An Exploration of the Literature on Oppressed Folklore
Folktales, Folk Bodies
There is little true sociological work done on folklore, and even less done on how folklore can be used to complicate (post)colonial narratives. There is however an extensive set of literature existing in the murkily identified field of folklore studies, which at times has an anthropological lean, but can none the less be taken up in a sociological framework. It is in this fringe field that ideas around colonialism and indigenous/minority bodies are contested, inverted and reclaimed. In this review I shall break down eight separate articles into three general themes, each with a brief discussion on the articles relevance to that theme, and then to how the articles and and their theme work to raise question about colonial history and narratives.
First off is a brief list of these articles and the themes they share. The articles: “ 'They Could Make Their Victims Dull ': Genders and Genres, Fantasies and Cures in Colonial Southern Uganda” (1995) by Louise White, “Miles of Smiles, Years of Struggle: The Negotiation of Black Occupational Identity Through Personal Experience Narrative” (1983) by Jack Santino, “The King 's Two Lives: The Tunisian Legend of Saint Louis” (2006) by Afrodesia E. McCannon, and “An Axis Jump: British Colonialism in the Oral Folk Narratives of Nineteenth-Century India” (2001) by Sadhana Naithani can be loosely grouped under a title of “Folklores of Resistance”, though they at the same time expose different underlying currents. They second thematic category can be called “Appropriated Folklores” and includes the articles “The Politics of Taking: La Llorona in the Cultural Mainstream” (2012) by Domino Renee Perez and “Vampires Anonymous and Critical Race Practise” (2009) by Robert A. Williams Jr. The final theme is entitled “Folk Histories” and the articles “The Role of Folklore in Pepetela 's Histography of Angola” (2012) by Daniel Colón and “The Story of Colonialism, or Rethinking the Ox-hide Purchase in Native
There is little true sociological work done on folklore, and even less done on how folklore can be used to complicate (post)colonial narratives. There is however an extensive set of literature existing in the murkily identified field of folklore studies, which at times has an anthropological lean, but can none the less be taken up in a sociological framework. It is in this fringe field that ideas around colonialism and indigenous/minority bodies are contested, inverted and reclaimed. In this review I shall break down eight separate articles into three general themes, each with a brief discussion on the articles relevance to that theme, and then to how the articles and and their theme work to raise question about colonial history and narratives.
First off is a brief list of these articles and the themes they share. The articles: “ 'They Could Make Their Victims Dull ': Genders and Genres, Fantasies and Cures in Colonial Southern Uganda” (1995) by Louise White, “Miles of Smiles, Years of Struggle: The Negotiation of Black Occupational Identity Through Personal Experience Narrative” (1983) by Jack Santino, “The King 's Two Lives: The Tunisian Legend of Saint Louis” (2006) by Afrodesia E. McCannon, and “An Axis Jump: British Colonialism in the Oral Folk Narratives of Nineteenth-Century India” (2001) by Sadhana Naithani can be loosely grouped under a title of “Folklores of Resistance”, though they at the same time expose different underlying currents. They second thematic category can be called “Appropriated Folklores” and includes the articles “The Politics of Taking: La Llorona in the Cultural Mainstream” (2012) by Domino Renee Perez and “Vampires Anonymous and Critical Race Practise” (2009) by Robert A. Williams Jr. The final theme is entitled “Folk Histories” and the articles “The Role of Folklore in Pepetela 's Histography of Angola” (2012) by Daniel Colón and “The Story of Colonialism, or Rethinking the Ox-hide Purchase in Native
Bibliography: McCannon, A. E. (2006). The king 's two lives: The tunisian legend of saint louis. Journal Of Folklore Research, 43(1), 53-74. White, L. (1995. They Could Make Their Victims Dull ': Genders and Genres, Fantasies and Cures in Colonial Southern Uganda. American Historial Review, 1379- 1402 Santino, J. Miles of Smiles, Years of Struggle: The Negotiation of Black Occupational Identity Through Personal Experience Narrative. Journal Of American Folklore 393-412 Naithani, S. An Axis Jump: British Colonialism in the Oral Folk Narratives of Nineteenth-Century India. Folklore 183-188 Perez D. R. The Politics of Taking: La Llorona in the Cultural Mainstream. The Journal of Popular Culture, 45(1) 153-171 Jackson, J.B.The Story of Colonialism, or Rethinking the Ox-hide Purchase in Native North America ans Beyond. http://jasonbairdjackson.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/jackson_oxhide_jaf_preprint.pdf Colon, D. The Role of Folklore in Pepetela 's Histography of Angola, Luso-Brazillian Review, 49(1) 27-45 Williams Jr., R.A., Vampires Anonymous and Critical Race Practise, Michigan Law Review 95(4) 741-765