A specialist in the field of folklore,[2] his crowning achievement was his Le Conte populaire français [fr], a catalog of folktales found in France and French-speaking areas, structured and modeled on the Aarne-Thompson classification system.[2][1] The first volume appeared in 1957, a few months after his death. The project, expected to run to several volumes, was continued by Marie-Louise Tenèze.[3]
After dabbling in his interest into local flora (Étude sur la Flore nivernaise, published 1930), he dedicated himself to transcribing and index-carding collected folktales in the manuscripts left by Achille Millien, the Nivernais folklorist.[2] Between 1933 and 1936 he launched his own field study with the inhabitants of Nièvre, while teaching at Saint-Léger-des-Vignes, then Montsauche and Vauzelles,[citation needed] then moving to the Paris area. He was director of the school in Ivry-sur-Seine, 1939–1946.[1]
His articles showed interest in the origins of the mother goose tales of Charles Perrault, and the relationship between oral and written literature.[2]
An anthology by Delarue was published in English translation as The Borzoi Book of French Folk Tales in 1956.[4]
Paul Delarue headed the folklore committee at the Ligue de l'enseignement (1946-1953) and subsequently at the Musée national des Arts et Traditions Populaires.[1] He was also vice-president of the Société d'Ethnographie Française from 1952,[1] and sat on the directing committee at thea Fédération Folklorique d'Île-de-France.
His son Georges Delarue (born 1926) has continued along his footsteps, publishing Chansons populaires du Nivernais et du Morvan (7 volumes).
Works
Recueil de chants populaires du Nivernais, 1934-1947 (with Achille Milien).
La « Promesse » de Jean-Pierre et de la Yeyette, 1936
Écoliers, chantez nos chansons folkloriques, 1938
L'Amour des trois oranges et autres contes folkloriques des Provinces de France, 1947
La Bête de la forêt, 1947
Vieux métiers du Nivernais. Les fendeurs, 1949
Le Conte populaire français : Catalogue raisonné des versions de France et des pays de langue française d'outre-mer : Canada, Louisiane, îlots français des États-Unis, Antilles Françaises, Haiti, Île Maurice, La Réunion, with Marie-Louise Ténèze, Maisonneuve et Larose, 1957
^ abcdLa Société d'ethnographie française et le Musée national des arts et traditions populaires (1956). "Paul Delarue (1889-1956)". Arts et Traditions Populaires. 4 (3). Presses Universitaires de France: 193–194. JSTOR41002530.
^Alford, Violet (1966). "(Review) Le Conte populaire français, tome II by Paul Delarue, Marie-Louise Tenèze, G. P. Maisonneuve". Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France. 66 (4): 756–757. JSTOR40522930.
