Balkan Folklore Midterm

What does bascom charaterize folklore as?

an “autobiographical ethnography” — a culture’s own self-potrait from the “inside out” rather than an external observers classification

author of the four functions of folklore

bascom

what are the four functions of folklore?

1) amusement/escape (which bascom treats as different): a socially sanctioned outlet to escape from cultural repressions, physical hardships, vent taboos. social constraints are temporarily suspended without disrupting social order

2) validation of culture: it justifies and reinforces social rituals, traditional beliefs, and institutional hierarchies

3) education: particularly in non-literate societies, folklore acts as a primary teaching tool to instill more values and life lessons

4) social control/ maintaining conformity: folklore maintains conformity to accepted behavioral standards. It is used to to censure misconduct, ridicule deviants, and exert indirect social pressure against those who stray from cultural norms

Paradox of folklore that bascom highlights

it serves as both a powerful mechanism for forcing individuals to conform to institutional norms while simultaneously providing socially approved outlets for expressing

what are the main theories of eliade

• sacred vs. profane (and how it relates to time)

• archetypes and repetition

• myth vs. history

archetypes and repetition

an act or object acquires reality and meaning only insofar as it repeats or imitates an archetype. unrepeatable, novel acts in profance time are viewed as meaningless of chaotic

myth vs. history

archaic society resists linear, irreversible history. popular memory assimilates real historical events and figures into timeless mythical archetypes

author of rites of passage

van Gennep

what are the three phases (or stages) of rites of passage?

• separation

  • symbolic detachment of the individual from their previous social status, role, or location

• transitional (sacred) period

  • the ambiguous in between state where normal social rules are suspended, prior identity dissolves, and character undergoes trial or transformation

• Incorporation

  • re-entry into the community under a newly established/recognized status

how do the three stages of rites of passage relate to rites of separation and rites of incorporation

• separation

  • rites of separation from the ordinary realm

  • rites of incorporation into the sacred realm

• Transitional: the sacred period

• incorporation

  • rites of separation from the sacred environment

  • rites of incorporation back into the ordinary environment.

    
    

rites of passage and space (spatial passage)

spacial passages (doorways, borders, etc.) often represents spiritual passage and mirrors socio-religious transitions

what author is focused on the structural morphology of folktales

propp

what is a function according to propp

a function is defined as an act of a character, understood from the perspective of its significance for the overall course of the plot

what are propp’s core laws

1) functions serve as stable, constant elements in a tale, independent from who performs them or how they are executed

2) the number of functions in wonder tales is strictly limited

3) the order of the functions (chronological sequence) is important and always the same

4) all fairy tales belong to a single structural type regarding their architecture

key functional sequences in fairy tales according to propp

• initial situation and preparatory phase

• complication/actual movement

• donor sequence

• transference, combat, and liquidation

• the return sequence

• the unrecognized arrival and final resolution

what does Wilson discuss?

Herder and Romantic nationalism

who was Herder? what did he argue

german philosopher who directly opposed enlightenment rationalism and universalism

• he argued each nation is an independent organic entity shaped by its distinct characteristics

• viewed folklore as the “archives of nationality”. argued native oral poetry and songs were the living voice” of a nation and that a nation must return to these oral tales and folklore to avoid cultural decay caused by imitating foreign models

impact of herder

inspired vuk karadzic to collect serbian oral epic poetry and reform the vernacular language into the bedrock of modern national identity

what does lord talk about

oral composition theory

“folk idea” author

dundes

how does dundes relate worldview to folklore? how does he view the word myth?

• he argues that folk ideas are the building blocks that constitute and build a group’s worldview

• he views myth as a genre instead of how many people use it to loosely mean “error”

what is a folk idea

dundes defines folk ideas as “traditional notions that a group of people have about the nature of humanity, of the world, and of life in the world”

key characteristics of folk ideas

• they are not a single genre — cuts across multiple genres such as proverbs, folktales, jokes, lullabyes, etc.

• they function similar to linguistics. how a native speaker follows complex grammatical rules subconsciously, so do members of a culture operate under unstated folk ideas without consciously articulating them

• folk ideas are neutral, descriptive premises about how the world works, independent of how people perceive it / the moral implicationse

eliade conception of time

• time divided into “profane” and “sacred”

• history/ profane time: linear, ordinary duration, concrete, isolated

• myth/ sacred time: reversible, repeatable, timeless

• ritual is what allows for the profane to be suspended and allows us to go into mythic time

example of the archetype

Marko Kraljevic: Prince Marko was a 14th century Serbian ruler and vassal for the Ottoman empire. However, oral epic poetry and popular memory erased his historical vassalage and retrofitted him with the classic archetype of the mythic hero/dragon slayer

singers and their context (and how they describe what they do)

• singers are composers and not memorizers. they are the performer, composer, and poet simultaneously. they compose during the performance in rapid time relying of specialized techniques of formulas and traditional themes rather than memory

