Folklore Performance Research Articles

СУЧАСНІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ ПРОЄКТУВАННЯ НАУКОВО-ДОСЛІДНОГО ТА НАВЧАЛЬНОГО ЦЕНТРУ НАРОДНИХ ПРОМИСЛІВ

The article proposes modern technologies and develops conceptual approaches to the design of a research and educational center that ensure functionality and compliance with historical traditions. The main planning zones and functions of the complex have been determined, including administrative, educational, research, craft, exhibition and recreational zones, ensuring the effective use of the territory and promoting the popularization of folk crafts. In order to form the conceptual foundations, the comparative historical method was used in the study in order to evaluate the organization of places in the past and integrate them into the present. In the 19th century, landlord settlements were a key component of the socio-economic structure on the territory of Ukraine. The analysis of folk crafts and their integration at the cultural heritage site allows for the implementation of a cultural program for visitors, namely: various workshops in weaving, pottery, cheese making, baking, woodworking, as well as holding folk holidays and ceremonies. An important part of the cultural program are folklore performances and theatrical productions, which contribute to the preservation of Ukrainian culture. Planning solutions have been developed that take into account the characteristics of historic buildings and the landscape, including strengthening the banks, installing drainage systems and other engineering measures to ensure the stability, sustainability and safety of the complex. The project of the research and training center of folk crafts in the village of Sednіv (Chernihiv region) is an important step in preserving the cultural heritage of Ukraine. It will contribute to the economic growth of the region and sustainable development, the development of tourism, raising the level of public awareness of folk crafts and traditions.

THERAPEUTIC FEATURES OF THE UKRAINIAN TRADITIONAL SINGING

The purpose of the article is the study of the therapeutic features of the Ukrainian traditional singing (UTS). Research methods are as follows. The characteristic features of Ukrainian folklore performance (such as timbre, varia- bility, etc.) are described in terms of their influence on the psychophysiological state of singers. Features of singing in different timbres, as well as solo and ensemble are compared. The complex influence of different UTS indicators (per- forming, musical-therapeutic, psychophysiological, etc.) is analysed. Data on powerful therapeutic musical resources contained in UTS are identified. Conclusions. The study reveals 1) the UTS ability to reduce the level of stress, to pro- mote relaxation and rest; 2) the opening voicing capability to enhance the antistress effect of UTS; 3) the influence of singing variability on creativity level increasing, a sense of freedom and positive emotions enhancing; 4) the ensemble UTS ability to strengthen self-reliance, motivation, to bring joy, to promote the emotional unity of singers. 5) The unique therapeutic capacity of the UTS is formed due to the complex action of its musical parameters. The relevance of the study is seemed to be explained by the understanding of the therapeutic properties of UTS as an effective means of stress reducing and overcoming the post traumatic stress disorder consequences.

ГАРМОНИЧЕСКИЙ ЯЗЫК В ПРОИЗВЕДЕНИЯХ БАШКИРСКИХ КОМПОЗИТОРОВ (на примере оперного творчества)

This aspect of the musical problem invariably arises in connection with the development of a professional musical language — the fundamental task of all monodic national cultures that have embarked on the path of professional development. The specificity of this task is determined by the pentatonic structure of Bashkir folk music, being an integral part of the Ural-Volga “pentatonic zone”, which required composers to find adequate, nationally acceptable ways to build a harmonic vertical. First, the author examines the prerequisites developed in folklore performance, then the work of composers who were looking for ways to combine modal harmony with the European tonal system. The features of chords, methods of melodic modulation, which differ from classical techniques of European music and affirm the selfsufficiency of their own monodic culture, are noted. As a result, the harmonic language of Bashkir operas appears as an original and integral musical phenomenon.

