Asian Folklore Studies articles from April 2004

Asian Folklore Studies archives from April 2004

Hmong instructions to the dead: what the mouth organ qeej says (part one).
April 1, 2004... THE EPIC HMONG song of creation and death, "Showing the Way" (Qhuab Kev), is sung to the soul of the deceased very soon after death. There are various published versions of this orally transmitted sung poem that have been recorded over a wide...

Speaking with spirits: the Hmong Ntoo Xeeb New Year ceremony.
April 1, 2004... OVER THE PAST two decades, the term "Hmong" has come to be used internationally to refer to fiercely independent montagnards who have lived for centuries in isolated mountain villages throughout southern China and Southeast Asia (YANG 1975, 6)....

Shamanic epics and narrative construction of identity on Cheju Island.
April 1, 2004... SINCE JAN VANSINA's suggestion in his classic Oral Tradition (1961), it has been widely acknowledged that oral traditions can provide important historical data. Although oral traditions do not describe actual historical events, they can contain...

Dreaming the Seven-Colored Flower: Eastern and Western approaches to dreams in Chinese folk literature.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2004... THE ROLE OF DREAMS in Chinese folktales is an ambiguous one with no definitive answer as to whether the portrayal of dream states seems to fit what has been said in the West (Freud, Jung, and others), or whether non-Western (Native American,...

The scorpion in Muslim folklore.
April 1, 2004... WITHIN ZOOLOGY, scorpions (order Scorpiones) belong within the class of arachnids--which includes tarantulas--and comprise around one thousand to one thousand five hundred species, a figure which is rather small by invertebrate standards...

Professor Lauri Honko (1932-2002) in memoriam.(Obituary)(Obituary)
April 1, 2004... PROFESSOR LAURI HONKO passed away on July 15, 2002. He gained scholarly renown internationally as an innovative establisher of scientific institutions, an inspiring theoretician, and a tireless organizer of international conferences, seminars,...

In memory of Dai Buzhang (1925-2003).(Obituary)(Obituary)
April 1, 2004... ON 8 DECEMBER 2003 the Yangzhou storyteller Dai Buzhang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] passed away. The world of Chinese storytelling has lost an eminent performer, a great humorist, and a central personality in the organization of cultural...

Announcements.(Communications)
April 1, 2004... GENERAL Re: CALL FOR INFORMATION ON "ROCKET FESTIVAL" AND THE USE OF ROCKETS FOR CELEBRATIONS "Why would we receive mail from the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.," was the first reaction when the letter quoted below...

Mieder, Wolfgang, Editor. Proverbs and Their Lessons: Richard Chenevix Trench.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... MIEDER, WOLFGANG, Editor. Proverbs and Their Lessons: Richard Chenevix Trench. (Supplement Series of "Proverbium," Volume 13). Burlington: The University of Vermont, 2003. viii + 179 pages. Paper, n. p.; ISBN 0-9710223-4-8. Proverbs and...

Van Tongeren, Mark C. Overtone Singing: Physics and Metaphysics of Harmonics in East and West.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... VAN TONGEREN, MARK C. Overtone Singing: Physics and Metaphysics of Harmonics in East and West. The Harmonic Series No. 1. Amsterdam: Fusica, 2002. xxiv + 271 pages. Musical examples, maps, photos, line drawings, graphs, bibliography, index,...

Dettmer, Hans Adalbert, Editor. Acta Sieboldiana VIII. Ein nachgelassenes Manuskript Ph.F. von Siebolds zu "Nippon" Abteilung VII: Das Mogami Tokunai zugeschriebene Ainu-Worterbuch.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... DETTMER, HANS ADALBERT, Editor. Acta Sieboldiana VIII. Ein nachgelassenes Manuskript Ph.F. con Siebolds zu "Nippon" Abteilung VII: Das Mogami Tokunai zugeschriebene Ainu-Worterbuch. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2002. Part 1, xiviii +...

