The History of European Popular Culture(s)
Fall 1995
Monday 13:40-16:30
Lattimore 431
Jeffrey Burds
Office:
Telephone:
Office Hours: Wed. 1:30-3:30
Or, by appointment
Course Description
This seminar will focus on selected themes in the study of European popular culture(s) during the
early-modern and modern periods (16th - 20th centuries). Throughout the course, we will develop a set of
interpretative and methodological concerns about the study of popular culture. Principal themes will
include: definitions of popular culture; literacy and reading, popular stories and folk tales; popular religion,
sainthood, the Reformation and religious change; witchcraft and vampires; the moral economy of the crowd;
crime and criminality; the state and popular culture; power and domination; oral history and oral traditions;
ritual and resistance.
Each student will be expected to make at least one presentation to the class, and to take part
regularly in discussions of weekly material. All students will write two to three papers (7-10 pages each)
which utilize primary materials and monographs from three distinct sections of the course: culture “from
below” (using fairy tales); culture “from above” (using documents from the Inquisition as well as documents
from witchcraft trials); and revolutionary culture (using documents from the Bolshevik revolution and the
1920s). Or, students are encouraged to do equivalent work in an independent project agreed upon with the
instructor by October 12. In the past, many students (graduates and undergraduates) have used this
opportunity to develop themes for advanced thesis work. Course credit is divided equally between class
participation and the paper(s).
Upper-level writing credit will be given to all undergraduates taking the course for eight credits.
To expose students to different aspects and methods in the study of popular culture, there will be at
least two guest speakers during the semester. The guest speakers are professors who will discuss specific
aspects of their own research. Students should be advised that there may be additional short readings
assigned in advance by the guest speakers. Moreover, all students who elect to do an independent project
will be expected to make an oral presentation of their ongoing research near the end of the semester.
Readings
The following books have been ordered at the University Bookstore, and placed on reserve. In
addition, three parts of a xeroxed reader (C) of articles and primary documents are available at the Meliora
Copy Center.
Paul Barber, Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality.
P. Burke, Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe
N. Z. Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre
N. Z. Davis, Society and Culture in Early Modern France
C. Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms
E. Le Roy Ladurie, Carnival in Romans
B. P. Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe
D. Sabean, Power in the Blood
James Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts
Recommended Background Readings
G. Huppert, After the Black Death: A Social History of Early Modern Europe
K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1 Introduction
Film: The Return of Martin Guerre (In French, with subtitles)
Week 2 The Historian, the Film-maker and Popular Culture
N. Z. Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre
R. Finlay, “The Refashioning of Martin Guerre,” (C) and N. Z. Davis, “On the Lame” (C)
Week 3 In Search of a Method
P. Burke, Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe, chs. 1-3, and 9.
R. Redfield, “The Social Organization of Tradition” (C)
C. Geertz, “Thick Description” (C)
Week 4 Between Oral and Written Cultures
P. Burke, Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe, chs. 4-5.
N. Z. Davis, “Proverbial Wisdom and Popular Errors,” in Society and Culture in
Early Modern France
R. Darnton, “Peasants Tell Tales” (C)
Week 5 Popular Literature or Literature for the People?
N. Z. Davis, “Printing and the People,” in Society and Culture in Early Modern France
M. Spufford, Small Books and Pleasant Histories: Popular Fiction in 17th Century England
(selections)
Week 6 Reading and Popular Religion
C. Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms
Week 7 Reformations and Popular Cultures
P. Burke, Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe, ch. 8
E. Le Roy Ladurie, “The Paths of Scripture” (C)
N. Z. Davis, “City Women and Religious Change,” and “The Rites of Violence,” in Society and
Culture in Early Modern France
P. Benedict, “The Catholic Response to Protestantism” (C)
Week 8 Witchcraft, Magic and the Witch-Hunt
C. Garrett, “Witches and Cunning Folk” (C)
H. Geertz, “An Anthropology of Religion and Magic, I;” and K. Thomas, “An Anthropology of
Religion and Magic, II,” (C)
B. P. Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (Selections TBA)
Week 9 Vampires and Death Cults
Paul Barber, Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality
Week 10 Social Hierarchies and Hidden Transcripts
J. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts
Week 11 Peasants and the State
David Sabean, Power in the Blood
Week 12 Popular Culture and Popular Protest
Burke, Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe, chs. 6-7
E. P. Thompson, “The Moral Economy of the Crowd,” (C) and “Patrician Society, Plebian
Culture” (C)
N. Z. Davis, “Strikes and Salvation at Lyons,” and “The Reasons of Misrule,” and “Women and
Top,” in Society and Culture in Early Modern France
Week 13 Ritual and Revolt
E. Le Roy Ladurie, Carnival in Romans (Selections TBA)
Week 14 Revolutionary Culture
E. Hobsbawm, “Introduction: Inventing Traditions,” and “Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe,
1870-1914” (C)
R. Stites, “Festivals of the People,” “The Republic of Equals,” and “Man the Machine,” in
Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution (C)
Final Papers are due in Professor Burds’ office no later than 2:00 pm on December 20.