Folklore Europaea
Folklore Europaea (FE) is a multimedia database project of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i. Br. , Which documents festivals , customs and traditions in the various regions of Europe and sees itself as a working tool for European ethnology and its neighboring disciplines. Without striving for completeness, which would never be possible in view of the abundance of relevant phenomena, “Folklore Europaea” brings together previously widely scattered, intangible information in book form and thus opens up completely new possibilities for the supra-regional and transnational comparison of cultures . The team of scientists, academic assistants and students working on the database in Freiburg cooperates with numerous ethnographic institutions and initiatives at home and abroad, not least with those in Eastern Europe. In addition, there is the cooperation with radio and television companies, such as SWR television , which has released large parts of its film archive material on festivals and customs in Europe for display in "Folklore Europaea". The initiator and head of the project, which went online in 2003, is Werner Mezger , Professor of European Ethnology at the University of Freiburg and Director of the Johannes Künzig Institute for Eastern European Folklore in Freiburg . The data center of the University of Freiburg is responsible for technical support.
Uses
The organizational goal of the project is its gradual expansion into an international network for European customs research, which is not only intended to serve as a research opportunity for specialists in research institutions and documentation centers, but which is also open to journalists and interested laypeople - including use for tourist purposes according to the motto " What when where". In terms of content, "Folklore Europaea" should help to show connections, interactions and differences between different European cultural areas through multiple combinable search options and thus enable a differentiated analysis of the "intellectual and cultural heritage of Europe". At the same time, the data sets provide insights into the construction of identities and mentalities in the European cultural area on a micro and macro level . Celebrations and customs are understood here as "primary organizational forms of cultural memory" (Jan Assmann). In the context of the political, economic and sociocultural challenges of European integration, the comparative approach of the project is not only intended to make coherences and differences in the cultural traditions of different regions of Europe visible, but above all to provide insights into the transformation processes of advanced modernity based on the functional change of festivals and customs grant.
Database
"Folklore Europaea" currently contains around 5000 text-based data sets as well as a basic set of multimedia materials in the form of films , photographs and sound documents. The materials are constantly being supplemented by the Freiburg team, cooperation partners and freelancers across Europe. After completion of the pilot phase, the further development of the entire project into a moderated wiki is planned.
literature
- Silvia Cavallucci: festivals, customs, traditions. 'Folklore Europaea' makes cultural comparisons possible. Freiburg University Magazine 02/2007. P. 19, 2007