By Heather McKee
An official from the Library of Congress spoke to the community Tuesday, July13, offering ways to document and preserve family traditions through folklore.
Michael Taft, head of the archive of folk culture at the Library of Congress, said the family, which he explained as an intimate group, is the core of folklore.
'The essence of folklore is intimacy,' he said. 'The artistic expression being shared by a group of people is an intimate act.'
Taft recognized that intimacy is depleting rapidly because of the influence of modern technology like television and the Internet.
'The boundary between the intimate and the impersonal is ever-shifting,' he said.
Taft said the narrowing importance of intimacy is heightening the importance of preserving traditions practiced in the family. He said the four best ways to collect family folklore are through geneology, material history such as photographs, interior decorating in homes and recordings.
Taft said although documenting family traditions is very important, they are not essential to have a functional family.
'Folklore is a way of commenting on the traditions of the family rather than curing an ill it may have,' he said.
Catherine McIntyre, librarian at UVSC said through Taft''s lecture she was personally able to learn new skills about folklore. She said she hopes the community will look at folklore with a 'whole new light, new respect and new interest.'
McIntyre said it was very prestigious for the community to host a lecture by Taft, a member of the Library of Congress.
'Michael is a meticulous and careful, painstaking scholar,' said William Wilson, humanities professor emeritus of folklore and literature at BYU.
Taft was here with the folklore field school hosted by BYU and sponsored by the Library of Congress. The field school is gathering information about Provo and Orem''s orchard heritage. The area used to be consumed with orchards, but they are disappearing at a rapid rate.
'Hopefully this will generate pride in the community,' McIntyre said.
Another lecture focusing on preserving history is Thursday, July 15, at 7 p.m. in the Lamar Jensen Lecture Room 1130 HBLL, Rich Remsberg, a nationally renowned photographer will address the public in a lecture titled, 'History and Traditions of Ethnographic and Documentary Photography.'