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Call for Papers - The Folklore Society’s Annual Conference 2025
Call for papers
How does folklore treat the instruments through which we sense—our eyes, ears, nose, skin, fingers, mouth, tongue…? What do tastes, smells and other sensory
experiences mean in tradition? What happens when we are deprived of our senses, voluntarily or involuntarily?
And what does folklore tell us when our senses stop making sense—experiences of things heard but not seen, seen but not heard? When must we, traditionally,refute the evidence of our senses? And of course what we ‘feel’ can be felt in more ways than one, through the heart for instance.
Folklore is communication, but there are many ways to communicate: the kiss, the grip, the sign, the gesture… Can we talk about visual folklore, olfactory folklore, the touch or savour of folklore?
CALL FOR PAPERS
Papers of 20 minutes are invited on any topic related to folklore and the senses.
Topics might include, but are not limited to:
• Folklore of the material world and of embodied experience
• Ethnography of the senses, ethnography of the fleeting or ephemeral
• The role of the senses in folk custom and narrative
• Haptic perception and communication in folklore
• The senses, absences and erasures in documentation, archiving and dissemination
Please send your proposal to thefolkloresociety@gmail.com, remembering to include:
- a title and abstract of your 20-minute presentation (200 words max)
- a brief biographical note (200 words max)
- whether you wish to present remotely or in person at University College Cork.
Remote presenters will need to supply a recording of their presentation: they will be able to respond to questions online.
Deadline for proposals: Friday 31 January 2025