Advancing Folkloristics
248
Advancing Folkloristics
248eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
An unprecedented number of folklorists are addressing issues of class, race, gender, and sexuality in academic and public spaces in the US, raising the question: How can folklorists contribute to these contemporary political affairs? Since the nature of folkloristics transcends binaries, can it help others develop critical personal narratives?
Advancing Folkloristics covers topics such as queer, feminist, and postcolonial scholarship in folkloristics. Contributors investigate how to apply folkloristic approaches in nonfolklore classrooms, how to maintain a folklorist identity without a "folklorist" job title, and how to use folkloristic knowledge to interact with others outside of the discipline. The chapters, which range from theoretical reorientations to personal experiences of folklore work, all demonstrate the kinds of work folklorists are well-suited to and promote the areas in which folkloristics is poised to expand and excel.
Advancing Folkloristics presents a clear picture of folklore studies today and articulates how it must adapt in the future.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780253057112 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Indiana University Press |
| Publication date: | 08/03/2021 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 248 |
| File size: | 13 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Jesse A. Fivecoate is a doctoral candidate in folklore at Indiana University, Bloomington. In 2018, he received the Dorson Dissertation Prize from the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. Kristina Downs is Managing Editor of the Journal of Folklore Research. She is also creator and host of the Crimelore podcast. Meredith A. E. McGriff is Membership Director of the American Folklore Society and co-founder of Hoosier Films. She is author of The Michiana Potters: Art, Community, and Collaboration in the Midwest.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Challenges and Possibilities across Boundaries, by Margaret A. Mills
Acknowledgments
Envisioning a Future Folkloristics, by Jesse A. Fivecoate, Kristina Downs, and Meredith A. E. McGriff
1. Deep Folklore/Queer Folkloristics, by Kay Turner
2. "An Epidemic of Meanings": The Tenuous Nature of Public Intellectualism, Reflexivity, and Belief Scholarship, by Andrea Kitta
3. Expanding the Territory, by Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby
4. The Politics of Trivialization, by Jesse A. Fivecoate, Kristina Downs, and Meredith A. E. McGriff
5. The Folklorization of Queer Theory: Public Spaces, Pride, and Gay Neoliberalism, by Cory W. Thorne and Guillermo De Los Reyes
6. Yemayá's Fury: Residual Flows, Ecological Disaster, and Folklore Futures, by Solimar Otero
7. Infusing Public Folklore Work into Academe: Experiencing the In-Between, by Gregory Hansen
8. Folklorists as Curators: Exploring the Four Cs, by Betty J. Belanus
9. Culturally Conscious Collaborations at the Nexus of Folklore, Education, and Social Justice: Lessons and Questions for Folkloristic Praxis, by Phyllis M. May-Machunda
10. The Power of Folkloristics at the Intersection of Affect, Narrative, and Performance in the College Classroom, by Anthony Guest-Scott
11. The Folkloristic Diaspora: On Being a Folklorist in a Black Studies Department, by Anika Wilson
12. Standing with Others: Folklorists in the Midst of Home, by Wanda G. Addison
13. Disruptive Folklore, Debra Lattanzi Shutika
14. Talking Folklore: Getting Others to Take the Discipline Seriously while Remaining a Serious Folklorist, by Andrea Kitta, Lynne S. McNeill, and Trevor J. Blank
Afterword: Advancing Folkloristics, by Norma E. Cantú
Index
What People are Saying About This
"A powerful call for action."
A powerful call for action.
A powerful call for action.
Contributors to this volume make a persuasive case for the current and future value of folklorists' expertise in vernacular creativity and of our immersive, vulnerable research methodologies. The marginalization and trivialization of our discipline and its subject matter, they insist, actually position folklorists both to deconstruct increasingly influential vernacular practices and to enhance the relevance of humanities scholarship to naming and correcting contemporary social problems. Essential reading for students, scholars, and allies of folklore.
This book should be required reading for all students seeking graduate degrees in Folklore Studies. Before writing a thesis or dissertation, and most certainly before applying for or accepting positions as folklorists, students should digest the chapters in this collection of essays and discuss them thoroughly with their peers and their teachers. To ignore the wisdom and cautions included in Advancing Folkloristics would be to invite career struggles that could hinder, frustrate, and destroy their dreams of becoming successful folklorists in a world that holds little, if any, serious regard for a field that can so easily be trivialized, largely from lack of knowledge about the field itself or a blatant disregard for cultural diversity and community traditions in general. No matter where folklorists find themselves, whether it be the lone folklorist in an English Department (or an entire university), a state humanities or arts organization, or a local or national museum, folklorists often find themselves lonely and vulnerable, literally fighting for our jobs because our work rarely looks like the work of others in the organizations where we find ourselves. Addressing the issues examined in this collection long before they become very real, everyday concerns will bolster our enthusiasm for the field of Folklore Studies while also providing a smoother path on the journey of learning how to be a good folklorist.
This book should be required reading for all students seeking graduate degrees in Folklore Studies. Before writing a thesis or dissertation, and most certainly before applying for or accepting positions as folklorists, students should digest the chapters in this collection of essays and discuss them thoroughly with their peers and their teachers. To ignore the wisdom and cautions included in Advancing Folkloristics would be to invite career struggles that could hinder, frustrate, and destroy their dreams of becoming successful folklorists in a world that holds little, if any, serious regard for a field that can so easily be trivialized, largely from lack of knowledge about the field itself or a blatant disregard for cultural diversity and community traditions in general. No matter where folklorists find themselves, whether it be the lone folklorist in an English Department (or an entire university), a state humanities or arts organization, or a local or national museum, folklorists often find themselves lonely and vulnerable, literally fighting for our jobs because our work rarely looks like the work of others in the organizations where we find ourselves. Addressing the issues examined in this collection long before they become very real, everyday concerns will bolster our enthusiasm for the field of Folklore Studies while also providing a smoother path on the journey of learning how to be a good folklorist.
Advancing Folkloristics is an admirable guide to the futures of our field. It honors predecessors' approaches and maps new ones, recognizes gaps and blind spots and illustrates present-day work to remedy them, advances expansive conceptions of the roles of tradition, and evidences the value of folklore studies' key concepts to the understanding of everyday life.