PANEL ABSTRACTS

2023 WSFS Annual Conference

University of Nevada, Las Vegas 

Friday and Saturday, April 14-15, 2023

Theme: Folklore, Time, and Temporality

This year, participants have the opportunity to submit individual proposals to be part of one of the following panels with specific themes:

 

• Title: Circles of Salt: Suspension and Protection in Ritual and Narrative
  Format: Regular Paper Panel
  Chair: Kristiana Willsey (willsey@usc.edu)

Abstract: The manipulation of time is central to both ritual and narrative’s ability to effect change. In ritual, postures, gestures, and speech acts become symbolically loaded via layers of repetition. Each new iteration of the ritual is an echo, collapsing time to a single point where the ritual actor is both heir and ancestor. A similar process occurs in traditional storytelling; the repetition of oral formulae and familiar motifs suspends reality and opens into ritual time. Ursula K. Le Guin writes (of Sleeping Beauty specifically and fairy tales generally), “the story is about that still center,” the power that lies not in breaking enchantments, but in living for a little while within one (1998). This panel will consider the suspension, manipulation, and re-ordering of time in both ritual and narrative, and how the time-out-of-time this creates insulates the teller/practitioner, making physical protection and psychological transformation possible.

Individual papers might consider the role of temporality in:

• Therapeutic functions of folk and fairy tales
• Illness narratives and the (re)construction of identity
• Healing and protection rituals
• Ritual protection objects like souvenirs and “good luck charms”
• Synchronous and asynchronous audiences on social media; the relationship between online storytelling and activism/social change


• Title: Folklore During the Anthropocene: Navigating Forward During Perilous Times
  Format: Regular Paper Panel
  Chair: Tok Thompson (tokthomp@usc.edu)

Abstract: How does the acknowledgment of anthropogenic global extinctions and climate devastation change folklore studies? Knowing that the earth’s life is quickly becoming severely attenuated, with catastrophic consequences, what is the role of folklore during this time of epochal changes, not only of human societies, but also of all life on earth? Rising out of critical ecology studies, posthumanism and other approaches have begun facing some of these questions, examining more-than-human folk groups and lore, as well as how people have begun to reconceptualize their own ontological relationships with the lived planet. This panel will continue to explore new avenues forward, looking at the more-than-human assemblages, heightened environmental awareness, and globalizations that characterize the growing cultural reactions to the Anthropocene, bringing folklore studies to bear on the most critical threat that humanity has ever faced.


• Title: Temporal Disruptions: “QBIPOC Time(s) as Social Resistance”
  Format: Regular Paper Panel
  Chair: Rachel González-Martin (rvgonzal@austin.utexas.edu)

Abstract: What does it mean to “take one’s time?” This panel explores different ways that minority communities, communities of color, racialized and classed communities, and other non-dominant designations of community groupings resist dominant cultural norms in a variety of social contexts through distinct interpretations of being “on time.” Resisting standard notions of temporality on individual levels becomes an epiphenomenon of resisting ideologies of professionalism tied to ideologies of respectability that pit minority cultural identities against an implicit backdrop of western cis-het social superiority. How do individuals and communities use different notions of timeliness to disrupt and draw attention to social norms steeped in unequal power dynamics? How do these notions of time, timeliness, and temporality examined in micro-contexts of social performance connect to large-scale generational experiences of social belonging?


• Title : Occupational Cultures and Las Vegas
  Format: Regular Paper Panel
  Chair: Montana Miller (montanm@bgsu.edu)

Abstract: To those who visit Las Vegas as tourists, the city may seem like a 24-hour carnival where everyday routine and rules are upended. But the “City of Lost Wages,” as it is sometimes known, contains occupational subcultures that remain largely unexamined and misunderstood. This panel seeks to bring out and honor the usually unheard voices and experiences of those who work in professions specifically associated with Las Vegas. Behind the glitter and neon, what are the realities of life as a service worker or performer, in any of the wide range of forms those occupations take? Dr. Montana Miller, a former Cirque du Soleil aerialist who has also done ethnographic work among professional poker players, invites proposals that delve into particular work subcultures, or that tackle themes shared by more than one occupational group (for example: risk, stability, trust, and coping/survival strategies). Our discussion will unpack some of the discrepancies between public perceptions of those who make the city tick, and the insider knowledge revealed by ethnographic and participatory folklore fieldwork.


• Title: The Folklore of Democracy: Tradition, Practice, and Democratic Values
  Format: Regular Paper Panel
  Chair: Anthony Bak Buccitelli (abb20@psu.edu)

Abstract: This panel takes the perspective that democracy is folklore, not in the sense that it is false, but in the sense that democratic culture consists of a set of traditions that are handed down and adapted by each generation. It premises that by understanding the cultural practices and expressions that people share, we can examine where collective commitment to democracy is strong and where it falters, and envision ways to rebuild a healthy democratic society. As specialists in tradition and culture, folklorists offer a vantage point on pluralistic and democratic society (and its antagonists and opponents) that complements the insights of political scientists, historians, economists, and others concerned with its preservation. It is incumbent upon us as intellectuals, if we wish to uphold democratic social and intellectual norms, to bring our expertise to bear amidst the din of misinformation, willful antagonism, and media manipulation that has dominated much of the public sphere.

Possible topics might include folklore and: inequality; social justice or reform; violence; mis/disinformation; civil discourse and debate; civic religion; voting practices and rituals; civil liberties; laws, customs, and norms; electoral or governance issues; immigration, citizenship, and nationalism; science and folk knowledge; the public role of experts and intellectuals; social marginalization and exclusion; neglected historical contributions; identity politics and representation; support for vernacular and cultural heritage arts; protest movements; sustainability and environmental concerns; cultural property, appropriation, and imperialism; diversity and division; and the place of tradition in civic life.


• Title: Expressive Culture of Death
  Format: Diamond Session
  Chair: Sheila Bock (sheila.bock@unlv.edu)

Abstract: Death is an inevitable part of the life cycle, consequently capturing the attention of the living in the rich domain of expressive culture. This session invites participants to reflect on their own participation in/engagement with the traditional expressive forms and practices that death inspires. Both individually and collectively, the presentations in this session will shed light on the following questions: How do we create meaning in the face of death? What kinds of expressive culture does death inspire? How can we understand people’s participation in the expressive culture of death to be both personal and larger-than-personal? What insights can expressive culture offer into social and cultural understandings of death more broadly? How does the expressive culture of death create opportunities for reflection, critique, community-building, and political action? The presentations in this session should follow the Diamond presentation format introduced by the American Folklore Society. That is, presentations should be seven minutes long and organized around 21 slides that are set to advance automatically every 20 seconds.