Folk Hero Research Articles

A laying on of hands: reading afrodiasporic spirituality, matrilineage & collectivism in lemonade

ABSTRACT Lemonade (2016) is a genre-blending text that imports cultural and fantastical devices in order to revise, interrogate, and re-examine history–specifically, the traumas inherited from enslavement. In its analysis of history, Lemonade immortalizes Afrodiasporic spiritual practices and enshrines Black women-healers and magic-users as folk heroes. This work advances that the Afrodiasporic spiritual practices and gynocentric connections are used to form Black female collectives. It draws largely on Black and Africana feminist and womanist scholarship to frame an expanded discussion of spirituality and Black motherhood in the American South, and to demonstrate how collectives–sacred, transhistorical communities–are critical to Black female healing. It contextualizes Lemonade’s “chapters,” visuals, and wider narrative, and it examines the Southern psychic and epistemological resources that Beyoncé, as protagonist, consults. In doing so, this work ultimately intends to create new intellectual space for readers to revisit questions of collectivity in Lemonade and consider the indispensability of community for Black women and girls.

Особенности романтических произведений Александра Ширяевца

The study aims to reveal the features of the romantic works by A. V. Shiryaevets. The article analyzes the lyrical works of the author belonging to the “new peasant poets”, reflects his interest in folklore, closeness to folk singers and storytellers, shows how Shiryaevets interprets the plot in a special way, giving poetic sketches a social and everyday character. The issue of the influence of oral folklore on the poetics of Shiryaevets is covered in literature quite fully, but researchers pay attention mainly to the poet’s attitude to folklore, identifying forms of secondary folklorism in the poetics. The discussion of the facts of folklore is often descriptive, carried out through empirical analysis. However, in the works of Shiryaevets, folklorism is not initially secondary, but is based on a folklore worldview. The article is the first to note the connection between folklore and mythological consciousness in the poetics of Shiryaevets, which accounts for the novelty of the scientific work. The results of the study showed that mythopoetics and the folklore tradition closely interact in Shiryaevets’ poems. Along with this, the following features are distinguished in the poems: the reflection of heroic-historical events, an appeal to the time of Ivan the Terrible’s reign, the glorification of Stepan Razin and his freemen, who serve as folklore images. Folk heroes, extolled in epics and tales, are shown against the background of the picturesque panoramas of the Volga region and ancient Zhiguli, they are personified in poems and act as characters. Possessing historical memory, the nature of the Volga region in Shiryaevets’ poems is able to reproduce the events of the heroic time of his native land.

MORAL LESSONS AND VALUES IN UZBEK AND KOREAN FAIRY TALES: AN INSIGHT INTO CULTURAL BELIEFS

In recent years, Uzbek folklore has become increasingly interested in comparing it with the folklore of other peoples and nationalities. Comparing the features of a number of genres created at the stage of the nation’s literary development - fairy tales, epics, ritual folklore, this article is of great importance in establishing literary cooperation in the era of the Third Renaissance.The common features of Uzbek and Korean folklore genres are the presence of folk heroes and legends, who express courage and resourcefulness, and often go on epic journeys or quests. These heroes are revered in their cultures for their extraordinary qualities and deeds as symbols of strength and virtue

Manobo, Bagobo, and Mansaka Indigenous Cosmology: Rediscovering Culture through Dramatist Pentad Structures of Folk Heroes

This study investigates the culture of Manobo, Bagobo, and Mansaka Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao. It utilizes the qualitative-descriptive method to describe culture based on the practices of folk heroes in the collected oral narratives. Furthermore, the study uses the dramatist pentad theory of Kenneth Burke, including act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose, to produce cultural interpretations. Hence, the study reveals the culture mirrored in the oral narratives such as: (1) Manobo, pangayaw (hunting of enemies) and transcendental belief in Tubaran (magical instrument); (2) Bagobo, hunting of wild chickens and encountering Busaw (evil spirits); and, (3) Mansaka, courtship and marriage to a mythical creature and hunting of birds. This research facilitates critical discourses on culture through oral narratives. It may foster a sense of place and cultural identity among academic scholars to rediscover the epistemological and ontological knowledge of Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao.

