Folklore and Ethnology in the Soviet Western Borderlands

Toms Kencis is lead researcher and Head of the Scientific Council at the University of Latvia Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art.Simon J. Bronner is dean of the College of General Studies and distinguished professor of social sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Elo-Hanna Seljamaa is associate professor of Estonian and Comparative Folklore at the University of Tartu, Estonia.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to the history of folkloristics and ethnology in Europe behind the Iron Curtain – on the Western fringes of the Communist empire, once ruled from Moscow. It offers a close and critical analysis of research traditions in the countries, ranging from the Baltic states to Central Europe and Ukraine – all affected by Marxist-Leninist ideology. As a work on folklore, politics, and nationalism, on resilience and submissiveness, it is also a systematic study of Soviet colonialism and a critical reflection of its legacies today.

• Introduction: The Analytics of 'Socialist in Form, National in Content' in the Soviet Western BorderlandsToms Kencis Part I. An Inherent Paradox: National Form and Socialist ContentChapter 1. Folklore and Nationalism in the Soviet Western Borderlands Toms KencisChapter 2. Bringing the Folk Community into the Future: On the Socialist Content of Communist Folkloristics Joseph Grim FeinbergChapter 3. The Lithuanian Folklore Movement and Academe: Transforming Rural Tradition Auste NakienePart II. Multivocal Socialism: Agents and AgendasChapter 4. Being in Between: Laine Mesikäpp and Staged Practices of Estonian Traditional SongsJanika OrasChapter 5. Ideological Tuning of Latvian Folk OrnamentDigne UdreChapter 6. The Dievturi Movement under the Soviet RegimeGatis OzolinšPart III. Folk and the People: Education and ControlChapter 7. On Self-Folklorization: Folk Art in Late Socialist Era Poland Ewa KlekotChapter 8. Folkloristics in Moldova: Relations between Discipline and PerformanceJennifer R. CashChapter 9. The Influence of Soviet Authority on the Formation of Latvian Staged Folk DanceElina GailitePart IV. Post-war Academia: Sovietization of the DisciplineChapter 10 New Songs for a New Life: Soviet Folklore and Folkloristics in Western UkrainePavlo Artymyshyn and Roman HolykChapter 11. Confronting Soviet Colonialism: Folkloristics in Early Soviet Estonia and East GermanyKaisa LangerChapter 12. The Search for Workers’ Folklore in Hungary Gabriella VámosAfterword: Ghosts of Socialist Folkloristics in the Post-Soviet WorldSimon J. BronnerAbout the Contributors