Books by Francesca Bihet
The Cottingley Fairy Photographs: New Approaches to Fairies, Fakes and Folklore, 2024
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
PhD Thesis, 2020
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Drafts by Francesca Bihet
Since its foundation in 1878 the Folklore Society (FLS) in London functioned as a 'learned societ... more Since its foundation in 1878 the Folklore Society (FLS) in London functioned as a 'learned society and a printing club'.1 Subscribers to the FLS received both its journal and a yearly volume. The first annual report included in its publication remit 'scarce books', 'scattered materials' from the olden-time English literature, 'original communications', and items from 'Colonies and of foreign countries'.2 Key member Alfred Nutt ran a publishing company, which regularly published folklore titles at a loss giving the FLS much printing power.3 This meant that the FLS and its members enjoyed a greater publication footprint than they would have done with a publishing company, whose commercial relationship with them was based purely on profit rather than personal interest. The FLS journal also provided folklorists with access to the latest theories, details of relevant publications, and also a discussion forum.4 However, this success was not to last and by the early twentieth century the Society was not enjoying the publication success it had in the late-nineteenth century. Financial pressures, namely the increasing cost of publication, during and after WW1, caused disruption to the FLS. The Society also suffered a "severe loss" when Nutt died in a drowning accident in 1910.5 Nutt's wife succeeded him as head of the publishers on a "more businesslike footing".6 Eventually by 1914 the FLS Council "severed their connection" with Nutt "after long and anxious consideration" and entered an agreement with Messrs. Sidgwick and Jackson as their publisher.7 The new publishing arrangement signalled a decline in the Society's publishing powers. The rising cost in printing, and financial constraints basically froze the FLS's ability to publish the large nineteenth-century tomes after WW1.8 The "inflated cost of typesetting and printing" made the issue of an extra volume impossible.9 The FLS virtually failed to issue its annual extra volume during WW1 and the inter-war years. This was entirely due to money, as they had material on the books to publish.10 In 1930 the Society managed to publish Proverb Literature by T.A. Stephens as a memorial, with generous sum towards the publication costs from his wife.11 Stephen Miller notes that the extra volume had always been a financial "hamstring".12 The extra annual volume had always been beleaguered by delays, even in the Victorian era.13 The pages of the FLS journal, as Miller demonstrates, are littered with
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Papers by Francesca Bihet
Imaginative Landscapes and Otherworlds Conference 22nd June 2022, 2022
The Channel Island of Jersey is abundant with supernatural folklore. Les Petits Faîtchieaux haunt... more The Channel Island of Jersey is abundant with supernatural folklore. Les Petits Faîtchieaux haunt our many dolmens, carry round our menhirs, and even relocate churches. These legends are tied deeply to our landscape in landmarks, rock formations, and placenames. Geoffrey’s Leap is the site of a failed execution, covens gather at Witches Rock, and the ossified remains of a stallion sea-sprite lie at Cheval Roc. Some hauntings cyclically repeat, such as the black dog Le Chien de Bouley or the ghostly bridal procession of Waterworks Valley. More recently, spectral soldiers haunt German fortifications, repeating memories of the traumatic WW2 Occupation. These stories shape how locals and tourists engage with and envision the Island landscape, forging a sense of place and history, hinting at a supernatural realm.
Islands create an intensity of space, where everything is smaller and more defined, including the folklore. Islands are liminal and separated spaces where, in 19th century folklore theory and Folk Horror, ‘old ways’ are perceived to persist. In ‘Of Other Spaces’ Michel Foucault and Jay Miskowiec outlined the principles of heterotopias, spaces which are elsewhere and separated. Islands, like heterotopias, are both open and closed, accessible by boat but cut off by the sea. Anglo-Norman Jersey is portrayed as a fantasy space where tourists go to escape and walk unknown landscapes. The supernatural folklore of Jersey helps generate a heterotopia; creating a dark lens through which to view the sunny landscape. The promise of an eerie supernatural threat is always lurking.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Books by Francesca Bihet
Drafts by Francesca Bihet
Papers by Francesca Bihet
Islands create an intensity of space, where everything is smaller and more defined, including the folklore. Islands are liminal and separated spaces where, in 19th century folklore theory and Folk Horror, ‘old ways’ are perceived to persist. In ‘Of Other Spaces’ Michel Foucault and Jay Miskowiec outlined the principles of heterotopias, spaces which are elsewhere and separated. Islands, like heterotopias, are both open and closed, accessible by boat but cut off by the sea. Anglo-Norman Jersey is portrayed as a fantasy space where tourists go to escape and walk unknown landscapes. The supernatural folklore of Jersey helps generate a heterotopia; creating a dark lens through which to view the sunny landscape. The promise of an eerie supernatural threat is always lurking.
Islands create an intensity of space, where everything is smaller and more defined, including the folklore. Islands are liminal and separated spaces where, in 19th century folklore theory and Folk Horror, ‘old ways’ are perceived to persist. In ‘Of Other Spaces’ Michel Foucault and Jay Miskowiec outlined the principles of heterotopias, spaces which are elsewhere and separated. Islands, like heterotopias, are both open and closed, accessible by boat but cut off by the sea. Anglo-Norman Jersey is portrayed as a fantasy space where tourists go to escape and walk unknown landscapes. The supernatural folklore of Jersey helps generate a heterotopia; creating a dark lens through which to view the sunny landscape. The promise of an eerie supernatural threat is always lurking.