Folklore as a Map of the World: Rejecting "Home" as a Failure of the Imagination

Abstract

Relying on the work of Ruth Behar, Terry Tempest Williams, Kathleen Stewart, Belinda Straight, and many folklorists who write about the conception and redemption of "home," I will examine the multiple difficulties that arise when one cannot, or has not, been able to reconcile the positive aspects of "home," when images, memories, even material objects, do not resonate with nostalgia, stability, and desire. In this talk, I will share my own "homework" to illustrate how we might re-cover the significance of home as a viable map of the world, even when trauma, ignorance, violence, and despair seem to be the only markers visible in our recollections of our material and emotional "home." I will argue that these viable maps of our world(s) are based on the folklore of our families and communities. These markers on our maps have been indelibly etched on our subconscious selves and can be utilized for positive effect if we are willing to do the difficult work of examining how folklore has determined our "maps." To refuse "home," I will argue, is not a failure of home itself but a failure of our imagination.