Cultural Continuity and Community Creativity in a New Century Preface to the Third Printing

Cultural Continuity and Community Creativity in a New Century Preface to the Third Printing This book came to life at an expansive moment for the field of folklore when its public dimension became more fully realized as both a social practice and accepted domain of scholarship. During the 19808 a national infrastructure of public folklore and folklife programs crystalized.They quickly grew into a well-articulated network of federal, state, and local programs situated mostly within government arts, historic preservation, and humanities agencies, notfor -profit folklife organizations, and a few private-sector entities. Folklorists directing these programs or working independently with them began to generate scholarship about their endeavors. The effect was to challenge the discipline of folklore studies to integrate the practicing profession. We viewed our practice as inherently collaborative in its engagement with communities that were themselves increasingly interested in safeguarding,presenting, and documenting local cultural expressions. Our commitment as folklorists to cultural equity and pluralism resonated at a time when cultural activists reshaped the politics of culture in their advocacy for multiculturalism