Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore最新文献

{"title":"Multi-Use of Cranberries (Vaccinium Spp.): Heritage and Pharmaceutical Results","authors":"A. Raal, M. Kõiva, A. Kuperjanov, K. Vilbaste, I. Vlasova, O. Koshovyi","doi":"10.7592/fejf2023.89.cranberries","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7592/fejf2023.89.cranberries","url":null,"abstract":"The European cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus L., syn. Oxycoccus palustris Pers.) has a wide geographical distribution in natural bogs of Europe, Asia, and North America. The American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton, syn. Oxycoccus macrocarpos (Aiton) Pursh) is more easily cultivated in the northern regions of the world and is therefore an available source of bioactive compounds. They are both rich in polyphenolic compounds (i.e., flavonoids, anthocyanins, and phenolic acids), which have significant antioxidant and anti-immflamatory properties. The cranberry fruits and their preparations represent important natural preservatives used against bacterial and fungal pathogens. Heritage related to its usage refers to the cranberry as a food plant and multiuse ethnomedical remedy. The results of the modern phytochemical and pharmaceutical research suggest using cranberry against urinary tract infections and as a preventive or curing plant against many other diseases. Today there are many new opportunities to draw attention to this plant, including cranberry tourism. In food and pharmaceutical industry the fruits are used most often, but leaves are also rich in biologically active substances, which can be sources for creating new medicines.","PeriodicalId":42641,"journal":{"name":"Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90353292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Introduction: Affective Mires in Contemporary Culture","authors":"Kirsi Laurén, Virpi Kaukio, Pauliina Latvala-Harvilahti","doi":"10.7592/fejf2023.89.introduction","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7592/fejf2023.89.introduction","url":null,"abstract":"The word ‘mire’ in English means “an area of deep, wet, sticky earth” (see Cambridge Dictionary). The dictionary defines mire by its character and also by the affective way it is perceived and sensed by people when entering and moving around in it. Mires are special natural areas that have determined how people have learned and adapted to live in them in different cultures and eras. This special thematic issue on mire cultures explores the changing cultural practices and values associated with mires in the modern day, and further, their effects on the cultural heritage of mires for the future. During the current time of climate change and eco-crisis, people’s attitudes and ways of thinking about mires and nature in general have changed, with a greater emphasis being placed on more-than-human aspects. Human-mire relationships are processes that are shaped by changes in culture and society, and also by the experiences of individuals (Laurén et al. 2022). They include various activities that reflect the emotions, attitudes, knowledge and values of individuals and communities. In our research, the intangible cultural heritage is seen to be based on values, where mires are regarded as culturally significant natural areas and living organisms (see Poulios 2014). From the perspective of living heritage, it is essential that communities constantly recreate their traditions in relation to their environment, and in interaction with nature and their own history. Our research shows that the importance of mires is reflected in the transformation of cultural heritage for communities and acting on mires is part of people’s self-expression and identity, and there is a desire to pass on different forms of mire traditions not only into the future but also within generations. The studies presented in this special thematic issue aim to find answers to the following questions: What is the cultural heritage of mires in the twenty-first century? How has it changed since the past times? Are there signs of a changing relationship arising between humans and mires in the future?","PeriodicalId":42641,"journal":{"name":"Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore","volume":"120 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87926093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Narrating Ethnicity in Oral History Interviews: Life Stories of People Resettled from Estonia to Germany in 1941","authors":"T. Tark","doi":"10.7592/fejf2023.89.tark","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7592/fejf2023.89.tark","url":null,"abstract":"This article demonstrates the possibilities of using oral history sources in the study of ethnicity. Interviews conducted with people who resettled from Estonia to Germany in 1941 were analysed for this purpose. It was asked why some interviewees are remarkably vague in their ethnicity narratives while some others present highly firm statements. The analysis that relies on the Communication Theory of Identity shows that interviewees’ pre-war ethnic, cultural and linguistic background was relatively insignificant. Instead, the most important distinguishing factor was involvement in the Baltic German or exile Estonian communities after World War II; the former was rather related to vagueness and the latter rather to firmness. Thus, it depended mainly on this factor what were the narrating strategies the interviewees made use of to present themselves in a desired way during the interview. In addition, the expressions, both vague and firm, were related to the widespread understanding of the primordial nature of ethnicity