A Theory for American Folklore

The following paper was read at a joint meeting of the American Folklore Society with the American Anthropological Association and the American Studies Association at Chicago, 27 December 1957. Planning of the symposium and arrangements for its publication were made by John Ball, Miami University, and Hennig Cohen, executive secretary of the ASA, with Thomas A. Sebeok, then editor of the Society, and MacEdward Leach, executive secretary of the AFS.-ED.