Reviews for Nebraska folklore

The average rating for Nebraska folklore based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-12-04 00:00:00 John M Tama Nebraska Folklore is a fine selection of a great folklorist's work. This compilation of Louise Pound's articles and national presentations provides a thorough dissection and contextualization of Nebraska tall tales. She examines the background of legendary characters like Bunyanesque Antoine Barada and rainmaker Clayton Jewell, details flights of fancy linking John Brown to the caves of Nebraska's southeast, and lovingly critiques blatant hoaxes by newsmen like John Maher. Other chapters show Pound's erudition as a linguist and collector, including pieces on English dialects, traditional ballads, and folk customs. If there is a weakness in the collection, it is that Pound's analysis is removed from the source material. If the reader is expecting entertaining stories of Febold Feboldson and other Nebraska folk legends, they will be disappointed ' and it is a shame that the editors at Bison Books did not include some examples from Pound's citations for this edition, especially those that are now in the public domain. That said, the strongest points of the book have little to do with Nebraska at all. Pound's 1951 address on the current state of folklore scholarship reveals a candor that one rarely sees in today's chronically equivocating postmodern scholars; she boldly lays out the mission of the folklorist of her time with a bluntness that is often lacking in academic leadership today. Along the same lines, Pound's successor as the sage of Nebraska folklore, the Bard of Dannebrog Roger Welsch, provides a fine essay on Pound's life and times, revealing much about the subjective character of this woman whose efforts to be objective make this book such a fine piece of work.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-07-30 00:00:00 Damian Gurner Very entertaining & interesting.