Folklore Collections Research Articles

Más allá de los confines de la oralidad: el valor de la memoria en el registro del patrimonio cultural inmaterial

This paper aims to reflect on the criteria that give value to expressions of popular cultures linked –in some way– to oral tradition, so that they become susceptible to being recorded and preserved as part of the «Intangible Cultural Heritage». It is a fact that different cultural traditions define the world in different ways and at the same time determine what is beautiful or what is worth preserving as important. In this sense, it may seem that the process by which the type of literature and –in particular– printed matter considered as «popular» have gone from being disdained in their oralized version by many folklore collectors to awakening interest is due to a kind of «natural course» of things. Something that had to happen inevitably. As if technological innovations and the digitalization of a good part of the existing funds or the growing attention on the part of documentalists and librarians towards them were enough –in themselves– to explain such a change. And it is reviewed and argued here how a theoretical and methodological rethinking, interdisciplinary debate and continued research work have been what, beyond technology, is returning to us this valuable part of cultural memory.

Silkworm Girl, Sericultural EcoGothic, and the Anthropocene

The article looks at the connection between Chinese folklores and the Anthropocene, examining the tale of the silkworm girl in ancient Chinese mythologies and folklores from an EcoGothic perspective of human-nonhuman alliance (as well as its betrayal). The process of sericultural development in Asia works in tandem with the formation of the renowned “silk road,” an international commercial (as well as military) route for the exchange of goods and materials from East Asia and Central Asia to Europe and the Mediterranean region. The myth of the silkworm girl encapsulates an eco-economic co-existence among human beings, animals, plants, and matter in its most rudimentary form. My discussion focuses on the two versions of the story of the silkworm girl, one from an earlier collection of folklore—Sou shen ji (In Search of the Supernatural: The Written Record) by Jin Dynasty historian, Bao Gan, in China—and the other one by Guan Ting Du—Yong Cheng Ji Sian Lu (Records of the Assembled Transcendents of the Fortified Walled City), a later collection of stories compiled in the Tang dynasty. While silkworms in ancient Chinese literature and the sericulture they embody have been associated with agricultural advancement through the human domestication and extraction of natural resources, the anthropocentric interpretations of the moral lessons conveyed in those tales about the economic value their industry and productivity symbolize is problematized by the girl-horse metamorphosis and their symbiotic relationship with mulberry trees. Their representations are further complicated by the military involvement in sericulture. This article compares diverging representations of the silkworm girl within the context of the sericultural practice, particularly the man-horse-silkworm-mulberry entanglement, to reconsider the ecological significance of Asian mythologies in the age of our Anthropocene crisis.

Baškortostani udmurtide folkloor: žanriline iseloomustus, kogumislugu, käibimise iseärasused tänapäeval

The article discusses the peculiarities of the folklore genres of the Udmurts living in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russian Federation, the history of the collection, publication and research of folklore, as well as its modern circulation. The folklore traditions of this ethnic group, separated from the motherland, have been subjected to Turkish influence, yet at the same time have preserved many archaic features. Loyalty to traditional folk beliefs adds uniqueness to their folklore. The folklore of this ethnic group has not been widely studied, and no collections or monographs have been published. Recently research into their folk prayers and ritual songs has started. Today, due to the shrinking of the authentic environment necessary for keeping it alive, folklore (mainly songs) has moved to the stage. Amateur ensembles, teachers of the Udmurt language and literature, staff of community centres, librarians, and local lore researchers play a significant role in the preservation of local folklore specimens.

