On postmodern folklore
Article Abstract:
Postmodern folklore can be conceptualized using a three-level scheme, in which the first level is the traditional production of lore by a folk and the second level involves academic study of first-level folklore. At the third, postmodern level, first-level folklore becomes an object of consumption, typically through therapeutic use for self-fulfillment, rather than an object of knowledge. Postmodern folklore also blurs boundaries between high and popular culture. Examples of postmodern folklore include rites-of-passage organizations, folklorized festivals and new symbolic political identities.
Publication Name: Western Folklore
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0043-373X
Year: 1991
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Knockers, knackers, and ghosts: immigrant folklore in the Western mines
Article Abstract:
Belief in mining spirits known as Tommyknockers was brought to the US by Cornish immigrants, but underwent some changes in the new environment. In Cornwall, the Tommyknockers were believed to be spirits of Jewish miners thought to have worked in the mines during the Middle Ages, but they also resembled elves. In the US, the Tommyknockers were believed to be ghosts of dead miners. In Cornwall their main function was to reward good and punish evil whereas in the US they warned miners of danger. The differences may reflect contrasts between peasant and modern world views.
Publication Name: Western Folklore
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0043-373X
Year: 1992
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