Ten Essential Books Not Written by Folklorists

Abstract

Folklorists need to acquire a cognitive map of all the disciplines that have something to offer the study of folklore and that, in turn, can benefit from what folklorists have to offer. This essay discusses ten books from various disciplines and interdisciplinary fields that should be on the folklorist’s bookshelf. The author realizes that other folklorists would make a list with different choices. Running through the list are a few themes, including the emphasis in American Pragmatism on the individual’s experience and the dialectical relationship between the individual’s internal reality and external reality.