Seasonal (review)

Seasonal is the story of a folklorist by a folklorist. Folklorists and anybody else who might be interested in the work we do will find it enjoyable. Author Betty Belanus completed her graduate work in folklore at Indiana University and currently holds a position at the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. These experiences equip her to write this entertaining story about one folklorist's exploits during a summer fieldwork project in the late 1970s. Belanus acknowledges that "many of the examples of folklore used in the book were inspired by the collections of the Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project (TSPFP) fieldworkers" (p. vi). Because it was written from such an informed perspective, I found this book to be useful in a graduate seminar comprised of students enrolled in our newly created doctoral program in heritage studies. My only complaint from these students was that they would have liked to have read the book sooner during the semester, because it gives a fairly good sense of what public folklorists do in the field. As a result, I am now requiring the book in an introduction to folklore course.

The main character, Rob Anderson, is a graduate student in folklore who is engaged in a folklore project in Eastern Tennessee and whose employment includes organizing folk festivals. By the middle of the summer he had interviewed "43 people, recorded 65 hours of tape, taken over 250 photographs [and] carried out four programs" (p. 56). We also get a glimpse of some ambivalence in Anderson's career choice, which manifests itself when he compares his career with that of his girlfriend: "She already knew that she wanted to learn an African language, get a Fullbright [sic] and go study somewhere. . . . She was already an academic anthropologist. I, on the other hand, although I didn't know it at the time, was already a public sector folklorist. I had a vague but enthusiastic desire to study something closer to home, to preserve whatever treasures I found in an archive, museum, or other public institution, and to present programs, exhibits or whatever to the public" (p. 43). How Anderson copes with family, friends, and romance while his emerging identity as a folklorist shapes his relationships was particularly relevant to students preparing for similar kinds of work.

Most readers will also appreciate Belanus's account of problems folklorists face when defining their field of study. "What is folklore?" is a question Anderson must constantly answer. Like those who have traveled such roads before, Anderson must explain himself and his discipline of choice to a range of characters (including his girlfriend) and sometimes chooses to characterize himself as an oral historian in order to prevent confusion among potential informants.

In the beautiful rural Tennessee setting where Anderson pursues fieldwork, he stumbles onto the story of Boyd Jenkins, whom he learns was troubled Korean war veteran, itinerant preacher, fiddle player, and, according to some informants, a folk artist. He was gunned down after a lengthy evasion from the law following his killing of a local grocer's son, who was jealous of the attention his ex-girlfriend paid Boyd. One informant claimed that "Some fashioned him [Boyd] a regular Robin Hood, say he stole stuff from rich folks and gave poor ones money or jewelry for food or whiskey," and he had a "mess of kinfolk who lived way out in the woods [who] hid him from time to time, giving him food and clothes" (p. 20).

What makes the novel captivating is its exploration of the paintings Boyd created while a fugitive. Belanus uses these paintings as a centerpiece for a discussion of folk art. After discovering some of Boyd's cave drawings, Ruthie, a local lifeguard who guided Anderson to the cave, asked whether he thought Boyd was a good artist. Anderson responds by characterizing Boyd as a "good folk artist," but further ponders his dilemma: "Were these people actually...