Public Folklore in the Twenty-first Century: New Challenges for the Discipline

Everyone lives by selling something, whatever be his right to it.

Robert Louis Stevenson

The term "cultural traditions" is generally applied to practices, art forms, and objects that represent the presence of the past in contemporary life. If something is traditional, we assume it is valued, perhaps even revered, by the culture from which it derives. "Tradition" refers to persistence through time, to continuity and consistency of form and/or function, and to the way in which cultural information is transmitted—through face-to-face interaction, orally, or by means of customary example.

Defining or identifying groups of people as "folk" and interpreting their culture as "traditional" depends upon constructs of political, social, ethnic, and/or religious identity. Such identities may be generally ascribed by outsiders, rather than assumed or expressed by the individuals so identified, and often reflect the relationship of a group or class to the dominant culture and to a regional or national identity. Traditions represent that part of the past that has remained valuable in the present. Inasmuch as distinctive objects, practices, or art forms may represent a specific culture or group identity to members of the dominant culture, the objects, practices, events, and/or performances designated as "traditional" may become desired commodities. Economic imperatives have always played a central role in the commoditization of culture. In the postindustrial latter twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, many regions, states, and communities throughout the world look increasingly to distinctive local, regional, and/or ethnic heritage and culture as potentially exploitable resources for developing new economic opportunities. Not only are natural, historical, and cultural sites so assessed, but, more recently, traditional events—as well as cultural tradition-bearers' skills and activities—have also come in for such appraisals. The challenge to those who hope to capitalize on the possibilities of economic development through cultural and heritage products is to balance the preservation of the resources with their development and marketing.

Recognition of cultural traditions as potential assets that can be developed and/or converted in some way for monetary gain—as "commodities"—is anathema to those folklorists who regard traditional culture as previously unsullied by capitalism or other economic forces. The concept of "ethical marketing" is therefore an oxymoron. To elucidate my position on this issue, it will be necessary for me to discuss briefly both the ethics of the profession of "folklorist" as outlined by the acknowledged scholarly and governing body of the profession in the United States, the American Folklore Society (AFS), and "marketing" as a process. Although I place both myself and my arguments in the context of the discipline of folklore studies, the problems and issues of the ethical marketing of cultural traditions transcend this field, and my work has both implications for and applications in such fields as public policy, economic and community development, rural development, arts management, and tourism studies.

At its October 1987 meeting, the executive board of AFS approved a final draft of "A Statement of Ethics for the American Folklore Society" (1988). This statement was intended to clarify the professional obligations of folklorists regarding relations with the subjects of study and their responsibilities to the public, the discipline, students, and sponsors of research, including one's own and host governments. Although these ethical guidelines are directed primarily toward academic engagement in research and teaching activities, they also touch on the areas of public presentation of the results of research and the potential for conflict between folkloristic ethics and the agendas of agencies and/or organizations that may sponsor various types of public sector research and presentation. The statement of ethics addresses some of the important problems and issues that must be considered in any economic development planning or initiatives that are based on the use or adaptation of cultural traditions. Primarily, the ethics statement mandates that folklorists working with peoples from many different communities and socioeconomic backgrounds do the least damage possible to those with whom they work and to their cultural traditions; that folklorists' primary responsibility is to those they study; that folklorists are responsible to all...