Folklore: An Encyclopaedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music and Art

Folklore, April, 2000 by Jacqueline Simpson

Folklore: An Encyclopaedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music and Art. Edited by Thomas A. Green. Santa Barbara, CA, Denver, CO, and Oxford, UK: ABC-Clio, 1998. 2 vols 892 pp. Illus. 89.95 [pounds sterling]. ISBN 0 87436 986 X

This is a major reference work, but it is important to realise that it is concerned with "folklore" as a discipline, i.e. the theories and methodologies of folkloristics, definitions of genres, and the histories of important concepts. The emphasis throughout the book is considerably more abstract than its subtitle would lead one to expect. There are, for instance, no entries for "birth," "death" or "marriage," only a rather brief one for "life-cycle ritual"; none for "ghosts" or "the dead" though the article on "assault, supernatural" interestingly groups diverse entities including ghosts (alongside hags, fairies, and UFO aliens) as culturally determined explanations put upon disturbing personal experiences. On the other hand, vampires and werewolves are allocated an entry, and so are revenants, on the basis of Scandinavian material. "Witchcraft" has an entry, together with the related topics of "familiars" and "Sabbat" but, except for the brief reference mentioned earlier, there is nothing at all about fairies, presumably because they do not feature in the mainstream traditions of the USA. Initially, readers would do well to consult the general index as a supplement to the list of entries, for it could prove a faster guide to their areas of interest.

Where the book is outstandingly useful is in its lucid explanations of theories, technical terms, and methods of study (e.g. "cantometrics," "choreometrics," "communitas," "conduit theory" and "cultural relativism," to take some at random from the first 140 pages). We are told who launched the concept, how it developed, what controversies it aroused, what its main applications are, what are the standard works upon it, and what its current academic status is.

The entries for forms and genres are equally well thought out, drawing together material from all periods and organising it according to firm theoretic postulates, so that it never becomes a mere list of examples. Purely modern topics are well represented too, and there are (at last) substantial entries of the less seemly side of folk tradition--"erotic-folklore" and "scatology," for instance. Each entry has its own brief but authoritative bibliography. This is sure to remain a standard work of folkloristics for many decades, and any library with a serious interest in the topic should acquire it.

Jacqueline Simpson, Folklore Society