I am very pleased!

Folks:

Just a quick note to tell you that I am very pleased to see the ways that people are jumping on the blog idea. Let me encourage all the rest of you to participate as well. The conversation and your posts can be directly related to Questions I or others post, but you should also feel very free to originate posts on other topics, formal or informal. I would be glad to see the blog take on the character not only of a fairly specific scholarly conversation, but also more stream-of-consciousness informal interaction...more like the "crack" at a pub session.

Congrats to our Girls who made it to the step-dance class at the Rec. Let me encourage others to look into this as well: when we travel in Ireland, we will be in several locations where set- and ceili-dancing is very much encouraged. Check out these photos from last year here.

I have added a short video clip of Darach O Cathainn singing "Oro Se do Bheata Bhaile" to "Materials - Week 02 - Links." Check it out; on anything other than a broadband connection, it will take several minutes to download and play.

For 1.23: next Readings and Discussion Ideas

This moves us into the Readings Packet as well as continuing our reading in Carson, Glassie,and O hAllmhurain. Again, read as much as you can, don't stress about reading everything, but operate from the assumption that everything you are able to read can enrich and deepen your experience in class.

RP: Foy “Glossary” Read the terms for familiarization purposes, but also ask yourself: why would Foy use some descriptions that are obviously sarcastic? What does this reveal about the Irish traditional sense of humor?

RP: Glassie “At the End of a Short Winter’s Day” A survey of approaches and editions of folklore; how does Glassie link the traditional storyteller’s art to that of academic folklorists or collectors?

Glassie: Ch. 4 “The Next Day” In this chapter Glassie introduces Ballymenone’s “great historian” Hugh Nolan and speaks at length about local concepts of “history”; how do those concepts or definition differ from those we might expect in the academic setting? This would include questions like: Who carries history? What is history’s function? How does history serve community? What sorts of events are valid topics for history? What is the historian’s responsibility to the history s/he conveys? What is the historian’s responsibility to the community?

Also in this chapter, we get extended examples of Glassie’s method for transcribing (e.g., capturing on the page) “oral history”—that is, history which is conveyed in speech and conversation. What specific orthographic (e.g., structure, grammar, and writing style) choices does Glassie make in these transcriptions? And why do you think he makes them? What are the advantages to the rather peculiar orthography which Glassie employs?

Carson: “Ask My Father” and “Pigtown” “AMF” is essentially about language: about dialog, and about the dialogs that the particularly evocative titles of instrumental tunes can create. He includes extensive quotations from several other authors in this chapter: in fact, as many words in the chapter are written by others as are written by Carson himself. Does this somehow relate to the theme of this chapter? What is the relationship between words that are borrowed from other authors and tunes that are learned by ear from other musicians? How might this concept of “ownership and sharing” relate to or differ from more formal or individual-oriented concepts of ownership?

“PT” is essentially Carson’s transcription of a joke in the “shaggy-dog story” format. Why would Carson make a whole chapter out of it? Is he perhaps saying something about Irish concepts of time versus “hurry”? Does this shaggy-dog story tell us about other aspects of Irish aesthetics? Who comes out on top in the story: the sophisticated “returned Yank” or the Irish pig farmer? Does this story remind you of some of the “bids” and “pants” which Glassie describes? If so, how?

on eggs, and tunes, and people

Folks:

Just a thought, to further jog discussion (and don't forget to add "comments" to each others' posts as well):

Is it possible that Carson is telling us something both literal and metaphorical, about both the musical world he will be describing and about his means for making the descriptions, about both music and the prosaic (and perhaps sublime) details that surround the music?

One wouldn't think that an author could (or should) spend a whole chapter talking about eggs and their preparation. But, one wouldn't think that an author (or should) necessarily spend a whole chapter talking about the various names of a single tune.

What does this tell us about Carson's goals, and focus? Is he, perhaps, "telling" us indirectly that we as readers may need to change our own expectations of someone writing about music? From what expectations; to what other expectations? What might an unusually close attention to such "mundane" details unexpectedly reveal?

In other words: how are egg recipes, and versions of tunes, and individual people, somehow metaphorically alike? Why are they important to our understanding?

Irish Dance Lessons

Does anyone have any information on where irish dance lessons are offered? i am having no luck at finding a place. thanks for the help!

Boil the Breakfast Early

I think this chapter discussed more than just the relationship between different ways that eggs could be made and different types of music. It emphasized how one egg could be made and eaten in so many different fashions, just as one song could be interpreted in various ways by different people. In this sense, your own neighbor may not hear the same song that you heard being played because your experiences and background are totally different.

...I thought this chapter was really interesting...I like my eggs scrambled ...I like hip-hop or alternative music.

Passing the Time

Glassie says that the people of Ballymenone "pass the time" whether or not they are doing what Westerners would consider working or just having free time. To me this suggests that their way of life is so traditional and so ingrained in their DNA (trust me, research has shown that there is a genetic link b/t place and lifestyle) that each activity is just expected, just comes naturally. What do y'all think?

Boil the Breakfast Early

I think he talks about eggs and music so much because they really do have a lot in common. Everyone likes their eggs prepared a different way just as each person has their own individual “taste” for music. I had never thought about this before and thought it was a rather unique comparison.

How does everyone in our class like their eggs? And what kind of music do you prefer??

Preface/CDB

1. Glassie reveals that he himself is of Irish heritage, though at first he was not aware. This fact ties into the thought that Glassie shares about feeling at home in Ireland and it also ties into what his “drinking companion” says about finding the way home. I think his goal is to record and observe both stories and tradition without altering them so that when someone reads his work they will almost be able to experience it for themselves. Glassie briefly describes how he found his way into folklore through a paper he wrote that eventually caused him to lose a good friend. This loss caused him to turn his focus from people to their material items as a way to continue his writing but hopefully without offending anyone else.
2. Glassie says that his writing style or approach could be most clearly defined as structuralism. To me it seems that most informational books are organized in a similar manner but his book has a certain warmth about it that the other informational books lack.
3. I think this particular story means a lot to him personally and so he puts it in the Preface not only to show the reader the hospitality and kindness of the Irish but to also use it as a way to say thank you to all those who showed him similar acts of hospitality and kindness.

On commenting

The object of comments is to provide opportunities to engage in dialog with the material and with one another in a number of different media. Some students prefer to comment online; some students prefer to comment in class. The expectation is that all students will comment in one or another venue; failure to do so will negatively impact your grade. You are not "required" to comment in both venues, though you are certainly welcome to do so.