Marriage Seen through Proverbs and Anti-Proverbs
This book explores various aspects of marriage and the ways it is viewed and conceptualized in the body of Anglo-American anti-proverbs (or proverb transformations). It also depicts those who contribute to the institution of marriage (that is, husbands and wives), and analyses their nature, qualities, attributes and behaviours as revealed through such anti-proverbs. In addition, the text investigates those who remain single and do not belong to the institution of marriage, but contribute to the institution of marriage. It will appeal to a wide range of readers, from the casually interested general reader to the paremiologist, paremiographer, lexicographer, and anthropologist.
Anna T. Litovkina is currently Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at J. Selye University, Slovakia. In addition to more than one hundred articles, she is the author of eighteen books on proverbs and humour, including Old Proverbs Never Die, They Just Diversify: A Collection of Anti-Proverbs (with Wolfgang Mieder, 2006) and Women through Anti-Proverbs (2018). She is also the co-editor of eleven volumes on humour.
Wolfgang Mieder is University Distinguished Professor of German and Folklore in the Department of German and Russian at the University of Vermont at Burlington, USA. He is the founding editor of the Proverbium yearbook. His publications include the books International Bibliography of Paremiology and Phraseology (2009), The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs (with C. Doyle and F. Shapiro, 2012), “Behold the Proverbs of a People”: Proverbial Wisdom in Culture, Literature, and Politics (2014), and “Right Makes Might”: Proverbs and the American Worldview (2019).
“To marry or not to marry? That is the main question which the proverbs and proverb transformations examined in this volume deal with. Although the attitudes towards aspects of marriage and marital lives, expressed by these texts, are often negative, offensive or even aggressive, the book still proves to be an extremely enjoyable read. The vast majority of anti-proverbs treat the topic of matrimony with a refreshing wittiness, ranging from light-hearted humour to ironic remarks and sarcastic jokes. Thus, the book will appeal not only to scholars but literally to the general reader interested in proverbs and humour.”
Hrisztalina Hrisztova-Gotthardt
Co-editor of Introduction to Paremiology: A Comprehensive Guide to Proverb Studies
“A brilliant book written by two splendid anti-proverb researchers! I devoured it at one sitting! I recommend the book to all lovers of everyday wisdom of the English language and humor, in particular, to those who are interested in how matrimony is treated in Anglo-American proverbs, anti-proverbs and jokes.”
N.I. Kozlov
Rector of the University of Practical Psychology, Moscow
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