Latino American Folktales

(Hardback)

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Description

Latino Americans have a powerful voice in society and a wealth of cultural traditions. Fundamental to those traditions are numerous folktales. Some are funny, some draw upon the supernatural, some look back on ancestral ways, and some capture the experience of Latinos in the United States. Written expressly for students and general readers, this book assembles and comments on a wide range of Latino American folktales. These are grouped in topical sections on origins; heroes, heroines, villains, and fools; society and conflict; and the supernatural. Each tale is introduced by a headnote, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography of print and electronic resources suitable for student research. Students of literature and language will value this book for its exploration of Latino American folktales, while students of history and society will welcome its illumination of the Latino American experience. The more than 30 tales are grouped in thematic sections on origins; heroes, heroines, villains, and fools; society and conflict; and the supernatural.

Reviews

Continuing his series collecting folktales of various national and ethnic groups in the US, Green (anthropology, Texas A&M U.) presents a selection of fictional tales, legends, myths, and personal experience narratives from people of Latin American heritage. Among the titles are Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, Maria the ash girl, Francisco Trujillo and Billy the Kid, Princess Papantzin's resurrection, the accursed bell, and the witch deer. He has gleaned the tales from previous collections, and introduces each one briefly. * Reference & Research Book News *

Author Bio

THOMAS A. GREEN is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Texas A&M University. His many books include The Greenwood Library of American Folktales (2006), and The Greenwood Library of World Folktales (2008).