Dean Fansler

Last updated

Dean Fansler, also Dean S. Fansler, was an American professor. He was a teacher of English at Columbia University in the early 20th century and brother of Priscilla Hiss (wife of Alger Hiss), [1] who, as a "noted folklorist" helped preserve Filipino folklore culture in the early 20th century, after centuries of Spanish and American domination. [2]

Contents

Background

Dean Spruill Fansler was born in 1885. His father was Thomas Lafayette Fansler, mother Willa Roland Spruill, and younger sister Priscilla Hiss, born Priscilla Harriet Fansler. [1] [3] [4] In 1906, he received a BA from Northwestern University and MA (1907) and doctorate (1913) from Columbia. [5]

Career

In 1908, Fansler started working at the University of the Philippines. From then through 1914, he collected Filipino folklore tales. [6]

By 1914, Fansler appears in the Columbia College catalog as an assistant professor of English. [5] In the early 1920s, Fansler was a professor at Columbia College and receives mention as an acquaintance (probably teacher) in the first autobiography of Mortimer J. Adler. [1]

Franz Boas recommended that Fansler earn his doctorate and inspired him to prepare Philippine material for publication. [7]

Works

In 1956, the "most widely known collection of Philippine folktales" was Dean Fansler's Filipino Popular Tales. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mortimer J. Adler</span> American philosopher, author and educator (1902–2001)

Mortimer Jerome Adler was an American philosopher, educator, encyclopedist, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He taught at Columbia University and the University of Chicago, served as chairman of the Encyclopædia Britannica board of editors, and founded the Institute for Philosophical Research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairy tale</span> Fictional story typically featuring folkloric fantasy characters and magic

A fairy tale is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cultures, there is no clear line separating myth from folk or fairy tale; all these together form the literature of preliterate societies. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends and explicit moral tales, including beast fables. Prevalent elements include dwarfs, dragons, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, griffins, mermaids, talking animals, trolls, unicorns, monsters, witches, wizards, magic, and enchantments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alger Hiss</span> Alleged Soviet agent and American diplomat (1904–1996)

Alger Hiss was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The statute of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950. Before the trial Hiss was involved in the establishment of the United Nations, both as a US State Department official and as a UN official. In later life, he worked as a lecturer and author.

Chinese folklore encompasses the folklore of China, and includes songs, poetry, dances, puppetry, and tales. It often tells stories of human nature, historical or legendary events, love, and the supernatural. The stories often explain natural phenomena and distinctive landmarks. Along with Chinese mythology, it forms an important element in Chinese folk religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurman Arnold</span> American judge

Thurman Wesley Arnold was an American lawyer best known for his trust-busting campaign as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Department of Justice from 1938 to 1943. He later served as a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Before coming to Washington in 1938, Arnold was the mayor of Laramie, Wyoming and a professor at Yale Law School, where he took part in the legal realism movement and published two books: The Symbols of Government (1935) and The Folklore of Capitalism (1937). He also published The Bottlenecks of Business (1940).

The Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index is a catalogue of folktale types used in folklore studies. The ATU Index is the product of a series of revisions and expansions by an international group of scholars: originally composed in German by Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne (1910), the index was translated into English, revised, and expanded by American folklorist Stith Thompson, and later further revised and expanded by German folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther (2004). The ATU Index, along with Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (1932)—with which it is used in tandem—is an essential tool for folklorists.

