News
Folklore and the Senses
The Folklore Society’s Annual Conference 2025, in collaboration with the Department of Folklore and Ethnology, University College Cork, Ireland.
Friday 20 June to Sunday 22 June 2025
Hybrid conference, online and at University College Cork
We know the world through our senses, but how we sense is inflected by symbolism, tradition and belief—by folklore in other words. What does folklore tell us about our senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste and, indeed, second sight?
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?