Index: src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/xml/Introspector.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/xml/Introspector.java	(Revision 6994)
+++ src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/xml/Introspector.java	(Arbeitskopie)
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@
 import org.exolab.castor.mapping.loader.TypeInfo;
 import org.exolab.castor.util.Configuration;
 import org.exolab.castor.util.LocalConfiguration;
+import org.exolab.castor.util.ReflectionUtil;
 import org.exolab.castor.xml.descriptors.CoreDescriptors;
 import org.exolab.castor.xml.handlers.ContainerFieldHandler;
 import org.exolab.castor.xml.handlers.DateFieldHandler;
@@ -1187,6 +1188,19 @@
         //-- make sure type is not Void, or Class;
         if  (type == Void.class || type == Class.class ) return false;
 
+        //-- check whether it is a Java 5.0 enum
+        float javaVersion = Float.valueOf(System.getProperty("java.specification.version")).floatValue();
+        if (javaVersion >= 1.5) {
+            try {
+                Boolean isEnum = ReflectionUtil.isEnumViaReflection(type);
+                if (isEnum.booleanValue()) {
+                    return true;
+                }
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                // nothing to report; implies that there's no such method
+            }
+        }
+        
         if ( (!type.isInterface())  &&
              (type != Object.class) &&
              (!isPrimitive(type))) {
Index: src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/xml/MarshalFramework.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/xml/MarshalFramework.java	(Revision 6994)
+++ src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/xml/MarshalFramework.java	(Arbeitskopie)
@@ -50,7 +50,10 @@
 import org.exolab.castor.mapping.FieldDescriptor;
 import org.exolab.castor.mapping.MappingException;
 import org.exolab.castor.mapping.loader.CollectionHandlers;
+import org.exolab.castor.util.ReflectionUtil;
 
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.Vector;
 
@@ -204,6 +207,50 @@
     } //-- isPrimitive
 
     /**
+     * Returns true if the given class should be treated as an enum type. This method 
+     * will return true for all Java 5 (or later) enums, and for enum-style
+     * classes.
+     *
+     * @return true if the given class should be treated as an enum
+     **/
+    static boolean isEnum(Class type) {
+
+        if (type == null) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        float javaVersion = Float.valueOf(System.getProperty("java.specification.version")).floatValue();
+        if (javaVersion >= 1.5) {
+            try {
+                Boolean isEnum = ReflectionUtil.isEnumViaReflection(type);
+                return isEnum.booleanValue();
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                // nothing to report; implies that there's no such method
+            }
+        }
+        
+        // TODO: add code to cover 1.4 enum-stype classes as well.
+        
+        return false;
+
+    } //-- isPrimitive
+
+//    /**
+//     * Calls isEnum() method on target class vi areflection to find out
+//     * whether the given type is a Java 5 enumeration.
+//     * @param type The type to analyze.
+//     * @return True if the type given is a Java 5.0 enum.
+//     * @throws NoSuchMethodException If the method can not be found.
+//     * @throws IllegalAccessException If access to this method is illegal
+//     * @throws InvocationTargetException If the target method can not be invoked.
+//     */
+//    private static Boolean isEnumViaReflection(Class type) 
+//    throws NoSuchMethodException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException {
+//        Method isEnumMethod = type.getClass().getMethod("isEnum", (Class[]) null);
+//        return (Boolean) isEnumMethod.invoke(type, (Object[]) null);
+//    }
+//    
+    /**
      * Returns true if any of the fields associated with the given
      * XMLClassDescriptor are located at, or beneath, the given location.
      *
Index: src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/xml/Marshaller.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/xml/Marshaller.java	(Revision 6994)
+++ src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/xml/Marshaller.java	(Arbeitskopie)
@@ -1706,6 +1706,16 @@
                     throw new MarshalException(sx);
                 }
             }
+            else if (isEnum(_class)) {
+                char[] chars = object.toString().toCharArray();
+                try {
+                    handler.characters(chars,0,chars.length);
+                }
+                catch(org.xml.sax.SAXException sx) {
+                    throw new MarshalException(sx);
+                }
+                
+            }
         }
 
         //---------------------------
Index: src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/util/ReflectionUtil.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/util/ReflectionUtil.java	(Revision 0)
+++ src/main/java/org/exolab/castor/util/ReflectionUtil.java	(Revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2007 Werner Guttmann
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.exolab.castor.util;
+
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+
+/**
+ * Utility class to support reflection-based operations.
+ *
+ * @since 1.1.2
+ */
+public class ReflectionUtil {
+
+    /**
+     * Calls isEnum() method on target class vi areflection to find out
+     * whether the given type is a Java 5 enumeration.
+     * @param type The type to analyze.
+     * @return True if the type given is a Java 5.0 enum.
+     * @throws NoSuchMethodException If the method can not be found.
+     * @throws IllegalAccessException If access to this method is illegal
+     * @throws InvocationTargetException If the target method can not be invoked.
+     */
+    public static Boolean isEnumViaReflection(Class type) 
+    throws NoSuchMethodException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException {
+        Method isEnumMethod = type.getClass().getMethod("isEnum", (Class[]) null);
+        return (Boolean) isEnumMethod.invoke(type, (Object[]) null);
+    }
+
+
+}