Nag-aral siya sa Pamantasang Harvard mula 1912 hanggang 1914 sa ilalim ni George Lyman Kittredge, sumulat ng disertasyon na "Mga Europeong Hiram at Pagkakapareho sa Hilagang Amerikanong Indiyanong Kuwento," at nakakuha ng kaniyang Ph.D. (Ang nirebisang tesis ay inilathala nang maglaon noong 1919).[2][3] Lumaki ito mula sa takdang-aralin ni Kittredge, na ang tema ay nagsisiyasat sa isang kuwentong tinatawag na "The Blue Band",[a] nakolekta mula sa tribong Chipewyan sa Saskatchewan ay maaaring nagmula sa pakikipag-ugnayan sa isang kahalintulad na kuwentong Eskandinabo.[4][5]
Post-gradwado, tenure
Si Thompson ay isang Ingles na instruktor sa Unibersidad ng Texas, Austin mula 1914 hanggang 1918, nagtuturo ng komposisyon. Noong 1921, siya ay hinirang na katuwang na propesor sa Kagawaran ng Ingles ng Unibersidad ng Indiana (Bloomington), na mayroon ding responsibilidad na pangasiwaan ang programa ng komposisyon nito.[6] Siya ay nangolekta at nagsinop ng mga tradisyunal na balada, kuwento, salawikain, aporismo, bugtong, atbp. Ang mga pagkakapareho at pandaigdigang pagkalat ng mga ito ay maaaring pag-aralan gamit ang kaniyang pagkatalogo ng paksang aparato na humahantong sa kaniya upang ilathala ang unang tomo ng kaniyang Paksa-Index na inilimbag noong 1955.[7]
Mga nota
↑The tale that Pliny Earle Goddard collected and published in Chipewyan Texts (1912) is "The Boy who became Strong". The tale Kittredge refers to is the parallel, Müllenhoff (1845)'s tale "XI. Der blaue Band" from Marne in Dithmarschen, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, translated by Benjamin Thorpe (1853) as "The Blue Riband".
Mga sanggunian
↑Contradictory information is given about Thompson's deathdate: January 10 or 13, 1976, according to different sources. January 10 is the date given by Peggy Martin, Stith Thompson: His Life and His Role in Folklore Schlolarship, Bloomington, Indiana, Folklore Publications Group, Indiana University, [c. 1976 to 1979], p. 17; it is confirmed by the Obituary in The New York Times, titled "STITH THOMPSON, FOLKLORIST, DIES; Former Indiana Professor and Author Was 90 Organized Institutes", dated January 12, 1976: "Dr. Stith Thompson, a past president of the American Folklore Society, who retired in 1955 as Distinguished Service Professor of Folklore at Indiana University, died Saturday in Columbus, Ind. He was 90 years old." One may think that January 13 was the date of Thompson's funeral service: indicated in a tribute article, it could have been erroneously repeated.