Margaret Hiebert Beissinger is a research scholar and lecturer in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. Her edited volume “The Oxford Handbook of Slavic and East European Folklore” was published in April 2025 by Oxford University Press.
How did you get the idea for this project?
I was invited by someone from Oxford University Press who was familiar with my work to edit a volume in their “Handbook” series on Slavic and East European folklore. The project intrigued me, since I have long been fascinated by this subject. There was, at the time, a real gap in the literature: no single volume existed that covered the diversity of oral traditions within the vast Slavic and East European realm. It seemed like an exciting project for me to shape. Although I was aware that it would be a huge job (managing so many topics, areas, and altogether 50 authors), I also knew that it would provide a significant contribution to the field, as well as broaden my own horizons. And so, I accepted the invitation.
How did the project develop or change throughout the research and writing process?
The project, an edited volume of 42 chapters and an introduction, grew and “ripened” throughout the years of its development and production. When I embarked on the project, I divided the folklore of the Slavic and East European world into several broad categories which became the five general sections of the volume. They included the folklore of the life cycle; calendrical-cycle traditions; poetic and prose narrative; music and song largely among minority ethno-religious and racial communities; and the folklore of everyday life, including material culture. I envisioned the volume covering the diverse national, ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic, and religious groups of the three large regions: the East Slavic world; the West Slavic, Baltic, and Central European areas; and the South Slavic and Balkan lands, along with the distinctive folklore of minority communities (Romani, Muslim, and Jewish).
In a book of its size, with so many different authors, topics, and perspectives, changes were inevitable. En route to the final product, which I envisioned as a representative discussion of the most important “folk” groups and their respective “lores,” I clearly met challenges, both large and small. A few authors withdrew along the way, while others replaced them or even joined later in the process. Moreover, soon after most of the authors had agreed to contribute to the volume, the Covid pandemic developed and spread. This altered the tempo of the project for several years (even affecting topics that some of the authors included). Later, Russia invaded Ukraine, resulting in a long and deadly war, which influenced how some authors dealt with East Slavic topics in particular. As editor, I had to adjust and adapt as events and circumstances evolved. Despite the various challenges I was confronted with, however, the project for me was extremely fulfilling. I learned so much from the scholars with whom I worked. I had the pleasure of interacting with authors whom I already knew, which was great. But I also became familiar with scholars whom I did not know personally, but whom I know now and have “met,” either in person or virtually.
What questions for future investigation has the project sparked?
Editing the Handbook has generated many new questions and possibilities for my own future research. I have been greatly inspired by the work of my fellow colleagues in the volume and have become more knowledgeable about not only the immense array of oral traditions but also the range of theoretical approaches employed.
In particular, my research and fieldwork on Romani musicians and music-making, as well as my ongoing fascination with Slavic and East European traditional narrative (both prose and poetic) have been enriched by ethnographic findings by many of the contributors as well as by their theoretical considerations. My future work will clearly benefit in a variety of different ways from the Handbook.
Why should people read this book?
The volume offers an unprecedented panorama of folklore of the Slavic and East European world in individual, accessible chapters written by well-informed specialists. Readers who know little about the oral traditions of these cultural areas are offered a wide assortment of materials to peruse and experience as well as find personal or local connections of their own that resonate with the contents: from the folklore of weddings and funerals, to how profoundly magic beliefs form the basis for calendrical-cycle folklore, and from the ways in which epic and magic (fairy) tales provide essential scripts for traditional life, to the central role of music in celebration.
But the volume should also be read by students, academics, and enthusiasts: folklorists, ethnographers, anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, and literature scholars who already may be familiar with some of the traditions and genres but who seek to expand their knowledge about them. Each chapter is a “good read,” providing vivid descriptions of oral traditions, along with meaningful interpretations often augmented by fascinating ethnographic details.
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