Politics and Folklore

Introduction

Folklore has often played an important role in politics. Political institutions and groups have their own rituals and traditions (think of the state opening of parliament), while parties, movements and regimes have also sought to draw on folklore as a legitimising and mobilising force. In this seminar we will explore the relationship(s) between folklore and politics.

Seminar Questions

What role does myth, ritual and tradition play in political discourse and practice?
How has folklore been used by political parties, movements and regimes?

Required Reading

Danglova, Olga, 'Popular Traditions, Folklore and Politics', Human Affairs, 19 (2009), pp. 329-340Link opens in a new window

Christa Kamenetsky, 'Folklore as a Political Tool in Nazi Germany', The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 85, No. 337 (1972), pp. 221-235Link opens in a new window

Peterken, Tabitha, 'Bloody Europe: Brexit and the Making of a Myth', in Folklore and Nation in Britain and Ireland, ed. Matthew Cheeseman and Carina Hart (London, 2022), 219-231Link opens in a new window

Favretto, Ilaria, 'Introduction: Looking Backward to Move Forward: Why Appreciating Tradition Can Improve Our Understanding of Modern Protest', in Protest, Popular Culture and Tradition in Modern and Contemporary Western Europe, ed. Ilaria Favretto and Xabier Itcaina (London, 2017), 1-20Link opens in a new window

Favretto, Ilaria, and Marco Fincardi, 'Carnivalesque and Charivari Repertoires in 1960s and 1970s Italian Protest', in Protest, Popular Culture and Tradition in Modern and Contemporary Western Europe, ed. Ilaria Favretto and Xabier Itcaina (London, 2017), 149-83Link opens in a new window

Marcin, Pisarski, 'What is the Contemporary Political Myth', Przegląd Narodowościowy, Vol 10, No. 1 (2020), pp. 211-224Link opens in a new window

Gibson, Marion, Shelley Trower and Garry Tregidga, eds, Mysticism, Myth and Celtic Identity (London, 2013)Link opens in a new window

Hart, Carina, 'Folkloric Landscapes and the Heroic Outlaw: Robin Hood, Boris Johnson and Extinction Rebellion', in Folklore and Nation in Britain and Ireland, ed. Matthew Cheeseman and Carina Hart (London, 2022), 232-245Link opens in a new window

Hartley-Moore, Julie, 'The Song of Gryon: Political Ritual, Local Identity, and the Consolidation of Nationalism in Multiethnic Switzerland', The Journal of American Folklore 120/476 (2007), 204–29Link opens in a new window

Itcaina, Xabier, 'Conclusion: Popular Culture, Folk Traditions and Protest: A Research Agenda', in Protest, Popular Culture and Tradition in Modern and Contemporary Western Europe, ed. Ilaria Favretto and Xabier Itcaina (London, 2017), 229-48Link opens in a new window

Itcaina, Xabier, 'Popular Justice and Informal Politics: The Charivari in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century France', in Protest, Popular Culture and Tradition in Modern and Contemporary Western Europe, ed. Ilaria Favretto and Xabier Itcaina (London, 2017), 185-207Link opens in a new window

Meheux, Katie, 'A Scottish Volk? Folklore, Anthropology, Race and Nationalism in Inter-War Scotland', in Folklore and Nation in Britain and Ireland, ed. Matthew Cheeseman and Carina Hart (London, 2022), 146-162Link opens in a new window

Miller, Frank J. Folklore for Stalin (New York, 1990)

Nyzell, Stefan, 'A Fight for the Right to Get Drunk: The Autumn Fair Riot in Eskilstuna, 1937', in Protest, Popular Culture and Tradition in Modern and Contemporary Western Europe, ed. Ilaria Favretto and Xabier Itcaina (London, 2017), 89-102Link opens in a new window

Oinas, Felix J., 'Folklore and Politics in the Soviet Union', Slavic Review, Vol. 32, No. 1 (1973), pp. 45 - 58Link opens in a new window

Oinas, Felix J., 'The Political Uses and Themes of Folklore in the Soviet Union', Journal of the Folklore Institute, Vol. 12, No. 2/3 (1975), pp. 157-175Link opens in a new window

Perry, Joe, 'Nazifying Christmas: Popular Culture and Popular Celebration in the Third Reich', Central European History, 38/4 (2005), 572-605Link opens in a new window

Polese, Abel, ed., Identity and Nation Building in Everyday Post-Socialist Life (London, 2017)Link opens in a new window

Rosen, Michael (ed.), Worker's Tales: Socialist Fairy Tales, Fables, and Allegories from Great Britain (Princeton, 2018)Link opens in a new window

Simeone, William E., 'Fascists and Folklorists in Italy', Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 91, No. 359 (1978), pp. 543-557Link opens in a new window

Silverman, Carol, 'The Politics of Folklore in Bulgaria', Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 56, No. 2 (1983), pp. 55-61Link opens in a new window

Tudor, Henry, Political Myth (Pall Mall Press, 1972)

Tismaneanu, Vladimir, Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism, and Myth in Post-Communist Europe (Princeton, 2009)Link opens in a new window

Wilson, Andrew Fergus, 'Our Community Could Start Our Own Traditions: The Commingling of Religion, Politics and the Folkloresque in a Far-Right Groupuscule', in Folklore and Nation in Britain and Ireland, ed. Matthew Cheeseman and Carina Hart (London, 2022), 246-61Link opens in a new window

Young, Francis, Magic in Merlin's Realm: A History of Occult Politics in Britain (Cambridge, 2022)Link opens in a new window

Zipes, Jack (ed.), Fairy Tales and Fables from Weimar Days (Springer, 2018)Link opens in a new window

Zur Muhlen, Hermynia, The Castle of Truth and Other Revolutionary Tales (Princeton, 2020)Link opens in a new window

Department of History

Politics and Folklore

Introduction

Seminar Questions

Required Reading

Further Reading

Electronic Resources