The Imperative of Reforming the Somalia National Curriculum: Addressing Extremism, Historical Narratives, and Contemporary Challenges

Utilizing a reformed curriculum in the education sector is very critical in meeting learner’s needs and societal demands. As such, careful and well-thought-out curriculum reforms and content diversification ought to be undertaken to adequately address the changing needs of students both domestically and internationally. Somalia's education system was long affected by the war and hence in a bid to bring reforms, it is needful that the existing curriculum addresses extremism, historical narratives, and contemporary challenges. Equally, scholars and educators in Somalia report an urgent need for National Curriculum reform to rectify the biases that have been perpetuated through generations and shape the future of Somali learners. This article delves into the historical context of the “Revolutionary Somalia” era (1969-1990) and contemporary challenges to provide a ground for reforming the Somalia National Curriculum. It adopts a literature review based on Somalia to bring ground evidence on the imperative of reforming the Somalia National Curriculum. The paper specifically assessed extremism, historical narratives of militancy, and contemporary challenges facing the federal nation. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were adopted to get the previously published literature constituting journal articles and reports. Resources legible for inclusion covered the subjects of extremism, climate change, Somalia scope, contemporary challenges, historical narratives, learners’ needs, pedagogy, 21st century skills, and shift from content to competencies. Using literature, the findings underscore that implemented curriculum and general folk heroes emphasize extreme nationalism, glorification of reckless behavior, and the influence of literature promoting intolerance, which has contributed to a divisive societal narrative. Moreover, the current curriculum inadequately addresses pressing concerns on terrorism, civic education, 21st-century skills, competencies, problem-solving, and climate change adaptation. The paper concludes that reforming the Somalia National Curriculum is imperative as it holds the power to shape the nation's future generations. The article recommends the Ministry of Learning, Culture & Higher Education to comprehensively overhaul the Somalia National Curriculum by revising the historical narratives, enhancing civics education, integrating discussions on extremism, terrorism, climate change adaptation, environmental preservation, emphasizing resilience, sustainability, adaptation strategies and their implications for societal cohesion and security to provide a more informed, tolerant and resilient Somali citizenry.

Between art and activism: political masculinities in Caribbean narratives of revolution

This article enquires into imaginations of ‘political masculinity’ in a Caribbean-British context and the engagement of artists with the ideologies of the political sphere and their co-construction of it. The article focuses on gendered strategies of political self-fashioning in George Lamming’s Water With Berries and Orlando Patterson’s An Absence of Ruins, which emerge from the tension between political engagement and artistic detachment that structures the work and public image of Caribbean artists and their political interpellation into the public sphere. I propose that artists manoeuvre in a political field of tension as regards citizenship, nation building and cultural authority – themselves inherently gendered concepts – by problematising the basis of black revolutionary politics as tied to essentialised codes of masculinity that in turn rest on specific ideals of cultural authority, such as the (Victorian) ‘man of letters’, the ‘peasant’ or ‘folk hero’, or a more radical political masculine blackness associated with Black Power.

Borrowings from the Old Slavic Digenis Akritis in the Muscovite Buovo d’Antona (Bova Korolevich)

Abstract The Byzantine Greek “romantic epic” Digenis Akritis and the Venetian romance Buovo d’Antona, translated into different Slavic languages under different circumstances and traversing Slavic space by different routes, reached Muscovy in the sixteenth century – each undergoing significant editing there and ultimately becoming textually entangled. It has not been noticed before that the editor of a Muscovite redaction of Buovo borrowed a number of passages from an early redaction of the “formulaically styled” Slavic Digenis. The encounter of Buovo with Digenis may help explain the former work’s subsequent popularity in Russia, as it transformed the courtly hero Buovo d’Antona into the Russian folk hero Bova Korolevich. It also helps sketch a context for the direct ancestor of the most important extant manuscript of the Slavic Digenis.

