The Practice of Folklore

Simon J. BronnerSocial Science
The Practice of Folklore

Author: Simon J. Bronner

Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

ISBN: 9781496822642

Category: Social Science

Page: 382

View: 516

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Despite predictions that commercial mass culture would displace customs of the past, traditions firmly abound, often characterized as folklore. In The Practice of Folklore: Essays toward a Theory of Tradition, author Simon J. Bronner works with theories of cultural practice to explain the social and psychological need for tradition in everyday life. Bronner proposes a distinctive “praxic” perspective that will answer the pressing philosophical as well as psychological question of why people enjoy repeating themselves. The significance of the keyword practice, he asserts, is the embodiment of a tension between repetition and variation in human behavior. Thinking with practice, particularly in a digital world, forces redefinitions of folklore and a reorientation toward interpreting everyday life. More than performance or enactment in social theory, practice connects localized culture with the vernacular idea that “this is the way we do things around here.” Practice refers to the way those things are analyzed as part of, rather than apart from, theory, thus inviting the study of studying. “The way we do things” invokes the social basis of “doing” in practice as cultural and instrumental. Building on previous studies of tradition in relation to creativity, Bronner presents an overview of practice theory and the ways it might be used in folklore and folklife studies. Demonstrating the application of this theory in folkloristic studies, Bronner offers four provocative case studies of psychocultural meanings that arise from traditional frames of action and address issues of our times: referring to the boogieman; connecting “wild child” beliefs to school shootings; deciphering the offensive chants of sports fans; and explicating male bravado in bawdy singing. Turning his analysis to the analysts of tradition, Bronner uses practice theory to evaluate the agenda of folklorists in shaping perceptions of tradition-centered “folk societies” such as the Amish. He further unpacks the culturally based rationale of public folklore programming. He interprets the evolving idea of folk museums in a digital world and assesses how the folklorists' terms and actions affect how people think about tradition.

Oral Traditions in Contemporary China

Juwen ZhangLiterary Criticism
Oral Traditions in Contemporary China

Author: Juwen Zhang

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

ISBN: 9781793645142

Category: Literary Criticism

Page: 263

View: 684

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Through a historical survey and analyses of oral traditions like fairy tales, proverbs, and ballads, among others, that are still in vigorous practice in China today, this informative and stimulating book proposes a theoretical framework for interpreting how and why traditions continue or discontinue in any culture.

Disaster Education, Communication and Engagement

Neil DuftyPolitical Science
Disaster Education, Communication and Engagement

Author: Neil Dufty

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

ISBN: 9781119569794

Category: Political Science

Page: 318

View: 164

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A detailed guide to the design and evaluation of effective disaster learning programs Disaster Education, Communication and Engagement provides a much-needed evidence-based guide for designing effective disaster learning plans and programs that are tailored to local communities and their particular hazard risks. Drawing on the most recent research from disaster psychology, disaster sociology, and education psychology, as well as evaluations of disaster learning programs, the book contains practical guidance for putting in place a proven design framework. The book outlines the steps to take in order to tailor a disaster education, communication and engagement program and highlights illustrative examples of effective programs and activities from around the world. The author includes information on how to identify potential community learners and presents a methodology for understanding the at-risk community, its hazard risks, disaster risk reduction, and emergency management arrangements. Disaster Education, Communication and Engagement describes both country-wide campaigns and local disaster programs that involve community participation. This important resource: Presents a detailed framework to guide the design and evaluation of tailored disaster learning programs Includes information that links disaster resilience with sustainability and climate change learning Describes the ‘disaster cycle’ and reviews learning content and methods related to the cycle Explains effective ways to combine disaster education, disaster communications, and disaster-related engagement Contains material on using new technologies such as gamification, virtual reality, and social media Written for emergency managers, students of emergency management, and humanitarian courses, Disaster Education, Communication and Engagement is a hands-on guide filled with ideas and templates for designing and evaluating targeted disaster learning programs.

