I can never seem to leave a bookstore empty-handed. The trip to Barnes & Noble was no different.The book that caught my eye was "
Latin American Folktales: stories from Hispanic and Indian traditions" edited by
John Bierhorst. When I saw it was published by
Pantheon Books, I knew I had struck gold. Books from this publisher have fantastic notes in the back on each of the stories and even lists the
Aarne-Thompson (At) Motif-Index.
I became more fully aware of this fact due to my
Storytelling Masters program at
East Tennessee State University. More specifically,
Dr. Joseph D. Sobol urged two publishers when considering collections of folktales:
Pantheon Books and the
University of Chicago Press.
With guides to the AT, then I could be guided to other version or variants of any stories that I would want to add to the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" narrative production.As I scanned the Table of Contents, I searched for titles of stories that may suggest family relationships as the center focus. Not all can be gained from titles, but it is a start. If it had family connections as well as references to food or famine, then it intrigued me more.
These are some that caught my attention first:- "Mother and Daughter" from Columbia, yet only half a page so it would be hard to develop
- "The Witch Wife" from Columbia, which reveals the strange eating habits of the man's wife and the consequences for the husband when he discovered why
- "The Three Sisters" from Columbia, where three sisters said who they would marry and the kinds of foods they would expect from each husband
I need to read the whole book, though sometimes research and story development means I cannot read from cover to cover as I would prefer.
Until we tell again,Rachel Hedman
Professional Storyteller
Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance (2005-2008)
Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
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