Alan Dundes Quotes, born September 8, 1934, in New York City, was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, whose work shaped modern folklore scholarship. Over his 42-year career, he authored 12 books, including Cracking Jokes (1987) and Holy Writ as Oral Lit (1999), and edited over 20 others, exploring myths, jokes, and cultural traditions. Known as the “Jokes Professor,” Dundes combined wit with rigorous analysis, teaching packed classes and earning a $1 million donation from a former student to fund a Berkeley folklore professorship. He passed away on March 30, 2005, from a heart attack. These 15 quotes—sourced from his books, interviews, and posts on X—reflect his insights on folklore, culture, and human identity, capturing his sharp and curious spirit.
15 Alan Dundes Quotes
- “Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.” (BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “Folklore provides a socially sanctioned outlet for the discussion of the forbidden and taboo.” (BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “Life, it seems, is nothing if not a series of initiations, transitions, and incorporations.” (PictureQuotes, n.d.)
- “Americans have a penchant for the future and tend to disregard the past.” (PictureQuotes, n.d.)
- “Future orientation is combined with a notion and expectation of progress, and nothing is impossible.” (PictureQuotes, n.d.)
- “The study of folklore is largely the study of particular folklore genres: myth, folktale, legend, ballad, proverb, riddle, superstition, etc.” (BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “As a folklorist, I have come to believe that no piece of folklore continues to be transmitted unless it means something—even if neither the speaker nor the audience can articulate what that meaning might be.” (BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “There can be no self without other, no identity of group A without a group B.” (BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “Americans often have trouble enjoying the present moment.” (PictureQuotes, n.d.)
- “Ancestor worship, or filial piety so characteristic of Asian cultures, for example, does not really resonate with Americans who favor children, not grandparents.” (BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “My academic identity is that of a folklorist, and for many years I have taught only folklore courses.” (InspiringQuotes, n.d.)
- “Cities all over the world are getting bigger as more and more people move from rural to urban sites, but that has created enormous problems with respect to environmental pollution and the general quality of life.” (PictureQuotes, n.d.)
- “In the light of our culture, these are not unreasonable questions and tactics, but if once again, we try to see the lens through which we look, we can see that there is far too great an emphasis placed on the future.” (PictureQuotes, n.d.)
- “I have a great advantage over many of my colleagues inasmuch as my students bring with them to class their own personal knowledge of national, regional, religious, ethnic, occupational, and family folklore traditions.” (BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “My own bias in folkloristics is decidedly psychoanalytic. I believe that the vast majority of folklore concerns fantasy, and because of that, I am persuaded that techniques of analyzing fantasy are relevant to folklore data.” (BrainyQuote, n.d.)
Alan Dundes’s quotes are a witty and profound blend of cultural critique, humor, and scholarly passion, inspiring thinkers and storytellers to explore the hidden meanings in everyday traditions. Which one’s got you ready to decode a myth or laugh at human folly? Drop it in the comments and keep Dundes’s folklore legacy thriving!
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