Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgments 000 Preface 000 1 Folklore 000 What is folklore? 000 A working definition 000 Scholarly definitions of folklore 000 Genres of folklore 000 Defining folklore beyond genre labels: texts and contexts 000 A brief history of folklore study 000 2 Groups 000 What is a folk group? 000 Definitions 000 How folk groups form 000 Self-identification and group membership 000 Family, school and occupational groups 000 Family 000 School groups 000 Occupational groups 000 Example: folklore in the music store 000 Groups and belief 000 Example: belief and contemporary legends 000 3 Tradition 000 What is tradition? 000 Tradition is both lore and process 000 Tradition helps to create and confirm a sense of identity 000 Identified as a tradition by the community 000 How do people learn and share traditions? 000 Example: Tradition in our daily lives 000 Do traditions disappear? 000 Dynamic and conservative elements of tradition 000 Inventing tradition 000 The question of authenticity 000 Example: traditions in folk art 000 4 Ritual 000 What is ritual? 000 Low-context and high-context rituals 000 Invented ritual 000 The question of belief in sacred and secular rituals 000 Liminality and ritual space 000 Types of rituals 000 Rites of passage 000 Coming of age rituals 000 Initiation rituals 000 Naming rituals 000 Example: rituals and private and public identity 000 5 Performance 000 What is performance? 000 Example: a proverbial performance 000 The study of performance 000 Performance texts 000 Texture 000 Context 000 Physical context 000 Social context 000 Recognizing texts in context: performance markers/framing 000 Reflexivity 000 Emergence 000 Folklore that pushes the boundaries 000 Example: performance that transcends roles and rules 000 Aesthetics 000 Critic v. group consensus 000 Traditionality 000 Skill 000 Practicality 000 The nature of aesthetic response 000 Personal narrative in performance 000 6 Approaches to interpreting folklore 000 Functionalism 000 Structuralism 000 Psychoanalytic interpretation 000 Post-structuralist approaches 000 Feminist interpretations 000 Reciprocal ethnography 000 Intersectionality 000 7 Fieldwork and ethnography 000 Collecting data: the nuts and bolts of fieldwork 000 Accessing information 000 Getting started on fieldwork 000 Developing and asking good questions 000 Some types of questions: 000 Example: using open-ended questions 000 Field notes 000 Example: write-up of field notes 000 Transcribing and transcripts 000 Returning from the field: follow-up research 000 The people factor: interpersonal and ethical concerns 000 Insider and outsider roles 000 Observation and participant-observation roles 000 Rapport: creating and understanding researcher-consultant; relationships 000 Example: complex relationships and responsibilities. 000 Ethics 000 8 Examples of folklore projects 000 One of the guys (Joe Ringler) 000 Gay rituals: outing, biking, and sewing (Mickey Weems) 000 Roadside memorials: material focus of love, devotion, and remembrance (Gary E. A. Saum) 000 The art of gunsmithing in central Ohio: Heritage Gunsmiths, Inc. (Kevin Eyster) 000 9 Suggestions for activities and projects 000 Group and classroom activities 000 Personal reflection 000 Library research 000 Fieldwork projects 000 Integrated projects-bringing it all together 000 Notes 000 References 000 Index 000

Reviews

Students are going to love this book: the examples will stimulate their interest in other cultures, and the approaches to the study of folklore will open up new meanings in their own lives. The authors draw upon their extensive teaching experience and in-depth scholarly research to produce a textbook that sets a new standard for introductory folklore courses.