Russians’ ideas of heroes and heroism: Stable and changing components (based on the public opinion polls)

Despite an extensive list of the well-described aspects of heroism, this phenomenon is still understudied in sociology. Most of the projects and publications focus on identifying ‘heroes’ in public opinion or media discourse rather than on explaining why communities/societies ‘appoint’ some people heroes, and what is the conventional meaning of the word ‘hero’. Society has always paid close attention to the so-called ‘outstanding personalities’: there are official and folk heroes in all cultures, and they have always served as a kind of reference group for decision-making and self-identification. Moreover, specific types of heroes serve as one of the cultural system’s means for (self) representation: the most typical hero is often directly related to the society’s ethical complex. The authors systematize the sociologically relevant interpretations of the words ‘hero’ and ‘heroism’ together with the typologies of heroic behavior and identify the contemporary trends in the empirical study of heroism, which are certainly sociological surveys. The second part of the article presents the results of the all-Russian online survey representing four age groups: 14-19-year-olds, 20-29, 30-49 and 50-69 (N=800, 200 respondents per each age group). The survey aimed at identifying and comparing the ideas of different Russian generations about heroes and heroism. Two surveys were conducted - in 2020 and 2022, and the authors focus on the changes in the social representations of the heroic. In general, the older generation names the hero-rescuer and the hero-warrior as the main heroic types, while the younger generation prefers the hero-rescuer and the hero-good-doer. In 2022, respondents were less willing to answer questions about heroes and heroism, especially about manifestations of military heroism, but key social representations of the heroic did not change.

From Canadian Surgeon to Chinese Martyr: Dr. Norman Bethune and the Making of a Medical Folk Hero.

This paper reexamines the public memory of Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune. In 1938, Bethune traveled to China to serve at the communist front and to treat soldiers fighting against the invading Japanese army. Throughout China, Bethune is a household name and a communist icon. Back in Canada, however, his name does not evoke the same ubiquity. While Canadians remembered Bethune through biographies, a film, statues, and a small museum, his story in the Anglophone world is confined primarily to the telling of distant history. To explain Bethune's greater notoriety and public presence in China, this essay first turns our attention to Chinese sources that mythologized Bethune's death in 1939. The essay then revisits Chinese propaganda that established Bethune as a lasting political symbol during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s. These national efforts show how a volunteer surgeon such as Bethune became such an important figure in a remote foreign country. China's Communist Party turned Bethune's death into a political event to rally support for their war of resistance against Japan. Later, during the tumultuous period of the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong used Bethune to symbolize unwavering service and loyalty to leader and party. This essay utilizes primary materials in McGill's Osler Library and commentary from the field of memory studies to contextualize Bethune and to situate him within the broader narrative of political education that arose in China during the Cultural Revolution. A layered interpretation of Bethune - as doctor, martyr, and symbolic hero - slowly emerges. Political forces in China transformed his memory into legacy and carry this complicated figure into the present day.

