From folklore to intangible cultural heritage. Observations about a problematic filiation

In the last few decades some major theoretical and methodological shifts have characterised the interconnected disciplines of Anthropology, Folkloristics, Ethnology of Europe, and Cultural History. Many categories and notions long used (and sporadically abused) have been thoroughly problematised, at times profoundly questioned, and even abandoned. In this contribution I briefly discuss how these shifts have affected both the institutional, academic, and common usages of two of these notions: "Folklore" and "Intangible cultural heritage". I also present some reflections about the emic and etic usages of the categories of "folklore" and "cultural heritage" in the two contexts in which I have done ethnographic research over the last few years: Molise in Italy and Bohemia in the Czech Republic.