MULTIPLE TRANSLATIONS OF SUNDANESE FOLKLORE, NYI ROROKIDUL

This article discusses multiple translations of Sundanese folklore, The Legend of Nyi Rorokidul from the Sundanese language as the source text into Indonesian as the first target text and English as the second target text. The background of this research involves two problems: there is still limited research dealing with multiple translations as well as the research about the translation of Sundanese folklore into English seen from internet search. The data source of this research is a book of a collection of Sundanese folklore consisting of Sundanese text as the source text, Indonesian as the first target text, and English as the second target text. The translation of the Sundanese folklore in the book also involves several foreign languages among others are Arabic, and Russian with the form that the foreign language text is given at the beginning of the book, and Indonesian is in the middle, then Sundanese language is at the final part. The book used for this research is entitled The Most Popular Sundanese Folklore: Myth, Legend, and Tales with Indonesian as the first target text and English as the second target text. By using descriptive-qualitative methods, this research aims to answer two questions: (i) What methods of translation are identified in the multiple translations of Sundanese folklore, Nyi Rorokidul; (ii) are the methods of translation identified in the first target text, Indonesian, and the second target text, English, the same? The results show that the methods of translation in the multiple translations of Sundanese folklore, Nyi Rorokidul involved literal translation, adaptation, free translation and communicative translation. Some parts of the source text are translated using the same methods in both target text and the rest is translated using a different method.

AZƏRBAYCANDA YAŞAYAN AZSAYLI XALQLARIN FOLKLORUNUN ÖYRƏNİLMƏSİ: REALLIQLAR, PERSPEKTİVLƏR

Studying Minority Folklore: Realities and Prospects Summary This article delves into the current state of knowledge regarding the folklore of minority peoples residing in Azerbaijan. It aims to shed light on the existing challenges within this realm and delve into their historical causes. In addition to purposeful collecting and research efforts, the author highlights the importance of utilizing samples of folk art previously collected and preserved in the form of manuscripts stored in museums across various countries, as well as in private collections. Another highlighted priority is the meticulous task of identifying and rectifying additions, deletions, and distortions that have been introduced into the structure, poetics, and ideological content of oral epic samples across different historical periods. Key words: oral folk creativity, folklore of minority peoples, collection and research of folklore, organization of folklore work

‘A distressing scene’? The corpse in the nineteenth-century working-class home

ABSTRACT When Edwin Chadwick released his report into burial reform in 1843 he was highly critical of the working-class practice of keeping the dead body in the home for up to a week in the period between death and burial. Chadwick argued that the English working-classes kept the body for so long for economic reasons and that as a result of living in close quarters with a corpse they picked up negative associations with death and suffered moral decline. This paper overturns this assumption by using evidence from nineteenth-century folklore collections and working-class autobiography to argue that the long-standing tradition of keeping the body in the home and rallying round to prepare it for burial held a deep significance for rural working-class people. The gradual preparation of the body for burial engaged the senses and centred on the visual appearance of the corpse enabling rural folk to confirm social bonds through the formation of collective memories, demonstrate the respectability of both the deceased and their family, accept the reality of death, and begin the mourning process.

Myths about Yumynudyr ("heavenly maiden") in Mari mythology and Ritual: an attempt at a source and structural analysis

The subject of the article is the sources and content of myths about Yumynudyr ("heavenly maiden") in Mari mythology and ritual. The article is a continuation of a previously published work that examined the reliability of information about this key image of Mari mythology, as well as the problem of its divine status.The purpose of the research is a source-based and structural analysis of the myths about the Yuminudyr in order to reconstruct the main semantic links of the original tradition, as well as systematize data on the cult of the "heavenly maiden". To achieve this goal, it was necessary not only to identify the sources of the Yumynudyr myth, but also to identify the most significant thematic and plot motifs in the existing texts, to analyze the rituals associated with Yumynudyr and the image of Piambar close to her. In the course of solving the tasks set, the author of the article used a number of methods: source studies, structural analysis. In addition to analyzing ethnographic literature and folklore collections, field research materials were also used to supplement and clarify existing information about the Yumynudyr. The novelty of the research is the systematization of all information available in the literature about Yumynudyr, the analysis of the little-known myth of May, the daughter of the Mari goddess Shochyn Ava, as well as a comprehensive analysis of texts mentioning the "heavenly virgin", "daughter of God". This made it possible to continue the most promising research of a specialist on the topic, Yu.A. Kaliev, to identify the seven main links of the legend of Yumynudyr, to arrange them in a logical and chronological (according to a hypothetical macro plot) sequence. In addition, based on the field material being introduced into scientific circulation, the accuracy of the details previously recorded by the researchers on the issue of interest to us was confirmed, as well as a more meaningful and systematic and consistent examination of the cult of the "heavenly virgin" for the first time in ethnographic science: to highlight the most significant holidays, rituals associated with the images of Yumynudyr and Piambar.