Against Cultural Amnesia Through Optimizing The Role of The Youth Generation in Paloh Naga Agrotourism

This article aims to describe strengthening character and love of culture as an effort to fight cultural amnesia through various forms of creativity of the younger generation in Paloh Naga Agrotourism. The research method is an ethnographic method with a naturalistic approach. Collecting data through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and archiving folklore. The data analysis technique used Spradley ethnographic analysis with a series of analyzes processed using ATLAS.ti software. The research results are; Optimizing the role of the younger generation in cultivating positive characters around Paloh Naga Agrotourism through participation in art training in music, dance, and traditional theatre. While in the field of education, through participation in the Lingkaran Community Learning Activity Center, the program consists of Character Education, Cashier Education (Coastal Children's Area), Taqsir (Taqlimul Qur'an for Coastal Children), Community Reading Parks, and teaching at the Rehabilitation Workshop of the National Narcotics Agency, Deli Serdang District. Furthermore, efforts to fight cultural amnesia in the aspect of cultural love by participating in various activities related to folklore, namely oral folklore performances in the performance of the Paloh Naga Legend ballet, partially oral folklore performances in traditional dance and game practices, and non-verbal folklore training in the course of product exhibitions and traditional cuisine. Furthermore, the regeneration process of the younger generation in fighting cultural amnesia begins with participating in character and art education after fulfilling the requirements to become a volunteer-based on qualifications. Finally, the forms of creativity displayed by the younger generation, include preparing various folklore performances, creating creative dances, playing traditional music and traditional games to strengthen social interaction and the value of creativity, and creating various traditional cuisines.

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.

Spatial Memory and Ecologically Displaced Subjectivity in Western Tharu Folk Songs of Nepal

This paper critically examines the folk dance songs of Dangaura Tharu fromthe perspective of space, memory, and performance. The paper establishes the relationship between Tharu subjectivity and conscience of their past topography inherent intheir folk dance songs. In one aspect where the overall folk performance of Tharu reflects their lifestyle, in another aspect, their folk songs and rituals assist them to connect with the natural environment where they inhabit. This paper has brandied their performance as the art reflecting their bucolic lifestyle and melancholic memory. The songs have been collected, translated, and interpreted from different visual sources and personal communications. To analyze the primary texts, the notion of folklore performance from Alan Dundes, Richard Schechner, and other different folklorists have been utilized as the theoretical and review guidelines. The paper also includes the translated version of the songs. As for the indigenous culture aspirant like me, the study of folklores of Tharu indigeneity helps us to understand the spatial memory of one of the largest ethnicity of Nepal and their socio-economic history. It will provide a new perspective of their historical changes from literature which have not been critically assessed in the already conducted studies. Hence, the findings of the research help us to understand the necessary social index of one of Nepal’s largest indigeneity.

THE USE OF MONOLOGUE PERFORMANCE OF SOUTH SULAWESI FOLKLORE TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY AT THE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF MA ASSALAM TIMBUSENG

This research aimed to improve students’ speaking ability at the Eleventh Grade of MA Assalam Timbuseng using Monologue Performance of South Sulawesi Folklore. The researcher used Classroom Action Research where the data gained from the speaking test. The subjects of the research were 27 students of the Eleventh Grade of MA Assalam Timbuseng in the Academic Year 2020/2021. The research findings showed that the students’ speaking ability before and after using monologue performance was significantly different. The students’ D-test mean score in terms of fluency was 66.63 while in final test cycle 1 was 71.78 improvement, however it still did not get the standardization score of English subjects (75). Then, the mean score in terms of fluency in final test cycle 1 was 79.89 which mean there was 11.29% improvement from cycle 1 through cycle 2. Furthermore, students’ score frequency in terms of fluency in cycle 1, it can be seen that there are 7 (26%) students got good, 19 (70%) students got fair and 1 (4%) student got poor. Then, the students showed the improvement in cycle 2 which is 9 (33%) students got very good, 17 (63%) students got good and 1 (4%) student got fair. It means that there was a significant improvement of students’ speaking ability after using monologue performance of south Sulawesi folklore. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that digital storytelling was effective to improve students’ speaking ability at the Eleventh Grade of MA Assalam Timbuseng in the Academic Year 2020/2021.