Hardacre, Helen. Religion and Society in Nineteenth-Century Japan: a Study of the Southern Kanto Region, Using Late Edo and Early Meiji Gazetteers.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... HARDACRE, HELEN. Religion and Society in Nineteenth-Century Japan: A Study of the Southern Kanto Region, Using Late Edo and Early Meiji Gazetteers. Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies, No. 41. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies,...

Kim, Chongho. Korean Shamanism: the Cultural Paradox.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... KIM, CHONGHO. Korean Shamanism: The Cultural Paradox. Vitality of Indigenous Religions Series. Aldershot, Hampshire, UK: Ashgate, 2003. xxii + 248 pages. Maps, photographs, figures, tables, bibliography, index. Paper 17.99 [pounds sterling];...

Zhao Deguang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.], ed. (2003). Ashima wenxian huibian [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] [A Collection of Ashima Literature].(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... ZHAO DEGUANG [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.], ed. (2003). Ashima wenxian huibian [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] [A Collection of Ashima Literature]. Kunming: Yunnan minzu chubanshe [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] ZHAO DEGUANG, ed....

Eghenter, Cristina, Bernard Sellato, G. Simon Devung, Editors. Social Science Research and Conservation Management in the Interior of Borneo: Unravelling Past and Present Interactions of People and Forests.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... EGHENTER, CRISTINA, BERNARD SELLATO, G. SIMON DEVUNG, Editors. Social Science Research and Conservation Management in the Interior of Borneo: Unravelling Past and Present Interactions of People and Forests. Jakarta: Center for International...

Slone, Thomas H., translator, editor. One Thousand One Papua New Guinean Nights: Folktales from Wantok Newspaper.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... SLONE, THOMAS H., translator, editor. One Thousand One Papua New Guinean Nights: Folktales from Wantok Newspaper. Oakland, CA 94611-2058: Masalai Press, 2001. Volume 1: Tales from 1972-1985, xxviii + 500 pages. Paper US$39.95; ISBN...

Adhikary, Qiron. Feminist Folktales from India.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... ADHIKARY, QIRON. Feminist Folktales from India. Oakland: Masalai Press, 2003. iii + 97 pages. Illustrations, geographical index, map, references. Paper, n. p.; ISBN 0-9714127-3-1. CROOKE, WILLIAM, and PANDIT RAM GHARIB CHAUBE. Folktales...

Kamath, M. V., and Kalindi Randeri. Indian Names: from Classical to Contemporary (For People, Places and Products).(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... KAMATH, M. V., and KALINDI RANDERI. Indian Names: From Classical to Contemporary (For People, Places and Products). Mumbai: Arkansh, 2001; 2nd impr. 2002. x + 1023 pages. Indian Rs. 795.00, US $29.95, CAN $45.95. ISBN 81-88131-00-8. This...

Lamb, Ramdas. Rapt in the Name: the Ramnamis, Ramnam, and Untouchable Religion in Central India.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... LAMB, RAMDAS. Rapt in the Name: The Ramnamis, Ramnam, and Untouchable Religion in Central India. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002, x + 237 pages. Paper US$21.95, ISBN 0-7914-5386-3; Hardcover US$57.50, ISBN 0-7914-5385-5. ...

Gaenszle, Martin. Ancestral Voices: Oral Ritual Texts and their Social Contexts among the Mewahang Rai of East Nepal.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... GAENSZLE, MARTIN. Ancestral Voices: Oral Ritual Texts and their Social Contexts among the Mewahang Rai of East Nepal. Performances: Intercultural Studies on Ritual, Play and Theatre, vol. 4. Munster: LIT Verlag, 2002. xix + 338 pages. Figures,...

Dundes, Alan. Fables of the Ancients? Folklore in the Qur'an.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... DUNDES, ALAN. Fables of the Ancients? Folklore in the Qur'an. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2003. xiv + 88 pages. Bibliography, index. Paper US$19.95; ISBN 0-7425-2672-0. Cloth US$62.00; ISBN 0-7425-2671-2. This is to...