Filming Fairies: Popular Film,Audience Response and Meaning in Contemporary Fairy Lore

This study examines the idea of fairy lore (faery) as a modern concept with personal and humanistic overtones transmitted through mass media phenomena such as films. Analysis of the relationship between folk and popular culture has become increasingly sophisticated and has widened our appreciation of the ways in which mass-culture audiences use tradition to shape popular culture. Fantasy films draw on recognised traditional elements, but the significance of these elements has been mediated through nineteenth-century interpretations of fairy lore. Contemporary audiences are more likely to be exposed to such legends and beliefs in the context of mass media than by any other means, and visualisation of fairies in fantasy films is closely linked to these modern interpretations of traditional material. For cinema audiences, the idea of faery is no longer a traditional and immediate response to experience, it already carries overtones of nostalgia for the past, childhood innocence, utopian societies or sexual discovery. However, personal response and exegesis of this material, reinforced by repeated viewing, access to Internet sites and related activities such as role-play and merchandising, means that the interactions of these virtual communities can transmute and insert themselves into daily life through a shared appreciation of fantasy worlds. The ways in which these consumers of mass culture resemble or differ from a folk audience presents an interesting arena for understanding folklore as a living contemporary phenomenon.     

On the Classification of Proverbs and Sayings of the Isle of Man

PALE HECATE'S TEAM. By K. M. BRIGGS. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1962. Pp. 291 + 8 plates. 40s. net. Reviewed by H. A. Beecham.

THE DARK WORLD OF WITCHES. By ERIC MAPLE. London, Robert Hale Ltd., 1962. Pp. 192 + 21 plates. 21s. net. Reviewed by H. A. Beecham.

ATLAS DER DEUTSCHEN VOLKSKUNDE. Neue Folge: 4th issue, part 1. Edited by M. ZENDER. Marburg, G. Elwert, 1966. Maps NF 37–48. Explanations Pp. 233, with 28 text ills. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

FOLKTALES OF HUNGARY. Edited by LINDA DÉGH. Translated by JUDIT HÁLÁSZ. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1965. Pp. xlvi, 381.35s. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

DAREDEVILS OF SASSOUN. By LEON SURMELIAN. George Allen and Unwin, 1966. Pp. 251. 30s. net. Reviewed by E. O. James.

JEFET SCHWILI ERZHÄLT. Hundertneunundsechzig jemenitische Volkscrzählungen aufgezeichnet in Israel 1957–1960. Edited by DOV NOY. Berlin, Walter de Gruyter, 1963. Supplement-Serie zu Fabula, Reihe A, Band 4. Pp. xii + 376. DM 58. — Reviewed by W. F. H. Nicolaisen.     

“Participation”, White Privilege and Environmental Justice: Understanding Environmentalism Among Hispanics in Toronto

Abstract: The environmental justice movement has highlighted not only the unequal distribution of environmental hazards across lines of race and class, but also the white, middle‐class nature of some environmentalisms, and broader patterns of marginalization underlying people's opportunities to participate or not. There is a significant body of work discussing Hispanic environmental justice activism in the US, but not in Canada. This paper draws on interviews with representatives of organizations working on environmental initiatives within the Hispanic population of Toronto, Canada to explore definitions of and approaches to environmentalism(s) and community engagement. Four interrelated “mechanisms of exclusion” are identified in this case study—economic marginalization; (in)accessibility of typical avenues of participation; narrow definitions of “environmentalism” among environmental organizations; and the perceived whiteness of the environmental movement. Taken together, these mechanisms were perceived as limiting factors to environmental activism in Toronto's Hispanic population. We conclude that the unique context of Toronto's Hispanic community, including contested definitions of “community” itself, presents both challenges and opportunities for a more inclusive environmentalism, and argue for the value of “recognition” and “environmental racialization” frameworks in understanding environmental injustice in Canada.     

The Place of the Dog: AKC Breeds in American Culture

The American Kennel Club (AKC), the primary registry agency for purebred dogs in the United States, had recognized 138 breeds through September 1995. An investigation of the source areas of these breeds reveals the cultural authority of Great Britain in organized dog breeding in the United States. Although Great Britain accounts for more than one-third of the AKC breeds, however, its importance has declined. Dogs from Asia account for more than one-fifth of the breeds recognized since World War II. Breed names that contain toponymic elements (such as Sussex Spaniel) usually reinforce the importance of the area in which the breeds were developed. An analysis of the patterns of geographic names reveals a pronounced emphasis on Western Europe, particularly Great Britain. A decline in the prominence of names from Europe has occurred. Asian name sources have become more important, and Australia and Africa have begun receiving attention. North America as a source of breeds as well as a source of naming has occupied a relatively minor role throughout the AKC's history. American breeders and promoters of purebred dogs have tended to look outward, especially toward Europe, for sociocultural forms.     

The culture of reconstruction,European literature,thought and film, 1945–1950

John Trenchard's and Thomas Gordon's ‘Cato’ has generally been seen by historians as the embodiment of neo-Harringtonianism and the polar opposite of Bernard Mandeville's thought. This paper addresses that misreading and places Trenchard and Gordon within a tradition of liberal republican political thought, rather than a civic humanist or neo-roman tradition. It examines the relationship between the political, philosophical and religious beliefs of Trenchard and Gordon and those of Mandeville, arguing that they shared a common framework with respect to the problems of politics.     

Festa‐catholicism and media religion: the reproduction and transformation of the festa in Malta

This article examines the evolution of the festa phenomenon in Malta. It suggests that rather than looking at popular religion as an aberration of official Catholicism, it should rather be seen as a sui‐generis phenomenon, and proposes its characterization as “festa Catholicism”. It begins by suggesting that the distinction adopted by many anthropologists in looking at the festa in terms of sacred and profane, to correspond to the internal feasts and external celebrations has limited value both heuristically and in terms of the experiences of the participants themselves. For many of the aficionados (dilettanti) the external festivities are not just ritual but hold religious significance. Indeed, the tension between the public supporters of the saint and the church authorities is not an unfortunate “aberration” but rather is fundamental to explaining the sentiments of the parishioners. It then suggests that the recent exposure of the festa in Malta to close media scrutiny is both exacerbating the tension between the aficionados and the church, but is also transforming the public perceptions of the festa. The media have thus become a primary territory of contestation where both the Church and the aficionados are exploring new areas for the expression of their religious sentiments.     

Architects Creating a Landscape

This article is derived from a research project designed to establish a better understanding of the nature of professional architectural activity in the State of Victoria, Australia, in the second half of the 19th century. It posed the following question: why is the activity in rural areas not acknowledged by the traditional approaches to studying architectural history? Part of the conclusion is that our understanding of urban cultural landscapes/townscapes will be improved if we look beyond the limitations of separate disciplines such as architectural and social history or historical geography. The landscape is built from many layers and they all need to be acknowledged if we are to understand what we find important about it. The reasons for seeking the conservation of our urban environment cannot be related solely to the peculiar interests of one discipline alone. Over the past 30 years the Australian community has developed a substantial interest and appetite for heritage conservation and along with that has grown a broadening interest in how the importance of the urban environment is defined.