Topic drift: negotiating the gap between the field and our name

Article Abstract:

The history of both the study called folklore and the subject of that study is instructive for those fearing that the discipline could vanish in the modern university. The construction of folklore as a subject distinct from its predecessors in the 19th century was predicated upon the necessity of salvaging a romantic and rural past in England. With the advent of cultural studies in modern universities, and the explosion of world cultures and immigrant arts and letters, the study of folklore seems to have been jostled from the podium, and folklorists will need to consider evolving or facing extinction.

Analysis, Forecasts and trends, Universities and colleges, Learning, Learning and scholarship, Scholarship (Research)

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Theorizing trivia: a thought experiment

Article Abstract:

Folklorists, who have seen their study of choice increasingly marginalized in the discourse if the modern university, should cease to seek universal significance in the objects they study, and admit that folklore is the study of trivial events and objects. Such an admission would not necessarily harm their long-term prospects, since most people admit that folklore studies are interesting because of their trivial nature. In addition, folklorists could claim that their study of seemingly trivial habits and pastimes opens up new analyses for the study of modern society.

Beliefs, opinions and attitudes, Folklorists

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A view from the library

Article Abstract:

A survey of folklore literature reveals that folk literature remains a multidisciplinary, vital topic of folklore studies. Of the works located dealing with folk literature, many were written by non-folklorists. Likewise, an analysis of the career of folklorists reveals that many are sharing their knowledge from position in other departments, such as literature and linguistics.

Literature, Folk literature, Literature and folklore

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