Folk Ballads Research Articles

John Henry and His People: The Historical Origin and Lore of America's Great Folk Ballad

John Henry and His People: The Historical Origin and Lore of America's Great Folk Ballad

MITRUSH KUTELI SI RRËFIMTAR DHE TRANSFORMIMET ZHANRORE

The influence of folklore in literature is not a new or unknown phenomenon, nor has it been so for Albanian writers between the two World Wars. Mitrush Kuteli is known as one of the first founders of Albanian prose of modernism, but at the same time, he is also known as a master storyteller who transcends genre structures and reintroduces popular motifs in the form of literary invariants. We say in the form of literary invariants because despite the literary processing he undertakes, the essence of folk ballads, songs, and tales remains unchanged, preserving even the unmotivated compositional ruptures and filling them with authorial artistic interventions such as descriptions, phraseologies, parodies, etc. However, we do not see attempts at alienating subjects and hypertextual transformations, which implies that Kuteli’s aim was the actualization of folk literature with fidelity to compositional construction, character functions, narrative balances, and the fundamental ideas of the processed material.

Deconstruction of Cultural Location: Evaluation of Dvija Kanai as the Pioneer of Namasudra Literature

Despite being one of the largest ethnic communities in Bengal delta, the Namasudras have never been acknowledged in the domain of production of knowledge, especially literature. The present article is a maiden attempt to locate the root of their literary heritage and to evaluate their contribution to literature. In this endeavour, the article transcends the Namasudra history that began in 1812, and goes beyond it, especially in the medieval period. It argues that the medieval folk poet Dvija Kanai who composed a folk ballad named Mahua was the first literary representative of this community. In this respect, this article deconstructs the modern literary culture of Namasudras, namely Dalit literature in which they have made a significant contribution. It argues that, unlike the modern Dalit Namasudra writers, the folk poet Dvija Kanai was the pioneer of Namasudra literature. 1

“The Twa Corbies”: рецепция народной шотландской баллады в русской и осетинской литературе (А. С. Пушкин, Г. М. Цаголов)

The aim of the work is to confirm the idea of the progressiveness of intercultural interactions in the system of full-fledged development of artistic thinking using the example of the transformation of the ideosphere of the Scottish folk ballad “The Twa Corbies” (“Two Ravens”) in Russian (A. S. Pushkin) and Ossetian (G. M. Tsagolov) literature. The article focuses on the similarities and differences in the interpretations of the original narrative by Pushkin and Tsagolov and the introduction by them of an additional semantic field into the traditional figurative structure of the original text. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the joint study of the Scottish ballad, the poems of A. S. Pushkin and G. M. Tsagolov, focusing on the identical value series and the convergence of folklore traditions in literary, author’s work. For the first time in the history of Ossetian scientific thought, Tsagolov’s work is highlighted in the context of interliterary connections and influences and becomes the subject of a comprehensive literary analysis. The presented texts reveal the need to preserve the main structural and figurative elements of the ballad and, in parallel, introduce additional nuances, both semantic and figurative, to enrich the ideosphere of the analyzed works. As a result of the research, the statement is presented that interest in folklore traditions in artistic creativity is one of the basic attitudes for the continuous development of both world literature and national literature; that eternal, archetypical themes raised in the presented poems (“treason/fidelity”) acquire additional connotative layers, are enriched with new symbols and acquire semantic depth, modernizing in the context of constantly changing cultural norms and traditions.

Resurrection of Bengali Folk Ballads: Search for a Communal Camaraderie in Colonial Bengal

Resurrection of Bengali Folk Ballads: Search for a Communal Camaraderie in Colonial Bengal

AZƏRBAYCANIN OĞUZ-TÜRK VƏ ŞİMALİ AMERİKANIN HİNDU XALQ NƏĞMƏLƏRİ: MÜQAYİSƏLİ TƏHLİL

Azerbaijan Oguz-Turk and North American Hindu Folk Songs: a Comparative Analysis Summary Folk songs of Oguz-Turk and Hindu people have addressed themes that are universal to most of humanity throughout history, including love, loss, treachery, and early death. They serve as a historical account of the circumstances that existed when they were written or oral traditions that were carried down orally. Folk songs are essential to music since they provide a brief overview of the musicians' lives. Important information is also frequently passed down from generation to generation through folk tunes. Folk ballads narrate tales of a life that has been forgotten or is about to vanish. Traditional Oguz-Turk and Indian civilizations use music for a variety of purposes, such as religious rituals, healing rituals, social songs and dances, work songs, game songs, courting, storytelling, and songs to bring luck in hunting, agriculture, and warfare. Key words: Folksong, Comparative features, Main directions of folksongs, In-text conceptions, Characteristics of folksongs

