Cinderella in America: A Book of Folk and Fairy Tales

Cinderella in America: A Book of Folk and Fairy Tales. Compiled and edited by William Bernard McCarthy. [Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. 2007. Pp. xiii+514. Appendices, references, list of credits, tale type index, motif index, index of collectors, index of storytellers, ISBN 978-157806-959-0, pbk.] The Blue Mountains and other Gaelic Stories from Cape Breton / Na Beanntaichean Gorma agus Sgeulachdan Eile a Ceap Breatainn. Translated and edited by John Shaw. [Montreal and Kingston: McGilI-Queen's University Press. 2007. Pp. viii+216. Reciters, notes, bibliography, ISBN 978-0-7735-3257-1, pbk.} McCarthy and Shaw offer us two very different and yet equally timely approaches to presenting tales in the contemporary world. Both books are carefully prepared, well-documented, and both are a joy to read. Bill McCarthy, who passed away not too long after his Cinderella in America was published, sets out on a mission: he wants to make the world aware of the rich tradition of old-world folktales that existed and still exists in North America. These tales, like Cinderella, have been thrust aside and overlooked, yet given the right set of shoes (or the right publication vehicle like this book), they emerge in their full glory to be loved by every reader and prince. American folktales have been overlooked for a number of reasons. Scholars are partly to blame. Many collectors looked to song before they looked for prose, and once the folksong collecting trend had been established, it was hard to break from it and to look for other genres. Thus, even those tales that were collected tended to be published in journals or not published at all, leaving a rich archival store on which to draw. Many scholars were interested in the lore of aboriginals or American blacks. These were unique to American tradition, while groups who carried on a European tradition seemed old hat and were ignored. Some scholars simply assumed that European immigrants, once they reached the New World, did not have time for tales and did not bother to check and see if they were right. Sometimes the folk themselves chose not to tell tales when collectors came calling. Tales, to them, were for more intimate family settings, and songs were what was to be performed in public and for visitors from academe. But a beautiful and bountiful trove of tales does exist and McCarthy draws on it to produce a thick volume, the first ever publication of this scope. With it he accomplishes his mission and leaves a lasting legacy. McCarthy begins by setting out the principles that he used in selecting his material. He discusses the types of tales selected and the terminology applied. These are primarily longer narratives to which the terms wonder tale, Marchen, and folk and fairytale have been variously applied. McCarthy chooses tales with a clear American element. These are European tales transformed by life on the North American continent or tales told by people born on this side of the Atlantic. He strives for accuracy in the reproduction of the originals, but compromises on language, claiming that some dialectical features are simply not worth reproducing. He does give Gullah tales in a language close to that of his source and provides a translation into standard English for those who might have hard time with Gullah. The selected tales are arranged both chronologically and geographically and the first section is called Tales from a New Republic, stories from the first colonies. Here McCarthy gives samples from early almanacs, broadsides, and chapbooks. These are short narratives, probably shortened for publication and often featuring rhyme, with some of the tales being told completely in verse. The next section offers tales that originated in the Iberian peninsula. There are stories from Puerto Rico, one of the first places in the New World settled by Europeans, and tales from the Hispanic Southwest of the United States and from Louisiana. …

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