POMENOVANIA SIVEJ FARBY V SLOVENČINE V KONTEXTE SLOVANSKÝCH JAZYKOV SUSEDNÝCH AREÁLOV

: The study presents linguistic material which, from a diachronic and synchronic point of view, presents the way the Slovak language names the colour grey, and also the figurative meanings that Slovak colour names denoting the colour of ash are able to express in comparison with other Slavic languages of neighbouring areas, i.e. Czech, Polish and Ukrainian. The conclusions presented in the study are based on the results of a comparative and contrastive analysis of linguistic material obtained by excerpting from collections of folklore, a historical dictionary, a dictionary of Slovak dialects, and textual corpora of contemporary Slovak, Czech, Polish, and Ukrainian, coupled with a quantitative characterization of the use of the given colour names in these genetically related languages. The analysed linguistic material is the basis for conclusions concerning the differences in the use of colour names denoting grey colour in the formation of multi-word names in Slavic languages and in the adoption of international terminology in which these names occur. A comparison with Slavic languages whose areas are located in the geographical neighbourhood of Slovak shows that the richness of lexical meaning of words denoting grey colour and their use in multi-word naming of terminological and non-terminological character may be wider in other languages than in Slovak. Compared to other Slavic languages, in Slovak the competition of two adjectives denoting grey colour can be observed not only in the basic meaning, but also in figurative meanings and in multi-word denotations of terminological and phraseological character.

‘A Systematic and Intensive Trawl’: Éilís Ní Dhuibhne’s Audio Recordings for the Urban Folklore Project

Éilis Ní Dhuibhne worked with the Urban Folklore Project – which is now part of the National Folklore Collection at UCD – from 1979 to 1980. She was appointed one of six supervisors in this ambitious project, working on a full-time basis and documenting Dublin lore. She made audio recordings, took photographs, wrote notes, made video recordings, devised and circulated questionnaires and also kept a diary. She collected in farflung places such as Ringsend, Mulhuddart and Ballymun and she interviewed countless people from school children to near-centenarians. This article lists the audio recordings made by Éilís for the project. A manuscript volume in the National Folklore Collection gives a listing in numerical order of the audio tapes made by the collectors for the Urban Folklore Project. This listing includes the names of the collector and the informant and also indicates which tapes have been transcribed and bound in volumes within the National Folklore Collection.

Family History and a Migratory Legend in County Cavan

Éilís Ní Dhuibhne’s elegant essay, ‘“The Old Woman as Hare”: Structure and Meaning in an Irish Legend’, published in Folklore, delivers the outcome of considerable reading and thinking in just six pages of text, while notes and references take up another two. Gendered readings of Irish oral tradition were rare in the early nineties, especially in such readable form. I happily urged this example of Éilís’s work on my students of Modern Irish and retained most of her findings in memory. Rereading it thirty years later, however, I’m led among the small drumlin farms of north-west Cavan, where my maternal grandparents, Patrick and Ellen Magee, grew up. Éilís’s own writings range widely, as seams of scholarship, family, memory and landscape enrich and illuminate each other. My essay reflects on my own family research, visits late in life to the border counties, and material written down in one Co. Cavan school in 1937/38 for the National Folklore Collection, and now available on www.duchas.ie .

