The Folklore of Ireland
Tufts Experimental College 0004-S
Spring 2010
ABOUT THIS COURSE
Classroom:
Braker 113
Time:
Monday 6:30-9:00
Instructor:
Barbara Hillers
hillers@fas.harvard.edu
617-625-3797
Books &
Other Readings:
Course Work
and Evaluation:
See Course Reading List.
Required texts are available from internet booksellers (and should be
ordered promptly: They will be needed for Week 3).
Required & recommended books, as well as all other assigned readings
available on Reserve at Tisch Library.
10% Class participation
35% Oral Presentations
20% Written Report
35% Final Paper
· Class Participation
Active participation in class discussion based on assigned reading.
· Oral Presentations
Students will make a couple of short-ish oral presentations (5-8 mins) on assigned topics.
· Written Report
The written report (7-8 pp.) is a short, no-frills research paper; it will typically be based on research
done for an oral presentation. It is due by Week Seven (3/8).
· Final Paper
The final paper (10-12 pp.) is due by Week Fourteen (4/26).
Collaboration on special presentations is encouraged. Final Papers may be based on shared research,
but should represent students' individual and original views and insights.
The Folklore of Ireland
Tufts Experimental College 0004-S, Spring 2010
COURSE SYLLABUS
Week One
Whose Folklore?
What is folklore and who are the folk? How does storytelling function in our life?
· Storytelling Potluck
Participants swap stories:
- what was the first story you remember learning; what made it memorable? Who told it,
under what circumstances was it told, and why?
- what is your favourite folktale? where and how did you learn it? what do you like about it?
Week Two
The Functions of Folklore
What is the function of folk literature? An exploration of the function, or range of functions, of for
the storyteller and his community.
Required Reading:
William Bascom, `Four Functions of Folklore'* in The Study of Folklore, ed. A. Dundes (1965).[book on Res]
M. MacDonald Read, `The 50 Functions of Folklore',* in Traditional Storytelling Today: An
International Sourcebook, ed. M. MacDonald Read (1999), 408-415.
[article on Res]
· Student Presentations
Exploration of the function(s) of a particular tale (preferably chosen from Folktales from Ireland) in
light of the critical reading.
Week Three
Genres of Irish Folk Literature
An introduction to the main genres of Irish folk literature: fables, tales of magic, religious tales, jokes
and anecdotes, fairy legends, songs, charms, nonsense tales, rhymes and riddles.
Required Reading:
Seán Ó Súilleabháin, Storytelling in Irish Tradition* (1973).
`Genres of Irish Folk Literature’*
Folktales of Ireland, #1-10, 13, 14, 16, 19, 20-25, 26-31, 46, 51, 53, 54.
Irish Folk Tales, #36; 38-39; 41-42 (tall tales); 12 (legend).
· Student Presentations
On individual Irish folklore genres: their form, function & performance context.
Week Four
[book on Res]
[instructor's handout]
[book on Res]
[book on Res]
Ireland and the International Context
How does Irish storytelling tradition fit into the European context? An introduction to the history of
folklore collecting and folktale scholarship in Europe. What to do with ATU: the international tale
type index and how to use it.
Required Reading:
Jakob Grimm, `Circular Concerning the Collecting of Folk Poetry',* International Folkloristics, ed.
A. Dundes (1999), 1-8.
[book on Res]
Séumas Ó Duilearga, `Note to Prospective Collectors',* Béaloideas: the Journal of the Folklore of
Ireland Society 1 (1927).
[instructor's handout on Res]
Richard Dorson, `Foreword', Folktales of Ireland v-xxxii.
Seán O'Sullivan, `Introduction', Folktales of Ireland, xxxiii-xxxix.
· Student Presentation and Class Discussion
- `Fakelore' versus Folklore - Why does it matter?
- Folklore as the voice of the rural proletariat vs. the lore of the `folk' as constructed by
bourgeois nationalism
Week Five
Storyteller and Storytelling Community in Ireland
Studying the storyteller: Exploring the tradition bearers' repertoire in the light of their biography,
channels of transmission, and performance technique.
Required Reading:
James Delargy, `Irish Tales and Story-tellers,' in International Folkloristics, ed. A. Dundes (1999),
153-176.
[book on Res]
Patricia Lysaght, `Traditional Storytelling in Ireland in the Twentieth Century', in Traditional
Storytelling Today: An International Sourcebook, ed. M. Read MacDonald (1999), 264-272.
