Type and genre: a manual for compilation of indices & a bibliography of indices and indexing

Abstract

This manual is divided in 6 parts (numbered from A to F): Concepts (A), dealing at length with the notions of Motif, Type and Genre; Praxis (B), the core of this manual, a guide for the making of an index, expounded in eight parts, each of them meticulously organised into clear subheadings; Auxiliary Registers (C), a guide on how to improve the utility of an index with clear and user-friendly cross-referenced information; Sample Analyses (D) using four versions of one particular tale tale for a close analysis of the plot, from which a classification of motifs, types and genre arises; an Appendix (E), defining and giving a list of Euro-Asian-African genres, referred to above. Finally a Bibliography (F), opening with a numbered list of indices (339 items) organised by languages; a numbered bibliography on classification problems (284 items in all), organised by subjects/ themes (such as “B. Reports on the Enzyklopädie des Märchens”; “C. General problems”; “D. Discussions of the composition of repertoires”; until “P. Preliterate cultures”) and nearly 30 pages of auxiliary registers for these last two sub-headings, such as the “Level of indices” (A), which lists “those arranged according to Thompson’s Motif Index” and eight other schemes; down to a list of all the “Indices in FF Communications” (K).