Quilting Voices

Quilting Voices

The Paradox of Authenticity: Folklore Performance in Post-Communist Slovakia

The Paradox of Authenticity: Folklore Performance in Post-Communist Slovakia

Singing the nature - еthnobotanical knowledge in Bulgarian folk songs

Background: Bulgarian poetic folklore reflects an agrarian culture deeply connected with land and nature. However, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) transmitted through Bulgarian folklore is scarcely assessed. Questions: What are the dimensions of the TEK related to plant diversity (native and introduced) that appear in Bulgarian folk songs and what is their potential as transmitters of ТЕК? Data description: The lyrics of 10,113 Bulgarian folk songs were excerpted from major academic collections and a set of unpublished songs. Study site and dates: Current study covers songs that have been documented since mid-19th century onwards in the present and former Bulgarian territories and in areas that have been inhabited by ethnic Bulgarians abroad. Methods: Common plant names and descriptions of plants and landscapes were used to detect botanical affiliations of the denoted plants. We focused on frequencies of plant representations and their functions associated with cultural, agricultural and food-processing practices. Results: A total of 146 plant taxa from 109 genera were mentioned in 47.3 % of the studied songs. Over 60 % of the most frequently mentioned taxa were archaeophytes while neophytes were represented by seven taxa, denoting everyday and spiritual importance of nature. Conclusions: Bulgarian folk songs presented wide range of nature-related information typically reported for ethnic groups outside Europe. Quantification of TEK preserved in documented poetic folklore and further assessment of performance of nature-rich folklore would allow development additional tools for evaluation of cultural significance of species, landscapes and ecosystems as well as for development of educational and inspirational materials.

What Are Belief Narratives? An Introduction

What Are Belief Narratives? An Introduction Ülo Valk (bio) Fluctuating Folklore Folklore and its kindred concepts have gone through substantial transformations since the early history of folkloristics in the nineteenth century. From an object-centered approach—discussing folklore as a set of cultural survivals— attention has shifted to subjects—to people whose minds, behavior, and expressivity bring folklore to life. The subjective dimension also involves reflexivity—the researcher’s critical awareness of their role in the process of making folklore through fieldwork and theorizing its results. Instead of understanding folklore as a set of textual items, it is today discussed as practice and “a type of social action” (Bronner 3). Even the living conditions of folklore have changed as the internet and new media have become its common environment, leaving it “in a constant, exhausting state of flux” and making theoretical innovations indispensable (Blank 3). Yet some strands of thought have remained persistent in the history of the discipline, for example, the observation that folklore is not made from the same substance—not like the water we drink or the air we breathe—but is an array of expressive modes and crafts, their products and effects. Along with proposing the new term “folk-lore” in 1846, William J. Thoms offered a short list of its forms (Thoms 11). Scholars all over Europe started to record its genres, some [End Page 175] of which spread transculturally, whereas others remained local. Thus, Jakob Hurt (1839–1907) in Estonia talked about distinct “sorts” of folklore, such as old songs, old tales, proverbs, riddles, place names, customs, children’s games, jokes, folk beliefs, and superstitions (85–88). When Alan Dundes outlined folklore in his seminal anthology The Study of Folklore, his sample list took more than a half a page and was incomplete, as the author noted (3). Discovering more and more vernacular terms and inventing new analytical categories to develop more elaborate maps of the field of folklore has been a persistent tendency in scholarship. Accuracy and analytical pointedness has led to multilayered systems of classification that are perhaps most useful in archiving, modeling primary study books, and in the division of labor among folklorists who often specialize in certain genres. Yet anybody who has done fieldwork or participated in folklore performances knows that uniform classification systems hardly succeed—unless the lived reality is quite robustly compressed into solid, ready-made compartments. If one considers the subtle nuances of artistic forms and the multiplicity of expressive modalities that are evoked in performance, the hybridity of folklore seems overwhelming. Folklore is constantly fluctuating, breaking the boundaries of specific types; analytical categories dissolve if we try to apply them not as conceptual tools but as containers of items. Dan Ben-Amos has addressed the problem of incongruity between ethnic genres and analytical genre categories by outlining them as “two separate systems which should relate to each other as substantive matter to abstract models” (215). What about belief narrative as a category? Is it a supplement to analytical taxonomies, a new compartment for a certain kind of story? The concept leads us to the heart of live folklore as a domain of building, transmitting, and shaping knowledge: to epistemic claims, uncertainties, suppositions, arguments and counterarguments—all that is related to belief formation in folklore as discourse and communication. Belief and Narrative Genres Belief narrative can hardly be considered as a container in which to lump together various assorted genres or stories. Rather, as a concept it aims to break the limits of existing classification systems and grasp the transgeneric dimension of folklore. The classical taxonomy of William Bascom outlines the forms of folk prose, [End Page 176] consisting of myths, legends, and folktales. As he notes, one of the distinctive features that differentiates these three genres is their relationship to belief. Folktales, according to him “are prose narratives which are regarded as fiction” (Bascom 4; emphasis in original). Myths and legends, however, are prose narratives that “are regarded as true by the narrator and his audience” (Bascom 4; emphasis in original). Bascom outlined the three as cross-cultural categories and noted that as stories spread from one society to another, “a myth or legend may be...

