Michael Berman 
Nature of Shamanism and the Shamanic Story 

The book makes out a case for the introduction of a new genre of tale, the shamanic story, which has either been based on or inspired by a shamanicjourney, or contains a number of the elements that are typical of such a journey.The stories featured are the Book of Jonah from the Old Testament, two traditional stories from the Republic of Georgia-The Earth will take its Own and Davit, a contemporary German tale Bundles, and the Korean story of Shimchong, the Blindman’s Daughter.By making use of textual material from a number of different cultures and times, the intention is to highlight the pervasive influence shamanism hashad and to show how the "new" genre being proposed is a universal one.The research questions addressed include 1) defining what shamanism is, deciding whether it should be classified as a religion, a methodology or away of life 2) considering whether a case can be made out for the introduction of a new genre of tale and, if so, what its characteristics are.It is hoped the book will be of interest not only to those involved in the study of shamanism but also to those whose interest is in the study ofliterary texts. Since the old bearers of shamanic traditions quite often were, and even today are, illiterate, the study of their folklore-epicsongs, laments, narratives-undoubtedly provides a rich source for research.