Singing the Goddess into Place: Locality, Myth, and Social Change in Chamundi of the Hill, a Kannada Folk Ballad

Singing the Goddess into Place: Locality, Myth, and Social Change in Chamundi of the Hill, a Kannada Folk Ballad

The Popular Ballad, Rumours and Memories as a Special Narrative Format

In principle, the new folksongs or folk ballads of the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century telling about dramatic events could also be called versified media news, as their aim was to mediate topical shocking events, in particular accidents or murders, thus serving as rumours, news and entertainment all in one. The popular ballad ‘Saatuse vangis’ (‘Bound by Fate’) tells a sensational story from southern Estonia. The song spread together with hearsay concerning the central event, the circumstances of the making of the song, and the characters involved. Over time, a specific type of story-telling developed, that mingled prose with parts of the song. The ballad together with the pertaining lore allows us to view the events descried from different aspects, creating a broader picture of the development and meaning of a popular text. The rumours, comments and personal memories accompanying the song helped both the contemporary and subsequent generations to understand and interpret the event. The stories spreading in the community by word of mouth addressed various circumstances “beyond the song”, and the narrator’s own emotions and opinions on the matter.

Folk Ballads: An Enduring Connection in the Digital Age

Folk Ballads: An Enduring Connection in the Digital Age this paper explores the timeless appeal of folk songs and their continued resonance in today's digital age This explores how these traditional narrative songs retain their relevance through culture internal transformation, digital convergence and cross -generational destiny. By examining the intersection of oral tradition and online community, this study reveals the ways in which folk galdas identify, evoke emotion, and bridge generational gaps through historical context and on a mixture of contemporary examples, this insight reveals the enduring power of folk music to connect people across time and technology. It delves into the fascinating world of folk music, tracing their journey from ancient oral tradition to its current significance in the digital age and examining what a given of these narrative gems would look like multiple generations are capable of exceeding the limits of time and technology. By examining the fusion of traditional storytelling and contemporary digital platforms, the study revealed the ways in which folk galdas can become vehicles for cultural expression, emotion and resonance Online communities, streaming services , social to revive interest in these ballads among contemporary audiences -It also highlights the role of the media. The study also examines the ways in which folk music serves as a means for intergenerational connections and generates shared historical and cultural heritage. Through a multi-dimensional lens, this research sheds light on the enduring thread that connects past classical music and current digital performance.

Approaches to the Lithuanian Folk Ballad in the Second Half of the 20th Century

This historiographic survey strives to demonstrate the considerable attention that the Lithuanian folk-ballads received in the second half of the 20th century. The historiographic material is presented systematically, while employing contextual data as well. Thus, Jonas Balys continued in emigration his interwar research of the ballads; in 1954 he published the catalogue of the “Lithuanian Narrative Folksongs”, and continued to keenly follow latest developments in Lithuania and review folklore studies. In Germany, Erich Seemann published in 1951 his research on the connections between the German and the Lithuanian folksongs, where he also discussed migration of ballads. On this side of the Iron Curtain, Pranė Jokimaitienė reflected on the works by Balys and other colleagues. In the monographs published during the Soviet-period, ballads were to some extent touched upon by Danutė Krištopaitė (1965), Jadvyga Čiurlionytė (1966), and Donatas Sauka (1970). In 1966, Vladimir Toporov published an article on the structure of the Lithuanian ballads. In 1968, a comprehensive study by Jokimaitienė was published, establishing in our folkloristics the canonic paradigm of ballad research, which has remained valid till the present day. The author of this article seeks to reveal the various ways of the paradigm of ballad research becoming entrenched in Lithuanian folkloristics during that time. The mosaic of approaches to Lithuanian ballads shows the prevalence of the above-mentioned paradigm as a process which several folklore researchers were engaged with. Insights and studies from that period have remained relevant to the contemporary ballad researchers.