South Asian Folklore in Transition

Frank J. KoromSocial Science
South Asian Folklore in Transition

Author: Frank J. Korom

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9780429753817

Category: Social Science

Page: 184

View: 594

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The Indian Subcontinent has been at the centre of folklore inquiry since the 19th century, yet, while much attention was paid to India by early scholars, folkloristic interest in the region waned over time until it virtually disappeared from the research agendas of scholars working in the discipline of folklore and folklife. This fortunately changed in the 1980s when a newly energized group of younger scholars, who were interested in a variety of new approaches that went beyond the textual interface, returned to folklore as an untapped resource in South Asian Studies. This comprehensive volume further reinvigorates the field by providing fresh studies and new models both for studying the “lore” and the “life” of everyday people in the region, as well as their engagement with the world at large. By bringing Muslims, material culture, diasporic horizons, global interventions and politics to bear on South Asian folklore studies, the authors hope to stimulate more dialogue across theoretical and geographical borders to infuse the study of the Indian Subcontinent’s cultural traditions with a new sense of relevance that will be of interest not only to areal specialists but also to folklorists and anthropologists in general. This book was originally published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.

The Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies

Simon J. BronnerLiterary Criticism
The Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies

Author: Simon J. Bronner

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

ISBN: 9780190840617

Category: Literary Criticism

Page: 1033

View: 618

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"This handbook surveys the materials, approaches, contexts, and applications of American folklore and folklife studies to guide students and scholars of American folklore, culture, history, and society in the future. In addition to longstanding areas in the 350-year legacy of the subject's study and applications such as folktales and speech, the handbook includes exciting fields that have emerged in the twenty-first century such as the Internet, bodylore, folklore of organizations and networks, sexual orientation, neurodiverse identities, and disability groups. These studies encompass cultural traditions in the United States ranging from bits of slang in private conversations to massive public demonstrations, ancient beliefs to contemporary viral memes, and a simple handshake greeting to festivals encompassing multiple genres and groups. Folklore and folklife studies include material traditions such as buildings and crafts as well as oral and social genres of dance, ritual, drama, and play. Whereas the use of lore often emphasizes speech, song, and story that all people express, the rhetoric of life draws attention to tradition-centered communities such as the Amish and Hasidim, occupational groups and their workaday worlds, and children and other age groups. Significant to the American context has been the cultural diversity and changing national boundaries of the United States, relative youth of the nation and its legacy of mass immigration, mobility of residents and their relation to an indigenous and racialized population, and a varied landscape and settlement pattern. The handbook is a reference, therefore, to American studies as well as the global study of tradition, folk arts, and cultural practice"--

Current Controversies in Philosophy of Memory

André Sant'AnnaPhilosophy
Current Controversies in Philosophy of Memory

Author: André Sant'Anna

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

ISBN: 9781000595383

Category: Philosophy

Page: 248

View: 152

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The surge of philosophical interest in episodic memory has brought to light a number of controversial questions about this form of memory that have only recently begun to be addressed in detail. This book organizes discussion around six such questions, offering two new chapters per question, from experts in the field. The questions are: I. What is the relationship between memory and imagination? II. Do memory traces have content? III. What is the nature of mnemonic confabulation? IV. What is the function of episodic memory? V. Do non-human animals have episodic memory? VI. Does episodic memory give us knowledge of the past? The book constitutes a valuable resource for researchers, teachers, and students alike. For researchers, it provides an up-to-date discussion of some of the main theories, arguments, and problems in the area. For teachers, the book can supply the readings for an entire course, or particular sections can provide the readings for specific units within a broader philosophy of memory course. For students, the book offers accessible discussions of some of the most recent topics in the philosophy of memory, which, when taken together, serve as a well-rounded introduction to the area.

Mapping the History of Folklore Studies

Dace BulaSocial Science
Mapping the History of Folklore Studies

Author: Dace Bula

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

ISBN: 9781443892674

Category: Social Science

Page: 390

View: 467

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This collection of articles provides rich and diverse insights into the historical dynamics of folkloristic thought with its shifting geographies, shared spaces, centres and borderlands. By focusing on intellectual collaboration and sharing, the volume also reveals the limitations, barriers and boundaries inherent in scholarship and scholarly communities. Folklore scholars from Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, and the USA reflect upon a range of related questions, including: To what extent and in what sense can folklore studies be regarded as a shared field of knowledge? Which lines of authority have held it together and what forces have led to segmentation? How have the hierarchies of intellectual centres and peripheries shifted over time? Do national or regional styles of scholarly practice exist in folkloristics? The contributors here pay attention to individual personalities, the politics and economics of scholarship, and forms of communication as meaningful contexts for discussing the dynamics of folklore theory and methods.

