Short Abstract:

Are we witnessing a new “folk revival”? This panel problematizes the notion of a contemporary folk revival by interrogating the shifting definitions of the folk and the vernacular in an era of globalization, digitization, and identity politics.

Long Abstract:

In the last decade, there has been a significant renewed interest in folk traditions and aesthetics, often framed as a "folk revival" among artists and cultural agents who create, recreate, appropriate, and transform from a myriad vernacular practices. However, this resurgence raises critical questions about the nature and politics of what constitutes "folk" in the 21st century. Where some may sense a recrudescence of structured and strictly bound ideas of ethnocultural representation, others might trace the many ways in which personal and collective identity may be unwritten and reshaped.

This panel calls for contributions and case studies from various regions and mediums (including music, crafts, festivals, and heritage projects), seeking to explore how contemporary movements labelled as "folk" or “vernacular” may not be mere revivals of past traditions but, rather, complex reconfigurations of cultural heritage in the present. Additionally, we intend to examine how these movements negotiate authenticity, commodification, and ideals of community and identity in an age where folk practices are increasingly mediated through digital platforms and subject to market forces.

By tracing the intersections between the local and the global, the traditional and the modern, this panel seeks to rethink the categories of the folk and the vernacular, addressing how they function as sites of resistance, identity formation, and cultural appropriation. We invite a re-examination of what constitutes "folk" in the contemporary moment, to question whether we are witnessing a revival, or a transformation of vernacular culture in new and unexpected ways.

This Panel has so far received 5 paper proposal(s).
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