Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
Session 6.04 Folklore and Folkways
Presentation #1 Title
Scary and Merry Mountain Folklore and Folkways: Carpathian and Appalachian Connections in Romania and West Virginia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Up to present, little has been written justifying the comparison of Appalachia and the Carpathians. However, historical and cultural connections exist between these two mountain regions. The resemblance is deeper than many might initially suspect. This panel explores these connections by examining the similarities found in scary and merry Carpathian and Appalachian folktales and folkways. The panel presentation begins with Dr. Moarcas’s examination of eerie folktales such as The Silver Maiden, The Night Man, and St. Theodore's Stallions, which reinforce everyday ethics in the Carpathian rural communities of Maramores and Hateg, Romania. The second presentation is an investigation of the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia where Dr. Shope constructs a compelling argument that many Appalachians such as those found at Point Pleasant’s Mothman Festival cope with the effects of deindustrialization by using altered pasts to construct new histories with novel horizons. Our final presentation closes with a look at The Merry Cemetery in Maramures County, Romania. Dr. Pralea takes us on a tour of one the most unusual cemeteries in the world, all the while focusing on how Carpathian culture copes with death and one's final resting place. The panel then discusses the similarities in how both Carpathian and Appalachian scary and merry folktales and folkways are constructed to create possible futures.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Dr. Georgeta Moarcas is a Lecturer in Faculty of Letters at University of Transylvania-Brasov. Her research examines how everyday ethics are created and maintained in the Carpathians via frightening Romanian folktales. She recently coauthored a book review of Literature in Totalitarian Regimes: Confrontation, Autonomy, Survival which appeared in the journal SLOVO.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Dr. Shope is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Shawnee State University. He has also taught sociology at Murray State University, Bowling Green State University, Marshall University, and Morehead State University. He has a broad array of research interests including Appalachian Studies, Folklore/folkways, Popular Culture, Media and Society, Race/Class/Gender, Environmental Sociology, Medical Sociology, and Sociology of Music. He recently published an article entitled, "Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!: A Sociological Examination of the Zanesville, Ohio Exotic Animal Apocalypse" in The Kentucky Journal of Anthropology and Sociology. He is currently working on a book manuscript exploring the lives of deindustrialized glass workers in Huntington, West Virginia.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Dr. Pralea graduated from Bowling Green State University with a PhD from the American Culture Studies Program. He now teaches American Studies at The University of Transylvania-Brasov. Over the years he has published a range of scholarship dealing with social critique and cultural analysis, being particularly interested in New Media Theory. He recently coauthored a book review of Literature in Totalitarian Regimes: Confrontation, Autonomy, Survival, which appeared in the journal SLOVO.
Scary and Merry Mountain Folklore and Folkways: Carpathian and Appalachian Connections in Romania and West Virginia
Harris Hall 139
Up to present, little has been written justifying the comparison of Appalachia and the Carpathians. However, historical and cultural connections exist between these two mountain regions. The resemblance is deeper than many might initially suspect. This panel explores these connections by examining the similarities found in scary and merry Carpathian and Appalachian folktales and folkways. The panel presentation begins with Dr. Moarcas’s examination of eerie folktales such as The Silver Maiden, The Night Man, and St. Theodore's Stallions, which reinforce everyday ethics in the Carpathian rural communities of Maramores and Hateg, Romania. The second presentation is an investigation of the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia where Dr. Shope constructs a compelling argument that many Appalachians such as those found at Point Pleasant’s Mothman Festival cope with the effects of deindustrialization by using altered pasts to construct new histories with novel horizons. Our final presentation closes with a look at The Merry Cemetery in Maramures County, Romania. Dr. Pralea takes us on a tour of one the most unusual cemeteries in the world, all the while focusing on how Carpathian culture copes with death and one's final resting place. The panel then discusses the similarities in how both Carpathian and Appalachian scary and merry folktales and folkways are constructed to create possible futures.
