Drawing on classic theories of ritual and performance, Facing the Fire, Taking the Stage (Indiana University Press) explores how Buryat shamanism and state-sanctioned performing arts have allowed Buryats to negotiate and express different kinds of belonging to people and land. This book is freely available as an Open Access monograph.
Recent Releases
Ghosts, Trolls and the Hidden People (Reaktion Books) provides translated tales from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as introductions by the author that place these often supernatural happenings in the context of Icelandic society. The anthology is edited by Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir, with an introduction by AFS Fellow Jack Zipes.
Quilt Arts of South Africa (Indiana University Press), edited by AFS Fellow Marsha MacDowell, stitches together the history, production, and significance of quilt-making from its earliest appearance in Africa's southernmost region to the twenty-first century.
Ella Hanshaw (1934–2020) wrote hundreds of gospel and country songs in her life. Her works are recorded professionally and released publicly for the first time in SPINSTER's new album Ella Hanshaw’s Black Book.
The 2024 AFS Annual Report is now available.
Playing the Archive (UCL Press) revisits the trailblazing work of folklorists Iona and Peter Opie, who documented children’s playground games, rhymes, and traditions in mid-20th century Britain, and brings their research into the digital age. This volume is available as an open access PDF.
California Gold (University of California Press) offers a compelling cultural snapshot of a diverse California during the 1930s at the height of the New Deal, drawing on the career of folk music collector Sidney Robertson and the musical culture of often-unheard voices.
With Seekers of Wonder, Elena Sottilotta offers the first comparative study of women’s manifold roles in the collection of Italian and Irish folklore and fairy tales between 1870 and 1920. Dr. Sottilotta is research fellow at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge.
Hannah Flint is an author and folklore enthusiast living in Spokane, Washington. Through her book, Eastern Washington Folklore, Hannah hopes to share the tales and traditions of her community, as well as to celebrate the diverse narratives that shape the landscape around her.
Join the AFS Fellows for a webinar on May 19 at 1:30 p.m. EDT that highlights the publication of Emerging Perspectives in the Study of Folklore and Performance (IU Press, 2025). Authors engage in discussions on how folklore and performance intersect in their chapters on dance ethnography, social movements, ritual and narrative, archival practices, and the performance of tradition. Charles Briggs, Soli Otero and Anthony Bak Buccitelli moderate the discussion as Kay Turner and Stephen Gencarella provide critical commentary on the volume.