Description
Book SynopsisTraces the search for American tradition and national identity through folklore and folklife from the 19th century onwards. This work shows how American thinkers and leaders have used folklore - ranging from Paul Bunyan and Davey Crockett to quilts, cowboys, and immigrants - to express the meaning and mystique of their country.
Trade ReviewFolk Nation is well organized and clearly thought out. The selections are especially well chosen and historically significant, and the introduction and the headnotes are engaging. -- Sharon R. Sherman, director of folklore program, University of Oregon
Will be immensely useful to teachers of the theory and history of the discipline and to students of American civilization. Bronner's volume will prove influential in reshaping our understanding of the development of the national aspect of our folk traditions—the point at which the academic disciplines meet the domain of the public intellectual. -- Joseph Harris, Professor of English and Folklore, Harvard University
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Preface Part 2 Part I Chapter 3 In Search of American Tradition Chapter 4 Suggestions for Further Reading Part 5 Part II Chapter 6 The Field of American Folklore (1888-89) Chapter 7 The Black Folklore Movement at Hampton Institute (1893-94) Chapter 8 Quilts as Emblems of Women's Tradition (1894) Chapter 9 American Folk Song (1915) Chapter 10 "American" Folklore (1930) Chapter 11 American Folklore (1949) Chapter 12 The Folk Idea in American Life (1930) Chapter 13 Folk Art: Its Place in the American Tradition (1932) Chapter 14 Folk Arts: Immigrant Gifts to American Life (1932) Chapter 15 American Folksongs of Protest (1953) Chapter 16 Folklore and American Regionalism (1966) Chapter 17 Border Identity: Culture Conflict and Convergence Along the Lower Rio Grande (1978) Chapter 18 Life Styles and Legends (1971) Chapter 19 Another America: Toward a Behavioral History Based on Folkloristics (1982) Chapter 20 American Folklife: A Commonwealth of Cultures (1991) (with text of the Folklife Preservation Act, 1976) Chapter 21 Folklife in Contemporary Multicultural Society (1990) Chapter 22 Children and Colors: American Folk and Popular Cultures in America's Future (1994)
