Public Folklore

This collection of 16 essays, mainly growing out of a 1987 meeting of the American Folklore Society, presents a variety of views and experiences of specialists working to preserve and bring folklore to the public. Roger D. Abrahams notes the irony that the printing press--``the major device against which folklorists have appeared to be reacting''--has also given sustenance to folk culture. However, his essay on the differences between studying folklore and presenting it to the public, like most in the book, is addressed to an insider audience. More intriguing are the personal experiences recounted. Spitzer ( Louisiana: A Land Apart ) recalls how Cajun, black and Cuban folk practitioners in Louisiana helped him recover from cancer; Gerald L. Davis argues that folklorists who are part of the communities they study should produce richer work than an outsider would; Susan Roach recounts the ``discovery'' by the organizers of a folklore festival of an African American walking-stick carver and his subsequent rise. Baron directs the Folk Arts Program of the New York State Council on the Arts. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Oct.)