Last lecture Todays lecture

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Last lecture Todays lecture

• A bit on Zipes
• Legend as related to myth and tale
• Performance and collection (chart 1)
• Content (chart 2)
• Legend types
• Historical
• Contemporary or urban

• Two more words on Zipes
• Two more words on myth, legend, tale
• Historical legends
• Modern legends and sample interpretations

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Zipes

• Conflicting American desires to be rebellious
  and independent
• The no-rules just right mentality
• Desire to be recognized and bought up by the main
  stream
• Film examples
• Software design
• Small companies
• Recall Old home-style cookies then new and
  improved Old home-style cookies

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Legend related to myths and tales

• Apparent progression of mythhistorical
  legendcontemporary legendtale
• Sacredsecularfantastic
• Beginning of timelong time agonow never, never
  time
• Progression is apparent only in some cases it is
  there elsewhere it is NOT
• Whether mythic element found in legend or in tale
  indicates whether it is believed not stage in
  progression

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Historical legends

• American General Custer and the battle of Little
  Big Horn 2 versions
• Fits pattern of the death of the arrogant hero
  hubris punished
• Parallels in Robin Hood, Turkish Koroglu, Russian
  Volga, Sviatogor old and very serious stories
• Modern stories of arrogance? Darwin awards. Few
  Russian stories. What does this indicate?

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Castration and strange birth myths

• American George Washington and the cherry tree
• Basis in Greek myth
• Only creation out of a severed body part is
  Russian Tom Thumb severed thumb or finger
• This is tale no longer believed

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More severed body parts

• Severed arm or hand retains a life of its own
  exists as a serious legend, both Russian and US

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Strange births usually from mating with
non-human

• Myth
• Greek Zeus impregnating women
• European bear son
• Russian
• Bear son in tales only
• American
• Devil baby
• Big Foot baby

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Russian historical legends

• Continue to be told, in US and Russia
• Ivan the Terrible
• Drives out witches/crows
• Punishes the Moscow River
• Rebels such as Pugachev
• Identifies the village vampire
• Robin Hood figure Stenka Razin
• His death
• Ability to make bulletproof cloth
• Ability to escape locks, boats
• Stenka as a treasure spirit

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More Russian legends

• How Stenka Razin became a bandit story of his
  brother real or legend
• Or some kind of general truth
• Determining where to build a village
• Sacrifice so that city walls will stand
• Old Believer stories
• Buried treasure
• Mass suicide

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Contemporary legends and current concerns pet
stories

• Microwave
• Chinese restaurant
• Baby sitter on drugs
• Cat substitute Richmond and Moscow
• Dead pet series
• Cat and salmon at garden party
• Cat rescue
• Catapult cat

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Pet legends interpreted

• Trickster material and pet/child link
• Especially the cat
• Do these legends talk about child abuse?
• What do they say?
• Expression of desire
• Expression of fear
• Focus on children Baby on board
• Parody Grandma in trunk (plays on legend)