HI3T4-30 From Fireplace to Cyberspace: The Folklore of Europe from Prehistory to the Present
Introductory description
This module aims to introduce students to the methodological and theoretical issues involved in researching and writing on folklore in continental Europe and the British Isles from prehistory to the present.
Module aims
The module serves both to encourage students to think in theoretical terms about the ways in which folklore can be historically reconstructed and to expose them to the opportunities and problems presented by a variety of evidence. These sources include architecture, material culture, written texts, fairy stories, folktales, nursery rhymes, paintings, plays, poetry, songs, and textiles, as well as more contemporary sources such as film, television and websites. The module draws on insights from a range of neighbouring disciplines including anthropology, archaeology, ethnography, gender studies, history of art, and literary criticism.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Term 1
Week 1: What is Folklore?
Week 2: The History of Folklore Studies
Week 3: Folklore and the Nation
Week 4: Politics and Folklore
Week 5: Sources I: Folk Tales, Fairy Stories, Literary Fiction, and Nursery Rhymes
Reading Week
Week 7: Sources II: Music, Song, and Dance
Week 8: Sources III: Drama, Film, and TV
Week 9: Sources IV: Photography
Week 10: Sources V: Art, Architecture, Clothing and Household Objects
Term 2
Week 1: The Ritual Year I: Spring and Summer
Week 2: The Ritual Year II: Autumn and Winter
Week 3: Birth, Marriage, and Death
Week 4: The Supernatural
Week 5: Places (Rural, Urban, and Maritime)
Reading Week
Week 7: Work
Week 8: Play
Week 9: Food
Week 10: Urban Legends and Cyberlore
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate a systematic knowledge and understanding of the history of folklore across continental Europe and the British Isles from prehistory to the present.
- Critically analyse and evaluate a broad range of primary sources (including textual, visual, and material) relating to the history of folklore.
- Effectively communicate ideas, and make informed, coherent and persuasive arguments, relating to the history of folklore across continental Europe and the British Isles from prehistory to the present.
- Critically review and consolidate theoretical, methodological, and historiographical ideas relating to the history of folklore across continental Europe and the British Isles from prehistory to the present.
Indicative reading list
Reading lists can be found in Talis
Subject specific skills
See learning outcomes.
Transferable skills
See learning outcomes.
Study time
| Type | Required | Optional |
|---|---|---|
| Seminars | 18 sessions of 2 hours (12%) | |
| Tutorials | 4 sessions of 1 hour (1%) | |
| External visits | (0%) | 1 session of 2 hours |
| Private study | 260 hours (87%) | |
| Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
History modules require students to undertake extensive independent research and reading to prepare for seminars and assessments. As a rough guide, students will be expected to read and prepare to comment on three substantial texts (articles or book chapters) for each seminar taking approximately 3 hours. Each assessment requires independent research, reading around 6-10 texts and writing and presenting the outcomes of this preparation in an essay, review, presentation or other related task.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A1
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
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| Seminar contribution | 10% | No | |
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Your seminar contribution will be assessed across all seminars according to the department's seminar contribution guidelines. At the end of the module you will submit a written self-assessment of your contribution. This will be marked by the tutor. |
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Reassessment component |
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| 1000 word reflective essay in lieu of Seminar Contribution | Yes (extension) | ||
Assessment component |
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| 1,500-word review of a historiographical debate | 10% | Yes (extension) | |
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Using at least six articles, book chapters, or essays which take a range of approaches to the history of folklore in Europe and the British Isles, you will answer the question 'What are the key issues which the historian of folklore needs to address?' |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| 3,000-word primary source review | 40% | Yes (extension) | |
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The aim of the primary source review is to focus your attention on primary sources and allow you to seriously engage with them. The key question you are trying to answer with the review: 'How can we use this source (or these sources) to illuminate the history of folklore?' You choose a sizeable source(s) eg. a book, or a comparable quantity of written/visual sources. |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| 3,000-word digital object [podcast or videocast] | 40% | Yes (extension) | |
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The podcast or videocast is to be posted on the module Moodle. You can use it to answer a seminar question or you can agree another question with your tutor. The spoken content should be 3000 words. |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Feedback on assessment
Written feedback provided via Tabula; optional oral feedback in office hours.
Courses
This module is Core option list A for:
- Year 3 of UHIA-V102 Undergraduate History (Renaissance and Modern History Stream)
- Year 4 of UHIA-V103 Undergraduate History (Renaissance and Modern History Stream) (with Year Abroad)
- Year 4 of UHIA-V1V8 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of UHIA-V1V7 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with a term in Venice)
- Year 4 of UHIA-VM14 Undergraduate History and Politics (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VM13 Undergraduate History and Politics (with a term in Venice)
- Year 4 of UHIA-VL16 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VL15 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with a term in Venice)