ENG 6613 Seminar

Special Topics: Folklore

Monday, 5-7:50 P.M., W329

Instructor: Richard Burns Email: rburns@astate.edu Web-site: www.clt.astate.edu/rburns

Office: W 213 Office Hours: TR 11-12 PM., 3:30-4:30 P.M., M 3:30-4:30 PM,

and by appointment (972-2164)

Folklore denotes a body of materials, expressive products like slang, proverbs, games, songs, jokes, costumes, myths, etc. Folklore products are traditional and social rather than creative and individualistic; their use is an intimate part of a group’s everyday life. Folkloristics is the study of folklore, the serious intellectual attempt to examine the forms, histories, referents, and functions of folklore products in their natural contexts. Readings and discussions will generate a systematic overview of the major issues and relevant theoretical perspectives that have characterized the study of folklore, that is, to enable students to understand how and why the discipline has developed to the point where it is, and to familiarize them with the major scholars.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Bauman, Richard. Verbal Art as Performance. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland, 1977 [1984].

Belanus, Betty J. Seasonal. Round Barn Press, 2002.

Clements, William M., ed. 100 Years of American Folklore Studies: A Conceptual History. Washington, D.C. A Centennial Publication of the American Folklore Society, 1988.

Dorson, Richard. American Folklore. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977 [1959].

Hurston, Zora Neale. Mules and Men. New York: Harper, 1990 [1935].

Montell, Lynwood. The Saga of Coe Ridge: A Study in Oral History. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1995 [1970].

READINGS ON RESERVE

(Dean B. Ellis Library)

Bascom, William. "Four Functions of Folklore," Journal of American Folklore (1954) vol. 67. pp. 333-49.

Bauman, Richard, ed. "Toward New Perspectives in Folklore." Special Issue of the Journal of American Folklore (1971), vol. 84, no. 331.

Briggs, Charles, and Amy Shuman, eds. Theorizing Folklore: Toward New Perspectives on the Politics of Culture. Special Issue of Western Folklore, (1993) vol. 52. Recommended.

Minton, John. "The Waterman Train Wreck: Tracking a Folksong in Deep East Texas. Journal of Folklore Research. (1991), vol. 28, no. 2-3, pp. 179-219.

Wilson, William A. "Herder, Folklore, and Romantic Nationalism," Folk Groups and Folk Genres: A Reader, Oring, Elliott, ed., Logan: Utah State University Press, 1989, pp. 21-37.

_____ Documenting Folklore. In Folk Groups and Folklore Genres. Elliot Oring, ed. Logan: Utah State University, 1986, pp. 225-254

Feintuch, Burt, ed., "Common Ground: Keywords for the Study of Expressive Culture." Special Issue of the Journal of American Folklore (1995), vol. 108, no. 430, pp. 391-549.

COURSE ORGANIZATION

Beginning with the third week of class, each session will be devoted to a specific approach or theme. Each topic will be the subject of one or more seminars, and each seminar will be coordinated and led by a member of the class who should have a comprehensive command of the material under discussion. The coordinator will be responsible for eliciting and directing discussion and for seeing that essential points are covered. The coordinator should bring to the discussion a handout of some kind: a list of topics or an outline, for example. You should get together with your colleagues about the use and availability of materials on reserve at the library. Please do not check out reserve materials and hold them for your personal use.

You will be graded on your job as a seminar leader. Along with the degree of your active participation in other sessions, this will count as one short paper. Other requirements of the course include four short papers and a final exam. Two of the four short papers (no less than 5 or more than 10 pages) may be done on any topics suggested by the readings covered since the last assignment. Two of the papers should be essays rather than reading reports, but they must show a grasp of the readings. Note that the second paper will be based on folklore documentation, whereas the third paper will be a performance-oriented approach to folklore (more on that later). The final examination will require more specific knowledge of your reading assignments. (See the Schedule of Topics and References paper due dates). A late paper will receive a 10% reduction in grade and will not be accepted if more than one week late. Course grades will be averaged as follows: average of short papers plus discussion evaluation 60%; final exam 40%.

SCHEDULES OF TOPICS AND REFERENCES

Aug. 23: Introductory Remarks –- Folklore and the Study of Folklore

Handout: Elliot Oring, “On the Concept of Folklore.” In Folk Groups and Folklore Genres,

Aug. 30: Folklorists and Representations of The Folk

FIRST SESSION

African-American Folktales: Hurston, Mules and Men, Part I.

SECOND SESSION

Folk Beliefs: Hurston, Mules and Men, Part II.

Sept. 13: Richard Dorson, History, and American Folklore

FIRST SESSION

Dorson, “The Negro,” in American Folklore, pp. 166-198.

SECOND SESSION

Dorson, American Folklore (all).

Sept. 20: Folk Culture and Oral History

FIRST SESSION

Montell, The Saga of Coe Ridge, pp. viii-191.

SECOND SESSION

Montell, Epilogue: The Contribution of Oral Tradition to History, The Saga of Coe Ridge.

Sept. 27: Folk Culture and Oral History (cont'd) SHORT PAPER I

FIRST SESSION:

Case study: Minton, "The Waterman Train Wreck: Tracking a Folksong in Deep East Texas."

SECOND SESSION:

Questions of Function: Bascom's Four Functions of Folklore.

Oct. 4: Folktales, Legends, and the Motif Index

FIRST SESSION:

Documenting Folklore and discussion of Paper #2. William A. Wilson, "Documenting Folklore." In Folk Groups and Folklore Genres.

SECOND SESSION:

Using Motif Indices. Be familiar with Stith Thiompson's Motif Index of Folk Literature and Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson's The Types of the Folktale. These are reference works available in the library

Oct. 11: New Perspectives in Folklore - The Young Turks

FIRST SESSION:

Taking stock of the discipline: Bauman, ed. Toward New Perspectives in Folklore, "Foreword," "Introduction," and articles by Paredes, Bauman, Ben-Amos, and Abrahams, pp. iii-50.

SECOND SESSION:

Bauman , ed., Toward New Perspectives in Folklore, article by Dundes, pp. 93-103..

Oct. 18: Performance-Centered Approaches to Folklore SHORT PAPER II

FIRST SESSION

Bauman, Verbal Art as Performance, pp. vii-58.

SECOND SESSION

Case studies: Bauman, ed. Verbal Art as Performance, pp. 61-150. Discussion of Paper #3.

Oct. 25: Folklore Performance (continued)

FIRST SESSION

A Re-assessment of Bauman's Verbal Art as Performance. Selections from Theorizing Folklore: Toward New Perspectives on the Politics of Culture. Shuman and Briggs, "Introduction" (109-134); Mills, "Feminist Theory and the Study of Folklore: A Twenty Year Trajectory" (173-192); Ben-Amos, "'Context' in Context" (209-226) Baron, "Multi-Paradigm Discipline, Interdisciplinary Field, Peering Through and Around the Interstices" (227-245); Mechling, "On Sharing Folklore and American Identity in a Multicultural Society" (271-289). In Special Issue of Western Folklore, vol. 52 (1993),

SECOND SESSION

A Re-assessment of Bauman's Verbal Art as Performance. Selections from Theorizing Folklore: Toward New Perspectives on the Politics of Culture. Brenneis, "Some Contributions of Folklore to Social Theory: Aesthetics and Politics in a Translocal World (291-302); Hanson, "Reconceiving the Shape of Culture: Folklore and Public Culture" (327-344); Shuman, "Dismantling Local Culture; (345-364); Ritchie, "Ventriloquist Folklore: Who Speaks for Representation?" (365-378); Abrahams, "After New Perspectives: Folklore Study in the Late Twentieth Century" (379-400). In Special Issue of Western Folklore, vol. 52 (1993),

Nov. 1: Folklore on Display and Dialogues in Folklore

FIRST SESSION

Guest Speaker: Judy Peiser, Director of the Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis.

SECOND SESSION

Dialogues in Folklore: Lawless, "From the Editor" and "Introduction," Rudy, "Toward an Assessment of Verbal Art as Performance: A Cross-Disciplinary Citation Study with Rhetorical Analysis," and Sawin, "Performance at the Nexus of Gender, Power, and Desire: Reconsidering Bauman's Verbal Art from the Perspective of Gendered Subjectivity as Performance, JAF, Vol. 115, No. 455, pp. 3-61.

Nov. 8: Folklore on Display and Dialogues in Folklore (cont'd) SHORT PAPER III

FIRST SESSION

Guest Speaker: Dr. Alan Govenar of Dallas, Texas, president and founder of Documentary Arts, Inc., a non-profit organization founded in 1985 to present new perspectives on different cultures

SECOND SESSION

Dialogues in Folklore: Berger and Del Negro, "Bauman's Verbal Art and the Social Organization of Attention: The Role of Reflexivity in the Aesthetics of Performance," and Bauman's "Response," JAF, vol. 115, No. 255, pp. 62-98.

Nov. 15: A History of American Folklore Scholarship: 1888-1988

FIRST SESSION

Clements, ed. 100 Years of American Folklore Studies: A Conceptual History, Part I.

Wilson, "Herder, Folklore, and Romantic Nationalism."

SECOND SESSION

Clements, ed. 100 Years of American Folklore Studies: A Conceptual History, Parts II and III

Nov 22: Concepts of the Folklorist

FIRST SESSION

Clements, ed. 100 Years of American Folklore Studies: A Conceptual History, Part IV.

SECOND SESSION

Belanus, Seasonal.

Nov. 29: Key Terms in Current Folklore Scholarship

FIRST SESSION

Tradition, Text, and Group: Feintuch, Burt, ed. "Common Ground: Keywords for the Study of Expressive Culture." Special Issue of the Journal of American Folklore pp. 391-478.

SECOND SESSION

Tradition, Text, and Group: Feintuch, Burt, ed. "Common Ground: Keywords for the Study of Expressive Culture." Special Issue of the Journal of American Folklore pp. 479-549. SHORT PAPER IV

Dec. 13: Final Exam (5-7 P.M.)