Ending the Yarn

Authors

  • E. Martin Pedersen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13135/1592-4467/8949

Keywords:

American story, folklore, yarn ending

Abstract

One of the most distinctive characteristics of the yarn - that rambling, digressive humorous narrative type of which Mark Twain was an undisputed master - is its ending. Lacking the satisfying conclusion of the folk tale, the yarn peters out; it runs out of steam; it builds up to an understated let-down anticlimax. By enumerating six types of yarn endings, this paper attempts an explanation for this curious textual and performance feature. The essay examines texts from folklore and literature, including oral sources, but it also analyzes the linguistic, psychological, and socia-cultural contexts and functions of this intentionally weak closure to the great American story.

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Published

1996-09-01

Issue

Vol. 7 (1996): Untitled

Section

Articles

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