Sidebar
Main Content
Folklore
Bibliographer: David S. Azzolina, 215-898-5322, azzolina@pobox.upenn.eduI. Program Information
The Folklore and Folklife program is entirely devoted to graduate study, and the vast majority of these are doctoral students. About 10 new students are admitted each year. Many students also take advantage of the support other departments can give to their research, especially linguistics, religious studies, anthropology, and the South Asia and other area studies programs. Taking course in other departments is encouraged.
Research is conducted in the entire array of the folklore discipline. Current faculty have published in all its aspects including oral literature, festival behavior and material culture. Likewise, the places in which field work has taken place are diverse. It must be remembered that folklore is conceptually regarded as aesthetic expression and therefore has broad interdisciplinary concerns. Historically, the program has been seen as one of the finest in the world.
Since folklore has appeared as a separate academic department in the United States only since World War II, library collections almost always need evaluation.
II. Collection Description
The core of the collection occupies two ranges of books in the general stacks. Because of the difficulties in applying the Library of Congress classification to folklore, material is scattered throughout the collection. Large numbers can be found throughout the entire `P' class since virtually every literature has some roots in folklore. The collection consists of the major journals in the discipline worldwide in all languages.
Folklore and Folklife may have a recent foundation at Penn, first as a department founded in the mid-1960's and more recently, 1999, as a program akin to comparative literature, many aspects of the subject have been taught or researched here for over 100 years. Consequently, the collection has great historical depth. For instance, Daniel Brinton did extensive work in Native American oral literature and in fact his publications from the period 1860-1880 were for some time the only ones on the subject. There has also been a long line of ballad scholars who have taught at Penn which is reflected in the collection.
III. Guidelines for Collection Development
- Chronological
No Chronological limits.
- Formats
Primarily printed materials and microform. Some audio materials are appropriate, particularly in ballad and folksong research. Consultation with the music librarian is necessary. Ephemeral publications are not collected. Children's materials are collected selectively if they provide high quality texts with strong attention paid to authenticity to folk performances. Relevant websites.
- Geographical
Though the emphasis is on North American topics and books published in the United States since the largest interest is located there, materials about any location are relevant no matter where published.
- Language
English predominates; any language possible.
- Publication Dates
We would try to fill any lacunae. Any work is of interest if we do not already own it. In extreme cases, older published texts may be the only available examples of now non-existent oral literatures.
IV. Principal Sources of Supply and major Selection Tools
The vendors and approval plans which are widely used at Van Pelt are also used with folklore materials. Most folklore books are listed in the usual national bibliographies. Specialized sources are the current acquisition list of the folklore library of Indiana University (quarterly) since it is the comprehensive library in the United States in the field and the recently received lists published in Fabula: Zeitschrift fur Erzdlforschung and Zeitschrift fur Volkskunde (both quarterly).
V. Subjects Collected and Levels of Collecting
Subjects Collected Levels of Collecting History and Study of Folklore 4W/4W Theory and Methodology 4W/4W Folk Literature 3W/3W Riddles, proverbs, names 3W/3W Folktales, legends, personal experience narratives, jokes 3W/3W Folk poetry, ballads, folk songs 3W/3W Folk Belief Systems--Medicine & religion 3F/3F Folk Rituals--Games and Drama 3W/3W Material Culture 3F/3F Material Culture--United States 3E/4E Folk Art 3F/3F Folk Architecture 3F/3F Foodways 3F/3F
VI. Subjects Excluded
None.
VII. Cooperative Arrangements and Related Collections
The two relevant libraries at Pennsylvania are Music and Museum. The music collection includes relevant materials in folksong and balladry. Museum collects widely in oral literature, material culture and field linguistics especially in Native American studies. Moreover, it has extensive collections in European ethnology, which has similar intellectual roots to folklore and still has many connections to it. The East Asia library also has extensive collections in folk literature. The Fine Arts library contains materials in vernacular architecture and folk art so there is overlap with Van Pelt in these fields.
Locally, two important collections are those of the Balch Institute and the Contemporary Culture collections at Temple University. These collections consist of materials often thought to be ephemeral by most, yet, for folklorists they provide what is often the only printed source material available. In the first case the Balch's concentration on ethnic studies provides materials on one of folklore's historical subjects. Likewise, many of many works collected at Temple are those often thought to be peripheral to academic libraries but for folklorists essential documentation.
Many specialized libraries are also of use to folklorists depending on their research interest. For example there are smaller libraries with specific collections; among them, the German Society of Pennsylvania and Swedish Historical Society. Another example of a library that would be of potential interest, although not necessarily on first glance, is that of The Philadelphia College of Textiles.
