Dove comincia e dove finisce il popolo. La nozione di folklore in Giorgio Pasquali nel panorama degli studi sulla cultura popolare dei primi decenni del XX secolo

Abstract

This essay aims to explore Giorgio Pasquali’s concept of folklore, reflecting it in the context of popular culture studies of his time. Through the critical discussion about folklore in the twenties and thirties of the previous century, this study focuses on the experiences that have emerged around the first National Congress of Folk Traditions, held in Florence in 1929. The work analyses in details what was the impression that Giorgio Pasquali had of that Congress, during which the unity of folklore and folk traditions was discussed. An important reference point is his essay Congresso e crisi del folkore, published in June 1929 and from which this study starts. To help the readers to ascertain the paper’s purpose, to provide them to with a preliminary overview of research, and sometimes to help to recall its basic content, the first part of this study aims to reconstruct the events preceding the Congress focusing, in particular, on the personality of Raffaele Pettazzoni and the role that he played in the organization of the event. The second part is entirely dedicated to the analysis of Giorgio Pasquali’s position and his relations with academic experts in the folk traditions and related disciplines. The purpose of this work is, finally, to investigate a field that hasn’t yet been fully explored, including the analysis of little-known studies.