A Historiography of Rajbangshi Literature

The rich cultural past of the Rajbangshi people is reflected in the historiography of Rajbangshi literature, which offers an engrossing tale. This paper intends to investigate the historical growth and evolution of Rajbangshi literature, highlighting the various socio-cultural influences that have influenced its course.The Rajbangshi people are an indigenous group that is mostly found in the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, and Bangladesh. They have their own distinctive language and culture. Poetry, folk ballads, folk tales, dramas, and novels are just a few of the many genres represented in their literature, all of which offer insights into their social, historical, and political realities. The development of Rajbangshi literature and its interaction with local, linguistic, and colonial factors are critically examined in this historiography. It explores the early oral traditions and folklore idioms that formed the basis for Rajbangshi literary productions. The paper studies the contributions of significant Rajbangshi writers and focuses on their ideological viewpoints, stylistic advances, and subject interests. The study also examines how Rajbangshi literature promotes cultural identity, questions societal norms, and addresses current concerns including immigration, language assimilation, and land rights. It also looks at how important literary movements, including the Bengal Renaissance, impacted the growth of Rajbangshi literature and its interaction with more general literary currents in the area. It aims to contribute to the greater conversation on underrepresented literary traditions by highlighting the socio-cultural importance of Rajbangshi literature within the broader framework of regional literature. This study aims to promote awareness and acknowledgment for this unique literary legacy by providing light on the historical and cultural aspects of Rajbangshi literature. It also emphasises how crucial it is to keep Rajbangshi literature alive and well for future generations in order to maintain the literary landscape's overall richness.

Sociodemografske varijable kao korelati čitalačkih interesovanja i recepcije književnih dela učenika osnovne škole

Starting from the observation that in the teaching of literature, the powers of literary art that could strengthen students' interest in reading and reception of works are insufficiently used, the authors examine the influence of socio-demographic factors on the characteristics of students' interest in reading (gender, academic achievement, educational status of mother and father, language of instruction). The research involved determining the connection between the understanding of unknown and lesser-known words and expressions in passages from literary works (epic-lyrical -folk ballad and epic genre -epic and novel) with socio-demographic factors. The research was carried out using the survey research method, the technique used was a survey, and the instrument was a questionnaire. The sample consisted of 478 5th-grade students from elementary schools in the Republic of Serbia, where classes are taught in Serbian and Hungarian. The following statistical tests were applied: the chi-square (ch²) test, one-factor analysis of variance, t-test (t) of independent samples, phi (Phi) coefficients and Cramer's V indicator within the program IBM SPSS 20.0. The research results showed that students' reading interests significantly correlate with socio-demographic factors, especially gender, academic achievement, father's and mother's educational status, while the mother's educational status is also related to library member-ship. It can be stated that students have difficulties with unknown and less familiar words and expressions (foreign words, dialectal words, localisms and archaisms) while reading literary works, and that the language of instruction is a significant socio-demographic factor that is related to the sum of perceived words and their understanding. It is concluded that it is possible to create an environment that stimulates students' reading interests, which opens up space for modern methodical systems and procedures for interpreting unknown words and expressions in the literary-communicative context of literature teaching.

Typological Comparisons of Folk Poetry of the Ukrainians and Southern Slavs at the Figurative-Lexical Level

The focus of the study proposed below is on important issues related to the identification of the common features of folk poetry of separate southern Slavs, in particular, Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian, and Ukrainian folk poetry, as well as individual works of art with a folklore component (for instance, Vila-Posestra by Lesya Ukrainka). It is, in particular, about the characteristic features of folk-poetic works at the level of imagery, poetics, and indicative lexical patterns. Common to folk poetry of the Southern Slavs and Ukrainians, especially when it comes to works of love or social nature, is the use of not only permanent epithets, but also indicative metaphors, comparisons and characteristic figurative expressions. In stages and separately considered are poetic tropes, separately their content and formal load, as well as functions when used in folk poetry of Ukrainians and South Slavs. Considerable attention is paid to lexical characteristics when creating the image of a beautiful girl in Ukrainian folk poetry and in folk-poetic South Slavonic samples, as well as to additional attributes of clothes and outfits of a young man and a girl in the folklore of the mentioned peoples. Figurative characteristics of animals, plants and natural phenomena (flowers, herbs, trees), as well as their functional purpose and place in the palette of folk-poetic works, characteristic lexical features of their reproduction in texts of epic and lyric songs, and folk ballads, do not remain without attention as well. The article compares dumas and songs and ballads about the escape from captivity, where there is also a distinct similarity in vocabulary when characterizing heroes and their actions. By collating folk poetry of Southern Slavs and Ukrainian folk songs, extraordinary factual material is revealed at the figurative-lexical level, eloquently testifying to the similarity of the texts. It is about certain clear general regularities of the overall plan, which can be traced both at the level of plot imagery in the thematic-genre dimension, and in the aspect of metaphors (constant epithets).

