*facepalm*

[cimorene]

a new course in folkloristics today.

Professor Surprise¹: what do you think about when you hear the word "fieldwork"? anyone?
me: jane goodall.
[silence]
Professor Surprise: who?
me: you know, that woman - with the chimpanzees?
Professor Surprise: oh - i don't know, but i'll just write "chimpanzees", okay?

[Poll #902689]


1. Professor Surprise is wee and perky and seems nice. her name results from her very short and wide-set, rather high eyebrows. she looks perpetually surprised, or at least very, very intent.

Comments

[cimness.livejournal.com]

*grin* but she asked for the first thing that came to mind! which, for me, is honestly jane goodall (and i've certainly known about her since childhood, although i didn't actually want to be her). i get this image of anthropologists in safari gear in dusty tall boots, with little canvas tents, in the jungle, with chimps.

of course 'fieldwork' for folklore is more like "go down to the mall and ask four little old men to tell war stories".

[aynatonal.livejournal.com]

of course 'fieldwork' for folklore is more like "go down to the mall and ask four little old men to tell war stories".

If you're lucky! A friend of mine ended up in this little rural village in Cambodia, the only English speaker, supposedly recording oral histories but in reality, helping them bring in the marijuana crop. Then she got dengue fever! And had to be airlifted out! I think by the end, she would have liked to ask some little old men about their war experiences.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

my university's department, at least, seems to be strongly invested in the folklore of this region. that might be because it's tiny or from lack of funding or something.