Seminar in Folklore

English 632-001, Spring 2010MW 2:30 - 3:45PM, HLG 321 John LaudunHLG 356, 482-5493, laudun@louisiana.edu Tuesdays 9:00 - 14:30

Course Description

This course is a survey of key concepts, problems, and perspectives infolklore theory and method, focusing on key moments, ideas, and texts inthe evolution of folklore studies in order to acquire a “feel” for thefoundations of the discipline. For the purposes of this course, the field isconceived fairly broadly and includes work done in adjacent fields likeanthropology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, and literary studies. Asmuch as it is possible, the readings are chronological, allowing us to followthe interactive dimensions of intellectual history, wherein one theory arisesas a response to (extension of, corrective of, or refutation of) another theory.Mileage in such a chronology must vary, however, as some texts (usuallythose that awaited translation) are considered in the context of those textsthey most influenced. The purpose of any proseminar is to acquaint students with the core texts ortheories of a particular field of inquiry. Folklore’s diverse beginnings andmany interrelations make it particularly difficult to gather all such materialsinto a semester of study. The aim of this course, then, is to familiarize youwith those texts, thinkers, and ideas that seem central in light of recentdevelopments in the discipline and to acquaint you with other texts, thinkers,and ideas so that you may begin to see these complex webs for yourself. Aproseminar assumes you have an interest in a field or discipline as aprofession, not necessarily as a professional practicing within the field, butas someone interested in the history and nature of the practices of the fieldas it has developed over time and through various institutions. We will, then,spend the semester reading from folklore’s intellectual history anddiscussing the implications (those) ideas have for our understanding anduses of folklore.Speaking of the field, we will not in this course address directly, in the senseof how-to, the topic of fieldwork, though we will on a regular occasion beconcerned with methodology as it is implicated in various theories. That doesnot lessen the importance of fieldwork, and I encourage, but do not require,you to do some kind of fieldwork. Extended fieldwork, in the sense of lastingbeyond the first interview, is an experience that no one with an interest inthe field should be without. A more extensive treatment of fieldwork theories

and methods is to be found in the folklore fieldwork course.Finally, there are some methods and skills which any competent “knowledgeworker” — more on the use of this term during the semester — should havein this day and age. Some of them have long been within the purview of folklore studies Specifically, folklorists have always, in some ways, engagedthe collection and sorting of data that today’s databases make, in manyways, trivial. We will talk about this and other matters throughout thesemester, but you should also feel free to bring such topics and concerns upas part of our ongoing conversation. The goal of this course is to familiarize you with an intellectual history, and insome ways landscape, of a particular discipline, folklore studies, in order foryou to begin to map out where your own interests lie. I hope that thematerials we cover, and their attendant bibliographies and references, willbegin to suggest possibilities for you, but there are always more books and journals than can be scribbled down here. Your real job is to go out and findthat territory which interests you.

Please note that in much of what follows below that what is delineated issimply a framework for a much more interesting dialogue that must take place between the seminar's leader and the rest of the participants. Duringthe first two weeks of the course, we will need to assess adjustments that need to be made.

Course Requirements

In addition to the obvious requirement that everyone come to class with thereading done, with at least two to three questions or comments prepared,and the willingness to engage in a discussion, I will ask each of you to doseveral writing projects and a presentation. Some assignments are genreswith which you are already familiar or with which you will shortly becomefamiliar. Two of the assignments are common modes or elements in folklorestudy at which it will profit you to practice.•Presentation (15%). This is a seminar. Everyone is responsible for itssuccess, not just the instructor. As a seminar participant, each of youwill be responsible for leading the class through one of the assignedset of readings for a given day.•Journal Profile (15%). In parallel with books, the record of any disciplineis to be found in its journals. They are also the places where youngscholars have their best opportunity to see their ideas in print. Iencourage all graduate students to join their respective disciplinaryorganizations, especially while student rates apply, but I also requirethat participants in this seminar acquaint themselves with the journalsavailable to them as resources and outlets for their work. Over the

course of the semester you will profile two journals, one folklore andone other.•Book Review (10%). You will write one book review, following the JAFformat, on a text of your choosing. Please see me if you are having anydifficulty in deciding upon a book. (Book reviews are also a great wayto get published.) Both the reviews and the profiles above will becompiled into a seminar publication.•Literature Review (35%). Because of the nature of this course, I foregothe most familiar of all course assignment genres, the seminar paper,and instead ask you to imagine a project, of a size and scope to bedecided, and to sketch out what resources you will need. 10-15 pages.•Participation (25%). A full quarter of your grade is based on that ever-slippery notion of “participation.” I leave it up to you to concretize it ina way that manifests the sublimity of your wit, the substance of yourthought, and the grace of your presence. Nota bene: I takeparticipation very seriously in all my classes, but most especially inseminars. (See “Course Organization” below for possibilities.)

Course Texts

Required

Please only purchase the first book on the list below before coming to classfor the first time.Bauman, Richard and Charles Briggs. 2003.

Voices of Modernity: LanguageIdeologies and the Politics of Inequality

. New York, NY: CambridgeUniversity Press.Basso, Keith. 1979.

Portraits of “The Whiteman”: Linguistic Play and Cultural Symbols among the Western Apache

. New York: CambridgeUniversity Press.Lord, Albert. 1960.

The Singer of Tales

. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UniversityPress.Propp, Vladimir. 1968.

Morphology of the Folktale

. Tr. Laurence Scott.Austin: University of Texas Press.

Recommended Surveys, Anthologies, & Classic Texts