Wisconsin folklore / edited by James P. Leary.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Leary, James P., 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Folklore--Wisconsin.

Folklore.

Wisconsin--Social life and customs.

Wisconsin.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 542 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press, c1998.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Highly entertaining and richly informative, Wisconsin Folklore offers the first comprehensive collection of writings about the surprisingly varied folklore of Wisconsin. Beginning with a historical introduction to Wisconsin's folklore and concluding with an up-to-date bibliography, this anthology offers more than fifty annotated and illustrated entries in five sections: "Terms and Talk, " "Storytelling, " "Music, Song, and Dance, " "Beliefs and Customs, " and "Material Traditions and Folklife." The various contributors, from 1884 to 1997, are anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, historians, journalists, museologists, ordinary citizens reminiscing, sociologists, students, writers of fiction, practitioners of folklore, and folklorists. Their interests cover an enormous range of topics: from Woodland Indian place names and German dialect expressions to Welsh nicknames and the jargon of apple-pickers, brewers, and farmers; from Ho-Chunk and Ojibwa mythological tricksters and Paul Bunyan legends to stories of Polish strongmen and Ole and Lena jokes; from Menominee dances and Norwegian fiddling and polka music to African-American gospel groups and Hmong musicians; from faith healers and wedding and funeral customs to seasonal ethnic festivities and tavern amusements; and from spearing decoys and needlework to church dinners, sacred shrines, and the traditional work practices of commercial fishers, tobacco growers, and pickle packers. For general readers, teachers, librarians, and scholars alike, Wisconsin Folklore exemplifies and illuminates Wisconsin's cultural traditions, and establishes the state's significant but long neglected contributions to American folklore.

Contents:

Illustrations; Preface; Introduction: On Wisconsin Folklore; Part One. Terms and Talk; 1. The Significance of Manitowoc; 2. Names in the Welsh Settlement; 3. German Nicknames of Places in Early Dodge County; 4. Deutsche Sprichwörter: German Sayings in Milwaukee; 5. Milwaukee Talk; 6. Ten Thousand Swedes: Reflections on a Folklore Motif; 7. Characters on the Chippewa Waters; 8. The Brewing Industry; 9. Apple-Picking Terms from Wisconsin; 10. Farm Talk from Marathon County; 11. Application to Live in Northern Wisconsin (North of Highway 29); Part Two. Storytelling. 12. Turtle Getting Credit (A Tale)13. Ojibwe Stories from Northern Wisconsin; Dee Bainbridge, Ojibwe Storyteller; The Stories of Keith Wilmer; 14. Legends of Paul Bunyan, Lumberjack; 15. Ghost Stories (As Told by Old Settlers); 16. Gamroth the Strong; 17. George Russell: The Repertoire and Personality of a North Country Storyteller; 18. Finnish Folktales; 19. Woods and Waters Hunting and Fishing; The Deer and Elk Hunt; Part Three. Music, Song, and Dance; 20. Menomini Indian Dance Songs in a Changing Culture; 21. The Wanigan Song Book; 22. Kentucky Folksong in Northern Wisconsin. 23. "The Light Fantastic" in the Central West: Country Dances of Many Nationalities in Wisconsin24. Hoppwaltzes and Homebrew: Traditional Norwegian American Music from Wisconsin; 25. Polka Music in a Polka State; 26. Black Gospel Music in Milwaukee; 27. Joua Bee Xiong, Hmong Musician; Part Four. Beliefs and Customs; 28. John Mink, Ojibwe Informant; 29. Faith and Magic; Hexing; Sorcery; Faith Healing Can and Does Work; 30. The "Plaster Doctor" of Somerset; 31. "Jecz Cha Nacha!": You Are Invited to a Polish Wedding in Wisconsin; 32. The Wisconsin Oneida Wake; 33. Julebukk. Christmas at Grandmother'sYule Buk; Christmas Customs in and around Oregon, Wisconsin; 34. The Yuba, Wisconsin, Masopust Festival; 35. Dyngus; 36. Belgians Bring Along Their Customs; 37. The Swiss Colony at New Glarus; 38. Woods Customs; Lumberjack Games; Wisconsin Pastimes; 39. Wisconsin Tavern Amusements; Part Five. Material Traditions and Folklife; 40. Wisconsin Indian Drums and Their Uses; 41. Alex Maulson, Winter Spearer; 42. Work at Rest; 43. Meet a Wooden Shoe Hewer; 44. Feast of Folklore: The St. James Church Pork Hocks and Sauerkraut Supper. 45. Shrines and Crosses in Rural Central Wisconsin46. "We Made 'Em to Fit Our Purpose": The Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Skiff Tradition; 47. Tobacco Growing in Southwestern Wisconsin: Ethnicity in a Traditional Labor Practice; 48. The Pickle Factory; Further Reading: A Selected List; Further Listening and Viewing: A Selected List; Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780299160333

0299160335

OCLC:

472453463