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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Children's Folklore, Brian Sutton-Smith, Jay Mechling, Thomas W. Johnson, Felicia R. Mcmahon Jan 1999

Children's Folklore, Brian Sutton-Smith, Jay Mechling, Thomas W. Johnson, Felicia R. Mcmahon

All USU Press Publications

A collection of original essays by scholars from a variety of fields—including American studies, folklore, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and education—Children's Folklore: A Source Book moves beyond traditional social-science views of child development. It reveals the complexity and artistry of interactions among children, challenging stereotypes of simple childhood innocence and conventional explanations of development that privilege sober and sensible adult outcomes. Instead, the play and lore of children is shown to be often disruptive, wayward, and irrational. The contributors variably con-sider and demonstrate "contextual" and "textual" ways of studying the folklore of children. Avoiding a narrow definition of the subject, they …


The Self In ‘Fieldwork’: A Methodological Concern, Christie L. Fox, Beverly Stoeltje, Stephen Olbrys Jan 1999

The Self In ‘Fieldwork’: A Methodological Concern, Christie L. Fox, Beverly Stoeltje, Stephen Olbrys

English Faculty Publications

As concepts of reflexivity and postcolonial perspectives have advanced our understandings of the way we represent those we study, they have also introduced a consciousness of the role of the self in research. This article reviews the history of the field of folklore with regard to the method of obtaining data or texts and demonstrates that collecting material contrasts with the practice of conducting research in the field. Pointing to a moment of transition, it shows that theories of folklore had to undergo significant change before methods of research would acknowledge the identity of the fieldworker and its significance.


Comment, D. Rochleau, Claudia Radel Jan 1999

Comment, D. Rochleau, Claudia Radel

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Brosius raises a series of questions that emanate from recent encounters between critical anthropology and environmental discourses and movements. Drawing upon insights from feminist theory, we propose to expand and enrich these questions as they relate to intersections of identity and environmental movements, policy, and positionality. Brosius’s analysis of research on environmental social movements, discourse, and images repeatedly touches on the complex processes of identity and representation. Perhaps most striking is his implicit dichotomization of essential and strategic identities. Our comments first focus on the issue of environmental essentialisms, their deployment by various actors, and their potential unmasking by researchers. …