"The work is afraid of its master": proverb as metaphor for a basketmaker's art
Article Abstract:
Paul Beechick of Cresswell, OR, an ethnic Russian, learned basketmaking while residing in the village of Voloviel, Byelorussia, during the 1930s. His father taught him the proverb 'The work is afraid of its master,' which provided a guiding metaphor for the craft. The proverb suggests that humans have a right to dominate nature and a reciprocal obligation to prove their competence to use the material provided by nature. As the craft was transferred to the US, aesthetic qualities such as color or symmetry were more valued than utilitarian ones such as strength or durability.
Publication Name: Western Folklore
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0043-373X
Year: 1991
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"It's not a president's business to catch flies": proverbial rhetoric in inaugural addresses of American presidents
Article Abstract:
Modern presidents tend to rely on speechwriters and advisors whose influence on inaugural addresses replaces eloquence with facts and statistics. Speeches by Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy have used folk proverbs, allusions and Biblical expressions to become memorable.
Publication Name: Southern Folklore
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0899-594X
Year: 2000
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Proverb-antiproverb Wolfgang Mieder's paremiological approach
Article Abstract:
Wolfgang Mieder's outstanding work in proverb studies includes both traditional linguistics and a wide-ranging grasp of cultural studies. An overview of his pathbreaking career is provided.
Publication Name: Western Folklore
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0043-373X
Year: 1999
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