Comments on: Werewolves http://earmarks.org/archives/2005/10/25/20 A weblog on early modern culture, teaching English literature, and what else comes to mind Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:40:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: dave in boca http://earmarks.org/archives/2005/10/25/20#comment-61 dave in boca Thu, 17 Nov 2005 02:49:36 +0000 http://earmarks.org/?p=20#comment-61 A reasonably academic attempt to study witchcraft in various guises and in different cultural locations was written by an Italian academic named Ginzburg. I lost this book during a move and your blog reminds me of the influence that "marginal" and "border" phenomena have on our general culture. Ginzburg was particularly good on the nearly universal appearance of the Cinderella myth, in various guises, in widely disparate geographic and cultural [and temporal] locations. He traces it back to a hunting myth dating to at least the Ice Age----Cinderella's slipper representing a "lost bone" in the ritual recreation of the hunters' favorite prey animals. The concept of "difference" intrigues students of history as much as philosophy students, I would think. A reasonably academic attempt to study witchcraft in various guises and in different cultural locations was written by an Italian academic named Ginzburg. I lost this book during a move and your blog reminds me of the influence that “marginal” and “border” phenomena have on our general culture. Ginzburg was particularly good on the nearly universal appearance of the Cinderella myth, in various guises, in widely disparate geographic and cultural [and temporal] locations. He traces it back to a hunting myth dating to at least the Ice Age—-Cinderella’s slipper representing a “lost bone” in the ritual recreation of the hunters’ favorite prey animals.

The concept of “difference” intrigues students of history as much as philosophy students, I would think.

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