Music Preservation and Archiving Today

Norie GuthrieLanguage Arts & Disciplines
Music Preservation and Archiving Today

Author: Norie Guthrie

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

ISBN: 9781538102954

Category: Language Arts & Disciplines

Page: 211

View: 967

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Music Preservation and Archiving Today moves beyond the how-to and assembles the work currently being done to preserve music and "scenes" via essays, case studies, and overviews of work by academic archives as well as community­driven preservation projects.

Genealogy and the Librarian

Carol SmallwoodLanguage Arts & Disciplines
Genealogy and the Librarian

Author: Carol Smallwood

Publisher: McFarland

ISBN: 9781476670874

Category: Language Arts & Disciplines

Page: 302

View: 752

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Covering trends, issues and case studies, this collection presents 34 new essays by library professionals actively engaged in helping patrons with genealogy research across the United States. Topics include strategies for finding military and court records, mapping family migration and settlement, creating and accessing local digital services, and developing materials and instruction for patrons. Forewordist D. Joshua Taylor, host of Genealogy Roadshow and president of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, notes: "The increasing popularity of the topic requires that any librarian who encounters genealogical customers remain on the forefront of new developments in the field."

Folklore in Baltic History

Sadhana NaithaniSocial Science
Folklore in Baltic History

Author: Sadhana Naithani

Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

ISBN: 9781496823588

Category: Social Science

Page: 128

View: 819

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Folklore in the Baltic History: Resistance and Resurgence is about the role of folklore, folklore archives, and folklore studies in the contemporary history of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—together called the Baltic countries. They were occupied by Russia, by Germany, and lastly by the USSR at the end of the Second World War. They regained freedom in 1991. The period under the rule of the USSR brought several changes to their societies and cultures. Individuals and institutions dealing with folklore—archives, university departments, and folklorists—came under special control, attack, and surveillance. Some of the pioneer folklorists escaped to other countries, but many others witnessed their institutions and the meaning of folklore studies transformed. The USSR did not stop folklore studies but led the field to new methods. In spite of all the pressure, folklore continued to be a matter of identity, and folksongs became the marching songs of crowds resisting Soviet control in the late 1980s. Since independence in 1991, folklore scholars and institutions revamped and reconstituted folkloristics. Today all three countries have many active scholars and institutions. Sadhana Naithani recounts this resilient arc through an intermedial and interdisciplinary methodology of research. She combines the study of written works, archival documents, life-stories, and conversations with folklorists, ethnologists, archivists, and historians in Tartu, Riga, and Vilnius. She recorded conversations on video, creating current reflections on issues of the recent past. Based on the study of life-stories and oral history projects, Naithani juxtaposes the history of folkloristics and the life of the folk in the Soviet period of the Baltic countries. The result is this dramatic, first-ever history of Baltic folkloristics.

Memory in the Wild

Brady WagonerPsychology
Memory in the Wild

Author: Brady Wagoner

Publisher: IAP

ISBN: 9781648020728

Category: Psychology

Page: 315

View: 994

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Venturing out of the laboratory into the wild of natural settings, it becomes untenable to locate memory strictly in the head. Instead, memory appears as a materially extended and socially distributed process, embedded within culture and history. This book explores the complex relations between practices of remembering and the settings in which they are enacted. It advances a novel set of concepts developed from ecological, cognitive, cultural and narrative currents in psychology and further afield to analyze (1) trajectories of autobiographical remembering, (2) the relation between individual and collective memory, (3) memory and cultural transmission, as well as (4) various methodological techniques to investigate memory in the wild.

The Folk

Ross ColeMusic
The Folk

Author: Ross Cole

Publisher: Univ of California Press

ISBN: 9780520383746

Category: Music

Page: 275

View: 735

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"Who were 'the folk'? This question has haunted generations of radicals and reactionaries alike. The Folk traces the musical culture of these elusive figures in Britain and the US during a crucial period from 1870 to 1930, and beyond to the contemporary alt-right. It follows an insistent set of disputes surrounding the practice of collecting, ideas of racial belonging, the poetics of nostalgia, and the pre-history of European fascism. It is the biography of a people who exist only as a symptom of the modern imagination and the archaeology of a landscape directing the flow of global politics today"--