Theorizing, collecting, archiving, reviving: the lives (or life?) of folklore. (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Carrassi, Vito
• Is Part Of: Folk life. Volume 55:Number 1(2017)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 11
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: Concept of folklore -- folklorism -- Lauri Honko -- field collection -- archives -- revival/ism -- Gaelic language and culture -- Irish literature; Folklore -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; Folklore -- Ireland -- Periodicals; Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- Periodicals; Ireland -- Social life and customs -- Periodicals; 398
• DOI: 10.1080/04308778.2017.1319127
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0430-8778

Abstract

Abstract: Lauri Honko's classification of folklore into two main domains, first life and second life, is an effective tool to understand historical processes of folklore, within a broader cultural frame. Yet, a reassessment of these concepts is necessary, in order to detect both the actual boundaries separating the two lives of folklore, and also their intersections and interactions. Accordingly, questions addressed in this paper ask: where does the work of field collecting lie? And that of archiving? In the first or in the second life? Or somewhere in between? And where do revivals and revivalism fit in this bifurcated model? The Irish Revival/Renaissance was certainly a form of discovery, re-evaluation and re-use of folklore, then a fulfilment of its second life. But how does revival/ism affect the first life of folklore and its bearers? Finally, is it really fitting to conceive of two lives of folklore, or is there just one life, made up of a number of heterogeneous phenomena? Here, I discuss these issues from a theoretical and methodological point of view, also examining a selection of significant events, works and authors concerning Irish culture.