The first substantial collection of essays about the trickster since 1955

Mythical Trickster Figures, is the first substantial collection of essays about the trickster to appear since Radin’s 1955 The Trickster. Contributions by leading scholars treat a wide range of manifestations of this mischievous character, ranging from the Coyote of the American Southwest to such African figures as Eshu-Elegba and Ananse, the Japanese Susa-no-o, the Greek Hermes, Christian adaptations of Saint Peter, and examples found in contemporary American fiction and drama.

The many humorous trickster stories included are fascinating in themselves, but Hynes and Doty also highlight the wide range of features of the trickster—the figure whose comic appearance often signifies that the most serious cultural values are being both challenged and enforced.

William J. Hynes is Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Religious Studies at Saint Mary's College of California.

William G. Doty is Professor of Religious Studies at The University of Alabama and the author of Mythography: The Study of Myths and Rituals also published by The University of Alabama Press.

"Mythical Trickster Figures is an admirable successor to Radin's book (The Trickster, 1955), embracing a much greater range of materials, viewed from angles that differ from those adopted by Radin and his collaborators. . . . The contributions are framed by four other chapters in which the editors summarize the points at issue in the post-Radin period and provide an overview of the whole field, supported by an impressive bibliography of some 600 titles.

—Times Literary Supplement

"Certain to become the standard reference work for future studies of the trickster. . . . Each author explores different ways in which trickster figures challenge, reinforce, and play with fundamental social structures. One of the book's great virtues is its truly interdisciplinary quality; an exemplary job of promoting a genuine dialogue among scholars from radically different backgrounds. Has much to teach researchers who study the complex interplay of culture, religion, and psyche."

—Religious Studies Review