• singers will claim to sing “word for word” or “exactly as they heard it”. scholars often think about “word for word” and an identical reproduction. but singers are referring to remaining faithful to the truth, essence, and plot of the story

where do oral performances take place

often in social settings such as households, market days, taverns, local coffeehouses, etc. during leisure periods

the three stages of learning and training for oral poetry

• listening and assimilation: a young person listens to experienced bards in their community, absorbs themes, and formulaic language before he attempts to sing

• private practice: the learner practices alone

• public performance

basic history of kosov@

occurred in 1398 located north of Priština. ottoman forces advance across the balkans. Prince lazar of serbia organized a coalition of regional Christian lords. both sides suffered massive casualties

major “characters” in the kosovo songs

• prince Lazar: leader of the serbian/christian forces

• Miloš Obilić: heroic assassin who slays Sultan Murad I

• Vuk Branković: serves as traditional narrative archetype of treason and betrayal. supposedly flees during battle

• Jug and the Jugović brothers: father and nine sons who all die in battle

importance of kosov@ battle in (national/ist) cultures

• choice of heavenly kingdom over earthly victory. transforming military defeat into spiritual triumph

• glorification of lazar and Miloš Obilić who became the ultimate folk hero

• was weaponized by 20th century political leaders to stoke nationalism

what authors discuss issues of gender

lockwood, hofman, and kligman

traditional family structure in the balkans

• nuclear families thru the male bloodline

• patriarchal and age hierarchy

• division of labor and female subordination: men controlled public affairs, livestock, and agricultural land. women were relegated to domestic labor, weaving, and child rearing

• temporary status of daughters: sons were preferred because they preserved lineage and inherited property

the “mother in law”

the “mother in law” or elder woman in the household held significant power over the younger women of the house. the introduction of a new bride could threaten both the solidarity of the household and the mother in law’s domestic supremacy. unmarried women would sing folksongs to vent anxiety about their future mother in laws.

marriage as a rite of passage

• marriage constituted the primary transition from youth to adult status

• understood as a “symbolic death” of the maiden’s former self and alienation from her blood relatives

• it was a negotiation between households. a socio-economic contract

• the transition concluded when the bridal crown was removed and replaced with a women’s headscarf

traits associated with virtuous/proper femininity

• premarital virginity: publicly tested or displayed during wedding rituals

• bashful, low-voiced, obedient, modest, demure. young wives instructed to keep their eyes cast downward, avoid speaking unprompted, and submit to their husband and elders

• brides valued for being physically strong, mature, and capable of arduous work. ultimate social fulfillment was her role in bearing sons

• mandatory headscarf when married to hide her hair from men and signify submission to her husband’s household

traits associated with virtuous/ proper masculinity

• patriarchal authority and household defense: required a man to act as the master of household affairs, protect land and honor

• masculinity was closely tied to sexual potency, physical vigor, and the ability to sire male heirs

• displays and rituals of male vitality and strength often public

variants of the immurement ballads

• serbian/south slavic: three brothers attempt to build a fortress. a vila destroys it at night. some variants include the demand of the twins Stoja and Ostoja. the vila demands the first wife who comes at dawn bringing food to be sealed in the the wall. the brothers vow not to say anything to their wives but the older two break their promise. youngest brother (gojko)’s wife arrives, is duped into entering the wall. begs for them to leave holes for her breasts. miraculous milky continues to flow from the stones

• greece: main difference is that she initially curses the bridge but when reminded of her brother who may cross it, she retracts it so that only her brother remains unharmed

• romania/master manole: main difference is the masons are stranded on the roof and manole tries to fly down with wooden wings, falls to his death, and a spring gushes out where he dies

ethical assumptions underpinning the ballad

• ethical paradox: the elder brothers don’t keep their promises yet the honest brother loses his wif

• the sacrificability and subordination of women: the one story where the husband asks to sacrifice his wife instead of blood relative because she is considered an outsider

• blood over marital ties and vengeance: in the greek story, the dying wife recants her cursed when reminded her brother may cross this bridge

• nature vs. culture. woman is this liminal space between because of her power to create life. therefore, it requires a woman to appease nature

• woman accepts her fate in many stories, she understands the need for her sacrifice

the formula of oral tales

• lord distinguishes between a strict formula and a formulaic expression, which he defines as a “line of half line constructed on the pattern of the formulas”. in epic tradition, formulas tailored to fit the constraints of the 10 syllable line (4 syllables, pause, then six)

• the formula serves as an essential tool that enables rapid, real time composition

• oral narrative poetry consists of building metrical lines through formulas and building whole songs using themes

the themes in oral tales

• themes provide the compositional building blocks for larger narrative units

• themes provide a general outline or narrative pathway

  • once the singer triggers a theme, the subsequent formulas/events follow

the architecture of oral poetry

• formulas build lines

• themes build scenes and episodes

• sequences of themes build the entire song