Visual Folkloristics: From Video Recording to Complex Research

The article is dedicated to the methodological problems of visual folkloristics. The article justifies the necessity of its separation into a sub-discipline of visual anthropology and classical folklore studies. According to the author, the language of cinema is the semiotic system capable of capturing such a complex cultural phenomenon as a folkloristic work as completely, adequately, and accurately as possible. The importance of the non-verbal and extra-musical aspects of the performance, which are lost in text or audio recordings, is emphasized. The article is based on the field material collected by the author during folkloristic-ethnographic expeditions in different regions of Siberia. Examples are given of video recordings of such complex rituals as the Bear Festival and the honoring of family patron spirits among the Khanty, shamanic initiation among the Buryats, and the Altai calendar ritual Jazhyl bӱr (‘Green Leaves’). Practical recommendations are given for the choice of this or that recording method in different situations. The relevance of recording rituals with two cameras and the continuous recording method is justified. The problem of subsequent editing of the filmed material – various editing options depending on the task and target audience and the analysis of the existing video material from the point of view of various scientific disciplines (ethnography, linguistics, folklore, musicology, choreography) is considered separately. The author believes that the joint viewing of folklore videos with informants can serve as a “catalyst” for the creative activity of performers and can be used for this purpose in field research. The end result of a visual folklorist’s work can be a folklore film, a multimedia disk, a database stored online, illustrations for articles and academic reports, and educational materials for school and university students. Another issue is the copyright of the video material, which should be clarified at least through a verbal agreement with the informant, respecting all his wishes regarding confidential information. The author concludes that only integrated digital video and audio recordings can provide the necessary level of completeness and adequacy to capture such a multidimensional phenomenon as folklore and that audiovisual folklore has already developed its own tasks and methods to solve them, moving from the level of recording the performance of a folkloristic work to the level of its complex interdisciplinary study.

visual anthropology, visual folkloristics, ritual folklore, video recording, methodology, video editing, authenticity