<i>Ibong Adarna</i> 16th-century Filipino epic poem

Ibong Adarna, also known as The Adarna Bird, is an early 19th-century Filipino epic poem that centers around a magical bird of the same name. During the Spanish era, the longer form of the story's title was Korido at Buhay na Pinagdaanan ng Tatlong Prinsipeng Magkakapatid na anak ni Haring Fernando at ni Reyna Valeriana sa Kahariang Berbanya. Some researchers suggest that the tale may have been influenced by similar European stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Battle of the Birds</span> Scottish fairy tale

The Battle of the Birds is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in his Popular Tales of the West Highlands. He recorded it in 1859 from a fisherman near Inverary, John Mackenzie and was, at the time, building dykes on the Ardkinglas estate. Joseph Jacobs took it from there for his Celtic Fairy Tales and added some additional elements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stith Thompson</span> American folklorist (1885–1976)

Stith Thompson was an American folklorist: he has been described as "America's most important folklorist".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine folk literature</span> Traditional Filipino oral literature

Philippine folk literature refers to the traditional oral literature of the Filipino people. Thus, the scope of the field covers the ancient folk literature of the Philippines' various ethnic groups, as well as various pieces of folklore that have evolved since the Philippines became a single ethno-political unit.

Bungisngis is a one-eyed giant in Philippine folklore. This giant, purported to dwell in Meluz, Orion, Bataan and Batangas and is described as always laughing. The literal meaning of the name Bungingis is derived from the Tagalog word ngisi which means "to giggle".

Broadus Mitchell was an 20th-century American historian, writer, professor, and 1934 Socialist Party candidate for governor of Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puss in Boots</span> European fairy tale about a cat

"Puss in Boots" is a European fairy tale about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand in marriage of a princess for his penniless and low-born master.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian fairy tale</span> Fairy tale from Russia

A Russian fairy tale or folktale is a fairy tale from Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Brown Meloney (1902–1971)</span> American writer

William Brown Meloney V was a journalist, novelist, short-story writer and theatrical producer.

Anna Hiss (1893–1972) was a 20th-century American professor, instrumental in improving the field of physical education by professionalizing the field, establishing university degrees, and developing programs for preparing physical education teachers. She was also professor of physical education at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as older sister of Donald Hiss and Alger Hiss.

Priscilla Hiss, born Priscilla Fansler and first married as Priscilla Hobson, was a 20th-century American teacher and book editor, best known as the wife of Alger Hiss, an alleged Communist and former State Department official whose innocence she supported with testimony throughout his two, highly publicized criminal trials in 1949.

In folkloristics, "The Animal as Bridegroom" refers to a group of folk and fairy tales about a human woman marrying or being betrothed to an animal. The animal is revealed to be a human prince in disguise or under a curse. Most of these tales are grouped in the international system of Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index under type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband". Some subtypes exist in the international classification as independent stories, but they sometimes don't adhere to a fixed typing.

Maria is the title given to a Filipino version of Cinderella collected by Fletcher Gardner and published in The Journal of American Folklore, in 1906. The story is related both to the international Cinderella narrative, as well as to the motif of the calumniated wife.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Adler, Mortimer J. (1977). Philosopher at Large: An Intellectual Autobiography . Macmillan. p.  66 . Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  2. Maximo D. Ramos; Florentino B. Valeros, eds. (1964). Philippine Harvest: An Anthology of Filipino Writing in English. p. 5. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  3. 1 2 Chaucer and the Roman de la Rose. Library of Congress. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  4. 1 2 Filipino Popular Tales. Library of Congress. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  5. 1 2 Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Columbia College. Columbia College. 1921. pp. 18, 16, 22 (degrees). Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  6. Folktales and Fairy Tales: Traditions and Texts from around the World, 2nd Edition [4 volumes]: Traditions and Texts from around the World. ABC-CLIO. 2016. pp. 1, 195. ISBN   9781610692540 . Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  7. Leandicho Lopez, Mellie (2006). A Handbook of Philippine Folklore. p. 13. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  8. Silliman Journal - Volumes 3-4. 1956. p. 228. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  9. Fansler, Dean Spruill (1914). Chaucer and the 'Roman a la Rose'. Columbia University Press. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  10. Fansler, Dean S. (1921). Filipino Popular Tales. American Folk-Lore Society. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
* Commons-logo.svg  Media related to  Dean S. Fansler  at Wikimedia Commons