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Man and Beast in American Comic Legend by Richard M. Dorson

1983; University of Nebraska Press; Volume: 18; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/wal.1983.0028

1948-7142

Richard E. Meyer,

Themes in Literature Analysis

270 Western American Literature of the details in the book, calculated to be both tongue-in-cheek and weighty with significance. Other passages pursue the lighthearted and the lyrical. Keen to the ways of fish and becoming wise in the ways of men, Gus dupes the blowhard out­ doors reporter from the local newspaper, seducing him into printing a bizarre tale of piscatorial feats that earns the journalist a threatened suit from the makers of Hostess cupcakes. Yin balances yang. A girl fisherman leads Gus on a seductive goose chase that becomes the subplot of the novel. It produces some of the most innocently erotic passages since Juliet threw Romeo the rose. None of this can quite justify the hectic though entertaining shambles of the plot. And Duncan's writing blunders badly in two specific places. The first concerns — disaster of disasters for the Sierra Club'sworthy land ethic — the introduction of an "old Indian" who woodenly delivers an ecological sermon before the backdrop of a new dam. The second involves the untangling of events at book's end and is best not dealt with here. The two exceptions aside, elsewhere I found but one misplaced word. PETER WILD, Tucson, Arizona Man and Beast in American Comic Legend. By Richard M. Dorson, with an Introduction by Alan Dundes and an Afterword by Jeff Dorson. (Bloom­ ington: Indiana University Press, 1982. xix + 184 pages, $20.00.) When Richard M. Dorson, the most dominant force in American folklore scholarship for some twenty-five years, died in September, 1981, he left a number of works in various stages of completion. Man and Beast in American Comic Legend, published posthumously by Indiana University Press with certain editorial functions normally the responsibility of the author supplied by the publishers, represents one, or possibly two, of these "works in progress." Part I of the book involves a descriptive treatment, a modern bestiary, in essence, of ten fabulous creatures which Dorson nominates for, in his words, "American zoomythological stardom." The genesis for Dorson's interest in this subject was a keynote address he delivered to the 1978 International Symposium on Creatures of Legendry entitled "Creatures of Legendry: The United States vs. the Rest of the World." Then, as he does in the present study, Dorson proposed the notion that, as opposed to the supernatural creatures of a lower mythology which dominate the folklore of other countries, American oral tradition has tended to foster beasts which are linked to the American penchant for comic exaggeration, often inextricably tied to such associated phenomena as tall tale narratives, occupational folklore, and small town boosterism. Examples of such typically American "fearsome critters" are the Sidehill Dodger, with shortened legs on the uphill side to allow for suc­ cessful mountain grazing, the Jackalope, a fantastic amalgam of jackrabbit and antelope, the Hoopsnake, its deadly nature enhanced by its ability to Reviews 271 swiftly pursue its prey by transforming itself into a self-propelled hoop, various sea and lake monsters, and the ubiquitous Bigfoot. In the book's second portion, in some ways the more thorough and satis­ fying of the two, Dorson launches into a close examination of the careers, techniques, and repertoires of eight celebrated American "Munchausens," tall tale spinners cut in the mold of the preeminent German raconteur, Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Baron von Munchausen (1720-1797). The dominant characteristic of the Munchausen, that which sets him aside from other purveyors of windies, is the fact that he is always featured as the principal character in the narratives he relates, which in turn often center upon fantastic feats of strength, agility, cunning, or endurance. Most generally associated with frontier settings, Munchausens tend to develop into authentic folk heroes whose exploits continue to be celebrated in oral tradition and are often adapted to treatment in literature and popular culture. In turn, Dorson presents a chapter each on Jim Bridger, Abraham "Oregon" Smith, John Darling, Gib Morgan, Len Henry, Jones Tracy, Daniel Stamps, and Hathaway Jones. What we have then, in essence, is two separate works tenuously connected by the theme of comic exaggeration. Despite an excellent Introduction by folklorist Alan Dundes, as well as a short and moving Afterword by Dorson's...