From the stone age to the cyber age, women and men have experienced the world differently. Out of a cosmos of goddesses and she-devils, earth mothers and madonnas, witches and queens, saints and whores, a vast body of women's folklore has come into bloom. International in scope and drawing on more than 130 expert contributors, this encyclopedia reviews the myths, traditions, and beliefs central to women's daily lives. More than 260 alphabetically arranged entries cover the lore of women across time, space, and life. Students of history, religion and spirituality, healing and traditional medicine, literature, and world cultures will value this encyclopedia as an indispensable guide to women's folklore.
In addition, there are entries on women's folklore and folklife in 15 regions of the world, such as the Caribbean, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe. Entries provide cross-references and cite works for further reading, and the encyclopedia closes with a selected bibliography of print and electronic resources. Students learning about history, world cultures, religion and spirituality, healing and traditional medicine, and literature will welcome this companion to the daily life of women across time and continents.
About the Author: Liz Locke is Lecturer in Expository Writing at the University of Oklahoma. She guest edited Folklore Forum's 1997 special issue on myth, and her work appears in Folklore Feminists Communication and New Directions in Folklore.
Theresa A. Vaughan is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Humanities and Philosophy at the University of Central Oklahoma. She has served as editor of Folklore Feminists Communication and her work has been published in Journal of American Folklore, Western Folklore, American Ethnologist, and Folklore Forum.
Pauline Greenhill is Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Winnipeg. Her previous books include Undisciplined Women: Tradition and Culture in Canada (1997), Ethnicity in the Mainstream: Three Studies of English Canadian Culture (1994), and True Poetry: Traditional and Popular Verse in Ontario (1989). She has published in numerous journals, such as Journal of American Folklore, Journal of Folklore Research, and The Folklore Historian.
