Purists, Innovators, and the Shaping of the Image of Folklore Tradition: Folklore as a Cultural Representation of Its Time

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68378076%3A_____%2F25%3A00645509" target="_blank" >RIV/68378076:_____/25:00645509 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Purists, Innovators, and the Shaping of the Image of Folklore Tradition: Folklore as a Cultural Representation of Its Time

Original language description

Folklore, as part of folk culture, has never been a static or unchanging phenomenon. On the contrary, it has always been subject to processes of formation, adaptation, and reinterpretation. This process acquired a new dimension in the 19th century, when folk culture – or, more precisely, selected aspects of it, chosen by nationally minded intellectuals – became the essence for the formation of national culture in a number of European states. Folklore became an iconic cultural representation of national identity. However, its image was shaped in line with the period’s prevailing ideology of cultural purism and aesthetic selection, which dominated both the collection of folklore source material and its public presentation well into the first half of the 20th century. As many traditional expressions of folklore lost their vitality and functionality in everyday life, and as the staged presentation of folklore developed, increasing space opened up for innovators. The image of the folklore tradition changed fundamentally after the rise of communist ideology and cultural policy, nonetheless, the influence of both purists and innovators persisted – albeit within a markedly different context, primarily associated with staged folklore. A variety of elements “born” from the inherent tension between the effort to safeguard a degree of authenticity in the folklore tradition (purism) and the desire for innovation and contemporaneity have become part of living ethno-cultural traditions. Today, they function as cultural representation of a locality or region and are perceived as folklore by their bearers.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

D - Article in proceedings

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50404 - Anthropology, ethnology

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Article name in the collection

Od folkloru k world music: Puristé a inovátoři

ISBN

978-80-909780-0-3

ISSN

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e-ISSN

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Number of pages

16

Pages from-to

23-38

Publisher name

Městské kulturní středisko v Náměšti nad Oslavou

Place of publication

Náměšť nad Oslavou

Event location

Náměšť nad Oslavou

Event date

Jul 29, 2025

Type of event by nationality

WRD - Celosvětová akce

UT code for WoS article

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