Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Section of the American Folklore Society

The Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Section of the American Folklore Society is devoted to studies of Jewish folklore, folklife, and ethnology. It cooperates with the Committee on the Anthropology of Jews and Judaism of the American Anthropological Association, and the two organizations jointly sponsor the Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Listserv (jfe) at www.yahoogroups.com. To subscribe, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jfe/join or write sjb2@psu.edu.

The section meets annually at meetings of the American Folklore Society. For information, contact Simon J. Bronner, Penn State Harrisburg, 777 West Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA 17057-4898 USA; phone 717/948-6039, fax 717/948-6724, e-mail sjb2@psu.edu.

Section Publications

The section is seeking papers for an exciting new annual book series, Jewish Cultural Studies, published for the AFS by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization. The inaugural volume will be on “Jewishness: Expression, Identity, and Representation,” and the second volume will be titled "Jews at Home: The Domestication of Identity." Members of the AFS Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Section will receive volumes in the Jewish Cultural Studies series as a benefit of their section memberships. For more information, see the membership page of the Society's web site.

The purpose of the series is to present thematic volumes interpreting Jewish cultures ethnographically and historically around the globe, and exploring the idea of Jewish culture as it has been constructed, symbolized, produced, communicated, and consumed in diverse contexts. Themes of volumes will be interdisciplinary, drawing particularly on research in folklore studies, anthropology, and cultural history and sociology. Future volumes being planned include themes of Jewish memorialization and museology, gender, consumerism and traditional culture, bodylore, and narrative.

The format of the volumes will be similar to the successful book series Polin, also published by Littman, which typically contains 10 to 12 essays of 8,000 words, anchored by an introduction addressing the theme, and a section (usually 3 or 4 essays) called “Forum" on critical issues in Jewish cultural studies. Unlike many publications on Judaica studies, the Jewish Cultural Studies series will explore the secular as well as the religious sphere and the intersections of the two, with attention to the diversity of traditions and customs in the Jewish world—and particularly their significance and meaning. The publication is sponsored by the AFS Jewish Folklore and Ethnology in cooperation with the Council on the Anthropology of Jews and Judaism of the American Anthropological Association.

Essays will be peer-reviewed by an international editorial board, including:

Haya Bar-Itzhak, Haifa University, Israel

Dan Ben-Amos, University of Pennsylvania, United States

Matti Bunzl, University of Illinois, United States

Mikhail Chlenov, State Jewish Maimonides Academy, Russia

Sander Gilman, Emory University, United States

Harvey E. Goldberg, Hebrew University, Israel

Karl Grözinger, University of Potsdam, Germany

Ruth Ellen Gruber, Independent Scholar, Italy

Felicitas Heimann-Jellinek, Jewish Museum, Vienna, Austria

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, New York University, United States

Andras Kovacs, Central European University, Hungary

Mikel Koven, University of Worcester, United Kingdom

Suzanne D. Rutland, University of Sydney, Australia

Joachim Schlör, University of Southampton, United Kingdom

Laurence Sigal, Museum of Jewish Art and History, Paris, France

Steven Siporin, Utah State University, United States

Edward van Voolen, Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Jonathan Webber, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Jenna Weissman Joselit, Princeton University, United States

Marcin Wodzinski, University of Wroclaw, Poland

For the third volume, "Revisioning Ritual: Jewish Traditions In Transition" papers are sought that interpret changes and controversies in Jewish rituals and celebrations, and inventions and revivals of Jewish traditions. Rituals and traditions are defined broadly to include secular as well as religious observances of Jewish identity and heritage. The editorial board is especially looking for critical inquiry into various symbolic uses of ritual that raise questions about the encounter of Jewish groups with dominant societies and modernity, and the variety of cultural practices within the Jewish world. For example, contributions can analyze the creation of rituals for Havarot, popularization of ritual observances for females once reserved for males (e.g., Simhat Bat, Bat Mitzvah), the ritualization of Holocaust memorial observances (Yom Hashoah, UN Holocaust Remembrance Day), controversies over Jewish ritual circumcision, sociopolitical variations of Passover (feminist, Black-Jewish) seders, organized efforts to renew the ritual practice of laying teffilin and observance of Sukkot, variations in yohrzeit and funerary observances, controversies over the practice of Kaparot, and popularization of klezmer and Jewish festivals. The title of the volume refers to the concern for the way that meaning is envisioned--constructed and communicated--as well as how practices are conducted.

Deadline for submissions for Revisioning Ritual: Jewish Traditions In Transition: December 1, 2007.

