Max Lüthi (1909 in Bern – 1991 in Zurich) was a Swiss

literary theorist Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mora ...

. He is considered the founder of formalist research on folk tales. His first book is the field's foundational text, "a classic, a definitive statement about the nature, style, and form of the folktale genre in its European variety."Dan Ben-Amos. "Foreword." ''The European Folktale: Form and Nature''. Indiana University Press, 1982. Lüthi's aim was to arrive at a "phenomenology of folk narrative as we find it in Europe" and "establish the essential laws of the genre."Lüthi, Max. ''The European folktale: Form and nature''. Vol. 393. Indiana university press, 1986. He identified five aspects of all folktales: one-dimensionality, depthlessness, abstraction, isolation, and all-inclusiveness. He studied in Bern,

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

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, and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. Later in life he was one of the editors of the '' Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales''. According to his obituary, he saw himself as among the last to undertake " narrative research of the old-fashioned kind."

Selected works

*''The European Folktale: Form and Nature'' (Folklore Studies in Translation Series) (1947, German; 1982 English) *''Fairytale As Art Form and Portrait of Man'' (Folklore Studies in Translation Series) ''(1987)'' *''Once upon a Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tales'' (1970)Luthi, Max. Once Upon a Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tale. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1970..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luthi, Max Swiss folklorists 1909 births 1991 deaths Folklorists Structuralists Literary theorists