All the selections in Richard M. Dorson's Folktales Told around the World were recorded by expert collectors, and the majority of them are published here for the first time. The tales presented are told in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North and South America, and Oceania. Unlike other collections derived in large part from literary texts, this volume meets the criteria of professional folklorists in assembling only authentic examples of folktales as they were orally told. Background information, notes on the narrators, and scholarly commentaries are provided to establish the folkloric character of the tales.

Presents a collection of folktales in the Herati dialect of the Afghan Persian language, in Latin-based transliteration and English translation, supplied by phonetic and grammatical commentaries, explanations of cultural terms, and preceded by an introduction with a review of the Herati dialect. Based on academically informed fieldwork and presented in a scientific fashion, the materials were collected by the author during field research in Afghanistan in the 1980s from illiterate dialect speakers (a category which has preserved the dialect the most in terms of purity and entirety).

Presents a collection of folktales in the Herati dialect of the Afghan Persian language, in Latin-based transliteration and English translation, supplied by phonetic and grammatical commentaries, explanations of cultural terms, and preceded by an introduction with a review of the Herati dialect. Based on academically informed fieldwork and presented in a scientific fashion, the materials were collected by the author during field research in Afghanistan in the 1980s from illiterate dialect speakers (a category which has preserved the dialect the most in terms of purity and entirety).

This comprehensive compilation of entries documents the origins, transmissions, and transformations of Asian American folklore and folklife. Equally instructive and intriguing, the Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife provides an illuminating overview of Asian American folklore as a way of life. Surveying the histories, peoples, and cultures of numerous Asian American ethnic and cultural groups, the work covers everything from ancient Asian folklore, folktales, and folk practices that have been transmitted and transformed in America to new expressions of Asian American folklore and folktales unique to the Asian American historical and contemporary experiences. The encyclopedia's three comprehensive volumes cover an extraordinarily wide range of Asian American cultural and ethnic groups, as well as mixed-race and mixed-heritage Asian Americans. Each group section is introduced by a historical overview essay followed by short entries on topics such as ghosts and spirits, clothes and jewelry, arts and crafts, home decorations, family and community, religious practices, rituals, holidays, music, foodways, literature, traditional healing and medicine, and much, much more. Topics and theories are examined from crosscultural and interdisciplinary perspectives to add to the value of the work.

In this book, based on field work undertaken in Afghanistan itself and through engagement with postcolonial theory, Bojan Savic critiques western intervention in Afghanistan by showing how its casting of Afghan natives as “dangerous” has created a power network which fractures the country – in echoes of 19th and 20th century colonial powers in the region. Savic also offers an analysis of how and by what means global security priorities have affected Afghan lives.

The integrated union of countries vitalizes the political, militant, socio-cultural position of member states. The hegemony of western economic and militant power, which is generated by controlled knowledge system of west, seems to encroach the world. With changing scenario, the previously overlooked regions and nations are gaining power with increasing socio-cultural, political, and economic advancements. SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) is a quintessential geopolitical and economic union of South Asian countries which is, increasingly, gaining the attention of the developed countries. It is interesting to study the cultural integration or diversity generating ideology, identity, and nationalism among South Asian nations with reference to major literary authors from each SAARC member state. The book offers an overview of SAARC literature in English discoursing analysis of select literary texts from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan.