Solutions to Riddles

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2769906
AutoresDan Ben‐amos (autor correspondente), Dan Ben-Amos
Ano1976
Volume89
Fascículo352
Páginas249
Data de publicação1976-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of American Folklore (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0021-8715 • E-ISSN: 1535-1882
EditoraUniversity of Illinois Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/539691
OpenAlexW2326070207
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9

Among the many genres of folklore, the riddle is the most amenable to semiotic inquiry. In short dialogue sequences, riddling includes verbal metaphors, interpretations, and their rejections or validations. The immediate succession of a message, a decoding, and a feedback condenses a process that extends over a longer span of time in the communication process of many other genres. Moreover, inherent in the riddle is a deliberate ambiguity which is designed to reveal and conceal its subject at one and the same time. Success in untangling the true meaning of the riddle-sentence from the knots of verbal deceit depends upon the confirmation of the solution by the riddle poser. However, his acceptance of the answers is often whimsical and manipulative; he can reject certain solutions on one occasion and acknowledge them the next time, as long as he is able to maintain his socially advantageous position.1

Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · History · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Rhetoric and Communication Studies