The Research of Funeral Rituals through the Questionnaire Method in Folklore in the Interwar Period. From B.P. Hasdeu to I. Muşlea
The Research of Funeral Rituals through the Questionnaire Method in Folklore in the Interwar Period. From B.P. Hasdeu to I. Muşlea

Summary/Abstract: The Romanian folkloristic research method using correspondents appears to be synchronous with the quasi-European projects since its roots can be located in the latter half of the 19th century, namely within the chrestomathies accomplished by Transylvanian scholars helped by pupils. Thus, there should be mentioned Timotei Cipariu, Ioan Micu Moldovanu, Vasile Bologa and others. Moreover, there were At. Marian Marienescu and Ion Pop Reteganul’s appeals. Nevertheless, all those researches had reduced dimensions compared to B. P. Hasdeu’s monumental approach. Hasdeu sent two questionnaires to priests and teachers from some Romanian villages: Obiceiele juridice ale poporului român. Întrebări asupra legăturilor sătesci, casnice şi de lucruri între ţărani (1878) [‘Legal Habits of the Romanian People. Questions on Affinities between Villages, Domestic Connections and Matters between Peasants’] and Programa pentru adunarea datelor privitoare la limba română (1884) [‘Schedule for Gathering Data Regarding Romanian Language’]. The replies concerning the first questionnaire came from 37 villages, whereas the second one gathered a number of 701 answers. On one hand, it was due to their dissemination under the aegis of the Romanian Academy and due to Hasdeu's growing popularity among the respondents, and, on the other hand, it was due to the reduction in the number of questions to 206, two of which were related to the imaginary of the after-world: the mythological beings that govern the funeral sphere (Strigoiul), whereas the funeral was analyzed.

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