Botanical Bosom Serpent Traditions

Abstract

This article surveys examples of ‘botanical bosom serpents’; that is, stories where a plant, or some vegetable element, is said to enter and/or grow in the human body. These can be found in sources—for the most part European—from ancient times onwards. This is a preliminary study, as the topic is one that has been neglected by folklorists and historians of medicine.     

New Beginnings: Towards a National Folklore Survey

The study of folklore in England stands at a crossroads. Is it content with its current activities and achievements, or should it make a determined effort to move forward? A subject pioneered in this country, which gave it its name and early academic reputation, seems in danger of losing momentum. Its mission lacks a common purpose, and tends to be fragmented, and the discipline as a whole has largely been ineffectual in asserting its social and cultural importance. One way to redress these shortcomings is for the leading organizations concerned to undertake a comprehensive survey of the rich variety of traditions in our present-day multicultural society. This will generate a new impetus in efforts to document these aspects of English cultural heritage.     

The Location of Medieval/Pre-Modern and Biblical Ziklag

Abstract

Most modern attempts to identify biblical Ziklag build on the pioneering work of Edward Robinson. Analysis of the medieval and pre-modern observations made by Father Felix Fabri, in Evagatorium in Terræ Sanctæ, Arabiæ et Egypti Peregrinationem and Sionpilger, and Eugène Roger, in La Terre Sainte, provide support for the identification of biblical Ziklag with Tell esh-Shari'ah (Tel Sera') during these periods. Such a medieval and pre-modern identification provides support for this same modern identification of biblical Ziklag and militates against competing identifications with Tell el-Hesi (Tel Hasi), Khirbet Meshash (Tel Masos), Tell es-Seba' (Tel Beer-Sheva), and Tell Khuweilifeh (Tel Halif).     

关于中国前近代社会“非封建”的对话

《"封建"考论》引起的学术争论,展现出学界对"封建"名实问题及社会形态学说的不同理解。日本京都学派代表学者谷川道雄与《"封建"考论》作者冯天瑜就此展开对话,取得相近的认识,他们以为,将秦至清中国社会称为"封建社会"的"泛化封建"观是教条主义产物,不能谓之"马克思主义史学成果"。从中国历史的实际出发,而不是从斯大林规定的"五形态"说出发,是论析中国前近代社会性质的健康起点;尊重马克思的封建观,恢复其本来面目,是正确对待马克思历史学说的首要前提,不应将马克思尖锐批评的泛化封建观强加到马克思头上。对"封建"概念的阐释和运用,应取古今演绎、东西涵化的正途。在精准概念与真确史实的相互观照中,显现中国前近代社会的非封建性及其与西欧、日本前近代社会的封建性之间的差异。     

Reviews of Folklore Scholarship

AN INTERIM CHECKLIST OF CHAPBOOKS CONTAINING TRADITIONAL PLAY TEXTS, by M. J. PRESTON, M. G. SMITH and P. S. SMITH, History of the Book Trade in the North, Newcastle, 1976, £1.50: MORRICE DANCERS AT REVESBY, CECTAL Facsimiles No. 1, University of Sheffield, 1976, 75p: THE PACE EGG : THE MIDGLEY VERSION, Introduction by H. W. HARWOOD and F. H. MARSDEN, 2nd ed., David Bland, Halifax, 1977, 75p. Reviewed by Derek Froome.

FOLKLORE TODAY: A FESTSCHRIFT FOR RICHARD M. DORSON. Edited by LINDA DÉGH, HENRY GLASSIE and FELIX J. OINAS. Bloomington, Indiana University. 1976. xx+537 pp. Reviewed by J. D. A. Widdowson.

THE MONGOL WORLD EMPIRE 1206–1370. By JOHN ANDREW BOYLE. Variorum Reprints, London. 1977. 316 pp. Reviewed by C. R. Bawden.

SCOTTISH PLACE-NAMES, THEIR STUDY AND SIGNIFICANCE. By W. F. H. NICOLAISEN. Batsford, London. 1976. 8vo, xxix+210 pp. £4.95. Reviewed by John McNeal Dodgson.

AMERICAN FOLK MEDICINE. Edited by WAYLAND D. HAND. University of California Press. Reviewed by Eric Trimmer.

ORAL POETRY. Its nature, significance and social content. By RUTH FINNEGAN. Cambridge University Press. 1977. Pp. 300. £7.50. Reviewed by H. R. Ellis Davidson.

THE FAIRIES IN TRADITION AND LITERATURE. By K. M. BRIGGS. Routledge &; Kegan Paul. £2.95. Reviewed by Alicia C. Percival.

THE OLD SONGS OF SKYE: FRANCES TOLMIE AND HER CIRCLE. By ETHEL BASSIN, ed. by DEREK BOWMAN. Routledge &; Kegan Paul, London. 1977. Pp. 227. £5.95. Reviewed by E. B. Lyle.

PROBLEME DER SAGENFORSCHUNG. VERHANDLUNGEN DER TAGUNG VERANSTALTET VON DER KOMMISSION FUR ERZÄHLUNGSFORSCHUNG DER DEUTSCHEN GESELLSCHAFT FÜR VOLKSKUNDE … 1973 IN FREIBURG IM BREISGAU. Ed. by L. RÖHRICH. Freiburg, Forschungsstelle Sage. 1973. Pp. 219, 3 illustrations. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

B. P. SCHLIEPHACKE, MÄRCHEN, SEELE UND SINNBILD. Ed by E. KRACHT. Vol. 5 of the Schriften der Geselhchaft zur Pflege des Märchengutes der europaischen Völker. Münster (Verlag Aschendorff). 1974. Pp. 143. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

INDEX OF MEXICAN FOLKTALES. By STANLEY L. ROBE. Folklore Studies vol. 26. Berkeley (University of California Press), 1973. Pp. xxiii+276. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.     

Folklore of the Azores

The study of folklore, founded and developed by British scholars, has struggled to establish itself in the higher education sector in England. An exploration of the reasons behind this anomaly suggests that, far from being a lost cause, there are new opportunities to secure a permanent place for the discipline in the academy and in the public sphere.     

城市民俗文化与农村民俗文化差异论

在民俗文化研究中,城市民俗文化研究正以一种不可阻挡的势头蓬勃兴起.这种原因不仅在于伴随着中国城市化进程的不断加速,城市民俗文化越来越成为当今中国民俗文化的重要组成部分而引起学者们的注意,而且还在于城市民俗文化因具有与农村民俗文化极为不同的风格而激发着学者们的兴趣.……     

前现代国际体系与尧舜禹时代

多元一体是早期中国区域文明发展的重要特征。从国际关系学的角度看,尧舜禹时期以黄河及长江流域为中心,包括北起辽河流域,南至珠江流域的广大地区,各早期文明实体及正在向文明社会迈进的各原始部落或部族,在社会一文化、经济、政治与军事互动充分发展的基础上,已经构成为一个区域性的前现代国际体系。尧舜禹政治集团,则是建立在方国联盟基础上的一种国际次体系。     

城市民俗学的方法

近年来经常听到这样的呼声,认为城市也应该被列入到民俗学的研究对象中去。由此可以看出在以往的民俗学研究中很少把城市作为研究对象。尤其是对历史较浅的城市,几乎没有进行过民俗学的综合调查和研究。