Abstract
In examining the possibility of extrapolating features of worldview from folkloristic data, the author considers the allegation that Americans are future oriented in the light of various examples of American folklore. Numerous proverbs, greetings, folk metaphors and other traditional oral formulas seem to reveal both a penchant for looking ahead and a reluctance to look back. The evidence cited includes contrasts between future and past oriented societies: All Saints Day celebrates figures of the past while cognate Haloween is for children (future); divination in Africa often concerns finding past causes for present crises whereas divination in America predicts future events from present signs; past oriented societies have myths (set in the past) while Americans have science fiction (set in the future). The pattern permeates research insofar as scholars tend to write the conclusions/ends of their papers first.
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