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Social psychologists argue that people’s past weighs on their present. Consistent with this view, Historical Tales and National Identity outlines a theory and a methodology which provide tools for better understanding the relation between the present psychological condition of a society and representations of its past. Author Janos Laszlo argues that various kinds of historical texts including historical textbooks, texts derived from public memory (e.g. media or oral history), novels, and folk narratives play a central part in constructing national identity. Consequently, with a proper methodology, it is possible to expose the characteristic features and contours of national identities. In this book Laszlo enhances our understanding of narrative psychology and further elaborates his narrative theory of history and identity. He offers a conceptual model that draws on diverse areas of psychology - social, political, cognitive and psychodynamics - and integrates them into a coherent whole. In addition to this conceptual contribution, he also provides a major methodological innovation: a content analytic framework and software package that can be used to analyse various kinds of historical texts and shed new light on national identity. In the second part of the book, the potential of this approach is empirically illustrated, using Hungarian national identity as the focus. The author also extends his scope to consider the potential generalizations of the approach employed. Historical Tales and National Identity will be of great interest to a broad range of student and academic readers across the social sciences and humanities: in psychology, history, cultural studies, literature, anthropology, political science, media studies, sociology and memory studies.
This book presents a selection of fourteen provocative and unique essays bringing together the views of exciting new scholarship on narratives and cultural identity in Latin America. In so doing, it balances theory, methodology, and description. The offerings in this volume deliver a clarion mix of original voices and cutting-edge approaches to the exploration of the topics, which reflect diverse perspectives on Latin American culture and literature. The contributions feature analyses of Latin American oral tradition, cultural identity, memory construction, storytelling, literary truth-claims, myth, autobiography, cultural policy and history, folk art and cinema.
The Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies surveys the materials, approaches, concepts, and applications of the field to provide a sweeping guide to American folklore and folklife, culture, history, and society. Forty-three comprehensive and diverse chapters delve into significant themes and methods of folklore and folklife study; established expressions and activities; spheres and locations of folkloric action; and shared cultures and common identities. Beyond the longstanding arenas of academic focus developed throughout the 350-year legacy of folklore and folklife study, contributors at the forefront of the field also explore exciting new areas of attention that have emerged in the twenty-first century such as the Internet, bodylore, folklore of organizations and networks, sexual orientation, neurodiverse identities, and disability groups. Encompassing a wide range of cultural traditions in the United States, from bits of slang in private conversations to massive public demonstrations, ancient beliefs to contemporary viral memes, and a simple handshake greeting to group festivals, these chapters consider the meanings in oral, social, and material genres of dance, ritual, drama, play, speech, song, and story while drawing attention to tradition-centered communities such as the Amish and Hasidim, occupational groups and their workaday worlds, and children and other age groups. Weaving together such varied and manifest traditions, this handbook pays significant attention to the cultural diversity and changing national boundaries that have always been distinctive in the American experience, reflecting on the relative youth of the nation; global connections of customs brought by immigrants; mobility of residents and their relation to an indigenous, urbanized, and racialized population; and a varied landscape and settlement pattern. Edited by leading folklore scholar Simon J. Bronner, this handbook celebrates the extraordinary richness of the American social and cultural fabric, offering a valuable resource not only for scholars and students of American studies, but also for the global study of tradition, folk arts, and cultural practice.
This interdisciplinary volume centers on the interrelations of storytelling and various manifestations of cultural identity, from written to oral and from autobiographical to regional and national. Indigenous storytelling, as well as storytelling for and by children and the elderly, are the main focus of these essays. Together, these fifteen texts make a significant contribution toward a deeper understanding of various aspects of textual and oral narrative: they broaden the lines of inquiry into multidisciplinary and multicultural interests, particularly those centering on the construction, expression, and contextualization of various types of identity; and they illustrate the deployment of storytelling not only as testimony, contestation, and subversion - but also as peacebuilding. Many countries, languages and cultures are herein represented - from the United States and Canada to Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia, from English to Japanese to Greek to Italian to the languages of indigenous peoples of Latin America and the Philippines.
This edited collection presents a range of heretofore unpublished, unavailable methods for the systematic reconstruction of culture from interviews and other discourse. Authors set the design and evolution of their methods in the context of their own research projects, and draw general lessons about investigating culture through discourse. These methods have largely grown out of the work of the cultural models school, and represent the approaches of some of the very best methodologists in cultural anthropology today. An impetus for the volume has been inquiries from researchers, many of them graduate students, about how to conduct the kind of research that cultural models theorists do. This is not a linguistics book; unlike approaches to discourse analysis from linguistics, this volume focuses on culture, treating discourse as a medium especially rich in clues for cultural analysis, and hence a window into culture.
Folktales are instrumental in ensuring the survival of oral traditions and strengthening communal bonds. Both the stories and the process of storytelling itself help to define social, cultural and political identity. For Palestinians, the threat of losing their heritage has engendered a sense of urgency among storytellers and Palestinian folklorists. Yet there has been remarkably little academic scholarship dedicated to the tradition. Farah Aboubakr here analyses a selection of folktales edited, compiled and translated by Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana in Speak, Bird, Speak Again (1989). In addition to the folktales themselves, Muhawi and Kanaana's collection is renowned for providing readers with extensive folkloric, historical and anthropological annotations. Here, for the first time, the folktales and the compilers' work on them, are the subject of scholarly analysis. Synthesising various disciplines including memory studies, gender studies and social movement studies, Aboubakr uses the collection to understand the politics of storytelling and its impact on Palestinian identity. In particular, the book draws attention to the female storytellers who play an essential role in transmitting and preserving collective memory and culture. The book is an important step towards analysing a significant genre of Palestinian literature and will be relevant to scholars of Palestinian politics and popular culture, gender studies and memory studies, and those interested in folklore and oral literature.
