Folklore Commons^™

Play It Again, Ole!, Amy M. Shaw

Amy M. Shaw

Paranormal Activity In West Virginia, Marty Laubach

Marty Laubach

Follow the Mountain State Spirit Seekers Society as they hunt ghosts at Moundsville State Prison; bigfoot hunters in Dolly Sods with Virginia Sasquatch Watch; and Point Pleasant's mysterious Mothman.

Folk Music In A Digital Age: The Importance Of Face-To-Face Community Values In Filk Music, Sally Childs-Helton

Sally Childs-Helton

Filk is broadly defined as the traditional folk-based music and related community created by and for a sub-community of science fiction and fantasy fans. Born in the 1950s, filk today includes international participants of various experience levels and musical styles. Social context and music are equally important in this tradition; prominent values include self-expression, play and building a face-to-face co-creative, collaborative group experience. This article, founded on Textual Poachers (1992), assumes that filk remains a folk music in many ways, and that filkers still prefer face-to-face musical and personal interaction in spite of a lively, diverse online filk community. I …

Broad Are Nebraska's Rolling Plains: The Early Writings Of George Bird Grinnell, Richard Vaughan

Richard Vaughan

Profiles the life of writer George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938) and the influence his first trip to Nebraska had in shaping his early writings about the American West. Among the works he published were several groundbreaking books about the Plains Indians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Not only did this 1870 trip to Nebraska, as a member of O. C. Marsh’s first Yale Paleontological Expedition, influence Grinnell's scholarly endeavors, but his deep interest in the state also influenced his lifelong devotion to environmental preservation and established him as an important advocate for the protection and welfare of Native …

Queering Kinship In ‘The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brothers', Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

The fairy tales in the Kinder- und Hausmiirchen, or Children's and Household Tales, compiled by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are among the world's most popular, yet they have also provoked discussion and debate regarding their authenticity, violent imagery, and restrictive gender roles. In this chapter I interpret the three versions published by the Grimm brothers of ATU 451, "The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brothers," focusing on constructions of family, femininity, and identity. I utilize the folkloristic methodology of allomotific analysis, integrating feminist and queer theories of kinship and gender roles. I follow Pauline Greenhill by taking a queer view of …

Molding Messages: Analyzing The Reworking Of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ In Grimm’S Fairy Tale Classics And Dollhouse, Jeana Jorgensen, Brittany Warman

Jeana Jorgensen

The story of “Sleeping Beauty” (ATU 410) is one of the most consistently captivating fairy tales. It tells of a cursed princess dreaming in a tower, waiting patiently for her prince to rescue her. Those who recreate the tale for contemporary audiences spin the story anew, reconstructing again and again what it means both to sleep and to awaken. This chapter analyzes two modern television versions of the tale, one for children and one for adults, comparing their incorporation of feminist messages and parallel ideas about shaping narratives and shaping lives. The children’s cartoon Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics (also called …

Strategic Silences: Voiceless Heroes In Fairy Tales, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

In a number of international fairy tale types, such as ATU 451 ("The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brothers"), the female protagonist voluntarily stops speaking in order to attain the object of her quest. In ATU 451, found in the collected tales of the Grimms and Hans Christian Andersen as well as in oral tradition, the protagonist remains silent while weaving the shirts needed to disenchant her brothers from their birdlike forms. While this silence is undoubtedly disempowering in some ways as she cannot defend herself from persecution and accusations of wickedness, here I argue that the choice to remain silent …

Political And Theoretical Feminisms In American Folkloristics: Definition Debates, Publication Histories, And The Folklore Feminists Communication, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

What role does feminist theory play in American folkloristics, and which versions of feminism have become mainstreamed in the nearly forty years since folklorists first became attuned to the promises and premises of feminism? By attending to these issues, I hope to at least partially answer the question Alan Dundes asked in his 2004 Invited Presidential Plenary Address to the American Folklore Society: "What precisely is the 'theory' in feminist theory?" (2005, 388). In lamenting the lack of grand theory in folkloristics, Dundes remarks, ''Despite the existence of books and articles with 'feminist theory' in their titles, one looks in …

Modern Views Of Ancient Goddesses In Tarot, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen's contribution to: Tarot in Culture, ed. Emily Auger. Ontario: Valleyhome Books, 2014.

