Two Tales of Crow and Sparrow

Extensively researched, lucidly written, and intrepidly argued, this book brings a psychoanalytic perspective to scholarship on caste. Starting from an analysis of two popular Indian folktales, Alan Dundes boldly follows symbolic clues into realms where few scholars would venture. Even those who disagree with Dundes' assertions will find this essay provocative, inspiring further reflection on the relations between child rearing practices and social institutions. -- Kirin Narayan, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Dunde's highly individual approach has been tested . . . on almost anything. -- Tom Shippey * Times Literary Supplement *
A lot has been written on this subject, but the present book is a novel one. It gives new insights into the problem of untouchability that other scholars have ignored or overlooked. -- S. M. Michael, Institute of Indian Culture, Mumbai * Asian Folklore Studies *
...he has consistently written with an eye for detail. ...the work under review makes an original and not-easily-dismissed analysis of caste and untouchability in India. ...provocative book... Alan Dundes' application of Freudian folkloristic theory of Indian folktales and social practices has the added merit of intellectual courage.... -- Stuart Blackburn * Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies *
Dundes's masterpiece is Two Tales of Crow and Sparrow in whcich he shows how two Hindu folktales illustrate, and can be used to illuminate, the Hindu system of caste and untouchability, the very core of a religion in which practice is far more important than belief. * Journal of Contemporary Religion *
Using folklore and other data, Dundes not only brings to light patterns that have been overlooked or ignored by earlier investigators but offers a strikingly original explanation that integrates these patterns into a coherent whole. This is creative scholarship at its best. -- Michael P. Carroll, University of Western Ontario
...he has consistently written with an eye for detail. ...the work under review makes an original and not-easily-dismissed analysis of caste and untouchability in India. ...provocative book... Alan Dundes' application of Freudian folkloristic theory of Indian folktales and social practices has the added merit of intellectual courage. -- Stuart Blackburn * Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies *
Alan Dundes has taken two humorous Indian folktales and used a Freudian analysis to show how they illustrate and can be used to illumincate the entire Hindu system of caste and untouchability and indeed the pollution rules of the gypsies. It is a remarkable achievement to be able to move between particular tales and an entire social structure and Dundes does it skillfully here as in his earlier masterpieceLife is Like a Chicken Coop Ladder about German cultural traditions.