Alan Dundes Quotes

Alan Dundes was an American folklorist and anthropologist. He specialized in the study of folklore and its significance in different cultures. Dundes' research and writings have contributed to the understanding of folklore as an important aspect of human culture and communication. His work continues to be influential in the field of folklore studies.

Americans have a penchant for the future and tend ... -Alan Dundes

Americans have a penchant for the future and tend to disregard the past.

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some ... -Alan Dundes

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

Life, it seems, is nothing if not a series of init... -Alan Dundes

Life, it seems, is nothing if not a series of initiations, transitions, and incorporations.

Ancestor worship, or filial piety so characteristic of Asian cultures, for example, does not really resonate with Americans who favor children, not grandparents.

In my introductory course, Anthropology 160, the Forms of Folklore, I try to show the students what the major and minor genres of folklore are, and how they can be analyzed.

It is important to recognize that folklore is not simply a way of obtaining available date about identity for social scientists; it is actually one of the principal means by which an individual and a group discovers or establishes his or its identity.

In the light of our culture, these are not unreasonable questions and tactics, but if once again, we try to see the lens through which we look, we can see that there is far too great an emphasis placed on the future.

As a folklorist, I have come to believe that no piece of folklore continues to be transmitted unless it means something - even if neither the speaker nor the audience can articulate what that meaning might be.

Polls are frequently taken to try to tease out or determine likely directions and trends, but once taken, they belong to the past, requiring that new polls be taken.

Americans often have trouble enjoying the present ... -Alan Dundes

Americans often have trouble enjoying the present moment.

I mentioned that one of the tripartite formulas in American worldview involves time: past, present, and future.

Folklore provides a socially sanctioned outlet for... -Alan Dundes

Folklore provides a socially sanctioned outlet for the discussion of the forbidden and taboo.

I find all folklore challenging, and I never cease to be grateful that I became a professional folklorist.

The class has become over the years fairly large, running to three hundred or more, but I always insist upon reading all the student folklore collections myself. Although this is a tall order, I look forward to it because I learn so much from it.

The study of folklore is largely the study of particular folklore genres: myth, folktale, legend, ballad, proverb, riddle, superstition, etc.

If a student takes the whole series of my folklore courses including the graduate seminars, he or she should learn something about fieldwork, something about bibliography, something about how to carry out library research, and something about how to publish that research.

They do not merely collect texts; they must also gather data about the context and the informant and, above all, write an analysis of the items based upon the course readings and lecture material on folklore theory and method.

Future orientation is combined with a notion and e... -Alan Dundes

Future orientation is combined with a notion and expectation of progress, and nothing is impossible.

There can be no self without other, no identity of... -Alan Dundes

There can be no self without other, no identity of group A without a group B.

My own bias in folkloristics is decidedly psychoanalytic. I believe that the vast majority of folklore concerns fantasy, and because of that, I am persuaded that techniques of analyzing fantasy are relevant to folklore data.

Their term project consists of a fieldwork collection of folklore that they create by interviewing family members, friends, or anyone they can manage to persuade to serve as an informant.

I have a great advantage over many of my colleagues inasmuch as my students bring with them to class their own personal knowledge of national, regional, religious, ethnic, occupational, and family folklore traditions.

Cities all over the world are getting bigger as more and more people move from rural to urban sites, but that has created enormous problems with respect to environmental pollution and the general quality of life.

My academic identity is that of a folklorist, and for many years I have taught only folklore courses.

There is more to folklore research than fieldwork. This is why in all of my other upper-division courses I require a term paper involving original research.

Americans do believe in progress and there is almo... -Alan Dundes

Americans do believe in progress and there is almost certainly a kernel of truth in the joke.

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