In the course I help with on American cultural diversity, it is “understanding prejudice” week. For the course, each student was required to think of three examples of stereotypes about groups they belong to. I thought about mine, and, as a folklorist, I shared that, because I am a folklorist, people believe that I am going to be a professional storyteller. This has happened more than once, and I simply laugh it off and tell people that I plan to be a teacher.
Later on, I thought about it, and I realised that folklorists initially do not so much tell stories so much as let other people tell their stories. We are willing to collect the stories of people whose lives would otherwise not be shared save for a few family members and friends. Through helping other people tell their stories, however, we do sort of create our own story, a personal experience narrative that not only says a lot about what we do, but, through our approaches to both the field and life, tells our own story.
I embrace every chance I can get to explain to people who we are as folklorists. Having been in the field for nearly six years already, it is sort of ingrained in me, a defence mechanism turned into a love for people in general and a desire to bring to light the things that might seem marginal yet really do tell a lot about who we are as humans. Sometimes, however, it’s not through the words that are said, but the process of saying and expressing them…