Folk Ballad: National Aspects of the Genre (Based on the Material of Russian Erzya, Moksha folklore)

The subject of the study is the genre originality of Erzya, Moksha and Russian folk ballads, the object of the study is typical and rare ballad plots and characters, which allows us to consider the phenomenon in all the variety of genre aspects. The article, based on scientific literature and folklore material, characterizes the poetic techniques and visual and expressive means used in Erzya, Moksha, and Russian ballads. A special contribution of the authors to the study of the topic was the comprehension of the ballad through the prism of the memory of the myth, which is persistently present in it. Erzya, Moksha and Russian ballads are united in genre with their thematic diversity. Their characters and events represent different aspects of life, illustrate various aesthetic and moral codes, obeying a common poetic system. The scientific novelty lies in the consideration of the elements of the myth in the ballad, the content of which is transformed in it, it does not explain the myth and cannot do this, because it has lost its understanding. But she operates with the data of the myth, retains the attributes of the myth in her poetics, which allows her to have a complex genre constitution that leads away from a simplified understanding of the plots and images of the actors. Erzya, Moksha and Russian ballads are the product of national mentality, artistic and aesthetic, social, moral views. In them, the life of the people is concretized by the destinies of individuals, the emphasis is on spiritual life, on ethical, social, moral ideas – both traditional and those that have arisen at a new stage of historical development. Their attention is drawn to the tragic aspects of human existence caused by his negative reaction to the world.

The Problem of Population Exchange, Mübadele through Deer Myths: A Greek Village in Anatolia, Livera

Abstract In Anatolian and Turkish culture, since Shamanic times, deer has often been considered as sacred, rather than a game animal. Through this perspective, many deer-related narratives were formed and became a part of the folklore. This motif can also be seen in the modern narratives of Turkish literature. Necati Cumalı’s play, Yaralı Geyik (The Wounded Deer, 1979) based on a folk ballad, tells the story of a deer hunt and the curse of that deer upon people. Another example, Murathan Mungan’s play, Geyikler ve Lanetler (Deer and Curses, 1992) again nourished by folkloric tradition, focuses on a curse caused by a deer that is hunted during her pregnancy. This article focuses on a more contemporary narrative, Yusuf Bulut’s story Livera Geyikleri ( The Deer of Livera , 2011) which uses the same pattern too. However this time a new element is added considering the ‘function’ of the myth, stressing a socio-historical problem, which is mübadele . For the population exchange between the Greek and Turkish people in 1923 shows itself as the main thematic concern in The Deer of Livera , how the story benefits from the possibilities of myth will be questioned in the article and an English translation of the story will be presented.