Philippine and South African Experiences on Folk Literature Research: Relevance, Gains, and Challenges

Folkloric studies have accelerated in the Philippines and South Africa because the Academe acknowledged the urgency to collect, preserve, and publish the oral traditions of indigenous communities. Oral traditions embody the history, values, and world views of these indigenous cultures, which need to be preserved for posterity. This paper discusses the relevance, gains, and challenges in conducting folklore research in the Philippines and South Africa, which share similarities, including their colonial pasts and number of indigenous communities. The paper contemplates the relevance of folklore research outputs in different fields thereby contributing to the discourse on the value of folklore research. This qualitative study uses textual analysis to focus on insights related to folklore research, using secondary data including journal articles, book publications, and textual references. The study reveals that although there is extensive research in the field of folklore in both countries, there remain gaps that need to be filled, such as the collection, preservation, and recognition of representative folklore from other regions and cultural communities. South Africa, for instance, has 12 official languages, and the Philippines has 110 ethnolinguistic groups. There are still languages and indigenous oral traditions that are developing, and folk literature that needs to be recorded, preserved, and published. These oral traditions/folk literature play an important role in revealing people’s cultural identities and preserving heritage, which is imperative in nation-building. The findings highlight the importance of continuing research about folklore and the need to preserve indigenous knowledge systems When written down and published, folklore becomes tangible and preserved for posterity, providing present and future generations the opportunity to learn, understand, and appreciate their cultural legacy.

Научная и литературная деятельность П. Г. Доронина в довоенный период

The paper considers the life and creative activities of the prominent Komi writer, literary critic, historian, folklorist Pavel Grigoryevich Doronin in the period before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. The contribution of the researcher to the collection of Komi folklore is characterized, his literary work, the formation of interest in the study of history are shown, literary creativity and activities in the field of education are highlighted. It is indicated that P. G. Doronin began his path to science with folklore studies, then his scientific interests included literary criticism and history. The scientist’s outstanding contribution to collecting sources on the history of Komi is emphasized. Basic information about P. G. Doronin’s biography is given. The paper is dedicated to the 120th birth anniversary of the scientist and writer.

Forms and types of accumulating the khomus culture in the conditions of the author’s cultural and educational platform: experience and search

The article identifies the forms and types of accumulating the khomus (Sakha mouth harp) culture, in particular, the experience of systematization, determination of teaching methods and intensification of efforts aimed at preserving and transmitting the traditions of khomus musical heritage. The results of the author’s project and research activities as a folklore collector, philologist, teacher and educational program developer are substantiated. The ways of preserving, developing and popularizing the performing local tradition of playing the khomus are determined, an analysis of the forms and types of organizational pedagogical work on the reconstruction of the Vilyui (Suntar) school of playing the khomus is presented. The study also examines the problem of preserving and further developing traditional culture, the functioning of the mechanism of reproduction, transformation and accumulation of the accumulated local ethnocultural heritage of the Sakha people in the khomus culture. The theoretical and methodological basis were the works of E.S. Markaryan, I.E. Alekseev-Khomus Uibaan, A.P. Bozhedonova, A.A. Grigorieva, G.S Popova, etc. The results of the study can be applied in developing the scientific foundations of the ethnocultural content of khomus performing traditions in the sections of regional cultural studies, musical folklore and Yakut traditional music, as well as in testing the conditions, forms and means necessary for the development of educational programs for a traditional school of playing the Yakut khomus.

Kajian Ekokritik dalam Buku Kumpulan Cerita Rakyat Cilacap

Environmental issues are a major concern in society. This is caused by human behavior that adversely affects the environment. In relation to these issues, folklore or old literature has great potential to raise human awareness of the importance of maintaining the sustainability of nature. Folktales often contain values of local wisdom, human connection with nature, and moral learning that can be the foundation for ecological awareness. This study aims to describe the representation of ecocriticism in the Cilacap folklore collection book. This research is a qualitative research with content analysis approach. The data source of this research is the book Folklore of Central Java: Cilacap Regency. The sampling technique was done by purposive sampling. The result of this research is ecocriticism in the Cilacap folklore collection book can be known by Greg Garrad's ecocriticism theory (2004) in the form of pollutions, wilderness, disaster (apocalypse), dwelling, animals, and earth. This research contributes greatly to the understanding of ecocriticism and can enrich the repertoire of research on ecocritical studies in folklore which is currently still quite limited in Indonesia.

