwrittennotesthatIcouldnotread,and an outline of chapters that I did not follow. In writing now I am relying on ideashewroteinasmallnotebookandonourfieldworknotesanddiaries.I couldnothavewrittenthisbookwithouthim. IwanttoexpressmygratitudetothemanypeoplewithwhomIspentmany longhoursindiscussionandwithoutwhomIcouldnothavesucceeded. First, I thank the folk narrative specialists, my teachers, colleagues, and fellow travelers: Lutz Ro¨hrich, Hermann Bausinger, Rudolf Schenda, Utz Jeggle, Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann, Max Lu¨thi, Lauri Honko, Juha Penti- ka¨inen, Bengt af Klintberg, Carl-Herman Tillhagen, Bengt Holbek, Alan Dundes, Donald Ward, Richard M. Dorson, Jan Brunvand, Ronald Baker, GaryAlanFine,DanBen-Amos,andHenryGlassie. Second,Ithankmyfriendlyandtolerantfoes,withmyapologiesforbeing soargumentative.Iwillbealwaysgratefultothemfortheirwritingsandcriti- cismwhichmademethink,andrethink:BillEllis,BillNicolaisen,andGil- lianBennett. Third, I thank my former students who turned out to become my col- leagues, and who helped me learn how to teach and keep them happy in spite ofthe heavyload of workI imposed onthem. Iam very proudof their perseverance.Weexperiencedandexploredanunknownnewfieldtogether— my endeavor would not have been possible without their advice: Carl Lin- dahl, Joe Goodwin, Sylvia Grider, Janet Langlois, Kay Stone, Elizabeth Tucker,ChristineGoldberg,SabinaMagliocco,andLindaSpetter.Butwhy doIwriteLinda’snameasthelastwhenshebelongsupfront,rightafterAn- vii Acknowledgments drew?BecausefromthemomentofherarrivaltoBloomington,witharecom- mendationofherteacher,ProfessorWarrenWalker,shehasbeenmystudent. ShetookallmyclassesandsoonIdiscoveredhersuperiorqualitiesandpoten- tial for becoming a true professional folklorist. Her devotion and loyalty to folklorewerenevershakeninthecurrenthostileclimatewhichthreatensits survival. She became my student assistant, and my previous two books are proof of our harmonious collaboration as author and editor. Now she is a Ph.D.infolklore,andthisbookshouldbeastrongstatementonbehalfofher applicationforajobinasolidfolkloredepartment—shemightbeamongthe veryfewwhocanrescuethedisciplinefromoblivion. Last, but not least, I thank my computer assistants Amy Goldenberg and Alex Tsow who helped me keep my sanity when my whimsical computer threatenedtoerasethepagesitdisliked. viii legend and belief
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