Product Description

Here are more than two hundred oral tales from some of Louisiana's finest storytellers. In this comprehensive volume of great range are transcriptions of narratives in many genres, from diverse voices, and from all regions of the state.

Told in settings ranging from the front porch to the festival stage, these tales proclaim the great vitality and variety of Louisiana's oral narrative traditions. Given special focus are Harold Talbert, Lonnie Gray, Bel Abbey, Ben Guiné, and Enola Matthews--whose wealth of imagination, memory, and artistry demonstrates the depth as well as the breadth of the storyteller's craft.

For tales told in Cajun and Creole French, Koasati, and Spanish, the editors have supplied both the original language and English translation. To the volume Maida Owens has contributed an overview of Louisiana's folk culture and a survey of folklife studies of various regions of the state. Car Lindahl's introduction and notes discuss the various genres and styles of storytelling common in Louisiana and link them with the worldwide are of the folktale.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #822930 in Books
• Published on: 1997-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 460 pages

From the Inside Flap
Transcribed oral tales that display the lively art of storytelling in the Bayou State

Customer Reviews

a good set of folktales and small town anecdotes from LA
This is an amusing set of tales, anecdotes, and events that were created by or happened to people living in rural La. Some of the stories are very brief. Some of the stories are in Creole/Cajun French w/ "side by each" translation. Some of the folktales are of the Brer Rabbit/ Tarbaby variety.

This is an academic research effort, so some of the text is taken up in description or explanation of the data gathering process.

Having moved recently to Louisiana recently, I find this to be an interesting collection of folktales and would recommend it for ethnographic and folk history background of the rural cultures in Louisiana.

An excellent collection of folktales from Louisiana
This is an excellent collection of folktales from Louisiana and a fine tribute to the art of storytelling. The reader is not only entertained by these tales, but is rewarded with an insight into the substance of Louisiana folk culture.