Features of collecting Kazakh folklore and methods of collecting folklore of the first half of the XX century

Relevance. The collection and study of Kazakh folklore are crucial for preserving the rich cultural heritage and ensuring its transmission to future generations. Understanding the processes involved in gathering, processing, and publishing folklore materials is essential for advancing the field of folklore studies and for maintaining the cultural identity of the Kazakh people. Purpose. This study aims to investigate the methods and practices of collecting Kazakh folklore in the first half of the XX century, highlighting the importance of systematic collection and the role of individual researchers in preserving and disseminating oral traditions. Methodology. The research involves a comprehensive analysis of historical records and scholarly works on the collection of Kazakh folklore, focusing on the techniques used by researchers to gather material directly from oral sources and the subsequent processes of transcription and preparation for publication. Results. The study reveals that the process of collecting Kazakh folklore in the early XX century was meticulous and required careful reproduction of oral narratives onto paper, ensuring their authenticity and accuracy. This method has been instrumental in preserving the genre-specific characteristics of folklore and providing a solid foundation for future research. Conclusions. The systematic collection and documentation of Kazakh folklore are vital for safeguarding the cultural heritage and supporting scholarly endeavors in folklore studies. By adhering to rigorous scientific standards in the collection and publication processes, researchers can ensure the integrity and longevity of this invaluable cultural resource. Keywords: folklore studies; collection; processing; publication; Kazakh folklore; genre

Self-collection of folklore by Irish schoolchildren: strategies and outcomes

ABSTRACT The Schools’ Scheme of 1937/8, initiated by the Irish Folklore Commission, was an almost unprecedented experiment. Not only did it contribute to one of the biggest collections of folklore in Europe, but it also arguably boosted the cultural development of children and created a catalyst for the intergenerational transmission of tales. Children from 26 counties collected folk materials on 55 topics indicated in the questionnaires Irish Folklore and Tradition and Béaloideas Éireann (1937). This paper provides a short review of strategies employed by children in their attempts to collect unstructured cultural texts through probable self-collection. It shows how the two questionnaires had an overwhelming influence on the resultant texts stored in the National Folklore Collection of Ireland at University College Dublin. The author employs a philological approach to folklore texts. Their form is analysed along with the contexts of creation (both immediate and wider ones).

Первое издание «Малахитовой шкатулки» П. Бажова в оценке столичной и областной критики

The article, dedicated to the first edition of the book “The Malachite Box”, for the first time collects and analyses all identified reviews on it. They help to understand and trace how the public consciousness gradually formed and established the attitude towards the writer P.P. Bazhov as a collector of folklore. Particular attention is given to a review by the writer Andrei Platonov, who approached Bazhov’s tales from an unexpected angle, departing from the traditions of Soviet criticism. Reactions to “The Malachite Box” in the metropolitan magazines and newspapers differed from those appearing in the regional press. The central and regional press bodies had their own goals and objectives, and their views on Bazhov did not coincide. In addition, the general political situation in the Soviet Union had an impact, when national roots were remembered as necessary for the patriotic education of young people, and the country began to cultivate folk art, support storytellers, collect and publish songs, legends, fairy tales. The article briefly reveals this temporal context. It also shows the significance of Bazhov’s tales for his contemporaries in comparison with the tales of S. Pisakhov, published just before “The Malachite Box” and discussed along with it.