Stardust Media by Christina Pugh

Reviewed by: Stardust Media by Christina Pugh Jane Rosenberg LaForge (bio) stardust media Christina Pugh University of Massachusetts Press https://www.umasspress.com/9781625345110/stardust-media/ 96 pages; Print, $16.95 The late Carl Sagan liked to say that we humans are made of "star stuff," a corollary that his protégé and successor in the popular imagination, Neal de-Grasse Tyson, has reframed as, "We are not figuratively, but literally stardust." It follows, then, that everything is composed of similar material—plants, animals, humans and their artistic outputs. The poems in Christina Pugh's newest collection, Stardust Media, should also be included, though not because of their subject matter or cosmological ancestry. Pugh's daring, deeply layered, and erudite poetry asks readers to take a trip around the universe to understand its lessons in interconnectedness. Sagan, deGrasse Tyson, and other scientists of their ilk have repeated this axiom in an effort to garner respect for [End Page 147] all life, no matter how small, invisible, or insignificant it might seem. Pugh, however, aims to deliver another maxim, about the worth of human interpretation, no matter the prestige or lack of stature, of the interpreter. Pugh's primary methods include allusion and synesthesia, enabling her to plumb the depths of the cultural record and come back with surprising and egalitarian associations. A disquisition into a particular color, a piece of lace, or a peculiar cloud will bring up the name of an actress or a character from a television series, perhaps a long-forgotten performance artist or a composer of symphonies based on traditional folk ballads. "Machines can be diaphanous," Pugh informs us in "But the Avant-Garde," an elegy to possibly a more innocent time, depending on what that naïveté was focused on, or missed. The poem settles around the figure of Charlotte Moorman, who posed for her husband's "TV Bra for Living Sculpture" while playing the cello and wearing two television screens over her breasts, as if cups of a bra. Moorman "closely crabbed a pain journal throbbing out / the instants of her terminal, young time. This was / a woman who swam through everything," Pugh says; the "swimming" refers to how the television screens appeared on her breasts—"Mellifluous / jellyfish agitated"—but it is the word "terminal" that is even more important, considering Moorman's fate in life and art. Readers don't necessarily need to know what those fates were to comprehend the many losses documented in these lines. "But the Avant-Garde" encapsulates other hallmarks of Pugh's approach, elegant and efficient while supporting multiple perspectives. In "Eighty Percent of Light Is Missing, Scientists Say," Pugh reports on the latest research, the mathematical propositions and their disappointing outcomes, to explore phenomena that defies human attempts to describe it. Our galaxy'seffulgence is malnourished, and nobodyquite knows why. The scientists' numberswere four hundred percent wrong. Whitmanwould have said, Seriously? You're surprised?Frost would have junked the telescope.Me, I'll settle in to watch this goldfinchsock away a decent chunk of change. [End Page 148] Of course, light gets lost, she seems to be saying; anyone who's read poetry (Whitman's "Prayer of Columbus" or Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay") knows that. But where the light goes, and how it is recycled, is as "steady, ineffable … untellable" as Whitman first proclaimed. Pugh announces her democratic approach in two poems that give the book its title: "Stardust Media" and "Stardust Media II." In the first, the irresistible call of the Sirens is said to be just as bewitching as vocals of the 1980s alternative rock band the Cocteau Twins. Together, they share the same musicality as a verse of Homer; they "unspooled the way that bodies pool and crash / together, raptured after sex." Yet as Pugh actively tries to re-create the actual sound of the Cocteau Twins, she illustrates one of the central questions of the collection, one that alternately enchants or bewilders scholars of the pop culture and its biggest by-product, nostalgia. Are our memories—the ultimate media—as solid and reliable as the material that inspired them, or is it the burnishing of our...

The Performance of Jhumra as the Tharu Folk Ballad: A Study in Angst and Eco-Romance

This paper critically unravels the themes of Jhumra folk dance-songs of Dangaura Tharu of Nepal. On its interpretation, it discusses the imaginative representation of nature and human relationship in Jhumra songs appropriating the notions of the folklore performance of Richard Schechner and Alan Dundes. The paper appropriates Tharu Jhumra dance songs: Chhaila To, Jone Panah Gaili, Baigam Ture and Karam Lage Aag voiced by Mani Ram Tharu. The songs reflect the romantic fantasy and the suffering of the folks. Jhumra serves as the distinct dance repeatedly performed by the community throughout the year. Along with this, the brief reference of Robert Burns has also been fetched to spell out the modern revival and revisualization of folklores by the medium of YouTube and other commercial online platforms. Jhumra songs comprise the lyrics that romanticize and de-romanticize nature with the human–nature union. I have used Schechner's idea of performance as the way of life to signify the eco-centric romance of Tharu community. Schechner believes that performance is embedded in everydayness of each activity that a folk performs. This research will help to assimilate the eco-friendly nature of Tharu ethnicity and other different ethnicities of Nepal urging us to be more eco-conscious individuals.

