The Creative Arts Research Centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology welcomes participants to a symposium on the theme of reworking in Irish folklore, hosted in the School of Informatics and Creative Arts on Thursday 1 December 2022.

The reworking of Irish folklore is a process that surrounds us every day, coming to define how our communities speak, write, sing, and dance. For centuries, the constant rejuvenation and reinvention of these customs, what Lauri Honko calls folklore’s “second life”, has been fueled by the shifting social and political environment of Ireland. The diverse works of poets, singers, stage writers, filmmakers, archivists, and lawmakers contribute to a cultural landscape that never remains static. In an age when new technologies allow these traditions to reach fresh audiences, transformed in ways never seen before, an understanding of reworking has never been so pertinent to the study of Irish folk culture.

Wishing to bring together new perspectives on Irish folk heritage, this symposium invites papers from researchers in all disciplines that engage with the history and reinterpretation of folklore. Presentations from all (inter)disciplinary fields are invited, including visual art and filmmaking, radio, stage, music, literature, and tourism. Topics for discussion might include, but are not limited to the reworking and representation of folktales and mythology, historical customs, oral tradition, and local beliefs in:

• Film and animation

• Music, rhyme, and ballads

• Theatre performance and dance traditions

• Literary fiction and poetry

• Computer games and AR/VR technologies

Further information here.