Folklore & Oral Tradition

Description,
Focus, and Format

Overall, this course is an introduction to key concepts in
folklore studies and to the translation of traditional narratives across
languages, cultures, places, and media. “Folklore” is understood to include
creation myths, jokes, ghost stories, folktales, charms, children’s games, and
proverbs—and I have only listed a few of its diverse narratives, forms of
knowledge, and traditions.  While the
etymology of the word points to knowledge (which may be sacred, or so ordinary
we hardly recognize it as ‘ike),
“folklore” is often associated today with flights of fantasy. In this course,
we will consider folklore as living culture that is pervasive, valuable, and expressive,
and can be contestatory. Across a continuum of cultural experiences and their
power relations, folklore and oral traditions have specific historical
trajectories and serve varied purposes: they educate and entertain; they
reinforce stereotypes and imagine alternative ways of being in the world; they
help groups to bond just as they contribute to exclude others; they re-member;
and they inspire. There is an art to the telling that does not simply coincide
with the art of print literatures and that is not based on a universal genre
system or aesthetic.

More specifically, the course will focus on the analysis of two genres, and I refer to them here using Western genre categories from the
discipline of folklore studies: the folktale and the legend; we will less in depth consider the
folk or traditional song. We will read/hear/view folktales, legends, and songs
as well as Spoken Word performances produced in and/or adapted in ancient and
contemporary Oceania, Europe, North America, and (more limitedly) Asia. We will also discuss
traditional narratives from different communities and cultural perspectives,
and do some comparative and place-based research, striving in our endeavor to
be mindful of our location in Hawai‘i and to reflect on how Asian, Pacific
Island, and US cultural traditions intersect with Native Hawaiian culture and mo‘olelo.

The knowledge that you
bring to the class will be an essential component to our exploration of various
traditions, their similarities and differences.

H Focus
The course fulfills Hallmark A (the intersection of Asian and/or
Pacific Island cultures with Native Hawaiian culture in the legend assignment),
Hallmark B (comparative and cross-cultural perspectives), and Hallmark C
(specific focus of legendary traditions in Hawai‘i with a historicizing
approach).

REQUIREMENTS

Doing the reading, coming
to class regularly, and actively participating;

Completing several informal
assignments, including reaction papers and questions for discussion;

Attending a performance at
Kennedy Theatre of
Lā‘ieikawai, Hawaiian Mo‘olelo on Stage,adapted
for the stage and directed by UHM Theatre Professor Tammy Haili‘ōpua Baker (Feb
20-March 1, 2015; $8 for UH students with ID);

Conducting two
research-based comparative and/or place based projects;

Writing a comparative analysis
of text and performance(s).

TEXTS  
Print: Lā‘ieikawai, authored
by S. N. Haleole, and edited by Dennis Kawaharada, Richard Hamasaki and Esther
Mo‘okini

Folk & Fairy Tales, edited by Martin Hallett
and Barbara Karasek (The Concise Edition)
Living Folklore: An
Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions
by Martha C. Sims and Martine Stephens (selections)
Haunting Experiences:
Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore

by Diane Goldstein et al. (selections)

Filmic: Hansel & Gretel (South Korea 2007); The Land Has Eyes(USA/Fiji 2004); Year of the Fish(USA 2007); The Stories We Tell(Canada 2012); Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story(Egypt
2009).

Electronic: Navigating Pathways Project: Oral Tradition and the Internet by John Miles Foley; SurLaLune Fairy Tales
by Heidi Anne Heiner; 
Selections from volumes of Hawaiian
legends edited by Emma Nakuina, King Kalākaua, Thomas G. Thrum, and W. D.
Westervelt as well as critical essays on mo‘olelo, mele, and wonder tales,
including selections from will be available as pdfs on laulima.