Studies and Research Methods in American Folklore and Folklife
History 6203
Fall 2004
Dr. Ann McCleary
History Department, office in TLC room 3-2111
Office phone: 770-838-3031
email: amcclear@westga.edu
Office hours: T/Th 1-3 p.m. and Tuesday 9-10 at Center for Public History, Pafford 202/5, 770-838-3141, and by appointment, including after class on Thursday nights
Class meetings: Thursday nights, 5:30-8:00 p.m. in TLC 3-205
Class Objectives
This class offers an introduction to the field of folklore and folklife to prepare students for new ways to examine cultural history and the world around us. Students will explore the various folklore genres and research skills and produce a major research project of their own. This class may fulfill a requirement for the public history concentration but it also offers traditional history students new ways to conduct historical research.
The American Folklife Center defines folklife as "the traditional, expressive, shared culture of various groups in the United States: familial, ethnic, occupational, religious, and regional. Expressive culture includes a wide range of creative and symbolic forms, such as custom, belief, technical skill, language, drama, ritual, architecture, music, play, dance, drama, ritual, pageantry, and handicraft. Generally these expressions are learned orally, by imitation, or in performance, and are maintained or perpetuated without formal instruction or institutional direction."
This goals of this course are:
1. To explore the genres of folklore and folklife
Each week, we will examine a different genre of folklore and folklife. To help you gain a greater appreciation of the folklife resources in our own lives, families, and communities, students will be required to do "mini-collection" projects throughout the semester, collecting examples of the genre that we are discussing each week.
2. To learn how to conduct research and fieldwork to document these resources
How do we study folklore and folklife? How do we document and collect these cultural resources? Each week, we will also talk about how to do fieldwork and folklife research. Bruce Jackson's Fieldwork will provide insight into the various phases of fieldwork and the ethics associated with this process. Because this course is part of the Public History curriculum, we will also discuss the issues around "public folklore", particularly the ways in which we present these resources to the public.
3. To practice integrating folklore and folklife resources into your own scholarship
Each student will write a research paper using folklore or folklife resources and practicing some of the fieldwork and research techniques that we discuss in class.
Learning Outcomes
1. The student will be able to identify the characteristics and genres of folklore and folklife resources and to analyze examples of folklore and folklife in his or her own life, family, or community.
2. The student will be able to document folklore or folklife resources through fieldwork techniques, such as oral history, photography, narrative description, etc.
3. The student will be able to conduct and analyze original research and write a research paper on a topic related to American folklore or folklife, within the context of the secondary literature on that topic.
4. The student will be able to develop his or her own interpretations of American folklife resources as they relate to American history by explaining and defending them orally and in writing.
Required BooksPlease note that additional readings are on electronic reserve at Ingram Library. You will need a course password from me to access the readings.
Peter Bartis, Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman's Introduction to Field Techniques. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, revised and expanded 1990. This source is available on-line at http://loc.gov/folklife/fieldwk.html
Elliot Oring, editor, Folk Groups and Folklore Genres: An Introduction. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1986.
Glassie, Henry, Pattern in the Material Folk Culture of the Eastern United States. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Jackson, Bruce. Fieldwork. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois, 1987.
Leslie Prosterman, Ordinary Life, Festival Days: Aesthetics in the Midwestern County Fair. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Press, 1995.
Course Requirements
Weekly assignments (25% of grade):
As you review the syllabus, you will note numerous small assignments that are due on a weekly basis. These assignments will require that you collect, document, and analyze examples of different folklore and folklife genres. Most but not all assignments, will require a written paper, which should be word-processed, double-spaced, about two pages in length. Please check the weekly description for details on each assignment.
Written Essay: Festivals, fairs, and the public presentation of folklife (10% of grade):
During the beginning weeks of the semester, we will explore the various genres and public presentation of folklife through visiting a festival with folklife components and an agricultural fair. We will try to schedule a day for the class to visit the Georgia National Fair in Perry during its operation from October 8-16 In addition, students should look around their communities to find and attend a local fair or festival which incorporates elements of the region’s folklore or folklife.
Drawing on visits to these fairs and the discussion of the county fair as described in Prosterman's book, each student will write a three-page, word-processed paper which assesses the extent to which these two types of events (the regional fair that you visited individually and the state fair that we visited as a class) are accurate and true representations of the community's folklife resources. Please use specific examples from the fairs (you may photograph of document these however you see fit) and from the readings.
Research paper/fieldwork project (50% of grade):
This paper is a semester-long original research paper approximately 15 pages (excluding photos and other documentation) due on the final exam date. This paper should incorporate:
1. Primary research in folklife and/or folklore sources,
2. Fieldwork and documentation techniques,
3. Knowledge of secondary literature on the topic,
4. Analysis of the primary research in the context of second studies on the topic
5. A bibliography of primary and secondary sources consulted
When you submit your research paper, you must also include any products of your fieldwork (e.g. tape-recorded oral interviews, photographs, diagrams and plans of buildings, etc).
You will be expected to turn in a prospectus, a draft, and progress reports on this research paper throughout the semester. Please see the schedule for more information. Please note that failure to turn in these updates as requested or turning in minimal information may influence the final grade on your paper.
Class attendance and participation (15% of grade):
Students are responsible for attending class and completing the readings in advance of class for discussion. Excessive absences will result in lowering your final course grade.
