This project proposes the collection and analysis of the folklore of primary school children in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It seeks to answer several questions: are children active participants in their own identity formation process? What does their folklore reveal about the nature of that process? What can looking at the formation of identity among children tell us about the construction of group identity later on in life? The substance of this research will contribute to current theoretical debates on child development, the formation and maintenance of ethnic, national, religious, and class identities, the transmission and acquisition of culture in educational settings, and the expression of group and individual identities through folklore. Playground lore will be collected from six primary schools in Belfast, including Catholic, Protestant, and Integrated student bodies. Data collected on the playground will be further enriched by archival research and ethnographic observation in the community.
Donna Lanclos
Univ. of California at Berkeley
Dept. of Anthropology
lanclos@garnet.berkeley.edu