SCAND 543 A: Folk Literature

This graduate seminar will explore the discipline of Folklore Studies, and its intersection with academic, political and social institutions. 

The new biography of Franz Boas (parent of American anthropology), written by folklorist Rosemary Lévi Zumwalt, will prompt our discussion of institutional contexts in which folklorists must do their work (universities, funding agencies, governments, etc.)

Students will encounter the craft of collecting and analyzing folklore (verbal, belief, customary and material traditions), with special attention to international comparative methods that emerged from folkloristics in the Nordic and Baltic region.

Students will:

1. present short oral and written responses to weekly readings;
2. write an essay about folklore and folkloristics in their country of specialization;
3. complete four short exercises in collection, analysis and performance of folklore texts. Folklore studies can best be understood "from inside."  Students who complete these exercises will earn the title of "folklorist". 

Reading List:

A few "keynote" essays or recorded lectures will be added to this list before the first class meeting. Most readings are available in digital format through UW Libraries; The rest are available in print copy at the UW Bookstore, or as pdf copies in this Canvas website. I have also requested that UW Libraries purchase, if possible, e-versions of several  books listed here. 

Institutional Contexts of Folklore Studies:

• Rosemary  Zumwalt. (2022). Franz Boas: shaping anthropology and fostering social justice. University of Nebraska Press. [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog]
• Lynne McNeill. (2013). Folklore rules : a fun, quick, and useful introduction to the field of academic folklore studies. Utah State University Press. [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog].

History of Folklore Studies:

• Dace Bula, & Sandis Laime (Eds.). (2017). Mapping the history of folklore studies : centres, borderlands and shared spaces. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.  [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog]
• Alan Dundes (Ed.). (1999). International folkloristics : classic contributions by the founders of folklore. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.   [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog]
• Terry Gunnell, editor. Grimm Ripples: The Legacy of the Grimms’ Deutsche Sagen in Northern Europe. Leiden: Brill, 2022. 612 pages. ISBN: 9004511601. [review]   [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog]
• Sadhana Naithani. (2019). Folklore in Baltic History: Resistance and Resurgence (1st ed.). University Press of Mississippi. [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog]
• Anna-Leena Siikala et al. (2004). Creating Diversities: Folklore, Religion and the Politics of Heritage (Vol. 14). Finnish Literature Society / SKS. [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog].  Selected chapters TBA. 

Collections of folklore texts:

• Folklore collections from any language or place of your specialization
  (all cultures welcome, including English-speaking)
  
• Henning  Sehmsdorf, & Kvideland, R. (2011). All the World’s Reward: Folktales Told by Five Scandinavian Storytellers. University of Washington Press.  [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog]
• Kvideland, & Sehmsdorf, H. K. (1988). Scandinavian folk belief and legend. University of Minnesota Press.  [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog]

Case Studies

Folksong

• Kvideland, Sehmsdorf, H. K., & Simpson, E. (1989). Nordic folklore : recent studies. Indiana University Press. Pages 165-195.
• Thomas DuBois. (2006). Lyric, meaning, and audience in the oral tradition of Northern Europe. University of Notre Dame Press.

Folktale

• Kvideland, Sehmsdorf, H. K., & Simpson, E. (1989). Nordic folklore : recent studies. Indiana University Press. Pages 23-92.
• Bengt Holbek. (1987). Interpretation of fairy tales : Danish folklore in a[n] European perspective. Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. [excerpts: copy available in this Canvas website]

Legend and Belief

• Kvideland, Sehmsdorf, H. K., & Simpson, E. (1989). Nordic folklore : recent studies. Indiana University Press. Pages 93-165.
• Anna-Leena Siikala et al. (2004). Creating Diversities: Folklore, Religion and the Politics of Heritage (Vol. 14). Finnish Literature Society / SKS. [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog].  Selected chapters TBA. 
• John Lindow. (2014). Trolls : an unnatural history. Reaktion Books.  [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog]

Material Culture

• Thomas DuBois DuBois. (2018). Sacred to the touch : Nordic and Baltic religious wood carving. University of Washington Press.
• Anna-Leena Siikala et al. (2004). Creating Diversities: Folklore, Religion and the Politics of Heritage (Vol. 14). Finnish Literature Society / SKS. [Link to e-book in UW Libraries Catalog] Selected chapters. 
• Henry Glassie: Field Work. Documentary film directed by Pat Collins. 2019. (105 minutes) https://henryglassiefieldwork.com/

Religious Accommodations: 

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodationsrequest/)