ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: FOLKLORE
Volume 19
YANAGITA KUNIO AND THE FOLKLORE MOVEMENT
YANAGITA KUNIO AND THE FOLKLORE MOVEMENT
The Search for Japans National Character and Distinctiveness
RONALD A. MORSE
First published in 1990
This edition first published in 2015
by Routledge
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1990 Ronald A. Morse
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-138-84217-5 (Set)
eISBN: 978-1-315-72831-5 (Set)
ISBN: 978-1-138-84427-8 (Volume 19)
eISBN: 978-1-315-73051-6 (Volume 19)
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YANAGITA KUNIO AND THE FOLKLORE MOVEMENT
The Search for Japans National Character and Distinctiveness
Ronald A. Morse
1990 Ronald A. Morse
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morse, Ronald A.
Yanagita Kunio and the folklore movement: the search for Japans national character and distinctiveness / Ronald A. Morse.
p. cm. (Garland reference library of the humanities; vol. 1286) (Garland folklore library; vol. 2)
Thesis (doctoral)Princeton University, 1974.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8240-7146-8 (alk. paper)
1. Yanagita, Kunio, 18751962. 2. FolkloristsJapanBiography. 3. FolkloreJapan. 4. JapanSocial life and customs. I. Title. II. Series. III. Series: Garland folklore library; 2.
GR55.Y3M66 1990
398.092dc20
[B]
8977268
CIP
Printed on acid-free, 250-year-life paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
The Garland Folklore Library series consists primarily of meritorious Masters theses and deserving doctoral dissertations in the field of folklore which for one reason or another were not published upon their initial completion. In theory, all theses and dissertations are supposed to be contributions to the collective knowledge of a given discipline, but in practice it seems the vast majority are simply filed and forgotten. Sometimes the dissertation is too technical; sometimes it is too long for it to be welcomed for publication by cost-conscious university presses. Sometimes the dissertation is eminently publishable, but its author by the time the dissertation is finished is so heartily sick of the subject that he or she wants to put it aside for ever. Dr. Morse, for example, never had the time to revise his work, and the dissertation as published here is in its original form.
In any case, there are a number of outstanding dissertations in folklore which warrant a wider readership and which belong in the library of any educational institution or individual with a serious interest in folklore. A few of these are in fact already well known to professional folklorists who may have bothered to send for them through inter-library loan or in more recent times purchased copies from University Microfilms International in Ann Arbor, Michigan. However, it should be noted that not all dissertations are available through UMI. The appearance of selected folklore dissertations and theses, both old and new, in the Garland Folklore Library series will make it much easier for libraries and individuals to obtain these significant studies.
Among the most important hitherto unpublished folklore dissertations are such works as motif and/or tale type indices, historic-geographic (comparative) in-depth studies of single folktales or ballads, and surveys of specialized folklore scholarship, e.g., of a particular country or group. There are in addition valuable field collections of folklore data to be found in dissertations. Clearly, there is no dearth of dissertations in folklore which could and should be published. Folklore field data, for example, never ceases to be of valueeven years after its collection. It is the intention of the Garland Folklore Library series to make a number of folklore theses and dissertations available to the growing worldwide community of folklorists.
In every country in the world one finds dedicated individuals who have chosen to devote their lives to the collection and study of folklore. Some of these individuals are largely responsible for the development of folkloristics in their native lands. A very few achieve worldwide fame for their pioneering efforts. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm of Germany (17851863; 17861859), Kaarle Krohn (18631933) in Finland, Carl Wilhelm von Sydow (18781952) of Sweden, Arnold van Gennep of France (18731957) and James George Frazer of England (18541941) are all examples of founders of folkloristics who still enjoy considerable international reputations for their various achievements.
Less well known outside of their original home countries are Vuk Karadi (17871864) of Yugoslavia, Krijnis Barons of Latvia (18351923), E. Tang Kristensen (18431929) of Denmark, and Yanagita Kunio (18751962) of Japan, among others. One reason for this is that often these local folklorists elected to publish only in their native tongue, e.g., Serbian, Latvian, Danish, Japanese. Yet for those few scholars able to read these languages, the wealth of data amassed by these local folklorists proves to be astounding. The complete edition of Karadis works runs to some thirty volumes; Barons who specialized in Dainas, a special form of Latvian folksong, published some six volumes (eight books) comprising 6,256 pages and 217,996 songs; Kristensen, an incredibly prolific writer, wrote more than 30,000 pages (including some 79 books) which included approximately 3,000 folksongs, 1,000 melodies, 2,700 folktales, and 25,000 legends and stories. Yanagita, the acknowledged father of Japanese folklore studies, has similarly staggering statistics, his collected works coming to some thirty-six volumes, averaging 500 pages each, in all.
The only way most of the worlds folklorists can gain any appreciation of the extraordinary and often monumental accomplishments of these towering local folklorists achievements is through intellectual biographies written in one of the more international languages, e.g., English, French, German. Examples include: Duncan Wilson, The Life and Times of Vuk Stefanovi Karadi, 17871864
