Scand/CompLit 230: Introduction to Folklore Studies Autumn Quarter 2014

Class meets Monday thru Friday, 12:30-1:20 pm, Savery Hall 260 Class website: (see link in your MyUW account)

Instructors:  Guntis Šmidchens, office hours: daily 11:30-12:00 noon, and by appointment; Office: Raitt Hall 305 V; e-mail: [email protected]; Phone: (206) 616-5224  Britt Lewis, office hours Tuesday and Thursday 1:30-2:30 pm Office Raitt Hall 108 B; e-mail: [email protected]

Course Description

Folklore (traditional stories, beliefs, songs, customs, and material culture) is a rich resource for remembering and understanding people and their worldviews. This course will survey genres of folklore: Folktales, legends and oral poetry, as a window into the lives of the people who perform them. A variety of theories and methods applied in folklore studies during the past two centuries will be introduced in readings and lectures.

Course Objectives  Learn “classic” folklore examples: variants of legends, folktales and songs in Northern Europe & America  Learn methods of collecting & analyzing folklore, with particular attention to folkloristics in North Europe  Do folklore studies: Collect, describe and interpret items of folklore from oral tradition o practice folkloristic methods of observing & rigorously describing & understanding living humans!

Grades  See UW grading guidelines at [Link]. What grade do you plan to get?

 Class discussion of assigned readings (face-to-face and online) 10%  Four exams on reading assignments and lectures, 50%  Three ethnographic (folklore collection) projects and portfolio: 30%  Peer review of classmates’ ethnographic projects 10%

Required Readings  Lynne S. McNeill, Folklore Rules: A Fun, Quick, and Useful Introduction to the Field of Academic Folklore Studies. Utah State University Press, 2013 [This is an e-book in the UW Library]

 Additional required readings include websites and selected articles as listed in the Lecture schedule. Links and copies are available on the course website.

1

How to Succeed in Reading Assignments Jot down assignment numbers, and write notes as you read. Some items will not have all of this information:  Remember folklore texts: 1. Note some typical examples of folklore; summarize in one sentence. 2. How do these folklore texts relate to other items discussed today and this week?  Remember folklore contexts: 1. Who performed this text to a folklorist? 2. What was this text’s “natural context”? (traditional time & place, audience)  Remember folklorists: 1. Who is the folklorist? (Who collected, edited, and printed the text that you’re reading?) 2. How did the folklorist collect, edit and present folklore texts? 3. Sketch out an outline of the assigned chapter. What is this folklorist’s analytical “point”? Does she or he describe texts and contexts? Compare variants? Analyze function and/or meaning? 4. Do you agree with the folklorist? (is the discussion of social and cultural contexts complete)?

Class Discussion of reading assignments (10%)  Bring ideas you’ve jotted down in your reading notes, and discuss them with your classmates! You will be assigned one of the assigned readings for which you must (1) lead off the class discussion, and (2) post a short (1-2 paragraph) summary on the class website. Add comments to posts by other students.

Four Exams on reading assignments (50%)

 These multiple-choice choice tests will check if you have learned basic concepts and classic examples in folklore studies, as discussed in assigned readings and lectures.

Ethnographic projects (30%), peer review of classmates’ projects (10%)

1. Due Sunday, October 5, 8:00 pm: (1 page) Photograph and describe a traditional object, if possible, in its natural context. Who made it and who used it, how, where, and when (date?). What meanings did the person attach to the item? *****Upload your project on the class website. *****Critique a classmate’s project, as assigned on the website (Did they follow directions? Do you see connections to ideas from readings or lectures? Do you see ideas that need to be added?).

2. Weekend fieldwork, due Sunday, October 26, 8:00 pm: (1-2 pages) Document an oralpoem or song sung in unofficial oral tradition. Describe the natural context: Who sang it to whom, where, when? Transcribe the words. Describe the poetic form. Analyze the song’s function (what does singing do for the singers?) and meaning (what do singers think about?) ***** Upload your project on the class website. ***** Critique a classmate’s project.

3. Weekend ethnography, due Tuesday, Nov. 25, 8:00 pm: (2-3 pages) Document a folk narrative (folktale, legend or joke) that you have encountered in oral tradition. Describe context and function. Identify a traditional motif(s) at the core of this story, and interpret its meaning in this context. ***** Upload your project on the class website; critique a classmate’s project.

4. Due Friday evening, December 5: Revise projects 1-3, and combine everything into one file. Write a one-page introduction: What do these examples of folklore reveal about humans and their traditions?

