Provides a cross-cultural survey of the major types and methods of inquiry in folklore to define the identity of every culture in the world.

Provides in-depth commentary on characters, themes, and the historical and social context of 300 most-studied literary works, including novels, plays, poems, speeches, and short stories, both international and American.

3 volumes. A broad, multicultural survey of folk and fairy tales from around the world. Included are hundreds of alphabetically arranged entries written by numerous expert contributors. Entries cover themes and motifs, individuals, characters and character types, national traditions, genres, and a range of other topics.