GENDER STEREOTYPING MALICE: CAMOUFLAGING IN STOCK CHARACTERS AND ARCHETYPES

Archetype and stock/generic characters have exhibited an enormous presence in almost all ages, forms and genres of literary texts. The booming evolution of media forms over time caused these types of characters to transition to the newer and popularity-attaining media forms including theatre, cinema, games and most recently the meta-verse. As the norm goes, these characters in return have contributed immensely to the creative arts providing them with a stock medium of expression readily available for narration. However, these characters at the same time have contributed to both, the creation of new gender stereotypes and strengthening of the previously existing ones. Over time, these gender stereotypes have, in multiple ways, consciously or unconsciously contributed to the conditioning of the society at large through media consumption and have also rendered considerable impact on several important domains of human life including education, professional space, society and the people encompassing various disciplines. Modern Indian media, too inculcated these types of characters in their chosen narrations leading to a borrowing of the imbibed gender stereotypes as well. Witnessing shifts of trends, these characters too have undergone updates leading to a variety of changes and alterations with regard to gender stereotypes. However, these newer modifications are not yet so significant than the initial cultural impact of the same while accompanying with them is again a newer baggage of gender stereotypes. The present paper aims at understanding such prevalent gender stereotypes that have been nurtured, strengthened and formulated as a result of the archetype and stock/generic characters thereby enabling identification of such for a wider audience especially those linked to the educational space. Thus, nurturing the underlying aim of helping them (educational professionals) understand the influences hence generated through these recurring character types in multiple media. The paper favours a rather critical outlook upon the roles and impacts of such characters in gender stereotyping and/or their strengthening along with the key issues that they have given rise to considering the population and/or society at large. It aims at a thorough examination of selected and abundantly prevalent archetype stock/generic characters as such including the action hero, chosen one, Christ figure, dark lady, Damsel in distress, dumb blonde, folk hero and the French maid to name a few. It will facilitate an understanding of the sources, backing and flow of gender stereotypes as is lent through these characters. The paper seeks to examine these with regard to Indian Media citing examples ranging from literary works and motion pictures to internet media like memes and short videos. The present paper has employed qualitative approach. Under qualitative approach, it is narrative research examining the various imprints of such characters in various media and their role. The outcomes thus help not only understand, but also trace, segregate and relook towards the inculcation of gender stereotypes lent by these character types.

Emergence of college students’ John Henryism during schoolwork: an exploratory study

John Henryism (JH), named after the American folk hero John Henry, is a construct characterised by a behavioural predisposition for high-effort coping with psychosocial stressors. While it has been rigorously studied in the health sciences, little empirical research has focused on how JH emerges within educational contexts, specifically during schoolwork. This exploratory study investigated factors related to JH—race/ethnicity, gender, first-generation college student status, and high-effort coping—on school-based cognitive and emotional engagement. Results revealed that high JH scores predicted positive cognitive and emotional momentary engagement, particularly for racial/ethnic minorities and first-generation college students. Furthermore, in comparing our subsample of first-generation females with our overall sample of female students, we learned that JH had a greater positive influence on first-generation females’ momentary engagement than on that of the overall sample of female students. Findings suggest that historically marginalised groups may regularly rely on JH to cope with systemic inequality in school activities.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE OPPRESSOR AND THE OPPRESSED IN GOROGLU EPIC

The Koroglu Epic, one of the most important epics of Turkish folk literature, recounts the epic life of Koroglu, a legendary figure whose birth date and place are unknown. A poet and folk hero who lived in Bolu and Ankara in the sixteenth century. Koroglu is recognized by all aspects of Turkish and world literature. However, the sources of factual and accurate information about him are very limited. Although this situation diminishes our opinion of him, there are plenty of research opportunities because his saga is so widely circulated. Being a folk hero, the poet lived in Bolu, Turkey. Bolo Bey, who oppressed his people, opposed his father, and with his father's death at the hands of Bolo Bey, his hatred, anger and rebellion increased. Given that he lived around the 16th century and participated in the wars during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Murad III, the history of the epic is very old. His conflict with Bolo Bey, a gentleman who oppresses his people, is instrumental in making him a folk hero. Koroglu, who could not find the justice he was looking for and did not want to remain silent against oppression, went to the mountains and became a bandit. In this case, it could be considered a kind of cruelty. Where in fact, on the contrary, he went to the mountains and challenged the government because he did not give in to persecution. The words harsh and oppressive are of Arabic origin and are used in the same sense in Turkish. Al Qasi means the oppressor, and the oppressed means the person who is persecuted by the oppressor and condemned to live under an unjust system. When our field of study is Koroğlu, questions such as what is cruel and oppressive or how is this situation assessed? In this study, we will study the revolution of the popular poet known as Koroglu against oppression, and the relationship between oppression, the oppressed, and the oppressed, within the framework of the Koroglu Epic

