Meder, prof. dr. Th. (Theo)
![](https://meertens.knaw.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Theo-Meder-fotoMoniqueKooijmans-380x400.jpg)
Research group
Ethnology and Oral CultureBiography
Theo Meder is Senior Researcher Folktales at the Meertens Institute and endowed professor Folktales and Storytelling Culture in the Netherlands at the University of Groningen. Meder is part of the Management Team of the Meertens Institute and coordinates the Dutch Folktale Database. Meder is also the creator of the mobile Legend Hunter with walking and cycling routes from folktale to folktale. Meder was president of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research (ISCLR) from 2020-2023. His most recent, by NOW financed, international project is called ISEBEL; Intelligent Search Engine for Belief Legends. Meder publishes as a researcher about the tradition, transmission, and interpretation of folktales from the Middle Ages till the present. His articles can be found in national and international journals. He is chief editor of popular-science e-zine Vertelcultuur (Storytelling Culture), with is a part of e-zine Neerlandistiek, and he manages the facebook group Vertelcultuur (Storytelling Culture). Some of his most important books are (some in collaboration with colleagues) Van Aladdin tot Zwaan Kleef Aan, Vertelcultuur in Waterland, Vertelcultuur in Nederland, In Graancirkelkringen, Verhalen van Stad en Streek, De Staart van de Pauw (inaugural lecture RUG 2016), Avonturen en Structuren, Van Kikvors tot Droomprins, and The Flying Dutchman and other stories from the Netherlands. His book Trilbil en Duivelsdrek. 17 Oude Groninger sprookjes van Trijntje Soldaats en haar toehoorders was published in 2022 and got nominated for best Groniger book.
Key publications
- Theo Meder, Eline van Ekert & David de Vries: Trilbil en Duivelsdrek. 17 Oude Groninger sprookjes van Trijntje Soldaats en haar toehoorders. Gorredijk, Sterck & De Vreese, 2022.
- Theo Meder: De staart van de pauw. Onderzoek naar variatie en continuïteit in betekenis, vorm en functie van het volksverhaal. Almere 2016. Oratie RUG uitgebracht als special issue van het e-zine Vertelcultuur 3 (2016) 2.
- Theo Meder: Avonturen en structuren. Op zoek naar de bouwstenen van volksverhalen. Amsterdam 2012.
- Willem de Blécourt, Ruben A. Koman, Jurjen van der Kooi & Theo Meder (red.): Verhalen van Stad en Streek: Sagen en Legenden in Nederland. Amsterdam, Prometheus, 2010.
- Theo Meder: The Flying Dutchman and other folktales from the Netherlands. Illustrations by Minke Priester. Westport & London, Libraries Unlimited, 2007. (World Folklore Series)
- Theo Meder & Cor Hendriks: Vertelcultuur in Nederland. Volksverhalen uit de Collectie Boekenoogen (ca. 1900). Amsterdam 2005.
- T. Meder: Vertelcultuur in Waterland. De volksverhalen uit de collectie Bakker (ca. 1900). Amsterdam 2001.
- Ton Dekker, Jurjen van der Kooi & Theo Meder: Van Aladdin tot Zwaan Kleef Aan. Lexicon van sprookjes: ontstaan, ontwikkeling, variaties. Nijmegen 1997.
Publications
- contribution to journal (article)
- contribution to journal (review)
- contribution to edited volume
- contribution to conference
- working paper
- book (author)
- book (editor)
- conference participation
- public engagement
- non textual
- other contribution