[article on Res]
Georges D. Zimmermann, `Irish Traditional Storytelling...: How Much Do We Know?* in The
Irish Storyteller (2001), 428-440 (§1-§7) and 450-471 (§12-§22).
[book on Res]
Please have a look at one classic repertoire collection:
Seán Ó Conaill’s Book, coll. S. Ó Duilearga, ed. B. Almqvist et al. (1981)
[book on Res]
· Student Presentations:
Presentations on individual storytellers and their repertoires.
Week Six
Oral Stylistics: What Makes Oral Literature Oral?
Oral performance and oral transmission. How to tell a tale: Formula, motif and theme.
Required Reading:
A. B. Lord, `Singers: Performance and Training',* in The Singer of Tales (Chapter 2), 1960, 13-30.
Georges D. Zimmermann, `Irish Traditional Storytelling... in The Irish Storyteller (2001),
440-440-450 (§8-§11) and 471-495 (§22-§31).*
[book on Res]
[book o
· Primary Literature
Three Irish hero-tales told by Joe Flaherty (from There Was a King in Ireland, 1971, ed. Myles
Dillon):
[book on Res]
`The Queen of the Island of Loneliness'* 37-51
`The Giant of the Mighty Blows'* 53-76
`The Knowledge of the Only Story and the Dúdán's Sword'* 77-95
Week Seven
Psychological Interpretations of Folklore
The Folktale as narrative of personal development; some classic psychoanalytic approaches; analysis
and interpretation of selected folktales.
Required Reading:
B. Bettelheim, `Transformations: the Fantasy of the Wicked Stepmother',* in The Uses of
Enchantment (1975), 66-73.
[book on Res]
A. van Gennep, `Rites of Passage,'* International Folkloristics, ed. A. Dundes (1999).
[book on Res]
· In-Class Discussion: Interpretation of `The Knowledge of the Only Story' and other tales of Joe
Flaherty's (see Week Six) as narratives of psychological development
· Student Presentations
- on Freudian Interpretations of `Jack and the Beanstalk' by W. H. Desmonde and M.
Wolfenstein, The Study of Folklore, ed. A. Dundes (1965)
[book on Res]
- on the hero pattern in folktale and myth by Lord Raglan, The Study of Folklore, ed. A.
Dundes (1965), 142-157.
[book on Res]
Week Eight
Coding and Gender in Folklore
Do men and women tell different stories? Do men and women tell (and hear) the same stories
differently? What can we tell from the differences between male and female storytellers' repertoires
and performance styles? Can stories have a gender? The theory of coding: the hidden agendas and
subversive messages of women's folklore.
Required Reading:
Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, `International Folktales'*, Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, ed. A. Bourke
(2002), vol. iv, 1214-18.
[article on Res]
Joan Radner & Susan Lanser, `Strategies of Coding in Women’s Cultures’,* in Feminist Messages:
Coding in Women's Folk Culture, ed. Joan Radner (1993)
[book on Res]
Bettina Kimpton, `Blow the House Down: Coding, the Banshee, and Woman’s Place’,*
Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 13 (1993), 39-48.
[article on Res]
· Student Presentation
Examples of coding or gendered discourse in a woman storyteller's repertoire.
Week Nine
SPRING BREAK!
Weeks Ten and Eleven: The Form and Function of Fairy Legends
Week Ten
This World and the Otherworld
Folk legend versus folktale. Fairy legend and belief: Who are the fairies? Who believes in fairies?
Criticism:
Máire Mac Neill, `Introduction,'* Síscéalta ó Thír Chonaill - Fairy Legends from Donegal, eds. Ó
hEochaidh et al. (Dublin 1977), 17-28.
[article on Res]
Conrad Arensberg, `The Good People’,* The Irish Countryman (1937), 163-91
[book on Res]
Primary Material:
O'Sullivan, `People of the Otherworld', Folktales #26-38
Henry Glassie, `Fairy Tales,'* in The Stars of Ballymenone (2006), 301-318.
[book on Res]
Seán Ó hEochaidh, Síscéalta: Fairy Legends from Donegal #1-#17* (1977)
Bab Feiritéar, `Fairy legends' (tr. Hillers)
Week Eleven
The Function of Fairy Legends
Fairy belief as tool for dealing with reality. The moral, message, or social use of fairy legends. Bridget
Cleary and the Clonmel murder case.
Required Reading:
Angela Bourke, The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story (2000), chapters 4-6; 8; 10.
[book on Res]
· In-class Discussion: Why did Bridget Cleary die?
· Student Presentation
The moral, message, or social use of a fairy legend of the student's choice.
