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. — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
Folklore provides a socially sanctioned outlet for the discussion of the forbidden and taboo. — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
The class has become over the years fairly large, running to three hundred or more, but I always insist upon reading all the student… — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
Their term project consists of a fieldwork collection of folklore that they create by interviewing family members, friends, or anyone they can manage to… — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
In the light of our culture, these are not unreasonable questions and tactics, but if once again, we try to see the lens through… — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
The study of folklore is largely the study of particular folklore genres: myth, folktale, legend, ballad, proverb, riddle, superstition, etc. — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
Cities all over the world are getting bigger as more and more people move from rural to urban sites, but that has created enormous… — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
I have a great advantage over many of my colleagues inasmuch as my students bring with them to class their own personal knowledge of… — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
Americans do believe in progress and there is almost certainly a kernel of truth in the joke. — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
Americans have a penchant for the future and tend to disregard the past. — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
I mentioned that one of the tripartite formulas in American worldview involves time: past, present, and future. — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
My academic identity is that of a folklorist, and for many years I have taught only folklore courses. — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
In my introductory course, Anthropology 160, the Forms of Folklore, I try to show the students what the major and minor genres of folklore… — Alan Dundes Copy Share Image