Власов и начало археографических экспедиций Пушкинского Дома на Вятку

This article is dedicated to the memory of Andrei Nikolayevich Vlasov (1955–2023), Professor and Doctor of Philology. It highlights his personal contribution to the discovery and collection of folklore and archaeographic materials of the northern parts of the Kirov region, i.e., Vyatka. Vlasov organized the first expeditions to these regions in 1990–1997, when he was a faculty member at Syktyvkar State University. In 2010, Vlasov initiated the first folklore expedition to Vyatka under the auspices of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkinskii Dom) in St. Petersburg. Since 2011, the Institute has annually organized folklore and archaeographic expeditions to the northern part of the Vyatka region. Gradually, the archaeographic direction of this work prevailed, and, as a result, the Repository of Ancient Manuscripts (Drevlekhranilishche) of the Institute of Russian Literature acquired its Vyatka collection. To date, this collection includes 208 manuscripts, which date anywhere from the 16th to the 21st century, and 18 printed books, which range from the 16th to the 20th century.

Реинкарнация как древнейший тип верований у народов Севера

this work is a continuation of comparative studies of folk traditions associated with the belief in the reincarnation of ancestral souls. For comparison, only the key features of the phenomenon under study were taken: the archetypal model, ideas about life forces, its generic nature, methods of determining a reincarnated ancestor, as well as an archaic motif associated with the possibility of temporary incarnation of the human soul in an animal and a plant. Objective: identification of the main features of the ancient system of ideas about reincarnation that has developed in Eurasia, based on preserved traditions in the cultures of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East. Research materials: collections of folklore, published materials on the ethnography of the Ob Ugrians. Results and novelty of the research: the revealed close analogies in the concepts of transmigration of ancestral souls and related traditions allow us to attribute them to one type of belief, which differs from the well-known views on reincarnation in other worldview systems. Among the key signs of the reconstructed phenomenon are the ancient belief in reincarnation in Northern Eurasia: the archetype of the ancestral tree with the mother goddess and ancestral souls in the form of birds; the division of vital forces into a reincarnating principle (soul-breath) and its derivative (soul-shadow); the definition of a reborn soul through dreams and fortune-telling, spontaneous “memories” children and their similarity to the incarnated ancestor; the existence of ideas about the possibility of a temporary stay of the human soul in the bodies of animals and plants.

Оружие ближнего боя народов Северо-Западной Сибири периода средневековья как историко-культурное явление

: the article considers the various aspects of the armory tradition of the Ob Ugrians and Samoyeds of the XVI–XV centuries, reflected in folklore and historical sources: the composition of close-quarter weapon, its tactical and technical characteristics; complex of weapons as the social status of a warrior; symbolic role of individual types of weapons. The lexical parallels in the names of weapons and metals used for their manufacture are especially notable. This indicates active intercultural contacts between the peoples of the taiga Ob-Irtysh region with the Ural and Turkic tribes, which were both peaceful and conflicting in nature. Objective: to identify the originality of armory representation in Ob-Ugric and Samoyed folklore in the aspect of intercultural interaction. 150 Вестник угроведения. Т. 14. № 1 (56). 2024. Research materials: folklore collections, reference books, oral reports of informants, handwritten materials by P. E. Sheshkin. Results and novelty of the research: on the materials of Ob-Ugric and Samoyedic folklore, close-quarter weapon are correlated with historical realities, and the ways of their penetration into the folklore tradition are determined. 13 weapons are considered and systematized into 5 groups: cutting and thrusting, cutting, taper-cutting, thrusting, and impacting weapons. The involved military vocabulary of the Turkic languages testifies to the active contacts of the Ob Ugrians with their southern neighbors – the tribes of the Indo-Iranian and Iranian worlds (in particular, the names of metals). The conclusion is formulated that the southern influence left a noticeable mark on the armory culture of the Ob Ugrians and Samoyeds, but at the same time, the weapons of the taiga people are not without local originality. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time the weapons of medieval warriors are comprehended comprehensively in a regional-ethnic aspect with the involvement of folklore and historical sources, as well as linguistic data as a reflection of intercultural contacts. Unpublished materials from the handwritten heritage of P. E. Sheshkin related to early epochs (according to his periodization), where weapons combine the functions of universal hunting and combat equipment, have been introduced into scientific circulation.