The Bukusu of Kenya: Folktales, Culture and Social Identities explores the social history in Bukusu folktales compiled in From Our Mothers'' Hearths: Bukusu Folktales and Proverbs. Folktales mirror life by reflecting what people do, what they think, and how they live, as well as what aspirations they hold; thus, they are both descriptive and prescriptive. The heroes of Bukusu tales are farmers, shepherds, stepmothers, husbands, orphans, ironsmiths, hunters, neglected wives, scheming stepmothers, shepherds, and barren women--ordinary people from all walks of life. For many Africans, structures and values in folktales affirm their cultural identity, drawing on familiar words and expressions. The Bukusu of Kenya shows how folktales bring value and pressures to behavior. For instance, except in a few tales, females rather than males fall prey to ogres, commit social breaches and require male direction and protection. Most stories depict the triumph of the despised and weak, such as orphans and neglected wives over those who abuse power or good fortune. Folktales offer a poignant critique of the pervasive consumerism and individualism in society, celebrating, collaboration, honesty, diligence, and familial ties. Tales integrate the ordinary and extraordinary, depict human interactions with and among animals and portray human control over both the animate and inanimate worlds. On the other hand, the conspicuous omission of other ethnic groups and the depiction of the inanimate as lesser beings create an ontological hierarchy. The vast range in tales, depicted social roles, and narrators testifies to the creative power of individuals and communities in defining and transforming the social structures in which they live. Growing interest in cross-cultural experiences and culturally-relevant pedagogy highlights the importance of books like The Bukusu of Kenya: Folktales, Culture and Social Identities. Folktales appeal to audiences across age, time, and location, providing a link to a heritage of tellers, listeners, writers, and readers. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin. "As a School Board Administrator, I seek unique books and materials on people of African descent to recommend to teachers. Having read From Our Mothers'' Hearths: Bukusu Folktales and Proverbs (Florence, 2005), most of my teachers and students have been eagerly awaiting the follow-up. The Bukusu of Kenya: Folktales, Culture and Social Identities could not have come at a better time. Folktales have played a very important role in the Bukusu culture. This book is an important educational tool." -- Leonard Wandili, Program Officer International Languages and African Heritage, Ontario, Canada "I write to applaud the publication of this new book by Dr. Namulundah Florence. This book is another outstanding collection of Bukusu folktales coming soon after the remarkable From Our Mothers'' Hearths. The book serves as a permanent record of our culture, a long-awaited documentation of the values and aspiration of our forefathers captured and immortalized for future generations. The stories provide our people a rich resource from which they will not only learn and be entertained but will be guided for centuries to come.-- Everett Wakoli, Past President of Abeingo Association Canada "The Bukusu of Kenya: Folktales, Culture and Social Identities comes at a right time to enable Bukusus, especially the younger generation who may be eager to know their history, culture, tradition, music, marriage ceremonies, customs, etc. These folktales serve an educative role among the Bukusus of Kenya and connect the same people with the cultures and traditions of other tribes the world over. The growing cultural diversity in America calls for an acknowledgement of the origins but also contributions of individual groups to national traditions. Success in promoting cultural inclusiveness begins with training teachers from different locations but also knowledge of different traditions, many of which have shaped students'' lives. The market is ready for this book." -- Fr. Christopher Wanyonyi "Florence''s book offers an overview of Bukusu peoples'' beliefs and practices through time. The book celebrates our Bukusu cultural identity as much as it portrays the community''s aspirations. Other cultural groups acquire a glimpse of Bukusu core values. Such discussions create awareness about the need for a comprehensive cultural analysis. As an author, I have waited long for this research. -- F.E. Makila, Author of An Outline History of the Babukusu and Bukusu Folktales "In this book, Dr. Florence combines her literary training and her personal knowledge and experience of Bukusu life to produce an anthology rich in folklore, cultural traditions and social ethos. Though the focus is on the Bukusu community, the author also draws examples from other communities in the East African region. The product is certainly a document that will be of interest to students and professionals in cultural anthropology, sociology, literature, history, and comparative ethnography. The book should also be of interest to any reader out for leisure reading." -- Professor Simiyu Wandibba, Editor of History and Culture in Western Kenya: The People of Bungoma District Through Time
* Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award * Silver Medal Society of Illustrators * * Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Comics Beat, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Kirkus Reviews, and Library Journal This “ingenious reckoning with the past” (The New York Times), by award-winning artist Nora Krug investigates the hidden truths of her family’s wartime history in Nazi Germany. Nora Krug was born decades after the fall of the Nazi regime, but the Second World War cast a long shadow over her childhood and youth in the city of Karlsruhe, Germany. Yet she knew little about her own family’s involvement; though all four grandparents lived through the war, they never spoke of it. After twelve years in the US, Krug realizes that living abroad has only intensified her need to ask the questions she didn’t dare to as a child. Returning to Germany, she visits archives, conducts research, and interviews family members, uncovering in the process the stories of her maternal grandfather, a driving teacher in Karlsruhe during the war, and her father’s brother Franz-Karl, who died as a teenage SS soldier. In this extraordinary quest, “Krug erases the boundaries between comics, scrapbooking, and collage as she endeavors to make sense of 20th-century history, the Holocaust, her German heritage, and her family's place in it all” (The Boston Globe). A highly inventive, “thoughtful, engrossing” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) graphic memoir, Belonging “packs the power of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and David Small’s Stitches” (NPR.org).