Latin American Folktales: Stories from Hispanic and Indian Traditions

by John Bierhorst

Book Overview

The wisdom and artistry of storytellers from Hispanic and Indian traditions preserve one of the world's richest folktale traditions--combining the lore of medieval Europe, the ancient Near East, and pre-Columbian America. Gathered from twenty countries, including the United States, the stories are brought together here in a core collection of one hundred tales arranged in the form of a velorio, or wake, the most frequent occasion for public storytelling...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375714391
• ISBN13: 9780375714399
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Pantheon Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Good collection of wonderful stories, translation could be better

This is a great collection of Latin American myths and fairy tales. The stories are simply wonderful, very skillfully related and full of humour. My only disappointment was in the too modern translation, which can really break the spell once in awhile. Other than that, a very satisfying read. (The whole Pantheon Fairy Tale Library series is a treat, and for anyone who loves stories, I highly recommend the Norwegian Fairy Tales, probably the most wonderful piece of world folklore you'll ever encounter.)

most impressive chrestomathy

Bierhorst, a distinguished (elderly, to boot) scholar of the American Indian--both north and south of the Rio Grande--does not disappoint with this stunning addition to the Pantheon folklore series. The stories, which represent a comprehensive swath through Spanish-speaking Latin America (Brazil, Haiti, and such are conspicuously absent), exhibit the expected intermixture of Christian and autochthonous motifs, as well as a strong dose of European provenance (get out your Aarne-Thompson type catalogue!). The stories do not fall neatly into the taxonomy of etiologic/trickster/love, etc., as one sees in, e.g., the Erdoes & Ortiz collection under the Pantheon colophon: indeed, structuring the stories within a wake (!) seems quite artificial. But the material is quite entertaining for the armchair reader looking for something light and not objecting the casual uptake of an anthropologic lesson or two.