Developing critical thinking skills through gamification

Misinformation as well as the proliferation of fake news has been a problem during COVID-19 pandemic. This has affected many vulnerable communities in Brazil. The ability to understand and sort out pieces of reliable information and fake news has become a fundamental cognitive skill. In this study we report on the development of a serious game (a card-based role-playing game) using Brazilian folk heroes aimed to develop critical thinking skills to empower vulnerable communities affected by misinformation and fake news. Four groups located in the city of Goiânia (Brazil) participated in this research: one group of people experiencing homelessness; two groups of favela residents (one urban and one in the suburbs) and one group of recyclable material collectors from a cooperative. We gained entry and built trust with each of these groups and worked together for 10 months during the pandemic. We conducted participatory observations, individual interviews with each participant and discussed their daily interaction with information, specifically in the context of the covid-19 pandemic. The analyses of the observations and interview data gave us a glimpse of the communicative needs of the groups. Inserting players into a narrative where they can make decisions based on critical thinking and their own reflections on the pandemic was important for building knowledge and developing critical thinking in these communities. The nature of the game (interactive and cooperative) allowed participants to focus on problem-solving skills and group work. It encouraged them to use real-life knowledge and skills to solve the fictional problems presented by the narrative.

Turner Family Stories: From Enslavement in Virginia to Freedom in VermontThe Most Costly Journey: Stories of Migrant Farmworkers in Vermont, Drawn by New England Cartoonists

Turner Family Stories: From Enslavement in Virginia to Freedom in VermontThe Most Costly Journey: Stories of Migrant Farmworkers in Vermont, Drawn by New England Cartoonists

Эволюция дискурсов о покорении Сибири в локальной исторической памяти

Research objectives: Systematization and factor analysis of evolving ideas about the conquest of Siberia in the local historical memory of the Perm region from the end of the 16th century to the present. Research materials: The research draws upon archival materials, materials from local historians, journalists, historians, teachers, and intellectuals, folklore materials, media materials from different eras, local history works, and local teaching aids from the Perm region. Novelty of the research: Based on the introduction of previously unpublished local history and personal materials, the study examines local historical memory about the annexation of Siberia, which has been perceived as an insignificant topic in historical science. The regional dimension of the “collective memory” of the “Conquest of Siberia” explored in this research can be applied to other regions significant for this process. Results of the research: Although the Perm region served as a “springboard” for the conquest of Siberia and is a symbolic border between the “Russian World” and the “Trans-Urals,” the research does not confirm the hypothesis about the system-forming significance of the myth of the “Siberian capture” for the construction of local identity. The study identifies several interdependent discourses in the local historical memory of the Perm region regarding the annexation of Siberia. The first discourse is the glorification of Yermak, initially influenced by the government’s struggle with the “Cossack freemen,” but by the beginning of the 20th century, Yermak was endowed with the features of a local folk hero, and his campaign was a common cause of local residents. The second discourse is the role of the Stroganovs, which was developed in the 1830s by F.A. Volegov, survived the Soviet ideologization, and experienced a slight surge in the 1990s, but is not dominant overall. The third discourse emerged in the late 19th century and is a representation of the conquest of Siberia in the works of the local intelligentsia. They note Moscow’s insignificant attention to the role of the Perm region in the conquest of Siberia, which can be considered a typical colonial discourse, but they themselves do not regard the “Siberian conquest” as a significant factor in regional history. In general, the discourses of the local historical memory of the Perm region about the conquest of Siberia shift the focus of attention from events to specific heroes, and the retrospective interpretation of their exploits is more of a “folk” rather than a statist character.

Dressing Up: A History of Fancy Dress in Britain

In Dressing Up: A History of Fancy Dress in Britain, Verity Wilson presents a lively and vividly illustrated parade of costumed characters, including Pearly Kings and Queens, Vikings, flower girls, May Queens, highwaymen, suffragettes, Pierrots, musketeers, insects, frogs, cabbages, and folk heroes (and villains). This account covers costumed celebrations and tableaux that have taken place throughout Britain from Queen Victoria’s accession to Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation. Fancy dress has been somewhat neglected by scholars until recently, except costume histories that have largely focused on eighteenth-century masquerade or the spectacular costume balls of the social elite in the Victorian period.1 In this absorbing social history, Wilson delves into photographic archives and reveals the rich and inventive role that “costume” has played in community events and popular pageants, foregrounding the fancy dress of the people, a collective drama played out in front parlors, village greens, church halls, and local high streets for generations.

