American Folklore

by Richard M. Dorson

Here, grounded firmly in American history, is a skilled folklorist's survey of the entire field of America's folklore—from colonization to mass culture.

Tracing the forms and content of American folklore, Mr. Dorson reveals the richness, pathos, and humor of genuine folklore, which he distinguishes from the "fakelore" of popularizers and chauvinists. At the same time, however, he shows what the creation of spurious folklore (the Paul Bunyan legends, for instance) discloses about our national character. Based upon authentic field collections and research, the examples cited include folkways, jests, boasts, tall tales, ballads, folk and legendary heroes.

"His volume enlarges our understanding of the American past and present through an empirical survey of the extant folk traditions and it also provides us with the means for appreciating what is valuable in these folk traditions."— Virginia Quarterly Review

Genres: Folklore, History, Nonfiction

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 1961

Reviews

[Andrew Heitzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously, this book is old. It is able to give a very interesting perspective on folklore at a time before it really started dying out in the traditional sense. Keeping that in mind, this book is still lacking. Neither an encyclopedia nor a true history, this book finds a place somewhere between recounting as many stories as the author can remember and giving insight into the ways folklore spreads and evolves, without every becoming one or the other. Had Dorson focused on either (or both) of those directions, this book could have been much stronger. Still, for someone interested in folklore and its history, this book is not entirely without value. Dorson obviously knows his stuff and has done his research.

[K Kriesel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information here is great, but the writing is very clearly outdated and racist. Perhaps a third of the book is useful folklore and history and the rest is just the author's rambling

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am now a little bit in love with folklore