2

SCAND/ CLIT 230 Class Schedule and Readings

Week 1 (September 24-26): Discovering traditions, describing people Wed: Birth of a scholarly discipline: folklore studies in the USA Background reading: 1. “On the field and work of a journal of American folklore” Journal of American Folklore 1,1 (1888) [Link] Thurs: Early reports from the field Reading due today, Thursday: 2. Jeremiah Curtin, “European Folklore in the US” JAF 2,4 (1889): 56-59 [Link] 3. Gustav Eisen, “A Swedish Rhyme for Counting Out” JAF 2,6 (1889): 235 [Link] 4. Lynne S. McNeil, “What is Folklore?” in Folklore Rules, pages 1-16. [This is an e-book in the UW Library] Fri: Folklore studies, then and now 5. McNeil, “Types of Folklore” in Folklore Rules, pages 37-61. [This is an e-book in the UW Library] 6. Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, Volume 11 (1911), excerpts [class website]. 7. Photos of Scandinavian Midsommer celebrations in Poulsbo, Washington: [Link]

Week 2 (September 29-October 3): Documenting and interpreting material traditions

Mon: Documenting things. Fieldwork and material culture 8. Simon Bronner, “Folk Objects,” in Folk Groups and Folklore Genres [e-book at the UW Library] Tues: Group customs and things 9. McNeil, “Types of Folk Groups,” in Folklore Rules, pages 65-88. [This is an e-book in the UW Library] 10. Eric Dregni, “Food,” in Vikings in the Attic: In search of Nordic America (2011), 15-41 [class website] Wed: Wearing things 11. Thomas Ericksen, “Keeping the Recipe: Norwegian folk costumes and cultural capital,” Focaal: European Journal of Anthropology, 44, (2004): p. 20-34. [class website] Thurs: Interpreting things 12. Carol Burke, “The Things they Bring to War” [class website] Fri: Introduction to folklore studies 13. McNeil, “What do folklorists do?” in Folklore Rules, pages 20-34. [e-book in the UW Library]

Weekend fieldwork, due Sunday, 8:00 pm: Photograph and describe a traditional object, if possible, in its natural context. Who made it and used it, how, where, and when (date?). What meanings did the person attach to the item?

Week 3 (October 6-11): Musical traditions

Mon: Folklorism: Old wine in new bottles, old instruments on new stages 14. Aaron Patrick Mulvany, “Magic and Mayhem: Folk Metal in Scandinavia” (Chapter 4), Reawakening Pride once Lost: Indigeneity and European Folk Metal, M.A. thesis, Wesleyan University, 2000, pages 45-71. [Link] Tues: Folk Metal in Estonia 15. Lauri Õunapuu, “Metsatöll’s unexpected metal instruments,” http://youtu.be/CcoMY3_UWxI 16. Metsatöll website, http://metsatoll.ee/en/index.html Wed: First Midterm test

Thurs: Musical traditions, poetry traditions 17. (in-class film excerpt): Regilaul: Songs of the Ancient Sea Fri “Voices of Nations in Songs” – folk poetry and people 18. Šmidchens, “Herder’s Discovery of Baltic Songs,” in The Power of Song (Seattle, 2014), pages 26-49. [this is an e- book in the UW Libraries catalog]

3

Week 4 (October 13-17): History of oralpoetry studies

Monday: Are proverbs poems? What is oralpoetry? 19. Lau, Tokofsky & Winnick, “Introduction,” What goes around comes around : the circulation of proverbs in contemporary life (2004), read pages 1-14 [this is an e-book at the UW Library] 20. John Miles Foley, “Four Scenarios,” in How to Read an Oral Poem [class website] Tues: History of oral poetry scholarship: From ancient survivals to strategic performances 21. Bolton, “Counting out Rhymes of Children,” JAF 1 (1888), 31-37 [Link] 22. Kenneth Goldstein, “Strategy in Counting Out: An Ethnograpic Folklore Study” (1971) [class website] Wed: History of oral poetry scholarship: creating national symbols 23. Finnish folksongs, “Song Challenge” and “Sampo” [class website] 24. excerpt from the Finnish national epic by Elias Lönnrot, Kalevala, translated by Keith Bosley … 22-38 Thurs: History in Scandinavian ballads 25. Axel Olrik, “The Historical Ballad” (1939) and three Danish historical ballads, [class website] 26. selections from Robert Wright, Swedish Emigrant ballads [class website] Fri: History of one Scandinavian (or international?) ballad (Child #13, “Edward”) 27. “Edward,” sung by May Kennedy McCord (1958), in the online Max Hunter Collection [Link] 28. “Svend in the Rose Garden” (Child #13) [class website] 29. GNY, “Svend i Rosegård” (2010), on YouTube [Link] 30. Archer Taylor, Edward and Svend i Rosegård (1931), excerpts [class website]

