Proverbs - (Greenwood Folklore Handbooks) by Wolfgang Mieder (Hardcover)

About the Book

Proverbs offer a concise record of folk wisdom and have appeared in oral tradition, literature, art, and popular culture for centuries. Written by the foremost authority on proverbs, this reference gives high school students, undergraduates, and general readers a concise yet comprehensive overview of proverbs in world culture. The volume begins with definitions and classifications of proverbs, followed by discussions of several notable examples. The book then examines approaches to the study of proverbs and the place of proverbs in literature, politics, popular songs, and everyday life. It closes with a bibliography of print and electronic resources and a glossary. Included are numerous illustrations.

Just about everyone has heard at least one proverb, and most people have heard more. Proverbs offer a concise record of folk wisdom and have appeared in oral tradition, literature, art, and popular culture for centuries. One of the most varied and fascinating types of folklore, proverbs are studied at all levels and are of interest to a wide range of audiences. Written by the foremost authority on proverbs, this reference gives high school students, undergraduates, and general readers a concise yet comprehensive overview of proverbs in world culture.

The volume begins with definitions and classifications of proverbs and a discussion of their origin and dissemination. It then discusses several representative proverbs from around the world. This is followed by a review of scholarship on proverbs. The book next looks at how several proverbs have appeared in political speeches, literature, popular culture, and everyday life. The handbook closes with a bibliography of print and electronic resources and a glossary. Included are numerous photos illustrating the role of proverbs around the world.

Book Synopsis

Proverbs offer a concise record of folk wisdom and have appeared in oral tradition, literature, art, and popular culture for centuries. Written by the foremost authority on proverbs, this reference gives high school students, undergraduates, and general readers a concise yet comprehensive overview of proverbs in world culture. The volume begins with definitions and classifications of proverbs, followed by discussions of several notable examples. The book then examines approaches to the study of proverbs and the place of proverbs in literature, politics, popular songs, and everyday life. It closes with a bibliography of print and electronic resources and a glossary. Included are numerous illustrations.

Just about everyone has heard at least one proverb, and most people have heard more. Proverbs offer a concise record of folk wisdom and have appeared in oral tradition, literature, art, and popular culture for centuries. One of the most varied and fascinating types of folklore, proverbs are studied at all levels and are of interest to a wide range of audiences. Written by the foremost authority on proverbs, this reference gives high school students, undergraduates, and general readers a concise yet comprehensive overview of proverbs in world culture.

The volume begins with definitions and classifications of proverbs and a discussion of their origin and dissemination. It then discusses several representative proverbs from around the world. This is followed by a review of scholarship on proverbs. The book next looks at how several proverbs have appeared in political speeches, literature, popular culture, and everyday life. The handbook closes with a bibliography of print and electronic resources and a glossary. Included are numerous photos illustrating the role of proverbs around the world.

Review Quotes

?"Experience is the mother [or father] of wisdom," as people have been saying in English since the mid-sixteenth century, and few scholars can have a broader or longer experience of proverbs than Professor Mieder. This handbook distils the fruits of that experience into a format designed to cover the subject from many different angles, while also serving as a permanent reference book....The range of topics is astonishing: proverbs in novels, plays, political speeches, art, advertisements, songs, cartoons, comics; proverbs seen in relation to social issues, education, religion, psychology. The reader is also alerted to the remarkable possibilities for research that the Internet now offers if one wants to test the current popularity and uses of a specific proverb....[w]armly recommended.?-Folklore

?This title is a concise, comprehensive guide to American proverbs that records records the oral traditions, literature, art, politics, and popular songs of American culture....This book is an outstanding resource that will be a welcome addition to the high school language arts reference collection. Recommended.?-Library Media Connection

""Experience is the mother Ýor father¨ of wisdom," as people have been saying in English since the mid-sixteenth century, and few scholars can have a broader or longer experience of proverbs than Professor Mieder. This handbook distils the fruits of that experience into a format designed to cover the subject from many different angles, while also serving as a permanent reference book....The range of topics is astonishing: proverbs in novels, plays, political speeches, art, advertisements, songs, cartoons, comics; proverbs seen in relation to social issues, education, religion, psychology. The reader is also alerted to the remarkable possibilities for research that the Internet now offers if one wants to test the current popularity and uses of a specific proverb....Ýw¨armly recommended."-Folklore

"This title is a concise, comprehensive guide to American proverbs that records records the oral traditions, literature, art, politics, and popular songs of American culture....This book is an outstanding resource that will be a welcome addition to the high school language arts reference collection. Recommended."-Library Media Connection

""Experience is the mother [or father] of wisdom," as people have been saying in English since the mid-sixteenth century, and few scholars can have a broader or longer experience of proverbs than Professor Mieder. This handbook distils the fruits of that experience into a format designed to cover the subject from many different angles, while also serving as a permanent reference book....The range of topics is astonishing: proverbs in novels, plays, political speeches, art, advertisements, songs, cartoons, comics; proverbs seen in relation to social issues, education, religion, psychology. The reader is also alerted to the remarkable possibilities for research that the Internet now offers if one wants to test the current popularity and uses of a specific proverb....[w]armly recommended."-Folklore

About the Author

WOLFGANG MIEDER is Professor of German and Folklore at the University of Vermont. His many books include A Dictionary of American Proverbs (1992), Proverbs Are Never out of Season (1993), The Proverbial Winston S. Churchill (Greenwood, 1995), The Politics of Proverbs (1997), and numerous others. He is also the editor of Proverbium: Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship.