I thought a lot about Alan Dundes' "Who Are the Folk?" when reading of Glassie's experiences in Ballymenone. In chapter 22, page 575, Gassie makes the comment that "The problem of folklore is class. Are the inhabitants of all economic estates people?" His answer is "Yes, of course." However, when taken in light of Dundes' article, it is clear that the issue of class is indeed one of the key if not the key problems in folklore. The very name in and of itself, Dundes argues, suggests a lower, ill-educated "folk." I thought this interesting, simply because one might assume these very ideas of Peter Flanagan and Hugh Nolan. On closer look, however, which is precisely what Glassie does, one recognizes that these people operate within an extremely well-understood and organized framework of morals and practices; things which, I think many can argue, are whittled away or dissipated the more one is "enlightened" or "educated." (I use both words in the sense that Dundes points out in his essay, where literacy was used only as a means to separate out the "lower-ranked" citizens.) I found Glassie's recording of Ballymenone's Troubles to be extremely interesting, especially their particular ranking of crimes and insults to neighbors: Stealing is placed as the highest insult one can perform, specifically because it is a deliberate act of spite against an innocent person--and, in a small population like Ballymenone, most likely an act of spite against a known, innocent person. What is well understood among the people of Ballymenone is that such an act intentionally robs the community of its ability to thrive and prosper; its ability to trust and lend a helping hand to others. I wonder, then, at what point--with how many people, with what advances in "progress" etc--does such a system begin to break down? Obviously, from our current-day AIG scandals and other Wall Street fiascos, we as a nation are past that point. I begin to hone back to my activist callings--"It's all in the grassroots movements," "Keep it small, keep it local."
I wondered also, while reading Glassie, what effect technology--and Dundes' notion of "folk" in the technological world--would have on the small community of Ballymenone. What would its acceptance look like, and what sort of an impact would it have on the people? I almost would have wanted to read a case study done along the same lines as this book set in a small community in the United States--that is, I thought about how the rest of Ireland (the urban areas of Dublin, etc) view a town like Ballymenone. Is it in a similar fashion as we view Amish or Mennonite communities, and if so, how much have we as a society advanced our thinking of some of the original definitions of "folk," as described in Dundes' article? Do we still see them as "the Other" as "quaint" and "simple" folk--simply because they rely on the beauty of storytelling over texting (a storytelling in and of itself, although manifested differently to be sure)? I'd be curious as to discuss this questions in class: Exactly how much does our idea of "folklore" and "folk" change with Glassie's book? Or, does our idea even need to change? Does it simply need to be reframed in another context, as Glassie tries to do, by putting us so intently into the lives of the people of Ballymenone?
--Julie Lauterbach-Colby
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