Wisconsin Folklore
Wisconsin Folklore

Author: James P. Leary

Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

Published: 1999-01-15

Total Pages: 562

ISBN-13: 0299160335

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Highly entertaining and richly informative, Wisconsin Folklore offers the first comprehensive collection of writings about the surprisingly varied folklore of Wisconsin. Beginning with a historical introduction to Wisconsin's folklore and concluding with an up-to-date bibliography, this anthology offers more than fifty annotated and illustrated entries in five sections: "Terms and Talk," "Storytelling," "Music, Song, and Dance," "Beliefs and Customs," and "Material Traditions and Folklife." The various contributors, from 1884 to 1997, are anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, historians, journalists, museologists, ordinary citizens reminiscing, sociologists, students, writers of fiction, practitioners of folklore, and folklorists. Their interests cover an enormous range of topics: from Woodland Indian place names and German dialect expressions to Welsh nicknames and the jargon of apple-pickers, brewers, and farmers; from Ho-Chunk and Ojibwa mythological tricksters and Paul Bunyan legends to stories of Polish strongmen and Ole and Lena jokes; from Menominee dances and Norwegian fiddling and polka music to African-American gospel groups and Hmong musicians; from faith healers and wedding and funeral customs to seasonal ethnic festivities and tavern amusements; and from spearing decoys and needlework to church dinners, sacred shrines, and the traditional work practices of commercial fishers, tobacco growers, and pickle packers. For general readers, teachers, librarians, and scholars alike, Wisconsin Folklore exemplifies and illuminates Wisconsin's cultural traditions, and establishes the state's significant but long neglected contributions to American folklore.

Wisconsin Folklife
Wisconsin Folklife

Author: Marshall Cook

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13:

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This lively and colorfully illustrated book documents Wisconsin folk traditions in the 1990s: building Harley motorcycles and Ojibwe birch bark canoes; gatherings at neighborhood taverns, polka dances, the Mexican neighborhood store, or the sturgeon-spearing shanties on Lake Winnebago; working on a dairy farm or at a lakeside fish market; brokering a Hmong marriage or restoring the Dickeyville Grotto; and "cheeseheads" tailgating at Lambeau field before a Green Bay Packers football game. Written for a general readership by folklorists, cultural anthropologists, and historians, this book resulted from the Wisconsin Folklife Festivals staged by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and by the Wisconsin Arts Board in Madison, Wisconsin, in honor of the 1998 Wisconsin Sesquicentennial.

Wisconsin Talk
Wisconsin Talk

Author: Thomas Purnell

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Pres

Published: 2013-09-17

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 0299293335

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Wisconsin is one of the most linguistically rich places in North America. It has the greatest diversity of American Indian languages east of the Mississippi, including Ojibwe and Menominee from the Algonquian language family, Ho-Chunk from the Siouan family, and Oneida from the Iroquoian family. French place names dot the state's map. German, Norwegian, and Polish—the languages of immigrants in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—are still spoken by tens of thousands of people, and the influx of new immigrants speaking Spanish, Hmong, and Somali continues to enrich the state's cultural landscape. These languages and others (Walloon, Cornish, Finnish, Czech, and more) have shaped the kinds of English spoken around the state. Within Wisconsin's borders are found three different major dialects of American English, and despite the influences of mass media and popular culture, they are not merging—they are dramatically diverging. An engaging survey for both general readers and language scholars, Wisconsin Talk brings together perspectives from linguistics, history, cultural studies, and geography to illuminate why language matters in our everyday lives. The authors highlight such topics as: • words distinctive to the state • how recent and earlier immigrants have negotiated cultural and linguistic challenges • the diversity of bilingual speakers that enriches our communities • how maps can convey the stories of language • the relation of Wisconsin's Indian languages to language loss worldwide.

Culture Work
Culture Work

Author: Tim Frandy

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Pres

Published: 2022-07-26

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 0299338207

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The work folklorists do on the ground and in communities can make a concrete difference in quality of life. While the field is not immune to extractive, racist, colonial, heteronormative, and misogynistic practices, it can counter and combat these same forces in society. Culture Work presents case studies of public-oriented work that define the Wisconsin Idea of folklore in all its complexities, challenges, and potentialities. Thematically arranged chapters represent interconnected aspects of culture work, from amplifying local voices to galvanizing community from within to reflecting on how we might use folklore to build the world we want to live in.

Encyclopedia of American Folklife
Encyclopedia of American Folklife

Author: Simon J Bronner

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-03-04

Total Pages: 1469

ISBN-13: 1317471954

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American folklife is steeped in world cultures, or invented as new culture, always evolving, yet often practiced as it was created many years or even centuries ago. This fascinating encyclopedia explores the rich and varied cultural traditions of folklife in America - from barn raisings to the Internet, tattoos, and Zydeco - through expressions that include ritual, custom, crafts, architecture, food, clothing, and art. Featuring more than 350 A-Z entries, "Encyclopedia of American Folklife" is wide-ranging and inclusive. Entries cover major cities and urban centers; new and established immigrant groups as well as native Americans; American territories, such as Guam and Samoa; major issues, such as education and intellectual property; and expressions of material culture, such as homes, dress, food, and crafts. This encyclopedia covers notable folklife areas as well as general regional categories. It addresses religious groups (reflecting diversity within groups such as the Amish and the Jews), age groups (both old age and youth gangs), and contemporary folk groups (skateboarders and psychobillies) - placing all of them in the vivid tapestry of folklife in America. In addition, this resource offers useful insights on folklife concepts through entries such as "community and group" and "tradition and culture." The set also features complete indexes in each volume, as well as a bibliography for further research.

If You Don't Laugh You'll Cry
If You Don't Laugh You'll Cry

Author: Claire Schmidt

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Pres

Published: 2017-07-25

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0299313506

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Introduces readers to prison workers as they share stories, debate the role of corrections in American racial politics and social justice, and talk about the important function of humor in their jobs.

Polkabilly
Polkabilly

Author: James Leary

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-11-18

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0199756961

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While the Goose Island Ramblers are a remarkable group, they are entirely representative of the many bands who, from the 1920s through the 90s, have synthesized an array of "foreign," "American," folk, popular, and hillbilly musical strains to entertain rural, small town, working class audiences throughout the Midwest. Based on more than twenty years of field research, this study of the Goose Island Ramblers alters our perception of what American folk music really is. The music of the Ramblers - decidedly upper Midwest, multicultural, and inescapably American - argues for a most inclusive, fluid notion of American folk music, one that exchanges ethnic hierarchy for egalitarianism, that stresses process over pedigree, and that emphasizes the pluralism of American musical culture. Rootsy, constantly evolving, and wildly eclectic, the polkabilly music of the Ramblers constitutes the American folk music norm, redefining in the process our understanding of American folk traditions.

Blue Men and River Monsters
Blue Men and River Monsters

Author: John Zimm

Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society

Published: 2015-02-27

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0870206702

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A fascinating and diverse collection of stories, lore, songs, and jokes passed down from the earliest generations in Wisconsin.