The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization has been publishing books in Jewish studies since 1965 and has acquired a reputation as a leader in scholarly publishing in the field. Based in Oxford , England, Littman exhibits its publications in conferences all around the world and markets its books globally. Littman’s books are published at a high standard of production, and prides itself on publishing works that are definitive and well written. Registered as a charitable foundation, profits from sales are reinvested into the production of new titles.

Format and Guidelines for Submissions: 8,000-word essays in English, prepared electronically in Word, following the Oxford Guide to Style (in-text citation with reference list).

Contact: Jewish Cultural Studies Editor Professor Simon J. Bronner, School of Humanities, The Pennsylvania State University, 777 West Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA 17057-4898 USA, sbronner@psu.edu

Section Prizes

The Section and the Committee on the Anthropology of Jews and Judaism of the American Anthropological Association invite submissions for their Raphael Patai Prize in Jewish Folklore and Ethnology.

Awarded for best unpublished essay in Jewish folklore and ethnology by a student completed in 2007 or 2008.

Format and Guidelines: 8-12,000 words, in English, prepared electronically in Word or Word Perfect (preferably in in-text citation style with reference list).

Deadline: September 1, 2008

Contact: Professor Simon J. Bronner, School of Humanities, The Pennsylvania State University, 777 West Harrisburg Pike, Middletown PA 17057-4898 USA, sbronner@psu.edu

Submissions are reviewed by an international committee and notifications will be made by October 2008. Papers sent for the Prize are considered submissions to the book series Jewish Cultural Studies (Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, Oxford, UK, http://www.littman.co.uk) and should not be under review with any other publication. The winner of the prize receives $200 and a citation from the American Folklore Society.

The criteria for submissions are:

1. Approaches to the subject cover folkloristic and ethnological perspectives and Jewish content.
2. The length of papers are of publishable essay length–usually 8-12,000 words. The preferable citation style is in in-text citation style with a reference list at the end.
   
3. Submitted unpublished paper was written by a student in 2007 or 2008, and not submitted for publication.
   
4. Papers can be submitted electronically or in hard copy in English on or before September 1, 2008 to Professor Simon Bronner, School of Humanities, The Pennsylvania State University, 777 West Harrisburg Pike, Middletown PA 17057-4898 USA. Electronic submissions can use Word or Word Perfect software and sent directly to sbronner@psu.edu.
   
5. Submitters should identify the university and department where the paper was prepared, and give their contact information, including postal and email address.

The winners for 2007 were Gabrielle Berlinger (folklore, Indiana University) for "770 Eastern Parkway: Brooklyn Brownstone, Sacred Space," and Irit Koren (gender studies, Bar-Ilan University) for "The Power of Discourse: Issues of Gender and Social Control Regarding Changing the Jewish Wedding Ritual."

The 2005 winner was Eve Jochnowitz of New York University for "Dining Out in Russian-Jewish New York."

The 2004 winners were Elly Teman (cultural anthropology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem) for "The Red String," a study of the visual symbolism of red strings worn by contemporary Jewish Israelis, and Roni Weinstein (Jewish history, Hebrew University, Jerusalem) for "Marriage Rituals Italian Style: A Historical Anthropological Perspective on Early Modern Italian Jews," a study of the distinctive Italian Jewish formation of a rite of passage in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Honorable Mentions were awarded in 2004 to Erica Lehrer (anthropology, University of Michigan) for "Repopulating Jewish Poland--In Wood," and Nina Spiegel (Jewish history and dance history, Stanford University) for "Cultural Formulation in Eretz Israel: The National Dance Competition of 1937."

The committee for the Patai Prize was Simon Bronner, chair, Pennsylvania State University; Dan Ben-Amos, University of Pennsylvania; Steve Siporin, Utah State University; and Haya Bar-Itzhak, Haifa University, Israel.

Elly Teman, a graduate student in anthropology at Hebrew University, provides an excerpt from her larger paper that received the Raphael Patai Prize for 2004. A revised version will be published in the first volume of the Jewish Cultural Studies series.

Roni Weinstein provides a summary of her longer Patai-Prize-winning essay on Jewish Italian marriage customs. Weinstein received her Ph.D. from Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and is now teaching at Tel Aviv University, in Tel Aviv, Israel.

For information on contributing o the endowment fund for the Raphael Patai Prize, please contact AFS Executive Director Tim Lloyd.

To join this American Folklore Society interest-group section, please visit the AFS membership page of this web site, where you will find both a secure online and a printable, mailable membership form. You need not be a member of the American Folklore Society to join its sections.