Week 5 (October 20-24): Interpreting oralpoetry

Mon: Connecting songs to singers’ experiences 31. Richard Allen Burns, “Where is Jody Now? Reconsidering Military Marching Chants” (2012) [class website] Tues: Connecting songs to other songs (intertextuality) 32. Atkinson, “Edward, Incest and Intertextuality…” Southern Folklore 55,2 (1998): 101-132 [class website] Wed: Folksong fieldwork = people studying people 33. “Four Conversations,” in Henry Glassie, All Silver and No Brass (Bloomington, 1975), 3-37 [class website] Thurs: Reconstructing oral poetry performance in Ireland and Latvia 34. “Performance: Go with a Vengeance,” in Glassie, All Silver and No Brass (Bloomington, 1975), 76-93 35. Šmidchens, Notes from folksong fieldwork in Latvia, 1991 [class website] Fri: Finding meaning in oral poetry, bringing traditional life to folksong texts. 36. John Miles Foley, “*Proverbs” in How to Read an Oral Poem [class website] 37. "Lithuanian Hay-Cutting Song" [listen to recording and read text, class website]

Weekend fieldwork, due Sunday, 8:00 pm: Document an oralpoem or song sung in unofficial oral tradition. Describe the natural context: Who sang it to whom, where, when? Transcribe the words. Describe the poetic form. Analyze the song’s function (what does singing do for the singers?) and meaning (what do singers think about?)

Week 6 (October 27-31): Reviving old texts

Mon: Folksong Fieldwork and the study of humans 38. James P. Leary, “Foreign Words and Folksongs,” Western Folklore 72 (2013): 294-315 [Link] Tuesday: Second Midterm Test Wed: Ethics and fieldwork 39. Robert Walls and Guntis Šmidchens, “Ethics and the Student Folklore Fieldworker” [class website] 40. (Just for fun): Stith Thompson, “American Folklore after Fifty Years,” JAF 199 (1938): 1-9 [Link] Thurs: The birth of a scholarly discipline, prequel to week 1: Folktale studies in Germany 41. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, “Circular Concerning the Collection of Folk Poetry” (1815). [class website] 42. Brothers Grimm, “Rumpelstiltskin,” in Childrens’ and Household Tales (1812) [Link] Fri: Folktales and the search for de-evolved myths 43. Snorri Sturluson, “Loki and the Master Builder” [Link] 44. “King Olaf and the Giant” [Link] 45. Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology (1835), excerpt [class website]

4

Week 7 (November 3-7): Describing and Interpreting Folktale Traditions

Mon: Folktales for children? Comparing folktale texts. ATU Type 327 46. Lamb Chop comments on “Hansel & Gretel” [Link to YouTube] 47. Brothers Grimm, “Hansel and Gretel” and Maria Tatar’s annotations [class website] (Background—see also Grimms’ versions of 1812 and 1857 [Link]) 48. Mathias Winther (1823), “Preface” and “Pancake House” [class website] 49. Stith Thompson and Hans Uther, description of Type 327 [class website]

Tues: Historic-Geographic folktale studies 50. Stith Thompson, “Animal Tales,” in The Folktale [class website] 51. “Animal Tales,” in An Anthology of Finnish Folklore [class website]

Wed: The art of the folktale; style and structure of ATU 300, Dragonslayer 52. Aarne-Thompson-Uther Type 300 in Sweden: “The Three Swords” [class website] 53. Stith Thompson overview of Dragonslayer, in The Folktale (1946) [class website] 54. Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale [class website] Thurs: Psychological meanings of folktales 55. Bengt Holbek, “The Three Dogs,” in Interpretation of Fairy Tales (1987), pages 500-505 [class website] 56. Bruno Bettelheim analysis of Dragonslayer, in The Uses of Enchantment (1976), 111-116 [class website] 57. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, “Bluebeard,” in Women Who Run with the Wolves (1992), 39-73 [class website] Fri: Folktale fieldwork, folktale repertoires 58. Boris and Yuri Sokolov, “In Search of Folktales and Songs,” in International Folkloristics, 73-82 [class website] 59. Grigorii Medvedev, “The Soldier and the Devils” (recorded by the Sokolov brothers) [class website] 60. Natalia Vinokurova, “Twelve Lads out of a Snuffbox” (recorded by Mark Azadovsky) [class website]

