A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF ENGLISH PROVERB

LITERATURE (1400 -2000): A Book Review

Prof. Wolfgang Mieder, University of Vermont, Vermont

During the forty years that I have occupied myself with a multitude of
paremiographical and paremiological issues, I have collected and read ten
thousand international publications on proverbs. They are all listed in the four
volumes of my International Proverb Scholarship: An Annotated Bibliography
(1982, 1990, 1993, 2001) and in my annual bibliographies at the end of
Proverbium: Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship. I have also
collected hundreds of printed proverb collections in many languages of the
world, making my international proverb archives here at the University of
Vermont a research center for international studies.
I can then honestly state that my life's work has been to establish a
comprehensive research center for paremiography and paremiology. Over the
years, I have attempted to put together books and articles and survey the rich
field of proverb studies on an international level, and I hope that I have served
the community of proverb scholars well. As I get older, I take great delight in
seeing how a number of scholars throughout the world are taking up the torch
of proverb studies. Their excellent work is continuing my efforts, and there is
no doubt that some of it is also going beyond my efforts. That's the way it
should be, and it is a wonderful and rewarding feeling for me to know that the
future of proverb studies is in very good hands. Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar belongs
to a circle of young and eager proverb scholars who are doing excellent work
in paremiography and paremiology, and I most certainly commend and
applaud the most recent fruit of Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar's untiring labors. His
comprehensive study entitled "A Bibliographical Review of English Proverb
Literature (1400-2000): Evidence for Karmik Linguistic Theory" is a scholarly
masterpiece! While it reviews some of the most important scholarship on
English proverbs, it also offers incredibly significant suggestions for research
that needs to be done if we want to make progress as international proverb
scholars. Paremiographers and paremiologists throughout the world need to
read this inclusive and rich study. It will lead to much needed new research,
and there is no doubt that Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar's intriguing study will be
instrumental in breaking new ground for the ever fascinating field of proverb
studies.
Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar begins his enlightening survey with a concise
review of proverb literature as presented in major bibliographies, concluding
that much more work is needed in the areas of functional and formal
linguistics, the definition of proverbs, the holistic interpretation of proverbs,
and the actual formation of proverbs from a socio- and psycholinguistic point
of view. Next he includes a solid review of major Anglo-American proverb
collections, stating quite correctly that there is no guiding theory on how best
to put together proverb collections that are to serve various proverbial genres
and purposes. Theoretical discussions on the language of the proverbs, their
linguistic plane, the genre of the medium in which the proverbs appear, the
history and variation in their actual use, etc. are very much needed.
This is followed by a short overview of major inclusive studies on the
proverb in English, notably the books by Richard Chenevix Trench (1853), F.
Edward Hulme (1902), Archer Taylor (1931), and Wolfgang Mieder (2004). But
Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar is primarily a linguist, and it is thus not surprising that
the rest of his review deals with the state of linguistic research regarding
Anglo-American proverbs. Above all he points out that more detailed studies
based on formal linguistics ar needed: a holistic analysis of the syntax of
English proverbs is lacking, the motivation for the metaphors of proverbs
needs more scrutiny, the socio-pragmatic choice of syntactic structures must
be analyzed, and the nature of variation in individual proverbs should be
looked at from a dispositional point of view. Additional lexical and semantic
analysis is also necessary if we want to understand the dispositional
motivation for creating, quoting, and varying proverbs in actual speech acts
and other contexts.
The next section deals with functional linguistics, where Chilukuri
Bhuvaneswar presents compelling arguments for more work on the
sociolinguistic, pragmatic, rhetorical (discourse, speech act), and
cultural/anthropological aspects in the actual use of proverbs as strategically
placed communicative signs. All of this is followed by some shorter but
significant sections on cognitive linguistics, the definition problems of the
proverb, generic analysis of proverbs, the study of individual proverbs,
proverbs in literary works, and the methodology of collecting proverbs. I have
no problem with Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar's own and informed proverb definition:
"A proverb is a culturally confirmed frozen text of a prototypical practice used
as an illocution over a categorical action in a setting for a projected view of
life", or in short, "A proverb is a culturally frozen prototypical text (or
illocution". Of course, as has been the case with hundreds of earlier definitions,
even this complex statement is but an approximation of what proverbs really
are and what they can achieve due to their polyfunctionality, polysituativity,
and polysemanticity.
The section on the taxonomy is of special interest, since it is here where
Chilukuri coins a new term for proverb studies, i.e., PROVERBIOLOGY. His
argument is well taken: "It is proposed that a three fold distinction be made to
focus more attention on the applied science of proverbs. In such a view,
paremiography deals with the general and specialized collection of proverbs;
theoretical or pure paremiology with the pure science aspect of proverbs and
applied paremiology with the applied science aspect of proverbs. Finally, the
entire discipline can be called proverbiology." It remains to be seen whether
the term "proverbiology" will in fact catch on, but I might actually begin using
it.
It is in the last section on the ontogenesis of proverbs where Chilukuri
Bhuvaneswar makes some of his most important points, arguing convincingly
that the actual formation of a proverb presupposes a number of factors: 1.
cognitive ability for prototypicalization and interpretation of social action for
prototypicalization, 2. ability to extend prototypicalization property to linguistic
prototypicalization of social action, 3. knowledge of proverb formation,
application, comprehension, 4. ability to form proverbs as they are through the
property of linguistic creativity, 5. co-ordination of the individual-collective
interplay of standardization of the proverb, and 6. application of the general
principles of beauty (symmetry and imagery), order, logic, and expressivity. In
his detailed comments, Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar has much to say about
causality and structuration of proverbs, standardization and application of
proverbs, variation and adaptation of proverbs, as well as transmission and
preservation of proverbs. In sum, "the formation, application, comprehension,
retention, transmission, variation, adaptation, and preservation of proverbs is a
multidimensional process that has to be holistically but not fragmentarily
described for a clear-cut understanding of what proverbs are, why they are
created, how, when, and where they are used." And finally, there is the
absolutely convincing and correct statement that "there is a need for a new
unified theory to account for the formal, functional, and cognitive linguistic
properties of proverbs and that advaitha siddhanta (Chilukuri: add English
translation!] can offer the basis for such a theory."
Bravo and thank you, Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar, for having provided
proverb scholars with a concise and yet comprehensive review of English
proverb literature, including a very useful list of significant references. Of
course, this is much more than a review, since the study also includes ideas
and directions for future scholarship. Many research desiderata are listed and
explained, and I can well imagine that this study will bring about significant
new studies that will lead us into exciting areas of "proverbiology". Once this
study has been published, it will become required reading for my students, and
I would suggest that all "proverbiologists" pay close attention to its insights
and suggestions. Chilukuri Bhuvaneswar's ground-breaking analysis will
without doubt bring about a giant leap forward in international proverb
scholarship!

Wolfgang Mieder