New York Folklore

A look at New York state history, folklore, and material culture focuses on folk art, folk medicine, ghosts, werewolves, the devil, and famous murders.

New York and its folklore scholars hold an important place in the history of the discipline. In New York dialogue between folklore researchers in the academy and those working in the public arena has been highly productive. In this volume, the works of New York's academic and public folklorists are presented together. Unlike some folklore anthologies, New York State Folklife Reader does not follow an organizational plan based on regions or genres. Because the New York Folklore Society has always tried to "give folklore back to the people," the editors decided to divide the edited volume into sections about life processes that all New York state residents share. The book begins with five essays on various aspects of folk cultural memory: personal, family, community, and historical processes of remembrance expressed through narrative, ritual, and other forms of folklore. Following these essays, subsequent sections explore aspects of life in New York through the lens of Play, Work, Resistance, and Food. Both the New York Folklore Society and its journal were, as society cofounder Louis Jones explained, "intended to reach not just the professional folklorists but those of the general public who were interested in the oral traditions of the State." Written in an accessible and readable style, this volume offers a glimpse into New York State's rich cultural diversity.

A landmark volume exploring the public presentation and application of folk culture in collaboration with communities, Public Folklore is available again with a new introduction discussing recent trends and scholarship. Editors Robert Baron and Nick Spitzer provide theoretical framing to contributions from leaders of major American folklife programs and preeminent folklore scholars, including Roger D. Abrahams, Robert Cantwell, Gerald L. Davis, Archie Green, Bess Lomax Hawes, Richard Kurin, Daniel Sheehy, and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. Their essays present vivid accounts of public folklore practice in a wide range of settings—nineteenth-century world's fairs and minstrel shows, festivals, museums, international cultural exchange programs, concert stages, universities, and hospitals. Drawing from case studies, historical analyses, and their own experiences as advocates, field researchers, and presenters, the essayists recast the history of folklore in terms of public practice, while discussing standards for presentation to new audiences. They approach engagement with tradition bearers as requiring collaboration and dialogue. They critically examine who has the authority to represent folk culture, the ideologies informing these representations, and the effect upon folk artists of encountering revived and new audiences within and beyond their own communities. In discussions of the relationship between public practice and the academy, this volume also offers new models for integrating public folklore training within graduate studies.

"'Folk City: New York and the American Folk Music Revival' was published to accompany the exhibition of the same name presented at the Museum of the City of New York from June 17-November 29, 2015."--Page 6.

This Volume Will Stand As An Eccelectic Testimony To The Fact That Folklorists Are The New Public Intellectuals Of 21St Century Addressing Issues Of Integrity And Representation, Cultural Freedom And Justice, Aesthetics Of Tradition And Change And Contributing To The Development Of Civic Republicanism.