[Gandur] CFP: "We are the Folk: Rethinking Folklore in the Twenty-First Century" | until 15th June]

[Valdimar Tryggvi Hafstein]

Call for Papers

*We are the Folk: Rethinking Folklore in the Twenty-First Century*

Lisbon, 22, 23 and 24 October 2014

Anthropologist and folklorist Alan Dundes would turn eighty this year.
Inspired by this date, the Instituto de Estudos de Literatura
Tradicional<http://www.ielt.org/> (IELT), at Universidade Nova de Lisboa,
Portugal, is organising an international conference that will take his
proclamation “Who are the folk? Among others, we are!” at face value and
explore its implications from a wide range of disciplines, from science to
humanities and the social sciences, to the visual and performative arts,
philosophy, and politics, amongst others.

The manner in which folklorists study what they see as the creativity and
richness of the ways people put meaning in their existence has often been
taken as too static and decontextualized. The notion of “folklore” carries
profoundly contradictory meanings and connotations. In Portugal, it has
particularly been the case as a result of the interest in “popular
culture” for propaganda purposes associated with the *Estado Novo *regime.
Nonetheless, folklore’s appeal on the public is undeniable. Its presence
in everyday life takes on many forms and appears in the vitality and
diversity of social practices that call for renewed, less reductive
approaches. This conference wishes to confront different perspectives and
terminologies associated with the studies of culture, evaluating the
practicality of the concept of folklore, the multiplicity of its meanings
and its capacity to
integrate interactions between traditional and contemporary expressions
and appropriations in particular social, cultural and historical contexts.

Drawing on the growing interest cultural heritage has raised in the public
sphere, and, simultaneously, on recent advances in the study of the uses
of culture and memory, it is crucial to rethink the concept of folklore as
well as the complexity of its manifestations and its impact on an
increasingly interdisciplinary and participatory research.

Keynote Speakers: Alison Dundes Renteln, Christian Bromberger, Jorge
Freitas Branco, Mário Correia, Pertti Anttonen and Tok Thompson.

We welcome proposals in Portuguese or English dealing with all aspects of
Folklore, focusing on (but not limited to) the following topics:

- Folklore Genres: Tales, Proverbs and Legends
- Folklore and Identity
- Folklore and Popular Culture
- Folklore and Cultural Heritage
- Folklore and Modernity
- Folklore Materialities
- Folklore and Tourism
- Folklore and Literature
- Folklore and Music
- Folklore and History
- Folklore and Environment
- Folklore and Law
- Human/animal bond in Folklore
- Gender and Folklore
- Children’s Folklore
- Folklore and the Contemporary Arts
- Transgressive Folklore
- Monstrosity in Folklore
- Editing Folklore
- Folklore and Translation
- Folklore Archives
- Folklore in the Digital Age

Please include the following information with your proposal:
• the full title of your paper;
• a 250 word abstract;
• your name, e-mail address, institutional affiliation and position;
• a short 150 word bionote;

The deadline for proposals is *15th** June 2014*. Participants will be
notified of acceptance by *15th July 2014**.*

Inquiries and proposals should be sent to the following e-mail:
wearethefolk2014 at gmail.com

*Organising Committee*
Anabela Gonçalves
Carolina Vilardouro
Oriana Alves
Sara Graça da Silva

*Scientific Committee*
Ana Paula Guimarães
Jean-Yves Durand
José Luís Grosso
Luísa Medeiros
Sara Graça da Silva
Vera Marques Alves
-- 

Melhores cumprimentos,
Oriana Alves
*Instituto de Estudos de Literatura Tradicional – patrimónios, artes e
culturas*
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Avenida de Berna, 26 - C, 1069-061 Lisboa
Telefone: 21 790 83 00, Ext.: 1241

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