Introduction

Interest in, and the study of, the ancient beliefs, traditional practices and oral culture of the peoples of Europe has a long history, but it was only in the nineteenth-century that these things began to become the subject of serious scholarly attention. The term "Folk-lore" was coined by William John Thoms in 1846, but while the study of folk tales and traditions quickly became academically respectable in Central Europe, Scandinavia and elsewhere, it struggled to find a place within British academia. At the same time, collections of tales such as the Brothers Grimm's Kinder und Hausmarchen (1819) and Elias Lonnrot's Kalevala (1835), as well as studies such as Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough (1890) and Margaret Murray's The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921), reached a wide popular audience and had a huge influence on culture outside the academy.

In this seminar we will look at the development of folklore as a field of academic study and its relationship with other disciplines, and consider some of the controversies and debates that have arisen in the discipline.

Seminar Question

• What stimulated academic interest in folklore in 19th century Europe?
• How and why did the study of folklore develop differently in different countries?
• Assess the wider impact of folklore studies on European culture.

Required Reading

Burke, Peter, 'History and Folklore: A Historiographical SurveyLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', Folklore 115/2 (2004), 133–139

Taylor, Archer, 'Characteristics of German Folklore Studies',Link opens in a new window The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 85, No. 337 (1961), pp. 293-301

'Folklore: More than Just a Word',Link opens in a new window The Folklore Podcast, Episode 15 (14/2/2017)

Further Reading

Ben-Amos, Dan, "The Idea of Folklore: An Essay." In Ben-Ami, I. and Dan, J. (Eds.), Studies in Aggadah and Jewish Folklore (1983), pp. 11-17Link opens in a new window

Bendix, Regina, In Search of Authenticity: The Formation of Folklore StudiesLink opens in a new window (Madison, WI, 1997)

Bendix, Regina, 'From Volkskunde to the "Field of Many Names": Folklore Studies in German-Speaking Europe since 1945' in Bendix, R. and Hasan-Rokem, G. (eds.), A Companion to Folklore (Malden, MA, 2012)Link opens in a new window

Briody, Michael, The Irish Folklore Commission, 1935-1970: History, Ideology, Methodology (Helsinki, 2016) Chapter IILink opens in a new window

Bronner, Simon J., 'Introduction' in Folklore: The Basics (London, 2017).Link opens in a new window

Brunvand, Jan H., 'The Study of Romanian Folklore', Journal of the Folklore Institute, Vol. 9, No. 2/3 (1972), pp. 133-161Link opens in a new window

Cirese, Alberto, 'Folklore in Italy: A Historical and Systematic Profile and Bibliography', Journal of the Folklore Institute, Vol. 11, No. 1/2 (1974), pp. 7-79Link opens in a new window

Degh, Linda, 'Folklore and Related Disciplines in Eastern Europe', Journal of the Folklore Institute, Vol. 2, No. 2 (1965), pp. 103-119Link opens in a new window

Dorson, Richard M., 'Is Folklore a Discipline?', Folklore, Vol. 84, No. 3 (1973), pp. 177-205Link opens in a new window

Gunnell, Terry, 'Grimm Ripples: The Role of the Grimms Deutsche Sagen in the Collection and Creation of National Folk Narratives in Northern Europe', in Folklore and Nation in Britain and Ireland, ed. Matthew Cheeseman and Carina Hart (London, 2022), 22-47Link opens in a new window

Harvilathi, Lauri, 'Finland' in Bendix, R. and Hasan-Rokem, G. (eds.), A Companion to Folklore (Malden, MA, 2012)Link opens in a new window

Anne Markey, 'The Discovery of Irish Folklore', New Hibernia Review / Iris Eacuteireannach Nua, Vol. 10, No. 4 (2006), pp. 21-43Link opens in a new window

Mitchell, Stephen A., 'Folklore Studies', in Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies Interdisciplinary ApproachesLink opens in a new window, ed. Jürg Glauser, Pernille Hermann and Stephen A. Mitchell (Amsterdam, 2019), pp. 93-106

O'Giollain, Diarmud, 'Ireland' in Bendix, R. and Hasan-Rokem, G. (eds.), A Companion to Folklore (Malden, MA, 2012)Link opens in a new window

Sims, Martha C. and Stephens, Martine, 'A Brief History of Folklore Study' in Living Folklore: An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions (Logan, Utah, 2011), pp. 21-9

Walsham, Alexandra, 'Recording Superstition in Early Modern Britain: The Origins of Folklore', Past & Present 199, supplement 3 (2008), 178–206

Wilson, William A., 'The Deeper Necessity: Folklore and the Humanities' in Wilson, William A. The marrow of human experience : essays on folklore (Logan, UT, 2006)Link opens in a new window

Wilson, William A., 'Building Bridges: Folklore in the Academy' in Wilson, William A. The marrow of human experience : essays on folklore (Logan, UT, 2006)Link opens in a new window

Electronic Resources

Alison Petch, 'English Folklorists', England: The Other Within - Analysing the English Collections at the Pitt Rivers MuseumLink opens in a new window