Week Twelve
Religious Tales and Legends: Conservative or Subversive?
An exploration of subversive elements in religious tales, including didactic, humorous and irreverent
religious tales. Why is this genre embraced by women storytellers? Case study of `The Woman Who
Went To Hell'.
Required Reading:
· O'Sullivan, `Saints and Sinners' Folktales #20-25
· A Case Study: `The Woman Who Went To Hell'
- Joan N. Radner, `The Woman Who Went to Hell': Coded Values in Irish Folk
Narrative',* Midwestern Folklore 15 (1989), 109-117.
[article on Res]
- Five versions of `The Woman Who Went To Hell',* told by Peig Sayers, Tadhg Ó
Guithín, Máire Ruiséal, Bab Feiritéar, and Pat Minahan.
[instructor's handout on Res]
· Student presentation on Bab Feiritéar's religious tales
Week Thirteen
No Class - PATRIOTS DAY
Week Fourteen
The Irish Travellers: Folklore of Marginalized Groups
Travellers' folklore and folklore about travellers: `us' and `them'. The marginalization of a group and
the group's response. Compensatory functions of storytelling; folklore as affirmation of identity and
survival.
Background and Critical Reading:
George Gmelch, `On the Roadside in the 1930s',* To Shorten the Road, ed. G. Gmelch and B.
Kroup (1978), 17-36.
[book on Res]
Bairbre Ó Floinn, `Storytelling Traditions of the Irish Travellers,'* Field Day Anthology of Irish
Writing vol. iv, 1263-1270.
[article on Res]
Primary Texts:
Lady Augusta Gregory, `The Wandering Tribe,’* Poets and Dreamers (1903)
`Why the Tinker Keeps Travelling': Four versions of an etiological legend*
`Jack the Highway Robber,'* To Shorten the Road, 53-61.
[chapter on Res]
[instructor's handout)
[book on Res]
· Student Presentations
The lives and storytelling/singing repertoires of Irish travellers
· Video Viewing: Alen MacWeeney's award-winning documentary Travellers.
Week Fifteen (Céilí)
Subversive Nonsense: The Folklore of the Playground
Why are children's games and rhymes full of sex, violence and candy? The Fourth Function of
Folklore: bawdy and irreverent rhymes, jokes & tales of children — and adults. Wrapping it all up: So
what is folklore all about?
Critical Reading:
Donna Lanclos, `Rudeness and Defining the Line between Child and Adult', At Play in Belfast:
Children's Folklore and Identities (2003), 48-83.
[Chapter on Res; BB]
A. Dundes, `Fudge, fudge' (from `Projection in Folklore: A Plea for Psychoanalytic Semiotics',)*
Interpreting Folklore (1980), 33-61 (37-41).
[Book on Res; BB]
Primary Material:
Maggie Kerr Peirce, `Rude Rhymes', Keep the Kettle Boiling (1983), 51-60.
[Book on Res; BB]
Iona & Peter Opie, `Parody and Impropriety', The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren (1987),
87-97.
[Book on Res; BB]
Special Presentation:
My Man Jack: Bawdy Tales from Irish Folklore, ed. M. J. Murphy (1989)
[Book on Res]
· Céilí: Folklore in action - Tell a tale, crack a joke, sing a song, bring your tin whistle, or put on your
tap-dancing shoes....
The Folklore of Ireland
Tufts Experimental College 0004-S, Spring 2010
COURSE READING
****
***
**
*
Must Have
Strongly Recommended
Recommended
Recommended for Special Assignments
Required Texts
Folktales of Ireland, Seán O'Sullivan (1966) ****
T; Res
International Folkloristics: Classic contributions by the founders of folklore, ed. A. Dundes (Lanham,
1
Maryland, 1999) ***
The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story, Angela Bourke (2000) ****
Res
T; Res
Recommended
Storytelling in Irish Tradition, Seán Ó Súilleabháin (1973: out of print) ***
Irish Folktales, ed. Henry Glassie (1985) **
The Study of Folklore, Alan Dundes (1965) **
Res
Res
Res
Recommended for special assignments (and for pure enjoyment!)
The Tailor and Ansty, Eric Cross (1942) *
My Man Jack: Bawdy Tales from Irish Folklore, ed. M. J. Murphy (1989; out of print) *
To Shorten the Road, ed. Ben Kroup (1978; out of print) *
There was a King in Ireland, ed. Myles Dillon (1971)*
Res
Res
Res
Res
1
T = Tisch Library (regular circulation); Res = Tisch Course Reserves.