U of Ideas of General Interest ó August 1999
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Contact: Andrea Lynn, Humanities/Social Sciences Editor
(217) 333-2177; [email protected]
HISTORY Study of folklore aids understanding of societyÃs underside, scholar says
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ó If you think folklore is static ñ charming but antiquated with no place in the new millennium ñ experts have news for you: Folklore is growing and ubiquitous. Moreover, new forms of lore are emerging, even in high-tech environments that will help lead us into the next century.
"Wherever there are folk, there is lore," said Betsy Hearne, a professor of childrenÃs literature and storytelling in the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science. According to Hearne, library and information science professionals are listening to lore in some interesting places, collecting and investigating it as they have in the past, but making discoveries.
"Studying the informal information that people circulate via stories, anecdotes, jokes, customs, ritual, and ëmaterial cultureà [pictures, tools, etc.], helps us understand the underside of society, the things that arenÃt formally taught in textbooks and classroom lectures," Hearne said. "This kind of information, or informal knowledge, is just as important to our social survival as the more formal kind."
In a graduate seminar on folklore that she recently taught, Hearne learned from the research her doctoral students turned up that two of the newest forms of folklore are space lore and technolore. The research findings from that seminar appear in a recent issue of Library Trends.
In the journal, Cecelia Merkel considered the folklore of virtual space; Laura Neumann, the lore of workplaces; and Kevin Powell, technolore ñ the lore of designing software, among other things. Tonyia Tidline probed the concept of information overload, concluding that it is "a myth of modern culture that shapes comprehension and coping skills." Melanie Kimball compared orphan characters in 50 folktales from around the world, finding in the tales she studied that only male orphans use their wits to overcome obstacles, while females tend to overcome obstacles by their "virtuous" behavior.
In her contribution to the journal, Hearne tackled a thorny issue in childrenÃs literature today: the ethics of "borrowing" another cultureÃs folklore, especially from Native American groups whose traditions may not be familiar to adapters and illustrators. She concluded that despite legal efforts and ethical pressures, folk stories canÃt be owned. They are "outlaw, beyond our control," she said, adding: "However, a multicultural society most benefits those who respect varied traditions through informed understanding of othersà stories and lore."
But does folklore study have a place in todayÃs research university?
"It would be unjustifiable not to study folklore in our research universities," Hearne said, "because studying folklore tells us who we are in a way that nothing else does. If you were studying information transfer among scientists, for instance, you would quickly find that the stories and anecdotes they circulate along with hard facts tell as much about the scientific community as a whole pile of published articles. You also would find embedded in their stories consistent themes or systems of belief that often are unacknowledged in our technological society."
-ael-
RSS