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Browsing Department of Religion and Culture by Department "Virginia Tech. Department of Religion and Culture"
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- History of Religious Studies at Virginia Tech - Website ArchiveMiller, Harlan B.; Long, Edward L.; Smyth, Ellison A.; Grover, Norman L.; Kennedy, Charles A.; Malbon, Elizabeth Struthers (Virginia Tech, 2014-06-09)This document contains 8 archived webpages from the Virginia Tech Department of Religion and Culture's website, which was available online from June 2014 to March 2016. The archived webpages include the following: (1) History of Religious Studies at Virginia Tech (2) Pre-History of the Philosophy (and Religion) Department (3) Notes on the Founding of the Department (4) Excerpts from a 1957 Letter (5) Some Notes on the Genesis of the Department (6) Notes on the Beginning of the Philosophy and Religion Programs at VPI & SU (7) Department of Religion History (8) August 14, 2001 Letter to the Religious Studies Faculty
- In Defense of Literary Dialect: A Response to Dennis R. PrestonFine, Emily C. (Journal of American Folklore, 1983)If folklorists were to accept Dennis R. Preston's (1982) charges against their attempts to record dialect in print, they might feel embarrassed that their textmaking of the 1970s was so bad. Few folklorists would like to admit that their efforts at representing folk speech are culturally or racially biased; nor would they like to think that their uses of literary dialect respellings "having as their primary effect on the reader a demotion of opinion of the speaker represented" (Preston 1982:323). Yet if we accept Preston's data and premises, and adopt his "rules" for determining what to respell, then we will seriously undermine the study of folklore as artistic verbal performance. While Preston's interest in improving the quality of texts is laudable, there are serious problems with his presentation of data, his attitude toward the print medium as a vehicle for recording performance features, and his rules for respelling.
- Review: Don't Go Up Kettle Creek: Verbal Legacy of the Upper CumberlandSpeer, Jean H. (Journal of American Folklore, 1984)In Don't Go Up Kettle Creek, Montell reconstructs the history of the Upper Cumberland River region "as it is perceived from the vernacular point of view, relying on personal reminiscences, oral traditions, balladry and song, and printed materials (which were themselves derived from oral history data) as primary sources of information" (p. 1). Although these oral sources provide the substance of the book, Montell corroborates the oral information wherever possible using more standard historical and folkloristic printed resources. Continuing a tradition he has established in his own work, Montell early on sets forth his sources of information, his methodology, his motives, and his philosophy for this study. On all these points, he appears careful in his approach to oral history research and is unusually clear in making his approach known to the reader.
- Review: Traditional American Indian Literatures: Texts and InterpretationsFine, Emily C. (Journal of American Folklore, 1983)This book is a welcome addition to studies of American Indian folklore and ethnopoetics. Karl Kroeber has compiled five essays by himself, Jarold Ramsey, Dennis Tedlock, Barre Toelken and Tacheeni Scott, and Dell Hymes to support his argument that Indian narratives are first-rate works of art that need sophisticated critical attention. The book's purpose is twofold: to correct critical ethnocentrism and to enable readers to recognize the artistry of traditiononal American Indian narratives.