Description
Book SynopsisFrom Alien to When a Stranger Calls, many films are based on folklore or employ an urban legend element to propel the narrative. But once those traditional aspects have been identified, do they warrant further scrutiny? Indeed, why is the study of folklore in popular film important? In Films, Folklore and Urban Legends, Mikel J. Koven addresses this issue by exploring the convergence of folklore with popular cinema studies. Well beyond the identification of traditional motifs in popular cinema, Koven reveals new paradigms of filmic analysis, which open up when one looks at movies through the lens of folklore. In particular, this book focuses on the study of urban legends and how these narratives are used as inspiration for a number of films. Divided into five sections, the book begins with a general survey of the existing literature on folklore/film, predominantly from the perspective of folklore studies. Subsequent chapters address discourses of belief, how urban legends provide the
Trade ReviewA major contribution to both film studies and folkloristics. It is an academic study in which the author argues that popular film genres and television programs like slasher films, vernacular comedies, killer bee movies, zombie films, and urban legend films advance the study of folklore rather than hinder it....Koven’s book is a joy to read. His material is well chosen and familiar to the average reader....His book is a good example of how to make folklore relevant to both professional folklorists and the lay reader. This is the type of book professors would want to include in a course on folklore and film that emphasizes the nexus between urban legends and slasher films. I am certain that Koven’s Film, Folklore, and Urban Legends will become required reading in the nascent research area of film and folklore. His approach to using theories and methodologies drawn from both of these fields, and applying them effectively to the study of urban legends and the concept of belief, offers invaluable insights into the study of this relatively new area of research within folkloristics. * Western Folklore *
Koven provides a solid framework and compelling arguments. * American Reference Books Annual *
As a whole, this group of essays provides a useful entry point to many important theories, practices and arguments about folklore and visual narrative, not least because it is in the form of essays aimed at specific questions rather than aiming to serve directly as a primer. The citations and bibliography alone are a valuable resource for anyone wishing to take up the subject. . . . Film, Folklore, and Urban Legends is a good place to start for anyone interested in working on the intersection of folklore and popular visual media. * Folklore *
Table of ContentsPart 1 Acknowledgments Part 2 Introduction Part 3 Part I: The Study of Folklore and Film Chapter 4 1. Folklore and Film Part 5 Part II: The Search for a Methodology Chapter 6 2. Based on Some Forgotten Lore: The Wicker Man, Frazer, and the Ancient Celts Chapter 7 3. Searching for Tale-Types and Motifs in the Zombie Film Chapter 8 4. Orality as Methodology for Understanding Vernacular Comedies and the Comic Corpse Part 9 Part III: Issues of Belief Chapter 10 5. Discourses of Belief in The X-Files Chapter 11 6. "Buzz Off!": The Killer Bee Movie as Modern Belief Narrative Part 12 Part IV: Urban Legends and Film Chapter 13 7. Studying the Urban Legend Film Chapter 14 8. The Slasher Film as Folkloristic Social Script Part 15 Part V: Ostension Chapter 16 9. Film and Ostension: The Case of Candyman Chapter 17 10. The Convergence of Folklore, Belief, and Popular Media: The Case of Most Haunted Part 18 Afterword Part 19 Filmography Part 20 Bibliography Part 21 Index Part 22 About the Author
