Invisible Narratives in the Construction of Past and Present
Speech given by Professor Laura Stark at her inaugural ceremony at the University of Jyväskylä, November 23, 2005
Abstract
The discipline of Ethnology was estahlished at the University of Jyväskylä in 1964, and the study programme of Folkloristics in 1968. Since the founding of these disciplines in Finland in the 19th century, some things have changed and some have remained the same. Ethnology and folkloristics are still committed to examining the processes of culture, cultural communication and cultural meaning, but they no longer limit themselves to the study of traditional "survivals" disappearing in face of modernization or 11th-hour attempts to "salvage" and describe disappearing cultural forms. The past is no longer seen as "vanished", but as resurgent, resilient. These days, ethnologists and folklorists understand that the constant emergence of tradition - including beliefs, values and stories - in current contexts is a driving force behind the shaping of human society and culture.
