A Companion to Folklore

A Companion to Folklore contains an original and comprehensive set of essays from international experts in the field of folklore studies. This state–of–the–art collection uniquely displays the vitality of folklore research across the globe. The  Companion covers four main areas: the first section  engages with the practices and theoretical approaches developed to understand the phenomena of folklore; the second discusses the distinctive shapes that folklore studies have taken in different locations in time and space; the third examines the interaction of folklore with various media, as well as folklore’s commodification. In the final section on practice, essays offer insights into how folklorists work, what they do, and ways in which they have institutionalized their field. Throughout, contributors investigate the interplay of folklore and folkloristics in both academic and political arenas; they evaluate key issues in the folk life of communities from around the world, including China, post–communist Russia, post–colonial India, South America, Israel and Japan. The result is a unique reflection and understanding of the profoundly different research histories and current perspectives on international research in the field.

Notes on Contributors viii Introduction 1 Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan–Rokem Part I Concepts and Phenomena 7 Introduction: Concepts and Phenomena 9 Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan–Rokem 1 The Social Base of Folklore 13 Dorothy Noyes 2 Tradition Without End 40 Francisco Vaz da Silva 3 The Poetics of Folklore 55 Amy Shuman and Galit Hasan–Rokem 4 Three Aspects of Oral Textuality 75 Peter Seitel 5 Performance 94 Richard Bauman 6 Myth–Ritual–Symbol 119 Hagar Salamon and Harvey E. Goldberg 7 Religious Practice 136 Sabina Magliocco 8 Work and Professions 154 Gertraud Koch 9 Material Culture 169 Orvar Löfgren Part II Location 185 Introduction: Location 187 Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan–Rokem 10 Translingual Folklore and Folklorics in China 190 Lydia H. Liu 11 Japan 211 Akiko Mori 12 India 234 Sadhana Naithani 13 Oceania 248 Phillip H. McArthur 14 Folklore and Folklore Studies in Latin America 265 Fernando Fischman 15 Folklore Studies in the United States 286 Lee Haring and Regina F. Bendix 16 Dancing Around Folklore: Constructing a National Culture in Turkey 305 Arzu Öztürkmen 17 Folklore Studies In Israel 325 Dani Schrire and Galit Hasan–Rokem 18 Fulani (Peul, Fulfulde, Pulaar) Literature 349 Ursula Baumgardt 19 From Volkskunde to the “Field of Many Names”: Folklore Studies in German–Speaking Europe Since 1945 364 Regina F. Bendix 20 Finland 391 Lauri Harvilahti 21 Ireland 409 Diarmuid Ó Giolláin 22 Russia 426 Alexander Panchenko Part III Reflection 443 Introduction: Reflection 445 Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan–Rokem 23 Folklore and Literature 447 Cristina Bacchilega 24 Folklore and/in Music 464 Stephen D. Winick 25 Folklore and/on Film 483 Pauline Greenhill 26 Cultural Heritage 500 Valdimar T. Hafstein 27 Cultural Property 520 Martin Skrydstrup 28 Folklore: Legal and Constitutional Power 537 Alison Dundes Renteln Part IV Practice 555 Introduction: Practice Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan–Rokem 557 29 Seeing, Hearing, Feeling, Writing: Approaches and Methods from the Perspective of Ethnological Analysis of the Present 559 Brigitta Schmidt–Lauber 30 Imagining Public Folklore 579 Debora Kodish 31 The Institutionalization of Folklore 598 Bjarne Rogan Index 631

Regina Bendix is Professor of Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology at Georg–August–University in Göttingen, Germany. She is the author of In Search of Authenticity , and has co–edited Prädikat Heritage (with Dorothee Hemme and Markus Tauschek), Cultural Property: Forschungsperspektiven (with Kilian Bizer and Stefan Groth), and Culture and Property (Special Issue of Ethnologia Europaea, co–edited with Valdimar Hafstein). Galit Hasan–Rokem is Max and Margarethe Grunwald Professor of Folklore, and Professor of Hebrew Literature at the Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, and Tales of the Neighborhood: Jewish Narrative Dialogues in Late Antiquity . She is a published poet in Hebrew and translation and has co–edited The Defiant Muse: Hebrew Feminist Poems from Antiquity to the Present: A Bilingual Anthology (with Shirley Kaufman and Tamar Hess).

“If so, we will have gained tremendously through the one–time exposure that this high–profile, and intellectually rich, project will have provided us, as well as from the technical and political–economic lessons that it can teach us. These are among the upsides, for which I am very grateful. At a simple level, I am tremendously appreciative of the work undertaken by the editors and for the gift of a review copy, which I know I will be consulting constantly in the years ahead.”  ( Journal of Folklore Research , 3 April 2013) Named CHOICE Outstanding Title for 2012 “Nearly all college and university libraries will want this book.  Summing Up: Essential.  All academic levels/libraries.”  ( Choice , 1 November 2012)