(Review) Jones, Christine A. And Jennifer Schacker, Eds., Marvelous Transformations: An Anthology Of Fairy Tales And Contemporary Critical Perspectives And Raynard, Sophie, Ed., The Teller’S Tale: Lives Of The Classic Fairy Tale Writers, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen's review of: Marvelous Transformations: An Anthology of Fairy Tales and Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Ed. Christine A. Jones and Jennifer Schacker. (Peterborough, ON : Broadview Press, 2013. Pp. 580, introduction, notes on contributors, sources.) The Teller’s Tale: Lives of the Classic Fairy Tale Writers. Ed. Sophie Raynard. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2012. Pp. vi + 183, introduction, list of contributors, index.)

Sexual Health & Relationship Education Via Life Stories, Jeana Jorgensen, Xaverine Bates, Lara [Sic]

Jeana Jorgensen

A riart Grrrl, a folklorist and a condom monologuer get together to discuss the phenomenon of real-life storytelling in the context of sex education,

Geller, Pamela L. And Miranda K. Stockett, Eds., Feminist Anthropology: Past, Present, Future And Lavender, Catherine J., Scientists And Storytellers: Feminist Anthropologists And The Construction Of The American Southwest, Double Review, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

No abstract provided.

2013 Propp, Vladimir, The Russian Folktale And Chandler, Robert, Russian Magic Tales: From Pushkin To Platonov, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

No abstract provided.

Computational Analysis Of The Body In European Fairy Tales, Scott Weingart, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

This article explores how digital humanities research methods can be used to analyze the representations of gendered bodies in European fairy tales, a flexible and pervasive genre that has influenced Western children's education and acquisition of gender identity for centuries. By blending the theoretical and methodological concerns of folkloristics, gender studies, and large-scale scientific research, this article demonstrates the utility of cross-disciplinary collaboration in asking traditional questions of traditional materials with new methods. To facilitate this research, a hand-coded database listing every reference to a body or body part in the 233 fairy tales was created. Analysis revealed strong indications …

Zipes, Jack, The Enchanted Screen: A History Of Fairy Tales On Film, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

No abstract provided.

Pemberton, Marilyn. Enchanted Ideologies: A Collection Of Rediscovered Nineteenth-Century Moral Fairy Tales, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

No abstract provided.

Bottigheimer, Ruth B., Fairy Tales: A New History, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

No abstract provided.

The Black And The White Bride: Dualism, Gender, And Bodies In European Fairy Tales, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

Fairy tales are one of the most important folklore genres in Western culture, spanning literary and oral cultures, folk and elite cultures, and print and mass media forms. As Jack Zipes observes: ‘The cultural evolution of the fairy tale is closely bound historically to all kinds of storytelling and different civilizing processes that have undergirded the formation of nation-states.’¹⁴³ Studying fairy tales thus opens a window onto European history and cultures, ideologies, and aesthetics.

Whether It’S Coins, Fringe, Or Just Stuff That’S Sparkly': Aesthetics And Utility In A Tribal Fusion Belly Dance Troupe’S Costumes, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

As both a scholar and a belly dancer, I believe that belly dance is recognizable on aesthetic grounds. In addition to the movements that belly dancers typically perform—muscle isolations, undulations, graceful hand motions and turns, and lots of hip work—belly dancers wear costumes that are visually identifiable as belly dance costumes. While this description may seem tautological, there are recognizable standards both in the public sphere and among dancers for what constitutes the belly dance image—or images, as belly dance is a diverse phenomenon that encompasses teaching, learning, performing, watching, socializing, and costuming.

