From Game to War and Other Psychoanalytic Essays on Folklore by Alan Dundes

In the seven fascinating essays of Bloody Mary in the Mirror, psychoanalytic theory illuminates such folklore genres as legend (in the vampire tale), folktale (in the ancient Egyptian tale of two brothers), custom (in fraternity hazing and ritual fasting), and games (in the modern Greek game of 'Long Donkey'). One notable exception is folklorist Alan Dundes. Most folklorists have been slow to consider psychoanalysis as a method of interpreting folklore.

However, psychoanalysts, handicapped by their limited knowledge of folklore techniques, have tended to confine their efforts to the Bible, to classical mythology, and to the Grimm fairy tales. A novel treatment of the biblical flood myth in terms of male pregnancy is the penultimate essay, while the concluding article proposes an ingeniously imaginative interpretation of the underpinnings of anti-Semitism.Bloody Mary in the Mirror: Essays in Psychoanalytic Folkloristicsīloody Mary in the Mirror mixes Sigmund Freud with vam.)īloody Mary in the Mirror mixes Sigmund Freud with vampires and The Little Mermaid to see what new light psychoanalysis can bring to folklore techniques and forms.Įver since Freud published his analysis of Jewish jokes in 1905 and his disciple Otto Rank followed with his groundbreaking The Myth of the Birth of the Hero in 1909, the psychoanalytic study of folklore has been an acknowledged part of applied psychoanalysis. This is followed by a study of the saga of William Tell, one of the most celebrated legends in the world. He argues that all of these activities can be seen as forms of macho battle to determine which individual or team feminizes his or its opponents. He then presents a striking analysis of the spectrum of behavior associated with male competitive events ranging from traditional games-such as soccer and American football-to warfare.

From Game to War offers five of his most mature essays on this topic.ĭundes begins with a comprehensive survey of the history of psychological studies of folklore in the United Slates. Alan Dundes is a renowned folklorist who has successfully devoted the better part of his career to applying psychoanalytic theory to the materials of folklore. Freud and some of his early disciples recognized the potential of such folklorist genres as myth, folktale, and legend to illuminate the intricate workings of the human psyche. Although folklore has been collected for centuries, its possible unconscious content and significance have been explored only since the advent of psychoanalytic theory.

From Game to War and Other Psychoanalytic Essays on Folklore by Alan Dundes