Proverbs, Songs, Epic Narratives, Folktales of East Asia: Selected Texts, Parallel Analysis and Comparative Approach

by Yen Ping-chiu

Overview

Against the background of the Parry-Lord theories of oral poetics, Dr. Yen Pingchiu, a former student of the late Professor Albert B. Lord, discusses aspects of East Asian oral/written language covering proverbs, songs, epic narratives, and folk tales. His parallel analysis and comparative approach include selected texts from East Asian traditions—those of China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Tibet—as well as Western traditions. An introductory chapter and epilogue tracing some U.S. public figures' 'patterns' of careers leading to their falls complete the study. This book contributes knowledge to our understanding of ideas in the shaping of East Asian proverbs/songs; and to our understanding of cultural/religious meanings of certain epic narratives/folk tales in a worldwide perspective.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761807506
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	06/19/1997
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.28(h) x 0.86(d)

About the Author

Alsace Ping-chiu Yen received her Ph.D. in Mythology from Harvard University and is certified in foreign language pedagogy. She has taught Chinese, Chinese literature, and oral poetics at Skidmore College, Tulane University, University of Wisconsin, and Cornell, among others. ___ __

Editorial Reviews

It is a very welcome trend that scholars have begun to write comparative studies of folk-tales in East Asia and also to compare them with tales from other areas, both East and West.

Asian Folklore Studies - Jan-Ojvind Swahn

It is a very welcome trend that scholars have begun to write comparative studies of folk-tales in East Asia and also to compare them with tales from other areas, both East and West.
— Jan-Ojvind Swahn, Lund, Sweden

Asian Folklore Studies

The author uses the Parry-Lord approach to oral literature (based on findings in fieldwork) to examine the structures of folktales/myths and to analyze their meanings in the realities of societies from an East Asian as well as a worldwide perspective. Four main sections cover proverbs; songs of China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and Tibet; story pattern analysis of epic narratives (the hero returning in disguise); and folktales analyzed through story patterns of "the hero returning with cures" (a search for latent meanings). Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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