Raymond Burt, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Folklore and Psychoanalysis: Vienna interpreting Serbian Folklore

Starting with the Grimm Brothers, folklore served a political and sometimes nationalist function of defining a historical mythic past. With the rise of psychoanalysis at the turn of the 20th century, a new branch of folklore led by the South Slavic folklorist, Friedrich S. Krauss, promoted folkloristics as a means for radical social transformation. The study of folklore was adopted to shed light on gender issues, sexual reform, the commonality of all peoples, and social inequities. Although he was outside the Austrian folklore establishment, Krauss was the sole representative of Austrian and South Slavic folklore in the American Folklore Society and played an important role in international folklore circles. Krauss’ interpretation and use of folklore ran contrary to the spirit of nationalism both in Austria and in Serbia. Ultimately Krauss and his followers were silenced by rising nationalism, conservatism and anti-Semitism.