In addition to class meetings, all students will also be expected to go on two field trips.
1. The first field trip will be a group field trip to attend the Georgia National Fair, on October 9, in Perry, Georgia.
2. One field trip to experience regional music traditions. Students may choose to attend one or both of these field trips. The class will schedule a Friday night to attend a bluegrass music performance at the Outpost near Tallapoosa on a date to be agreed upon by class. The second event is the Sacred Harp singing at the Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church, near Bremen, Ga, held on the first Sunday in November, November 7.
Other field trips may also be scheduled. For example, we may try to visit the Folklife Festival at the Atlanta History Center and the exhibit “Shaping Traditions” which focuses on regional folklife.
Class Schedule
August 26: Class Introduction
September 2: Defining the field
Read: Oring, chapter 1;
Bartis, Folklife and Fieldwork;
Jackson, chapters 1 and 2.
Bring to class: one newspaper article that incorporate folklore or folklife and a one-page written summary describing the folklore or folklife resources mentioned in the article.
September 9: Material Culture; Folk Cultural Regions
Read: Henry Glassie, Pattern in the Material Folk Culture of the Eastern United States;
Jackson, chapters 3 and 4.
September 16: Vernacular Architecture
Read: Henry Glassie, “Vernacular Architecture, “ on reserve (essay from book Henry Glassie, Material Culture.
Bring to class: a one page written proposal for your research paper, including the topic you hope to pursue and your fieldwork ideas.
September 23: Folk Art and Craft
Read: Henry Glassie, “Folk Art,” on reserve;
John Michael Vlach, “The Twentieth Century: Grandma Moses, Modern “Primitive,” on reserve;
Jackson, chapters 5 and 6
Bring to class: an example of folk art or craft and be prepared to describe how it meets the definitions.
September 30: Doing fieldwork
Read: Oring, chapter 10;
Jackson, chapters 9, 10, and 11
Susan Roach, “The Journey of David Allen, Cane Carver: Transformations through Public Folklore,” on reserve;
Frank Proschan, “Field Work and Social Work: Folklore as a Helping Profession,” on reserve
Bring to class: Written update on research project, including revised research plans, a discussion of the fieldwork you have already done and what you have yet to do, and at least five secondary sources on your topic.
October 7: No class this evening because of field trip to the State Fair on Saturday, October 9
October 9: Field Trip to the Georgia State Fair, Perry, Georgia
Read: Robert Cantwell, “Feasts of Unnaming: Folk Festivals and the Representation of Folklife,” on reserve;
begin reading Prosterman, Ordinary Life, Festival Days
October 14: Festivals, County Fairs, and the presentation of folklife
Read: finish reading Prosterman, Ordinary Life, Festival Days
Bring to class: Written assignment on festivals and county fairs
October 21: Individual meetings with instructor and students this week to discuss research projects. Please arrange with the instructor and bring a written update on your research project. More details will be provided.
October 28: Oral Narratives, Riddles and Proverbs
Read: Oring, chapters 6 and 8;
James Leary, “The Land Won’t Burn: An Esoteric American Proverb and its Significance,” on reserve
Jackson, chapter 12 and 13.
Bring to class: an example of a riddle or proverb that your family has used or still uses with a written 1-2 page analysis
Begin discussion of Children's Folklore; Traditional Games and Entertainments
Read: Oring, chapter 5;
George O. Carney, “Cow Pasture Baseball: Images of a Folk Sport Place,” on reserve
Iona and Peter Opie, “The Lore and Language of School Children,” on reserve;
Jackson, chapter 14
Bring to class: an example of children's folklore described and analyzed in 1-2 pages
November 4: Continue discussion of Children’s Folklore (described above)
Religious Folklore
Read: Oring, chapter 3;
Donald G. Jeane, “The Traditional Upland South Cemetery,” on reserve;
Elaine J. Lawless, “Brothers and Sisters: Pentecostals as a Religious Folk Group,” on reserve;
Jackson, chapter 15
Bring to class: an example of religious folklore described and analyzed in two pages.
November 11: Folk Music, Song, and Ballads
Read: Oring, chapter 7;
Kip Lornell, “Anglo-American Sacred Folk Music,” on reserve;
George O. Carney, “Western North Carolina: Culture Hearth of Bluegrass Music,” on reserve;
Jackson chapter 16
Bring to class: Two page written analysis of the music event of your choice from field trip (Sacred Harp sing or bluegrass performance)
November 18: Occupational Folklore and Folk Medicine
Read: Oring, chapter 15;
John J. Poggie and Carl Gersuny, “Risk and Ritual: An Interpretationof Fishermen’s Folkore in a New England Community,” on reserve.
Bring to class: a one-page written example of occupational folklore, from university life or a particular occupation
November 22: Rough draft of your paper is due to me.
November 25: Thanksgiving Day, no class
December 2: Food and Ethnic Folklore
Read: Sam Hilliard, “Hog Meat and Cornpone: Food Habits in the Antebellum South” on reserve; Donald E .Vermeer and Dennis A. Frate, “Geophagy in a Mississippi County,” on reserve;
Lynne Ireland, “The Compiled Cookbook as Foodways Autobiography,” on reserve
Bring to class: an example of folk foodways from your family and be prepared to discuss the example
December 9: Student oral reports on fieldwork project (not to exceed 10 minutes each).
December 16: Written research paper/fieldwork projects due by 5 p.m.