top of page

Vol. 73, No. 1 – Winter, 2014

Articles

Cosplay: Intertextuality, Public Texts, and the Body Fantastic

Matthew Hale

ABSTRACT: This work examines how fans of popular culture forms materialize and embody various semiotic elements from mass mediated public texts through acts of replication, revision, and modulation in a practice know as cosplay. I argue for a more phenomenological approach to the study of fandom, participatory culture, and vernacular media reception and for increased intellectual exchange between media and cultural studies scholars and folklorists. KEYWORDS: fandom, embodiment, intertextuality, costume, adornment



Now You See Me Now You Don't: Deictic Projection and the Dynamics of Proverb Performance


Erik Aasland

ABSTRACT: Neal Norrick presents the interface of tradition and individual agency in proverb performance as a paradox, a rhetorical recusation in which the proverb initiator fades into the background of societal opinion while gaining the upper hand (1994). I will argue that we don’t need to leave ourselves in the place of paradox, but can attain clarification of how proverbs operate by applying the concept of deictic projection to explore how proverbs operate in the space between quote and story. KEYWORDS: proverbs, deictic projection, quoting behavior, story



Women's Songs: The Lullaby in the Spanish Autonomous Region of Valencia


José María Esteve-Faubel, Rosa Pilar Esteve-Faubel, Victoria, Cavia-Naya, María Teresa Oller Benlloch

ABSTRACT: A lullaby is a song performed almost exclusively by women in all cultures to make children fall asleep. But traditional lullaby singing has declined due to social change. This study analyzes its structure and content thoroughly and aspects of this tradition providing information on usage, customs, themes and types of melody, and reflecting the importance of this form of cultural expression. KEYWORDS: Lullaby, Traditional songs, Women’s songs, Spain, Qualitative research

Review Essays
Reviews

Debra Lattanzi Shutika, Beyond the Borderlands: Migration and Belonging in the United States and Mexico


Reviewed by Irene Garza



Krystyna Duess, Shamans, Witchs and Maya Priests: Native Religion and Ritual in Highland Guatemala


Reviewed by Amy Maxwell Howard



Howard Wight Marshall, Play Me Something Quick and Devilish: Old-Time Fiddlers in Missouri


Reviewed by Gregory Hansen



Raphael Patai and Haya Bar-Itzhak, editors, Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions


Reviewed by Maria Kaliambou



Peggy Bulger, The Southern Journey of Alan Lomax: Words, Photographs, and Music


Reviewed by Lynne S. McNeill

WSFS logo

Western States
Folklore Society

Committed to the study of regional, national, and international folklore in all its aspects.

  • Facebook

© 2025, Designed by AAB Design

bottom of page