The Voice of the People: Writing the European Folk Revival, 1760-1814 (review)

Although it would not have been as euphonic, a more accurate title might have been "Voices of Some People." That would have indicated the diversity and looseness of this fine collection of essays covering a large scope of time and geography. The starting point, one that is frequently made explicit, is the contribution of Johann Gottfried Herder in his theoretical considerations and in his applied work on Volkslieder. After an introduction to the volume by the editors, Renate Schellenberg provides a review of "Herder's literary legacy" (9-20), without disturbing the generally accepted view of his contribution. I missed any reference to Rüdiger Singer's "Nachgesang": Ein Konzept Herders, entwickelt an Ossian, der Popular Ballad und der frühen Kunstballade (Würzburg 2006).

Most of the subsequent contributions are interesting and well grounded. These deal with regions and topics that most Germanists will find tangential, however. David L. Cooper deals with Czech and Russian material of the early nineteenth century (35-47), Sarah M. Dunnigan discusses three Scottish collections of songs and folktales (49-63), Matthew Campbell examines in detail the origin of the harp in Ireland (65-86), and J.J. Dias Marques (87-102) sheds light on orality and printing in Portuguese Romanticism.

Scholars of German literature will appreciate Michael Perraudin's treatment of Volk elements in Heine, Büchner, and Weerth (103-21). Especially the last two are not often enough seen in this context. With Heine, the category Volk acquires a radical political and national coloring. Termed a "revolutionary socialist" (108) by Perraudin, he mingled awareness of German shortcomings with hopes for political liberation. Similarly, Büchner in his writings presented the Volk as the "mass" in opposition to the elite of the wealthy class. Snatches of folk songs quoted in the plays or the tale told in Woyzeck showed the common people's aesthetic qualities. This was also evident in prose works like Weerth's Das Blumenfest der englischen Arbeiter (The Flower Festival of the English Workers) and in his socialist poems.

The last five essays deal with Estonia (Madis Arukask, 123-39), Latvia (Kristina Jaremko-Porter, 141-56), England (Marcus Waithe, 157-69; E. David Gregory, 171-87), and Bosnia (Ricardo Concetti, 189-99). The wealth of information is impressive and clearly demonstrates the extent of the "folk revival" in the wake of Herder's pioneering role. The editors rightly emphasize in a conclusion on "The Persistence of Revival" that "there is always a folk revival of a sort going on" (204). A bibliography of cited primary and secondary works and an index enhance the carefully edited book's utility.

Not least among the virtues of this collection is that it makes one think and ask questions. The concept of Volk could benefit from closer consideration. In particular, one wonders about the rivalry with the modern concept of "State." The absence of treatments of specific regions (France, Hungary) and minorities (Jews, Romany, Basques) leaves one wishing for more. The overall transformation of national literary systems by the awareness of popular creativity continues to press upon cultural studies.