(Folk)Life, Interrupted: Challenges for Fieldwork, Empathy, and Public Discourse in the Age of Trump

Abstract

This article argues that the political and social developments of the current American moment represent a crisis for folkloristics and other humanistic fields that goes well beyond pragmatic concerns. It makes the case that, in response, we must conduct (or reinvigorate) sustained conversations about how we as scholars of folk cultures should engage with our subjects and with the public more broadly.

Soft Racism in the Contemporary Legend of Anawan Rock: A Critique

“…The first is critique of traditional folklore scholarship and advocacy for a more activist perspective. Several self-identifying critical folklore studies fall into this category (such as Buccitelli 2020;Gencarella 2009;Goldstein and Shuman 2012;González-Martin 2020;Greenhill and Marshall 2016;Kodish 2013;Leary 2020;Melton-Villanueva and Bock 2021;Westerman 2006;Wolf 2021). The second consists of studies that advance the inclusion, visibility, self-determination, and dignity of marginalized, alienated, or oppressed groups.…”