FOLK 4020/6020 - AMERICA'S FOLK CRAFTS
FALL 2014
Dr. John A. Burrison
25 Park Place, office 2315, ph. 404/413-5836, e-mail jburrison@gsu.edu
Office Hours: MW 3-5:15 & by appointment
TEXTS:
1. Henry Glassie, Pattern in the Material Folk Culture of the Eastern United States. University
of Pennsylvania Press paperback, $26.50
2. John M. Vlach, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts (complementary text not
much
discussed in class but on final exam). University of Georgia Press paper, $32.95
OPTIONAL:
John Burrison, From Mud to Jug (north GA folk pottery). U. of GA Press paper, $29.95
Michael Owen Jones, Craftsman of the Cumberlands. U. Press of KY paper, $25
ON LIBRARY RESERVE:
(Library North Circulation desk; consult Instructions for Accessing Reserve Materials)
Cinda Baldwin, Great and Noble Jar (S.C. folk pottery). NK4364.B35,1993
John Burrison, Brothers in Clay: The Story of Georgia Folk Pottery. NK4025.G4B87,1983
**John Burrison, “Georgia Decoy Maker Ernie Mills,” in Cashman, Mould, & Shukla, eds., The
Individual and Tradition, pp. 408-428 Required, ONLINE
John Burrison, Shaping Traditions: Folk Arts in a Changing South. TT23.5.G65,2000
Ralph T. Coe, Lost and Found Traditions: Native American Art 1965-85. E98.A7C53,1986
Richard Dorson, ed., Folklore and Folklife: An Introduction. GR65.D57
Allen Eaton, Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands. NK814.E2,1973
*Henry Glassie, Folk Housing in Middle Virginia (structural analysis). NA7235.V5G55
Henry Glassie, The Spirit of Folk Art. NK607.G5,1989
**Henry Glassie, “William Houck” (Adirondack basketmaker). ONLINE
Georgeanna Greer, American Stonewares. NK4360.G73
Harold Guilland, Early American Folk Pottery. NK4006.G8,1971
*Michael O. Jones, Craftsman of the Cumberlands. NK2715.J57,1989
Henry Kauffman, Pennsylvania Dutch American Folk Art. NK835.P4K3,1964
Henry Mercer, Ancient Carpenters Tools. TH5618.M4,1968
Merrimack Valley Textile Museum, Homespun to Factory Made. TS1614.M4,1977
Allen Noble, Wood, Brick and Stone (U.S. folk architecture). 2 vols. NA703.N6,1984
Ian Quimby & Scott Swank, eds., Perspectives on American Folk Art. NK805.P47,1980b
**Lore Rogers & Caleb Scribner, “The Peavey Cant-Dog.” Required, ONLINE
Robert Shaw, America’s Traditional Crafts. Fol.NK805.A1S53,1993
Nancy Sweezy, Raised in Clay: The Southern Pottery Tradition. TP798.S94,1984
**Robert Teske, “What Is Folk Art?” (from El Palacio). Required, ONLINE
Dell Upton & John Vlach, eds., Common Places: Readings in American Vernacular Architecture
NA705.C58,1986
John Vlach & Simon Bronner, eds., Folk Art and Art Worlds. NK805.W35,1983
Anna Wadsworth, ed., Missing Pieces: Georgia Folk Art. Required, NK835.G4M57 (2 copies)
**Don Yoder, ed., American Folklife. GR105.A6; pp. 3-13 Required, ONLINE
Charles Zug, Turners and Burners (N.C. folk pottery). NK4025.N8Z82,1986
*may be checked out for 7 days;
**online password: h09ak7B
(over)
2
COURSE OBJECTIVES: Viewing American society, from preindustrial to postmodern times,
through the lens of material folk culture (folk craft, art, and architecture), the tangible expressions
of regional identity and cultural continuity. This is an ideas (not “how-to-do-it”) course, the most
conceptual in the Folklore Curriculum of the Department of English.
(This syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary.)
Lecture and Discussion Topics
Part I: THE APPROACH (Concepts and Methodology)
1. The Folklife Studies Movement: origins and influences.
READ: Yoder, “Folklife Studies in American Scholarship,” pp. 3-13 ONLINE
(suggest beginning Vlach, Afro-American, although assigned later)
2. What Makes an Object Folk or Not? A recipe for folk artifacts; distinctions
and interaction between folk and popular cultures and impact of the Industrial
Revolution, with corn knives, husking pins, and Peaveys as case studies.
READ: Glassie, Pattern, pp. 1-28; Rogers & Scribner ONLINE; suggest Merrimack
3. The Folk Art Controversy: contrasting the folklorist’s and art world’s
approaches to folk art; art, craft, and aesthetics of folk and non-folk.
READ: Glassie, Pattern, pp. 28-33; Teske ONLINE; Burrison, “Georgia Decoy Maker
Ernie Mills” ONLINE; Wadsworth. Also suggest Vlach & Bronner, pp. 1-50;
Rumford in Quimby & Swank, pp. 3-53; Glassie, Spirit
*MIDTERM EXAM (take-home; due date to be announced)
4. Documenting Material Folk Culture.
READ: Roberts, “Fieldwork: Recording Material Culture” in Dorson, pp. 431-44;
those doing a field-based documentation project as a term paper should also
read Glassie, “William Houck,” and guidelines handout
5. Museums, Folk and Otherwise: issues of public exhibition.
READ: Jenkins, “The Use of Artifacts and Folk Art in the Folk Museum” in Dorson,
pp. 497-516; suggest Burrison, Shaping Traditions, Introduction
Part II: THE STUFF (Selective Materialistic Description of Regional Cultures)
6. People on the Land: folk-cultural regions and settlement history,
especially the North (New England), Mid-Atlantic, and South.
READ: Glassie, Pattern, pp. 33-39; Vlach, Afro-American (complete)
7. Folk Architecture: the cultural landscape and its regional patterns.
READ: Glassie, Pattern, remainder; see Noble
8. Focus on a Craft: pottery, with emphasis on the southern stoneware tradition.
READ: see Guilland, Greer, Zug, Baldwin, Burrison, Sweezy
*FINAL EXAM: Monday, December 15, 4:15-6:45 p.m. (Finals schedule)
*NO CLASSES Mon., Sept. 1 (Labor Day Holiday); Wed., Nov. 5 (AFS); Mon. & Wed., Nov. 24
& 26 (Thanksgiving Holiday).
*TERM PAPER (optional for undergraduates, required for graduate students, counting ⅓ of
final grade) due Monday, December 8 (last class).