Studying Folklore in Context: Ballads, Boats, and Fire Festivals in the North of Scotland Cover Image
  • Price 4.90 €

Studimi i Folklorit në Kontekst: Baladat, Barkat dhe Festivalet e Zjarrit në Veri të Skocisë
Studying Folklore in Context: Ballads, Boats, and Fire Festivals in the North of Scotland

Author(s): Thomas A. McKean
Subject(s): Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Methodology and research technology
Published by: Instituti Albanologjik i Prishtinës
Keywords: Studying Folklore in Context ; Ballads ; Boats ; ; Fire Festivals ; North of Scotland

Summary/Abstract: This study is focused on some key concepts in Scottish folklore studies: contextualizing performance and marginality; work and social resilience; and negotiating stability and change in the modern world. These three themes offer fundamental approaches to un-derstanding tradition, continuity and variation, stability and flux, old and new, stasis and creativity in the twenty-first century. The study of folklore in Scotland is diverse and rich, ranging from the foundational discipline of ballad studies to contemporary social practice. The ballad is perhaps the most studied of the Scottish genres of folklore and yet there always remains more to say, more to explore and contextualize. To demonstrate three applications of this academic perspective, I offered three case studies, one on the ballad, one on craft traditions, and a third on calendar custom. These examples naturally only scratch the surface of Scottish culture and hint at the methodological complexities of Scottish folklore studies, but collectively, the work of our folklorists is exploring a complex picture of dynamic living traditions, evolving and changing to meet the needs of those who partake in them.

  • Issue Year: 2014
  • Issue No: 44
  • Page Range: 273-292
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Albanian
Toggle Accessibility Mode