Week 8 (November 10-14): Storytellers and their stories

Mon: The folktale narrator’s art 61. Danish folktale, "King Lindorm” [Link] 62. Zsuzsanna Palko, “The Serpent Prince,” in Linda Dégh, Hungarian Folktales, 77-92 63. Linda Dégh, “How do Storytellers Interpret the Snakeprince Tale?” [class website]

Tuesday, November 11: Veterans Day Holiday Wed: Meanings of Folktales… to storytellers, audiences, and folklorists too. 64. Listen to Jane Muncy, “Merrywise” [Link to Berea College online sound archive] and read transcript 65. Carl Lindahl, “Leonard Roberts... and… Märchen,” JAF 123 (2010): 251-275 [Link] Thurs: Rediscovering a deceased Swedish folktale narrator in a dusty archive 66. Jakob Glader, Tales from Dal, Sweden, in Sehmsdorf, All the World’s Reward, 200-241 [class website Fri: Funny Folktales… funny to whom? 67. Zsuzsanna Palko, “Peti and Boris,” in Hungarian Folktales, 317-322 [class website] 68. Olav Eivindsson Austad’s funny (???) Norwegian folktales, in All the World’s Reward [class website]

Week 9 (November 17-21): Stories and reality Mon: Misinterpreting and reinterpreting folktales… or maybe they’re myths after all? 69. Barre Toelken, “Beauty behind me; Beauty before” JAF 117: 441-445 [Link] Tues: Third Midterm Test (folktales) Wed: Performing funny stories (or not?) 70. Moira Smith, “Humor, Unlaughter and Boundary Maintenance,” JAF (2009): 148-171. [link] 71. (Just for fun): Bruce Jackson, “From the Editor,” JAF 399 (1988): 3-5 [Link] Thurs: Performing real stories (or not?) 72. Elizabeth Bird, "Playing with Fear," Western Folklore 53 (1994): 191-209 [Link] Fri: Witches, Fairies, and ghosts, seriously 73. "The Dead and the Living," in Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend [class website] 74. Reference tool: Motif-Index of Folk Literature, Link to online database at the UW Libraries. Look for section E 200- E599, "Ghosts and Other Revenants”

5

Weekend ethnography, due next week Tuesday, 8:00 pm: (2-3 pages) Document a folk narrative (folktale, legend or joke) that you have encountered in oral tradition. Describe context and function. Identify a traditional motif(s) at the core of this story, and interpret its meaning in this context.

Week 10 (November 24-28): Discovering traditions, describing people

Mon: Magic among us, legend telling sessions 75. Scandinavian Witch Legends, and Reidar Christiansen, “Index of Migratory Legends” [class website] 76. Richard Dorson, “Bloodstoppers,” in Bloodstoppers and Bearwalkers, 150-165 [class website] 77. Kathleen Stokker, “The Black Book: Magical, mystical medicine,” in Remedies and Rituals: Folk medicine in Norway and the new land (2007), 75-104 [class website]

Tues: Topic and reading assignment to be announced 78. TBA Wed: Topic and reading assignment to be announced 79. TBA

Thursday and Friday, Nov 27-28: Thanksgiving Day Holidays

Week 11 (December 1-5):

Mon: Fairy tales then and now, seriously 80. Two Irish fairy stories from Glassie, Stars of Ballymenone. [class website] 81. Thomas E. Bullard, "UFO Abduction Reports" JAF 102 (1989): 147-170. [Link] 82. excerpt from Birke Duncan, The Troll Tale (2001), 9-26. [class website] Tues: Werewolves in Scandinavia and the USA 83. Selected Scandinavian werewolf legends [class website] 84. Richard Dorson, “Introduction” and “Bloodstoppers,” in Bloodstoppers and Bearwalkers, xxvii-xxix, and 69-78. [class website] Wed: Fear and reality in the movies 85. Excerpts from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [class website] 86. Brent Stypczynski, “Wolf in Professor’s Clothing” (2009) [Link] 87. Excerpt from Stephenie Meyer, New Moon [Class website] Thurs: What are (or were) “urban legends”? 88. Reimund Kvideland and Henning Sehmsdorf, eds., Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend [class website] 89. Jan H. Brunvand, “Introduction,” pages xxii-xxxv in Encyclopedia of Urban Legends [e-book, UW Libraries] Friday: The meaning of it all 90. Henry Glassie, “War, Peace and the Folklorist’s Mission,” JAF 127.503 (2014): 72-81 [Link, Project MUSE]

Friday Evening, 8:00 pm: Folklore Portfolio due (upload your revised, combined assignments to “Dropbox”)

Final Exam, Thursday, December 11, 2014, 8:30-10:20

6