Folklore and Folklife - Courses - Fall 2003 - FOLK 201 601: American Folklore

For more information about Folklore and Folklife,at UPenn, contact Professor Dan Ben-Amos at dbamos@sas.upenn.edu.

For assistance with the Folklore and Folklife website, contact Linda Lee at lindalee@sas.upenn.edu.

FOLK 201 601 American Folklore

A. Griswold
Lecture: Thursday 5:30-8:40 PM
Contact: agriswol@sas.upenn.edu

American folklore encompasses an astonishing array of cultural groups and artistic forms: African-American oral poetry and Franco-American fiddle tunes, Irish-American songs and Italian-American food, Native American jokes and German-American quilts, ancient old-country recipes and the latest and most bizarre Urban Legend. In this course, we will survey some of the groups that we call “American” and some of the expressive traditions that we call “folklore.” We will discuss how these traditions originate, how they develop over time, and especially how they become part of—of remain separate from—American popular culture. Along the way, we will raise important questions about the meanings that folklore holds for “Americans,” for smaller cultural groups, and for individuals.

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