Description
Book SynopsisThere was a time when the word modern would not have appeared in folklore scholarship in general and in proverb studies in particular. After all, folklorists and cultural historians were primarily interested in traditional materials with some consideration also being given to their innovative adaptations. While this interplay of tradition and innovation informed many studies that exemplified a certain constancy in change, little attention was paid to new or modern folklore items. But there has been a revolutionary change during the past few decades in that scholars have looked at the creation of new folklore. This change of emphasis has also influenced paremiographers (proverb collectors) and paremiologists (proverb scholars). In fact, the Dictionary of Modern Proverbs (2012) edited by Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro has become solid proof that there is such a phenomenon as modern proverbs.
This is the first study of authentic modern American
Table of Contents
Preface – “Think Outside the Box”: Origin, Nature, and Meaning of Modern American Proverbs – “The Journey Is the Reward”: Worldview of Modern American Proverbs – “Life Is Not a Spectator Sport”: Proverbial Emotions about Modern Life – “Age Is Just a Number”: American Proverbial Wisdom about Age and Aging – “No Body Is Perfect”: Somatic Aspects of Modern American Proverbs – “Time Spent Wishing Is Time Wasted”: Temporal Worldview in Modern American Proverbs – “Money Makes the World Go ‘Round”: The Pecuniary Worldview of Modern American Proverbs – “Dogs Don’t Bark at Parked Cars”: Zoological Messages in Modern American Proverbs – “Love Is Just a Four- Letter Word”: Sexuality and Scatology in Modern American Proverbs – Index.
