This database is an electronic edition of the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, revised and enlarged by Stith Thompson, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1955).

The edited volume Motifs in Language and Text is the first collection of original research in the area of the quantitative analysis of motifs. It hosts a collection of contributions that give insight to linguistic motifs theoretically across different languages, text genres, and structural levels, such as lexical, syntactic, semantic etc., and also to the tentative efforts upon the practical applications of the linguistic motifs. .

This book presents current discussions on the concept of genre. It introduces innovative, multidisciplinary approaches to contemporary and historical genres, their roles in cultural discourse, how they change, and their relations to each other. The reader is guided into the discussion surrounding this key concept and its history through a general introduction, followed by eighteen chapters that represent a variety of discursive practices as well as analytic methods from several scholarly traditions. This volume will have wide appeal to several academic audiences within the humanities, both in Finland and abroad, and will especially be of interest to scholars of folklore, language and cultural expression.

This is an authoritative presentation and discussion of the most basic thematic elements universally found in folklore and literature. The reference provides a detailed analysis of the most common archetypes or motifs found in the folklore of selected communities around the world. Each entry is written by a noted authority in the field, and includes accompanying reference citations. Entries are keyed to the Motif-Index of Folk Literature by Stith Thompson and grouped according to that Index's scheme. The reference also includes an introductory essay on the concepts of archetypes and motifs and the scholarship associated with them. This is the only book in English on motifs and themes that is completely folklore oriented, deals with motif numbers, and is tied to the Thompson Motif-Index. It includes in-depth examination of such motifs as: Bewitching; Chance and Fate; Choice of Roads; Death or Departure of the Gods; the Double; Ghosts and Other Revenants; the Hero Cycle; Journey to the Otherworld; Magic Invulnerability; Soothsayer; Transformation; Tricksters.

The book provides new findings about the grammar of genres and styles. It combines new methods with different kinds of empirical material, from social reports to live TV sports commentaries or 16th century newspapers, in English, French, Latin and Spanish. The study of non-discrete units suggests new ways of seeing the linguistic variation between genres and styles and the ways in which belonging to a genre predetermines linguistic choices.

"Diane Sharon uses the tools of structuralist literary criticism to uncover social and theological patterns in the literature of the Hebrew Bible. After providing a brief framework for understanding the approach used in her study, she demonstrates that the social activity of eating and drinking, when accompanied by other literary motifs, is part of a pattern portending the establishment or condemnation of a cultural entity. This pattern she refers to as the Pattern of Destiny." "In addition to defining the "destiny pattern," Sharon shows that the "direction" of the eating and/or drinking event provides clues regarding the nature of the destiny portended: whether the event will turn out to the positive or negative for the individual or cultural entity is signaled by clues within the eating/drinking event, sometimes in opposition to the surface structure of the text in which these clues are embedded." --Book Jacket.

This monumental book, first published in 1992, represents a major contribution to Sephardic and Hispanic studies as well as to comparative folklore scholarship in a worldwide perspective. After many years of fieldwork and extensive archival investigations in Spain, Israel and the United States, the author has brought together and analysed a massive body of primary sources. This is the first collection of Sephardic narratives offered to the English-speaking reader, and constitutes an important addition to the understanding of Sephardic cultural tradition.

This timely book explores how the Malays and Muslims in general are faced with challenges in the fields of business, economy and politics, in the modern era of globalisation. These research findings can help the Muslim community to enhance international integration, particularly in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. In this work, scholarly and expert authors explore Islamic perspectives on communication, art and culture, business, and law and policy. They respond to the need to uphold and strengthen the culture, arts and heritage of the Malays. Readers are invited to explore the challenges for the Malay and Muslim world and to evolve strategies to ensure competitiveness, dynamism and sustainability. Topics such as Islamophobia, drug trafficking, savings behaviours and the role of social media are addressed. These reviewed papers were presented at the International Conference on Islamic Business, Art, Culture & Communication 2014, held in Melaka, Malaysia. They have the potential to strengthen aspects of Islamic economy and leadership, if translated into action plans. This book represents essential reading for scholars of Islamic studies and will be of interest to those examining Southeast Asia and the Malay world.