Picturing Political Power: Eighteenth-Century Korean Portraits in San Francisco's Asian Art Museum

Picturing Political Power: Eighteenth-Century Korean Portraits in San Francisco's Asian Art Museum

TRANSFRONTALITY OF LITERARY IMAGES: EXTRAPOLATION OF THE ITALIAN PUPPET HERO PULCINELLA

The article concerns one of the most important characters of national Italian puppet theatre, the marionette Pulcinella, and its influence on the images of folk heroes of puppet and drama theaters, street performances and literary works in European countries. National invariants of this character in the theaters and literatures of Western and Central Europe from the time of the appearance of this character to the beginning of the twentieth century are highlighted. Due to the expansion of economic and political ties, from the beginning of the 17th century, Pulcinella, together with itinerant artists and puppeteers, begins its transition to most European national folk theaters and literature. Depending on the geography of the country, its national character traits and national stereotypes, Pulcinella changes his image, his name, his behavior, and language. However, what is the most important, each national puppet retains both external and internal features of their original predecessor, Pulcinella. Examples provided in the article prove that most of the national invariants of Pulcinella possess his main character trait, that is, a fight against injustice and fierce criticism of authorities. Such characters as the English Punch, the Dutch Pickelgering, the French Polychenelle and Guignol, the German and Austrian Hanswurth, the Spanish and Portuguese Don Cristobal, the Czech Kaszparek and the German Kasperle invariably pursue two main goals: to protect the wronged and to defeat the evil In each of the countries, the characters created on the prototype of Pulcinella, were warmly accepted by the public and became very popular, especially with common people. At the same time, they differed from the original with their national coloring; they became the mouthpiece of national character traits, national ethnic stereotypes. The article seconds the opinion of many literary scholars that the origins the marionette character of Pulcinella can be traced to the Italian folk theater hero of Maccus, mainly because Pulcinella adopts the features of that ancient character's appearance, such as an irregularly shaped head, a large hump on his back, a hooked nose, a large belly and lively shrewd eyes. With small changes and variations, these features of appearance are received not only by Pulcinella, but also by the numerous national invariants of this character in Europe. However, all these national invariants also preserve the typical traits of Pulcinella's character, such as cockiness, cunning, thirst for justice and victory in an argument. In the 19th century, the Pulcinella marionette ‘returns’ to Italy and transforms into the wooden puppet Pinocchio. Carlo Collodi’s novel becomes so popular that it is translated in many countries of the world, and the new characters modelled on Pinocchio, acquire national features, such as Zeppel Kern by the German writer Otto Julius Birbaum. This begins a new round of Pulcinella's influence on the world culture.

Henry Breault: Construction of a naval hero

United States Navy sailors are excellent subjects for personal microhistories due to the volume of surviving official documentation in the form of their Official Military Personnel Files. This article deconstructs a grand narrative surrounding Henry Breault, the only enlisted sailor to receive his Medal of Honor while serving aboard a submarine. Breault experienced contemporary enshrinement, a long period of sporadic interest, and a later iconographic construction into a submarine folk hero in the present day. Breault has come to represent unnamed submariners, who are expected to perform in the same fashion with no expectation of similar commendation. It is found that Breault is still representative of sailors, but as an ordinary man who acted in an extraordinary manner when circumstance required. The methodology provides insight into Breault's relationship and connection to greater society as a submariner and as a highly decorated sailor in the interwar period.

Masculinity in Folklore: The Enduring Symbolism of the Canadian Lumberjack

The nineteenth-century logging industry in North America produced working conditions that gave birth to many folk tales and folk heroes that have held firm, keeping the lumberjack a topic of popular culture that has endured for over a century. Through examining a historical painting and sketch inspired by the popular French-Canadian folktale La Chasse Galerie, present-day people can better understand the different historical influences, such as religion and ethnicity, that helped create folklore and ideas of masculinity within the timber trade in the Ottawa Valley. In addition, the masculinity that logging folk heroes and folk tales embody can help illustrate trends in modern resource extraction industries.