"МЫ - НЕ СКАЗИТЕЛИ, А ИСПОЛНИТЕЛИ ЭПОСА…": СОВРЕМЕННЫЕ РАССКАЗЧИКИ ЯКУТСКИХ ОЛОНХО О СВОЕЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ

The paper contains excerpts from interviews with the modern performers of the Yakut epic Olonkho. Their practice is characterised by reliance on written records of the epic, the fragmentariness of the texts being performed, the predominance of performances in the format of competitions on massive platforms, the formation of individual performing styles under the influence of the “censorship” of experts and senior members of the performers’ community, a tendency to level dialect differences. The major topic of the interviews was the situation of the “return” of the local epic genre, the traditions of which were practically lost in the second half of the 20th century, the “horizontal” relationships among the modern performers of the epic and their communication with the members of the expert community (folklorists, ethnomusicologists), new contexts of the existence of the reconstructed element of folklore. The revitalisation of the practice of performing and listening to the epic is part of a more general process of reconstruction of the Yakut traditional culture, the actualization of local artefacts that can become the support of the ethnocultural identity of the Yakuts in the new conditions. The experience of modern performers of the Yakut epic is indicative in the context of contemporary practises of actualising traditional forms of folklore and makes us rethink the specifics of the professionalisation of folklore performance in the post-traditional era

“Folklore seeks out the things that are not permitted in official discourse”. An Interview with Lillis Ó Laoire

Lillis Ó Laoire is a sean-nós singer and lecturer in the School of Languages, NUI Galway. He is a Donegal native and a graduate of NUI Galway and of University College Cork. He has been a visiting Professor at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. He has co-authored a book (with Seán Williams) on the great Connemara singer Joe Heaney, Bright Star of the West (Oxford UP, 2011). His research interests include Gaelic song traditions and history, performance and transmission of folklore, ecocriticism and ethnomusicology. As a scholar, he has published articles in Journal of Rural Studies, Folk Life: Journal of Ethnological Studies and in the American Journal of Irish Studies, among other specialized journals. This interview took place in January 2019 at NUI Galway, where he teaches Irish language, folklore and Celtic Civilisation.

A JANGAR-CHAPTER CHANTED BY THE BAARIN KHUURCH RINCHIN

In the present paper, one chapter of the Jangar epic, chanted by the famous storyteller, khuurch Rinchin of Inner-Mongolian Baarin origin, is discussed from two main points of view: (1) the spread of Jangar among Mongols not belonging to Oirats and Kalmyks, and (2) how contemporary social circumstances transform the traditional heroic epic into another folkloric genre, i.e. the so-called khuuriin ülger. The chapter ‘Minggan, the Beauty of the World’ told by khuurch Rinchin—discussed here—is well known from other Jangar publications like the ‘Mingyan the Beauty of the World’ (published in the Thirteen Chapters Jangar/Jinggar: Takil ǰula qaγan-u üledel Tangsuγ bumba qaγan-u ači Üǰüng aldar qaγan-u köbegün üye-in önöčin Jingγar-un tuγuǰi arban γurban bölög). The life story of Rinchin and his creative innovation in traditional folklore genres are typical phenomena of the contemporary transitional period in preserving and sustaining folklore genres and performance.

АСПЕКТИ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ МОЛОДІЖНОГО ФОЛЬКЛОРНО-АНСАМБЛЕВОГО СПІВУ В УКРАЇНСЬКОМУ МИСТЕЦТВОЗНАВСТВІ