Folk Ballad beyond the Genre Definition

The ballad has long existed in the periphery of the Lithuanian folkloristics. In this article, the folk ballad’s role and place in the Lithuanian folksong tradition is explored discussing two classical works of the Lithuanian folklore research characterized by their rather diverse theoretical assumptions. Both works were published in the end of the 1960s. The first one is the study on the Lithuanian folk ballads by Pranė Jokimaitienė (1968), and the second one is the monograph by Donatas Sauka discussing the uniqueness and value of folklore (1970). The author of the article suggests examining the folk ballad not only in terms of the genre, but also from the broader interdisciplinary perspective, thus combining both above-mentioned points of view by Jokimaitienė and Sauka. Such approach is strengthened by the research history of the ballad – a very complex and complicated phenomenon.
 Limiting the ballad analysis exclusively by the Lithuanian material on the one hand, and by the pure folklore on the other, hinders us from adequately placing the ballad in the Lithuanian folklore system. Therefore, the author suggests renouncing the narrow concept of the ballad as a text, at the same time regarding it beyond the definition of the genre and taking into account its social, cultural, historical and anthropological contexts. The article aims at discussing the peculiarities of the ballads’ existence in the Lithuanian environment in terms of development of the Lithuanian folkloristics. Notably, ballads have always found themselves at the outskirts of the idealizing template of the research in Lithuanian folksong.
 Various nations have seen very diverse adaptations of the ballad plots, and this international diversity of folk ballads along with their dissemination across other genres opposes making clear decisions regarding their identity, even when the general definition is applied. Giving in to the temptation of submitting the generic definition, the folklorist adopts the views of a literary scholar: the definition might look essentially correct (the ballad is “a lyric-epic composition characterized by dramatic features” or “a narrative folksong with lyrical and dramatic character”, etc.), but will hardly be of use. Compositions with similar plots might be attributed to different genres in various national folklores, which works according to their own folklore systems. Besides, even variants of the same type might embrace a rather broad scope: from the stylistically pure ballads to the lyric transformations with ballad motives. This complicates the wish to combine all compositions and types into a single generic group. Here, one must bear in mind the already established tradition of folklore research. In Lithuania, development of folkloristics has shaped a general image of the folklore universe, which has in turn dictated how the whole folksong corpus is ordered and systematized.
 Finally, the author draws the readers’ attention to the fact that ballads – the folksong layer of foreign origins and abounding in signs of “otherness” – have become unique compositions in Lithuania, not similar either to European samples nor to the authentic canonic Lithuanian folksongs. Having appropriated a topic or some wandering story line, Lithuanians frequently do their own transformations in terms of content and form. It is concluded that the Lithuanian ballads have sprung from interactions between the local folksong tradition and the balladic expression, thus acquiring an additional meaning and value.

Germand Gladensvend and the monster

Abstract The present analysis discusses the narratological structures of the Danish folk ballad on ‘Germand Gladensvend’ (‘Happy Germand’, DgF 33). The text is preserved in six different manuscript versions, all of them written before appr. 1630, and in a printed version from 1591. Although the story is strongly related in all of them, including stanzas that are identical almost word for word, the different versions nevertheless have rather different narratological structures, depending on the strong variation between the conclusions of the different versions. In order to make these differences clear, the analysis uses classical narratological concepts, like movements of objects of value and the semiotic square. The narrative structures in the extant versions of the Danish popular ballad “Germand Gladensvend” (DgF 33).

Wacław Aleksander Maciejowski as a Comparatist: His Supplements to Frédéric Gustav Eichhoff’s The Literature of Medieval Peoples: Slavs and Germans

The dissertation Obraz literatury średniowiekowych ludów, a mianowicie Słowian i Niemców [The Literature of Medieval Peoples: Slavs and Germans] was published in Warsaw in 1856. It was a translation of a study by the French philologist and comparatist Frédéric Gustave Eichhoff. The original text was signifi cantly modifi ed and supplemented by Wacław Aleksander Maciejowski, a Polish historian of law and specialist on Slavic culture. The article identifi es the parts of the text that Maciejowski added, as this allows for a reconstruction of his general views on Slavic poetry, including the differences between folk ballad traditions of the Slavic nations, as well as between Slavic and Western European folk ballads (primarily Germany). Maciejowski’s views on the development of the literatures of various European nations by the mid-nineteenth century have also been discussed.