Description
Drawing on previous research and her own original fieldwork, the author develops a definition of the tall tale as a genre of folklore, and she then explores how tall tale methods and meanings have been translated into literary humor.
The work moves from the Crockett Almanacs, sketches, newspaper hoaxes, and frontier frame tales to present new readings of such standard works as George Washington Harris' Sut Lovingood and Mark Twain's Autobiography.
Brown views the tall tale as a challenge and an entertainment as well as a story that identifies and binds a folk group and helps people to cope with a stressful world.
Author: Carolyn S. Brown
Publisher: Univ Tennessee Press
Published: 07/28/1989
Pages: 186
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.48h x 5.56w x 0.61d
ISBN13: 9780870496271
ISBN10: 0870496271
BISAC Categories:
- Literary Criticism | American | General
- Social Science | Folklore & Mythology
- Literary Criticism | Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology
About the Author
Carolyn S. Brown has a PhD in English from the University of Virginia.