Coming Soon! JAF (Winter 2026)

Be on the lookout for the Winter issue (v. 139, no. 551) of JAF: A Global Quarterly, which will soon be mailed to subscribers and made available online. This is the first issue published by the JAF Editorial Collective and represents our efforts to continue the excellent work of our predecessors.

In this  issue,  Mu Li’s “Cross-Cultural Visual Representations of the ‘Chinese Restaurant’ Motif in Artworks of the Ashcan School and Others” examines cross cultural encounters by contextualizing the history, motivations, logics and dynamics of the production of artworks representing Chinese restaurants in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Then, James P. Leary’s “Whitewater Ole: Legends Labor, Immigrants, Intersections” explores the life and legends of a European immigrant log driver who drowned in 1905, situating this historical legend complex in issues of transnational laborlore. It also examines constructions of whiteness and the “enduring issues affecting displaced peoples toiling perilously in persistently ruthless inequitable economies.”

The issue also includes a collection of Perspectives on “Crisis and Action.” The Editorial Collective took the reins of JAF in January 2025, the beginning of both a polemical, contentious administration and a time of deep anxiety and fear for many people in our field and those with whom we work. To acknowledge the shocking state in which we found ourselves, the Collective called for reflections from around the world and across the field. The response was so great that we will be publishing these short essays across two issues. 

This issue also presents memorial tributes to our friends and colleagues Olivia Cadaval and Charles Gordon Zug III.

As always, the issue includes book reviews and featured and reviewed project essays. 

We encourage our readers and potential authors to visit JAF’s website https://americanfolkloresociety.org/journal/submissions/ to learn about the types of material we publish and to consider contributing to our new and innovative formats and genres. Please contact the Editorial Collective if you have ideas or questions at jaf.editors@afsnet.org.

JAF A GLOBAL QUARTERLY

Winter 2026 • VOL. 139, NO. 551

Articles

Cross-Cultural Visual Representations of the “Chinese Restaurant” Motif in Artworks of the Ashcan School and Others, by Mu Li

Whitewater Ole: Legends, Labor, Immigrants, Intersections, by James P. Leary

Perspectives

On Becoming Folklorists in a Political Storm, by Stephanie Aitken, Emma K.M. Bussard, Kyah C Eichholz, Elektra Katsonis, Deena R. Owens, and Amanda S. Young

Do the Work, by Michael J. Bell

“Don’t Be Sad, Rebuild!” by Ziying You

Centering Oral Histories to Build Communities of Care in Troubling Times, by Stephanie Aubry and Elena Foulis

Algorithmic Storms: Folklore Transmission and Education in the Digital Age, by Cassandra L. Pfeifer

Becoming-With: Ecological Folklore Beyond the Hero’s Journey, by Allison Louis Walker

Loneliness, Totalitarianism, and Folklore, by Todd Richardson

Obituaries

Olivia Cadaval (1943–2025), by Cynthia L. Vidaurri

Charles Gordon Zug III (1938–2025), by Daniel W. Patterson

Book Reviews

A New Deal for Quilts (Smucker), by Deanna Allred

Intangible Heritage and Participation: Encounters with Safeguarding Practices (Alivizatou), by Robert Baron

Cherokee Earth Dwellers, Anitsalagi Elohi Anehi: Stories and Teachings of the Natural World (Teuton and Shade), by Barbara R. Duncan

Meanings of Antiquity: Myth Interpretation in Premodern Japan (Felt), by Torquil Duthie

Crooked on the Stretcher Board: Ch’ats’ą’ Vizhit Teech’iriikii: Collected Essays on Gwich’in History, Language, and Folk Culture (Mishler), by Charleen Fisher

Textual Magic: Charms and Written Amulets in Medieval England (Hindley), by Lori Ann Garner

Eating at God’s Table: How Foodways Create and Sustain Orthodox Jewish Communities (Myers), by Rachel B. Gross

Teaching World Epics (Cavallo, ed.), by Jan Jansen

Oktoberfest in Brazil: Domestic Tourism, Sensescapes, and German Brazilian Identity (Ricke), by Gabi R. Kathöfer

Franz Boas: Shaping Anthropology and Fostering Social Justice (Zumwalt), by Diana E. Marsh

Ron Edwards and the Fight for Australian Tradition (McKenry), by Jeanette Mollenhauer

The Hay Archive of Coptic Spells on Leather: A Multi-disciplinary Approach to the Materiality of Magical Practice (O’Connell), by Tamara L. Siuda

Poor Gal: The Cultural History of Little Liza Jane (Gutstein), by Tanfer Emin Tunc

Mythical Ireland: New Light on the Ancient Past (Murphy), by Angélica Varandas

Towards the Borders of the Bronze Age and Beyond: Mycenaean Long Distance Travel and Its Reflection in Myth (Mull), by Mari Yamasaki

Sound Review

Singing Our Lives: A Bahnar Music Collection, by Andrea Decker

Featured Digital Media Project

Index of Serbian Folktales: A Report, by Nemanja Radulović