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SUMMARY:The colonial roots of German folklore studies\, 1850s-1930s - Dr C
 hristof Dejung\, Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow at Wolfson College\, C
 ambridge\, and Senior Lecturer (Privatdozent) for Modern History at the Un
 iversity of Konstanz\, Germany
DTSTART:20141015T120000Z
DTEND:20141015T130000Z
UID:TALK55335@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Graham Allen
DESCRIPTION:The first society for folklore studies in Germany was establis
 hed in 1890. The aim of the scholars who founded this society was to study
  the traditions and material culture of Germany’s domestic rural populat
 ions. It is less well known that the study of German folklore also had col
 onial roots. After the mid-19th century German anthropologists examined bo
 th domestic and colonial societies within one field of analysis. They were
  both deemed superstitious\, unindustrialised and hence\, in scholars’ e
 yes\, living in a ‘primitive’ stage of civilisation. How did scholars 
 and scientific bodies justify devoting themselves to the study of civilisa
 tions as far apart as the agrarian German hinterland and colonial possessi
 ons? Why did the two research trajectories separate after the turn of the 
 century with the establishment of folklore studies as a scientific discipl
 ine? And why did domestic traditions become the foundation of national his
 tory\, while overseas civilisations remained in the position of ‘peoples
  without history’? This paper will shed new light on such key topics as 
 the role of temporality and progress in claims to territorial rule\, the e
 stablishment of middle class identity in relation to primitive cultures\, 
 home and abroad\, the impact of racial and social-Darwinist ideas\, and th
 e rise of nationalism in the age of empire. It will also discuss the exten
 t to which these notions shape our understanding of global societies today
 . \n
LOCATION:Combination Room\, Wolfson College
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