The AskHistorians Podcast is a project that highlights the users and answers that have helped make /r/AskHistorians one of the largest history discussion forum on the internet. You can subscribe to us via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS, and now on YouTube. You can also catch the latest episodes on SoundCloud. If there is another index you'd like the cast listed on, let me know!
This Episode:
Ronald James (aka /u/itsallfolklore), a historian and folklorist with 30 years of experience with the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, Inductee into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame, former chair of the National Historic Landmarks Committee, and author of more than a dozen books, including The Roar And The Silence: A History Of Virginia City And The Comstock Lode and Introduction to Folklore: Traditional Studies in Europe and Elsewhere, takes some time to speak to the AskHistorians Podcast.
This episode looks at the development and practice of folklore as an academic discipline, while also exploring folkloric traditions from Cornwall, particular those spirits known as "Knockers." The importance of folktales and legends in everyday life are discussed, as well how those tales can change over time and in different situations, such as immigration from Cornwall to the American West. (59min)
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Best wishes to anyone who listens to this. Whether one has the patience to hear the whole thing or not, I am available to answer questions.
As is customary, I am providing some suggestions for reading material as a means to break the ice. In addition, it is worth noting that here at /r/AskHistorians we have another folklorist, the talented and well trained /u/Bealoideas – and I encourage anyone interested in the subject to consider her posts.
The excellent online resource of retired Professor D. L. Ashliman is a well-organized archive that is useful for research. Along this line, this online tale type index is also useful. It employs the approach perfected by these sources:
Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson, The Types of the Folktale: A Classification and Bibliography (second revision, 1987); revised: Hans-Jörg Uther, The Types of International Folktales: A Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson (2004).
Reidar Th. Christiansen, The Migratory Legends: A Proposed List of Types with a Systematic Catalogue of the Norwegian Variants (Helsinki: FF Communications No. 175, 1958).
Also in print form, I recommend the work of the late Alan Dundes, but in particular his two collections of essays (with his excellent introductions):
International Folkloristics: Classic Contributions by the Founders of Folklore (1999).
The Study of Folklore (1965).
The field of folklore has an enormous bibliography. Much of what I will offer will consequently be in reaction to questions. One of the tragedies of twenty-first-century humanities and social sciences is that we are in an age of specialization and it becomes increasingly difficult to master the scholarship of diverse approaches. My mentor Sven S. Liljeblad (1899-2000) received his undergraduate degree in 1924 in “social studies”: he was required to study history, ethnography and folklore, psychology, archaeology, linguistics, and sociology. It was possible at that time to be a true Renaissance man or woman. His graduate degree was in folklore, but his foundation was diverse.
Now the bibliography for the field of folklore, alone, could consume a lifetime to digest, so it is not surprising that historians don’t often have access to these sources. That is not a criticism; it is an inevitable outcome. Rather than list several dozen of the greatest hits, I will leave it at this and answer specific questions as they arise.
I will mention one source – with apologies: I crafted my Introduction to Folklore to serve in a capacity just as the title indicates, to offer what I hope is a user-friendly introduction to the field of folklore. I have used various permutations of this text since I first taught folklore in 1980. It adapted a similar introduction by Liljeblad (1966), but it has mutated significantly over the decades. I recently published it on Kindle to make it easily – and cheaply – available to my students. Perhaps it may be of use to anyone here who is interested.
edit: I should also have mentioned the great comments by /u/Firedrops (there are so many talented flairs on this subreddit!). /u/Firedrops does great work with Haitian beliefs and preceded me with an excellent podcast on /r/AskHistorians. While her work is at times more ethnographic, it certainly crosses over into the realm of folklore and is well worth considering.
Just subscribed to the podcast! Can't wait to take a listen while bussing to class :)
Almost forgot, sorry!
Special thanks to Elm, Mark K., Vlad, Max M., Will R., Sarah G., and Bill R., for their generous support of the podcast through the AskHistorians Patreon.
Special mention to Matt F., for boldly being our first supporter, Andy B. for putting us over the top in meeting our first funding goal, and Bill R. for getting us to our second funding goal.
Gotta listen to this one just because I love the striped folklore flair!