Evidence of the value of folklore, here, in the now.
Two stories in the news struck me as releveant to this thing we do.
The first was a episode of "This American Life" two weeks ago on NPR. I like the show a lot: for inexplicable some reason, it's mix of amateur ethnography and GenX snarkiness appeals to me. :-) Two weeks ago they aired a show called "Back from the dead", one of the stories (called "Flood Lights") was about the revival of the High School football season in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Now you need to understand that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina there is no Bay St. Louis, Mississippi anymore. Still the High School team assembled a motley crew -a la the Bad News Bears- to start up the season again. In many ways, it seems incongruous—nay ridiculous—that there would be such a desire to play fucking football, and admittedly Football does not normally qualify as "folklife" or "folklore". But, in Bay St. Louis it had been elevated to the level of ritual. And in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it became a galvanizing force for the community and a much needed return to normalcy. Listening to this compelling tale reminded me that what we study is endemic, a part of the core of who we are even in these complicated -and often shallow times. Sometimes these little rituals, these quirks of small communities, can suddenly be really important. (to hear the story in real audio click here and fast forward to 39:30)
Second, and much sadder, is this NPR news story today: "Sentencing is expected Tuesday for Chai Soua Vang in the murder of six deer hunters last year. The shooting in northern Wisconsin followed a racially charged trespassing confrontation between Vang, who is Hmong, and the men. The tension lingers as hunters prepare for this year's hunting season." seems I can't get through a week this semester without reading something Hmong culture. Listening to the story it's obvious that Northern Wisconsin has a cultural identity and cultural immigration issues (beyond this case which may be precisely what the media has intimated it to be) It is in these instances that the plain practical value of what we do (as well as anthropologists, sociologists and that like) becomes readily, painfully, apparent. link
The first was a episode of "This American Life" two weeks ago on NPR. I like the show a lot: for inexplicable some reason, it's mix of amateur ethnography and GenX snarkiness appeals to me. :-) Two weeks ago they aired a show called "Back from the dead", one of the stories (called "Flood Lights") was about the revival of the High School football season in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Now you need to understand that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina there is no Bay St. Louis, Mississippi anymore. Still the High School team assembled a motley crew -a la the Bad News Bears- to start up the season again. In many ways, it seems incongruous—nay ridiculous—that there would be such a desire to play fucking football, and admittedly Football does not normally qualify as "folklife" or "folklore". But, in Bay St. Louis it had been elevated to the level of ritual. And in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it became a galvanizing force for the community and a much needed return to normalcy. Listening to this compelling tale reminded me that what we study is endemic, a part of the core of who we are even in these complicated -and often shallow times. Sometimes these little rituals, these quirks of small communities, can suddenly be really important. (to hear the story in real audio click here and fast forward to 39:30)
Second, and much sadder, is this NPR news story today: "Sentencing is expected Tuesday for Chai Soua Vang in the murder of six deer hunters last year. The shooting in northern Wisconsin followed a racially charged trespassing confrontation between Vang, who is Hmong, and the men. The tension lingers as hunters prepare for this year's hunting season." seems I can't get through a week this semester without reading something Hmong culture. Listening to the story it's obvious that Northern Wisconsin has a cultural identity and cultural immigration issues (beyond this case which may be precisely what the media has intimated it to be) It is in these instances that the plain practical value of what we do (as well as anthropologists, sociologists and that like) becomes readily, painfully, apparent. link
posted by Butch Ross at 4:19 PM
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