Мета роботи – узагальнити відомості щодо появи й розвитку молодіжних фольклорних колективів в Україні; проаналізувати історіографію проблеми; окреслити місце і роль молодіжних вокально-ансамблевих фольклористичних формацій у сучасній українській музичній культурі як елемента, що пов’язує традиційну сільську культуру і сучасну культуру міста; виокремити труднощі опанування фольклорного матеріалу учасниками вторинних колективів; визначити перспективи подальшого дослідження окресленої проблематики. Методологія дослідження базується на таких теоретичних методах: систематизації – для пізнання й осмислення процесу появи і розвитку молодіжного вокально-ансамблевого фольклористичного виконавства в Україні як складника її музичної культури; абстрагування – для диференційованого розгляду найістотніших рис окресленого різновиду виконавської народної культури; аналізу – для встановлення зв’язків між різними рівнями категорій вищеназваного виконавського стилю; синтезу – для розгляду фольклорно-ансамблевого співу як компонента ієрархічної системи музичної культури України. Також використано джерелознавчий метод для дослідження історичних умов появи молодіжного вокально- ансамблевого виконавства та його характерних ознак. Наукова новизна роботи полягає в систематизації наукового досвіду дослідження молодіжного фольклорно-ансамблевого виконавства та у висвітленні основних теоретично- практичних аспектів проблеми розвитку вокально-ансамблевих фольклористичних формацій в Україні. Висновки. Узагальнено науковий досвід дослідження проблеми розвитку молодіжного фольклорно-ансамблевого співу. Визначено дискусійний характер вивчення проблеми. Систематизовано різні підходи до опанування традиційного виконавства в молодіжних фольклористичних формаціях. Виявлено історичні особливості розвитку молодіжних вокально-ансамблевих фольклористичних колективів у сучасній українській музичній культурі, що пов’язують між собою традиційну (автентичну) сільську культуру з її інклюзивною фольклорною екосистемою і сучасну культуру міста. Окреслено шляхи та перспективи розвитку сучасних молодіжних фольклорних ансамблів.

КОНЦЕРТНО-ПРОСВЕТИТЕЛЬСКАЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ ЭТНОГРАФИЧЕСКОЙ СЕКЦИИ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО ИНСТИТУТА МУЗЫКАЛЬНОЙ НАУКИ (ГИМНА)

The article analyses the concert and educational activity of the Ethnographic Section of the State Institute of Musical Science. The author introduces previously unknown information on concert performance of musical folklore in the period of 1921-1931. The paper describes the forms of concert performance including the following ones: concerts of folk performers from rural areas, folklore festivals organized by students and researchers, meetings in memory of musical culture personalities, cooperation with professional concert ensembles.

The Paradox of Authenticity: Folklore Performance in Post-Communist Slovakia. By Joseph Grim Feinberg. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2018. xviii, 234 pp. Notes. Bibliograpy. Index. Photographs. Tables. Map. $69.95, hard bound.

The Paradox of Authenticity: Folklore Performance in Post-Communist Slovakia. By Joseph Grim Feinberg. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2018. xviii, 234 pp. Notes. Bibliograpy. Index. Photographs. Tables. Map. $69.95, hard bound. - Volume 78 Issue 3

Joseph Grim Feinberg, The paradox of authenticity: Folklore performance in post-communist Slovakia

Joseph Grim Feinberg, The paradox of authenticity: Folklore performance in post-communist Slovakia

The Footsteps of Nieves Fresneda: Cuban Folkloric Dance and Cultural Policy, 1959–1979

This article examines the history of Cuban folkloric dance by following the footsteps of star dancer Nieves Fresneda from 1959 to her retirement in 1979. Fresneda was a founding member of the Havana-based national folkloric dance company, Conjunto Folklórico Nacional (CFN). Studies have charted the early history of the CFN but tend to portray the company as a state-led enterprise that sprang fully formed from political leaders. By contrast, this study asserts that the company was imagined and created by folkloric performers and collaborators who fought for a genre, admittedly built on the fraught foundations of racial inequality and paternalistic reform. In recounting this history, I regularly return to Fresneda, grounding the essay in a specific body and life that had particular importance to the CFN. Fresneda and her colleagues were expert cultural producers, known as "informants," and provided the foundation and fount to folkloric performance. Although this has been mentioned in previous literature, I seek to underscore informants' centrality to politics and theory making through performance. Borrowing from José Esteban Muñoz (who himself borrowed from Antonio Gramsci), I argue that these individuals were "organic intellectuals," who celebrated Cuban blackness and promoted goals of racial justice through their folkloric arts.

Профессиональная подготовка руководителей фольклорных коллективов к сценическому воплощению регионального фольклора в современной социокультурной среде

Профессиональная подготовка руководителей фольклорных коллективов к сценическому воплощению регионального фольклора в современной социокультурной среде