to which the interviewees tried to fit their own, often inconsistent, ethnic background and life stories. The results suggest that to understand the appearance of ethnicity in oral history interviews, the patterns of how ethnicity is narrated would be useful to trace and common perceptions on ethnic identity should be considered.","PeriodicalId":42641,"journal":{"name":"Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore","volume":"148 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77822721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“Here and There One Seed Sprouts, and Then It Seems We Have Done Something”: Nurturing Creativity in Elementary Schools","authors":"Saša Poljak Istenič","doi":"10.7592/fejf2023.89.poljak_istenic","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7592/fejf2023.89.poljak_istenic","url":null,"abstract":"The Lisbon Strategy and other documents of the European Union advocating for a knowledge-based society have provided the ground for restructuring schools and changing pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning, focusing on creativity and entrepreneurship. One of the approaches increasingly popular in Slovenia has been Edward de Bono’s methodology. The article analyses the benefits, controversies, and potentials of de Bono’s “lateral thinking” methods for increasing creativity when introduced to children in elementary school courses and extracurricular activities. Based on the qualitative study, it explores how this “pragmatic” approach to creativity is realised in Slovenian elementary schools, and reflects on teaching creativity in schools as a systemic approach.","PeriodicalId":42641,"journal":{"name":"Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90916134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Motif Index of Prophetic Dream Narratives: Methods of Compilation","authors":"Anna A. Lazareva","doi":"10.7592/fejf2023.89.lazareva","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7592/fejf2023.89.lazareva","url":null,"abstract":"The article proposes methods for describing and classifying invariant structures of stories about prophetic dreams in the form of a motif index. The author raises the question of what elements of prophetic dream narratives can be defined as folkloric and introduces a classification system of prophetic dream narratives (according to their invariants). Revealing invariants (narrative structures) in the prophetic dream narratives allows the author to create a motif index, which lets us understand the traditional logic of dream interpretation: the rules of generating prophetic dream narratives and the ‘narrative grammar’ lying in the core of stories about prophetic dreams. The motif index covers stories about prophetic dreams recorded by ethnographers and folklorists in the Eastern Slavic regions from the early twentieth century to 2020.","PeriodicalId":42641,"journal":{"name":"Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74173299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experiences of Mire Sports: Sensory Encounters in Nature","authors":"Kirsi Laurén, Marjukka Piirainen","doi":"10.7592/fejf2023.89.lauren_piirainen","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7592/fejf2023.89.lauren_piirainen","url":null,"abstract":"Swamp soccer and swamp volleyball tournaments have been actively organized on Finnish mires throughout the twenty-first century, reflecting a change in the cultural relationship with mires. Joyful and festival-style team sports events on mires seem to be a modern trend, not only in Finland, but also in other European countries. This study focuses on mire sporting events in the Finnish context, asking: How do the sensory experiences of team play on mires affect the players’ relationship with mire, and also the cultural heritage associated with mires? The analysis is based on the theoretical framework of the ethnography of the senses, which is complemented by the concept of space. The research material was collected between 2020 and 2022 and consists of thematic interviews with 33 mire athletes, as well as observational material based on the World Swamp Volley and Swamp Soccer Championships held in Finland. The study shows that these humorous sports events emphasize the sense of community between the players. Playing in mires, sensing them, and getting dirty are key factors in this process. Fears of the mire familiar from folklore are forgotten when playing together in the mire. Mire sports bring new multisensory and entertaining elements to the traditional use of mires.","PeriodicalId":42641,"journal":{"name":"Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88645080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Messy Affairs with Imagined Swamp Creatures: The Human-Nature Relationship in Swamp Monster Narratives","authors":"Virpi Kaukio","doi":"10.7592/fejf2023.89.kaukio","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7592/fejf2023.89.kaukio","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines what kinds of expressions the human-nature relationship in mire environments have taken in the context of imagined swamp creature narratives, and what the presence of swamp monsters reveals about the wider changes in the human-nature relationship in mires and other wetlands. The theoretical framework of this study is based on environmental humanities, including environmental aesthetics and ecocritical theory. The analysis deals with a range of fictional narratives (comic books, TV-series, literature for adults and children, and video performances) and folklore which feature diverse swamp creatures. Mires have often been considered as strange and fearsome, and