Call for papers: Transnational Folklore: Rethinking the Nineteenth-Century History of Folklore Studies

The workshop will be held at the Institute of European Ethnology and Cultural
Analysis at LMU Munich on May 22 and 23, 2025, in collaboration with the Gabriele
d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara.

Organised by: Frauke Ahrens (Institute for European Ethnology and Cultural Analysis,
LMU Munich), Fabiana Dimpflmeier (Department of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences,
Gabriele d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara), and Christiane Schwab (Institute for
European Ethnology and Cultural Analysis, LMU Munich)

The historiography of folklore studies has been traditionally conducted within national
frameworks–not at least because the interest in popular traditions and nationalism were
deeply intertwined, with each fueling and shaping the other in significant ways. However,
as folklore developed as a field of study with its own institutions and methodologies
throughout the nineteenth century, it was also shaped by transnational exchange. By the
end of the century, along with the formation of folklore societies and journals in many
countries across Europe and beyond, international congresses were held in Paris, London,
and Chicago. And numerous individual scholars, e.g. the Italian Giuseppe Pitrè, the
German Reinhold Köhler, the American Thomas F. Crane, or the Spaniard Antonio
Machado Álvarez, among many others, fostered a web of transnational relationships which
supported the construction of a shared theoretical and methodological framework of
folklore research.

As part of the project “Actors‒Narratives‒Strategies: Constellations of Transnational
Folklore Research, 1875‒1905,” funded by the German Research Foundation, we plan a
workshop to explore ‘transnational folklore’ in nineteenth-century Europe and beyond.
Together with fellow scholars in European Ethnology, Folklore Studies, Sociocultural
Anthropology, History, and related fields, we aim to investigate how transnational
processes influenced the development, professionalisation, and systematisation of folklore
theories and practices. Challenging established histories of folklore, our goal is to reveal
alternative framework analysis and approaches by examining what new insights a
transnational perspective can offer in understanding folklore knowledge production and
circulation.

Topics covered may include:
1. Transnational Practices and Knowledge Formats. How was transnational
folklore research organised? In what ways did it manifest through personal
connections, cross-border methodologies, publications, events, and other forms of
intellectual and practical collaboration?

2. Agendas and Logics of Regional and National Folklore Research Within
Transnational Frameworks. What significance did transnational collaboration hold
for regional and transnational processes of institutionalisation? What were the
motives and goals behind establishing and maintaining transnational contacts? How
did transnational projects contribute to delineating disciplinary boundaries and
strengthening folklore research as an independent discipline in different
national/regional contexts?

3. Actors of Transnational Folklore Research. Who were the key players in folklore
studies whose relationships and knowledge practices transcended nation-state
borders? What were their motifs, strategies, and socioeconomic and biographical
preconditions that enabled them to operate on a transnational scale? And what
factors may have posed challenges to them?

4. Narratives in Transnational Folklore Research. Which narratives determined
transnational cooperation and/or were produced and reproduced within it? How did
these narratives function as instruments of shared knowledge horizons, interests,
and problems, creating a ‘disciplinary identity’? How has transnational collaboration
been affected by different perceptions of the role and methodology of folklore
studies?

5. Impact of Early Transnational Endeavours. How can research on transnational
folklore studies change the way we look at the development of the discipline in
different national/regional research contexts? In which ways might it broaden the
historiography of folklore studies and add new facets to established narratives of
the field’s history?

6. Doing Transnational Historiography. How can we investigate the history of
folklore research beyond national concepts and methodologies? What sources lead
us to transnational networks, actors, and endeavours? What are the difficulties in
researching transnational folklore and how can we overcome them methodologically
and theoretically?

To participate in the workshop Transnational Folklore: Rethinking the Nineteenth-
Century History of Folklore Studies, please submit an abstract no longer than 300 words (including paper title, name of the presenter, affiliation, and e-mail address) by January 12, 2025 to: [email protected]. Notifications of accepted papers will be sent by January 31, 2025. Accommodation will be provided for participants presenting a paper.