“Folklorists who come from societies in which creativity and wisdom are suspect—societies in which artists are dismissed as isolated cranks and old people are pitied as diseased young people—regularly display misunderstanding of the social organization of communities like Ballymenone in unsuccessful predictions of the deaths of arts known only to a few aged people. Generation after generation contains the last basket weaver and the last ballad singer. When they were young, Hugh Nolan and Michael Boyle were not noted storytellers. They would not have performed for a visiting folklorist. Their elders, George Armstrong and Hugh McGiveney, would have told the tales, while the folklorist foretold the demise of the art and young Hugh and Mick cut turf and hay. But now they are the tellers….” (63).
I really enjoyed reading Glassie’s research and exploration of the Irish community Ballymenone. I liked what he said early in the book about not wanting to pay too much attention to the everyday or to the event but “to see people as they are: free and stuck in the world” (15). I think there is a tendency to lose this perspective when we come to cultures that are not our own with preconceived notions about who the people are and what’s important to them. Then, as explored in the essay we read on Smithsonian festivals, people “are” an isolated cultural dance or artwork taken out of context or they “are” the contents of their kitchen and want they make every Sunday for dinner. I think in my own work exploring Cajun culture, I sometimes have the temptation to make exotic the everyday because I feel the rituals, especially the routine of women in the culture, are fascinating. Glassie’s work and the way he handled the stories of his subjects with integrity and, whenever possible, allowing their own words to be present on the page avoids reductive thinking about these individuals or the community they are a part of.
I included the epitaph above because I also think this connects to preconceived notions limiting the understanding of another culture. What he says in this quote makes sense to me, but I have felt myself thinking that way at times. I do think this issue can be complicated when you think about extending the crafts that are handed down to rituals, language or traditions in the community. For example, in the Cajun community in Louisiana, very few people of my generation speak Cajun French. The language is spoken by the older generation, and because it is not a written language, it is likely to die out. Here there is not the cycle Glassie speaks of. There are also values that are attributed to people of communities that due to changing time and different historical context may not be maintained. For example, Cajun people have historically always been thrifty, able to make do with what they had and to be grateful for that despite hardships. But now as Cajuns begin to identify more with “American” identity than their Cajun one, they are becoming more consumerist. This is combined with the fact that many Cajun men now work for lucrative offshore drilling companies. They don’t have to scrimp and save anymore. And yet, something is lost that was intrinsic to the values of the Cajun people.
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“Ceilis happen at home, in the kitchen by the hearth.” (72)
“Ceilis are not planned. They happen. At night you sit to rest and perhaps a neighbor or two will lift the latch and join you at the hearth.” (71)
When I traveled throughout Eastern Canada last summer doing research, I visited Prince Edward Island. The land the fictional Anne of Green Gables called home is home to many citizens who originally came from Ireland. While there, I attended a “ceili.” Even though I am part Irish, I had never heard of the term before. There was traditional Irish music and singing. Men and women played fiddles and mandolin and guitar. I don’t remember any storytelling.
The thing that struck me about this experience in relationship to what I discussed above, is that all of the performers were relatively young, in their twenties and thirties. And most of the attendees were upwards of 50 or 60, as evidenced by silver hair. The announcer spoke of being encouraged by the youth’s interest in the ceilis. I thought it was great that youth were performing. At the same time, I found it a little disheartening that so few young people were present and other ones like me that were there were tourists. Perhaps this is reductive thinking as well and youth participate in their own cultural traditions in places outside this Knights of Columbus hall, but it got me thinking. - Lisa
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