both mires and monsters are linked to anomalies and burdened by negative preconceptions. However, attitudes towards mires have slowly changed. For example, along with monsters who sometimes transform into heroes or non-human friends, people’s fears of unpredictable mires are now transforming into fears for these unique environments. In conclusion, the imagined swamp creatures reflect the human-nature relationship of the mires, and at the same time, actively transform it.","PeriodicalId":42641,"journal":{"name":"Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79506298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Figures in the Mire: Towards Transformative Art and a Respectful Mire Relationship","authors":"Pauliina Latvala-Harvilahti","doi":"10.7592/fejf2023.89.latvala_harvilahti","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7592/fejf2023.89.latvala_harvilahti","url":null,"abstract":"Mire art is a versatile form of ecologically engaged art that reflects images of the relationship with nature in its time. This article regards mire art as transformative art that links both to climate change and new ways of experiencing the mire. Mire art no longer reflects so much the aesthetics of the mire enjoyed by humans, but rather the mire aside from human activity and the importance of protecting mire nature in the climate crisis. My perspective on the transformative aspects of mire art stems from the artist’s choices, values and aims, which I explore by reflecting on both artist interview and my own experience of the artwork on site. The theoretical approach combines the study of cultural meanings and knowledge inherent in ethnological case studies with the concepts of art research. Art interventions can play a transformative role which increases knowledge, trust, and social capital. The Invited Guests series (Fin. Kutsuvieraat, 2020) by visual artist Reetta Partanen in the city of Seinäjoki, Finland, is a sculptural series made of organic material. The artwork is situated in the pristine mire in South Ostrobothnia, where peatlands are still used for energy. The article asks how the artist and her artwork emphasize the value of the mire as a natural place and softly question the dominant place of humans in the world. Importantly, the materials in the work have been chosen not to be a burden on the environment, but rather to benefit nature. The research shows that transformative art highlights the agency of nature, and in this study, the artwork gives mire a level of attention that differs from that centered on commercial use.","PeriodicalId":42641,"journal":{"name":"Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75740516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Melting in the Melting Pot: The Acculturation Experience of the Ahiska Turks in the US","authors":"Erol Sakalli","doi":"10.7592/fejf2023.88.sakalli","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7592/fejf2023.88.sakalli","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the acculturation levels of the Ahıska Turks living in the US. The sample of the survey consisted of 124 Ahıska Turks (nfemale = 61 and nmale = 63). The Abbreviated Multidimensional Acculturation Scale (AMAS-ZABB) was employed to measure the significance of age, marital status, education, employment, length of stay, and language competence in the acculturation process. The findings revealed that, similar to literature data, age, marital status, and language competence were significant, but education, employment, and length of stay were not significant among the Ahıska Turks in contrast with the literature data. The findings were discussed within the framework of the existing literature and suggestions for future research were put forward.","PeriodicalId":42641,"journal":{"name":"Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore","volume":"2012 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86373813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Messages Behind Self-Gifting Practices: A Phenomenological-Anthropological Approach","authors":"Rūta Latinytė","doi":"10.7592/fejf2023.88.latinyte","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7592/fejf2023.88.latinyte","url":null,"abstract":"Using the tools of phenomenological anthropology and the means of research into everyday practices, the article discusses contemporary gift-giving practices, focusing on the special cases of gift giving, revealed through the narratives of respondents who were interviewed for the research conducted in Lithuania – a country on the borders of Western, Eastern, and Northern Europe. The analyzed special cases are self-gifts – the ones purchased by the respondents and originally called “a gift to myself” by them, whereas they emphasize that it was not an ordinary purchase but certainly a gift. This phenomenon is analyzed through a deeper insight into three cases: excerpts of qualitative unstructured interviews conducted for the research and a description of the author’s personal experience. In this article, they are presented along with the comments of the author as is characteristic of the phenomenological research. The analysis seeks to reveal how the experiences with self-gifts occur, acquire meaning and place in memory, and how this affects a person’s relationship with themselves and those around them. Although the self-gifting practice sounds like a paradox, it exists in the language and everyday practices, so this analysis aims to look for a deeper message encoded behind the words of individual stories.","PeriodicalId":42641,"journal":{"name":"Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83585450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}