CFP: Francis James Child at 200: Restoring and ReStorying the Disciplinary Role of Ballad and Folksong

This year is the 200^th anniversary of the birth of Francis James Child, ballad scholar, compiler and editor of the monumental collection The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, first president of the American Folklore Society (AFS), founding member of the Modern Language Association, Harvard University’s longest-serving professor, and founder of its English department.

To commemorate this occasion and to explore the present-day state of scholarly studies in folksong and ballad, the History and Folklore section and the Music and Song section of the AFS in conjunction with the Traditional Song Forum (UK) and the Kommission für Volksdichtung (International Ballad Commission) are proposing to sponsor a series of panels at this year’s AFS annual meeting, to be held October 18–21 in Atlanta and November 12–14 online.

The organizers are seeking proposals for presentations in several areas, including, but not limited to:

• Child as ballad and English Studies scholar
• The general history of ballad and folksong scholarship, including critical reexaminations and attention to previously marginalized voices
• Archiving, indexing, and the preservation of folksong and ballad
• Technology and folksong and ballad
• New directions in the study of ballad and folksong in the 21^st century, including literary, musical, and contextual approaches.

Please email a title and 100-word abstract to music.section@afsnet.org by March 10 and indicate whether you are interested in presenting virtually or in person. Notifications of whether or not your paper can be accommodated in one of the panel proposals will be sent out by March 20.