Sabry, Somaya Sami, Arab-American Women’S Writing And Performance: Orientalism, Race, And The Idea Of The Arabian Nights, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

No abstract provided.

Bacchilega, Cristina, Fairy Tales Transformed? Twenty-First-Century Adaptations And The Politics Of Wonder, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

No abstract provided.

Understanding ‘The Body’ In Fairy Tales, Scott Weingart, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

Computational analysis and feminist theory generally aren’t the first things that come to mind in association with fairy tales. This unlikely pairing, however, can lead to important insights regarding how cultures understand and represent themselves. For example, by looking at how characters are described in European fairy tales, we’ve been able to show how Western culture tends to bias the younger generation, especially the men. While that result probably won’t shock anyone more than passingly familiar with the Western world, the method of reaching these results allows us to look at cultural biases in a new light. Our study and …

Bobby, Susan Redington, Ed., Fairy Tales Reimagined: Essays On New Retellings, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

No abstract provided.

Sorting Out Donkey Skin (Atu 510b): Toward An Integrative Literal-Symbolic Analysis Of Fairy Tales, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

This article debates the merits of fairy tale interpretive frameworks that privilege the psychological and symbolic, versus those that utilize a literal and feminist orientation. Using ATU 510B as a test case, for its intriguing blend of real-world elements and the fantastic, the author suggests that a synthesis of literal and symbolic theories allows for the fullest understanding of the polyvalent meanings of tale, which is particularly problematic due to its depictions of incest. Drawing examples from canonical as well as contemporary versions of ATU 510B, various psychoanalytic and feminist interpretations of the tale type are put to the test, …

Dancing The Numinous: Sacred And Spiritual Techniques Of Contemporary American Belly Dancers, Jeana Jorgensen

Jeana Jorgensen

In this paper, I explore how contemporary American practitioners of belly dance (as Middle Eastern dance and its many varieties are often called in the English-speaking world) conceptualize not only the spiritual dimensions of their dance, but also how the very notion of performance affects sacred and spiritual dance practices. Drawing on interviews with this community, I describe the techniques of sacred and spiritual belly dancers, how these dancers theorize performance, and how the conflicts inherent to patriarchal mind-body dualism are resolved in these practices. My purpose here is twofold: to document an emergent dance tradition and to analyze its …

23 Aprile: In Cataluña Si Festeggia Sant Jordi, Luis González Vaqué

Luis González Vaqué

Ogni anno, il 23 aprile, nei paesi della Catalogna si festeggia Sant Jordi (Sant Jorge) in modo originale e romantico. La tradizione vuole che l’uomo regali alla sua amata un libro accompagnato da una rosa rossa e le donne invece donano un libro al loro amato.

Beyond Exile: The Ramayana As A Living Narrative Among Indo-Fijians In Fiji And New Zealand, Kevin Miller

Kevin C. Miller

Drawing on the themes of collective memory, cultural ideologies, and narrative constructions, this chapter proposes to examine the narrative of the Ramayana epic, its exegesis through performance, and its continued relevance to identity formation among Indo-Fijian Hindus both within Fiji and its Pacific Rim diaspora. Based on the recasting of the “twice-migrated” Indo-Fijian as the “twice-banished” by certain observers, we might expect the meaning of the Ramayana in the lives of Indo-Fijian Hindus in New Zealand to shift towards the theme of Rama’s exile, just as it did for the indentured laborers who made the original journey to Fiji. Nevertheless, …

When The Cradle Falls: The Subversion, Secrets, And Sentimentality Of Lullabies, Lauren Castro

Lauren R Castro

No abstract provided.

O'Rourke's Feast (Music Recording), Amy M. Shaw

Amy M. Shaw

Review, The Spirits And The Law: Vodou And Power In Haiti, Gina Ulysse

Gina Athena Ulysse

Book review, Kate Ramsey, The Spirits and The Law: Vodou and Power in Haiti (UChicago 2011).