Introduction

This is the last of five seminars which discuss the sources available to the historian of folklore. In this seminar we look at material culture, including architecture, art, clothing, and household objects.

Seminar Question

What are the advantages and disadvantages of material culture as a source for the historian of folklore in Europe?

Required Reading and Activities

• Each of you should read:

Löfgren, Orvar, 'Material Culture', in Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan-Rokem, eds, A Companion to FolkloreLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window (Malden, MA, 2012),169-183.

• Each of you should choose and examine one type of household objects from this listLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window.
• Each of you should choose and analyse one item in EITHER the British Folk Art Collection, Compton VerneyLink opens in a new window OR the Ethnographic Museum in BelgradeLink opens in a new window OR the Lithuanian Art Fund (folk sculptureLink opens in a new window and folk paintingLink opens in a new window) OR the National Museums Northern IrelandLink opens in a new window (folklife and emigration) OR the Oravská galéria v Dolnom Kubíne, SlovakiaLink opens in a new window OR The State Ethnographic Museum in WarsawLink opens in a new window

Further Reading

Alcock, N. W., People at Home: Living in a Warwickshire Village, 1500-1800 (London, 1993)

Barley, M. W., Houses and History (London, 1986)

Bourne, Henry, Arcadia Britannica: A Modern British Folklore Portrait (London, 2015)

Brunskill, R. W., Houses and Cottages of Britain: Origins and Development of Traditional Buildings (London, 2000)

Brunskill, R. W., Illustrated Handbook of Vernacular Architecture, 3rd ed. (London, 1987)

Brunskill, R. W., Traditional Buildings of Britain: An Introduction to Vernacular Architecture (London, 1981)

Cherry, Martin, and Adrian Green, 'Vernacular Architecture at 50: Towards the Study of Buildings in ContextLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', Vernacular Architecture, 50:1, (2019), 1-17

Dyer, Christopher, 'History and Vernacular ArchitectureLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', Vernacular Architecture 28:1 (1997), 1-8.

Geering, Corinne, '"Is This Not Just Nationalism?" Disentangling the Threads of Folk Costumes in the History of Central and Eastern EuropeLink opens in a new window', Nationalities Papers, 50/4 (2022), 722-741

Gorzelik, Jerzy, 'Heritagising the Vernacular in a Central European Borderland: Wooden Churches and Open-Air Museums in Upper SilesiaLink opens in a new window', Muzeológia a kultúrne dedičstvo 9/1 (2021), 63-79

Handley, Sasha, 'Objects, Emotions and an Early Modern Bed-sheetLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', History Workshop Journal 85 (2018),169–194.

Hannan, Leonie, and Sarah Longair, History Through Material Culture (Manchester, 2017)

Hannant, Sara, Mummers, Maypoles and Milkmaids: A Journey Through the English Ritual Year (London, 2011)

Hoggard, Brian, Magical House Protection: The Archaeology of Counter-WitchcraftLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window (Oxford, 2019)

Johnson, Matthew H., English Houses, 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow, 2010)

Johnson, Matthew, 'Vernacular Architecture: the Loss of InnocenceLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', Vernacular Architecture 28 (1997), 13-19

McMillan, Jeff, Martin Myrone, and Ruth Kenny, British Folk Art (London, 2014)

Main, Veronica, 'Corn Dollies: Searching for the Seed of TruthLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', Folk Life 37:1 (1998), 44-63

Mercer, Eric, 'The Unfulfilled Wider Implications of Vernacular Architecture StudiesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', Vernacular Architecture 28 (1997), 9-12

Mills, Robert, British Folk Art (www.britishfolkart.org.uk, 2011)

Myrone, Martin, 'Instituting English Folk ArtLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', Visual Culture in Britain 10:1 (2009), 27-52.

Quiney, Anthony, The Traditional Buildings of England (London, 1990)

Thornton, Nicholas, 'Enigmatic Variations: The Features of British SmocksLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', Textile History 28:2, (1997), 176-184.

Electronic Resources

Folkloric PhotographyLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window

See also the resources here.