Folklorists out of their element. Forum

Abstract

From the semiotic point of view, folklore tradition is transmitting culturally and socially significant messages via oral communication channels. Strong interrelation to dynamic interaction of people in vernacular contexts (as opposed to rigid institutional channels and static social structures) is one of folklore’s primary characteristics. With this perception of folklore tradition, folklore studies become a disciplinary area that accumulates unique research experience both on comprehension of transmitted messages and on methodological principles of working with texts and mechanisms of their transmission. This allows us to suggest that in research practice in neighboring fields two variants of transference of folklore studies’ theoretical resources may prove productive: according to presence of folklore elements in the studied material and according to general principles of working with texts (in the broad semiotic sense of the word).

The participants of the forum, all of them researchers with extensive experience in field work as well as in theoretical comprehension of oral tradition – were offered various problems for discussion. These problems included, but were not limited to, the boundaries of folklore studies’ object field, employing folklore studies’ methodological tools for analysis of other disciplinary fields’ objects, interaction of folklore studies with other academic disciplines, etc.