Dan Ben-Amos
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Dan Ben-Amos | |
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Born | |
Died | March 26, 2023 | (aged 88)
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Hebrew University of Jerusalem Indiana University Bloomington |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Folklore |
Institutions | University of Pennsylvania |
Dan Ben-Amos(September 3, 1934 – March 26, 2023) was an Israeli-American folklorist and academic who worked as a professor at theUniversity of Pennsylvania,Philadelphia,where he held the Graduate Program Chair for the Department of Folklore and Folklife.[1]
Early life and education
[edit]Ben-Amos was born inTel Aviv(then inMandatory Palestine) and grew up inPetah Tikva.[2][3]
Before starting his studies atHebrew University of Jerusalem,he served in theNahal Brigadeof theIsrael Defense Forces,and in the course of his service he was in a unit that guarded the first prime minister of Israel,David Ben-Gurion,until he retired tokibbutz Sde-Bokerin the Israeli Desert.[4]Upon discharge he was a member of Kibbutz Yiftaḥ where he was a shepherd.[2]
At Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he initiallymajoredinBiblical studiesandEnglish literature.During hissophomore year,dissatisfied with his academic major, he switched to pursue a degree inHebrew literaturewith an interest infolklore,studying withDov Noy.He received hisBachelor of Artsfrom Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1961.
Under advice from Professor Dov Noy at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ben-Amos continued his education in theUnited StatesatIndiana University Bloomington,which at that time was the only folkloreDoctor of Philosophygranting institution in the United States. When he arrived at Bloomington, Indiana, and walked toward the campus, he wondered at the sight of the corn-pipe smoking hoosiers that were swinging on their porches and wondered whether they were his future professors, but when he reached the campus he realized that Bloomington was a university town after all, and (although originally turned off by the town ofBloomington) he decided to stay, and he received hisMaster of Artsin 1964 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1967 in folklore.[5]At Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bloomington, Ben-Amos was trained in the comparatist tradition.
Towards the end of his education and beginning of his career, Ben-Amos, along with other young folklorists,Roger Abrahams,Alan Dundes, Robert Georges, and Kenneth Goldstein, became affectionately labeled "the Young Turks" byRichard Dorson,prominent folklorist and teacher of Ben-Amos.[6]AlthoughRichard Baumanwas not originally included in this group, his work has come to be associated with that of the Young Turks; these young folklorists broke with traditional perspectives of folkloristics, which focus on the text and its content. Collectively, they focused on context in an effort to better understand folklore and the way people use folklore.
In his influential essay “Toward a Definition of Folklore in Context” (1971) Ben-Amos promoted a new way of defining folklore based on its context.[5]With its focus on context, Ben-Amos's work helped to usher in a new performance based perceptive in the field of folkloristics.
Professional career
[edit]Before beginning his Assistant Professorship in Anthropology at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles,which he held from 1966 to 1967, Ben-Amos conducted folklore research in Nigeria on the oral tradition of the Edo people in Benin City and its rural surroundings. He arrived in Nigeria for the first time on January 15, 1966, the day of the first military coup.[7]
In 1967, Ben-Amos began teaching at theUniversity of Pennsylvania,Philadelphia,serving as an assistant professor for three years and associate professor for seven. He became professor of Folklore andFolklifein 1977, holding the title for 22 years.[8]In 1999 he joined Penn's department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; after the split of the department into sub-specialties in 2004, he became professor ofNear Eastern Languagesand Civilizations.[8]He also served as Chair of the Graduate Program in Folklore and Folklife.
Ben-Amos's scholarly interests includedJewish folklore,Africanfolklore, humor, the history of folklore, and structural analysis.
Ben-Amos served on the executive board of theAmerican Folklore Societyfrom 1977 to 1980. He was an associate editor from 1981 to 1984 and book editor from 1988 to 1990 of theJournal of American Folklore.He also served as the general editor to the Indiana Press series Translations in Folklore studies and, from 1996, as the editor of the Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology (Wayne State University Press).[5][7]
Dan Ben-Amos's articles appeared in translation in the following languages: Chinese, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Turkish.
Death
[edit]Ben-Amos died on March 26, 2023, at the age of 88.[9]
Awards
[edit]2006National Jewish Book Award,winner in the Sephardic Culture category forFolktales of the Jews. Volume 1: Tales from the Sephardic Dispersion[10]
2006 National Jewish Book Award, finalist in the Scholarship category forFolktales of the Jews. Volume 1: Tales from the Sephardic Dispersion.Edited with Commentary (Dov Noy, Consulting Editor). Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2006.[citation needed]
2014American Folklore SocietyLifetime Scholarly Achievement Award[9]
Fellowships
[edit]1972–1973American Council for Learned Societies
1975–1976John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
1980–1981National Endowment for the Humanities
Books
[edit]- In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov,editor and translator, in collaboration with Jerome R. Mintz. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1970.
- Folklore: Performance and Communication,ed. in collaboration with Kenneth S. Goldstein. Approaches to Semiotics, 40. The Hague:Mouton Press. 1975.
- Sweet Words: Storytelling Events in Benin.Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1975.
- Folklore Genres,ed. American Folklore Society Bibliographical and Special Series, Volume 26, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1976. (Reprint of 1969a with an 'Introduction' and a "Selected Bibliography" )
- Folklore in Context: Essays.New Delhi, Madras: South Asian Publishers. 1982.
- Cultural Memory and the Construction of Identity,ed. (WithLiliane Weissberg), Detroit: Wayne State University Press. (1999).
- Folktales of the Jews. Volume 1: Tales from the Sephardic(2006). Volume II: 1970, In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov, editor and translator, in collaboration with Jerome R. Mintz. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. (Paperback edition, 1972. 2nd paperback edition, New York: Schocken, 1984; 3rd edition Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson, Jewish Book Club, Main Selection, January 1994).
- The Diary, The Epic of Everyday Life, with Batsheva Ben-Amos. Bloomington: Indiana University Press (2020).
Relevant literature
[edit]- Juweng Zhang. "Dan Ben Amos (1934-2023)".Western Folklore83.1:111-134.
References
[edit]- ^IU Folklore Institute, 1987. Indiana University Finding Aids, Indiana University. 17 March 2010.[1]
- ^abBen-Amos, D. (8 December 2015). Personal communication[to whom?].
- ^Lee, Linda (2015). "Ben-Amos, Dan (1934–)."Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore.Eds. Raphael Patai and Haya Bar-Itzhak. London: Routledge. p. 74. "Born... in Petah Tikvah in Israel...."
- ^The daily Pennsylvanian, February 16, (2007), p.3
- ^abcLee, Linda (2015). "Ben-Amos, Dan (1934–)."Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore.Eds. Raphael Patai and Haya Bar-Itzhak. London: Routledge. p. 74.
- ^Ben-Amos, Dan. “The Historical Folklore of Richard M. Dorson.” Journal of Folklore Research 26.1 (1989): 51-60.
- ^abBen-Amos, D. (9 December 2015). Personal communication[to whom?].
- ^ab"Dan Ben-Amos CGS'97".The Pennsylvania Gazette(alumni magazine of the University of Pennsylvania).Sep/Oct 2023.p. 76.
- ^ab"Dan Ben-Amos (1934-2023)".American Folklore Society.27 March 2023.Retrieved28 March2023.
- ^"Past Winners".Jewish Book Council.Archivedfrom the original on 2020-06-05.Retrieved2020-01-25.