Folklore and Nation in Britain and Ireland

This collection explores folklore and folkloristics within the diverse and contested national discourses of Britain and Ireland, examining their role in shaping the islands’ constituent nations from the eighteenth century to our contemporary moment of uncertainty and change.

This book is concerned with understanding folklore, particularly through its intersections with the narratives of nation entwined within art, literature, disciplinary practice and lived experience. By following these ideas throughout history into the twenty-first century, the authors show how notions of the folk have inspired and informed varied points from the Brothers Grimm to Brexit. They also examine how folklore has been adapting to the real and imagined changes of recent political events, acquiring newfound global and local rhetorical power. This collection asks why, when and how folklore has been deployed, enacted and considered in the context of national ideologies and ideas of nationhood in Britain and Ireland.

Editors Cheeseman and Hart have crafted a thoughtful and timely collection, ideal for students and scholars of folklore, history, literature, anthropology, sociology and media studies.

Matthew Cheeseman is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at University of Derby. He is a Council member of The Folklore Society and a trustee of Bloc Projects. He runs a small press, Spirit Duplicator.

Carina Hart is Assistant Professor in Applied English at the University of Nottingham. She specialises in global Gothic folkloric and fairy tale literature, and has also published on Romantic poetry and on fairy tale and alchemy in contemporary fiction.