As representations of mourning and beliefs about death, gravemarkers and memorial assemblages (also referred to as spontaneous shrines and makeshift memorials) are often cast in binary opposition, defined by temporal intention on the part of the maker(s). Gravemarkers have been studied for their materialization of ideological, socioeconomic, and aesthetic values and trends. As artifacts intended to be permanent, gradual changes in markers may provide a record of the twin forces of folklore, conservatism and dynamism, at work in shaping themes in funerary practices over time. In contrast to gravemarkers, memorial assemblages are marked as ephemeral, underscoring human mortality. Folkloristic research seeks to understand the participatory and performative nature of both markers and assemblages, noting the memorial, celebratory, and other communicative intentions and possibilities embodied by ritual and assemblage in addition to considerations of form. Moreover, these lieux de memoire are more holistically understood in relation to each other, as elements of dynamic memorial complexes.

Music-making is assumed to be a significant part of the Newfoundland and Labrador tourist imaginary. This introductory exploration of the construction of traditional music in Newfoundland and Labrador tourism considers how people working in the music and tourism industries perceive tourist desire for traditional music. The occupational perspectives of musicians and tourism industry professionals is contrasted with statistical data concerning non-resident visitors, as they are more likely to be seeking out Newfoundland traditional music for the first time. Interview data supports the existence of a niche market for traditional music aficionados as well as tourists generally interested in local culture, although this is not yet reflected in provincial tourism surveys and reports.

Culinary tourism is often a process of negotiation. This article explores the links between food production, place, and identity in the operation of bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) on Newfoundland’s west coast and the Labrador Straits. This area encompasses one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s major attractions, the Viking Trail. Due to the large number of tourists coming through and the relatively few restaurants in this area, some B&Bs offer evening meals as well as breakfast. Many offer local specialties, and almost all emphasize “home cooking.” Conversations around the dining table often concern the province and its culture, and provide B&B owners with an opportunity to perform local identities for their guests. Such presentations of self and place range from assertive refutations of the “Newfie” stereotype to semi-formal instruction. Proprietors may further frame the social aspects of the meal, and thus the performance as a whole, by assigning seating or moving guests through different spaces as the meal progresses. Through participant-observation and interviews with proprietors, this article concludes that these relatively informal social situations may facilitate significant intra- and intercultural exchanges. They enable communication that supports, personalizes, disrupts, and deconstructs both esoteric and exoteric grand narratives by utilizing a variety of strategies. These competing identities are shaped and maintained through formal and informal metaculinary discourse.

Book Review| February 01 2011 Review: Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Modern World: New Itineraries into the Sacred, by Peter Jan Margry Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Modern World: New Itineraries into the Sacred. Edited by Peter Jan Margry. Amsterdam University Press, 2008. 362 pages. $ 45.00 paper. Holly Everett Holly Everett Memorial University of Newfoundland Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Nova Religio (2011) 14 (3): 128–129. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2011.14.3.128 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Holly Everett; Review: Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Modern World: New Itineraries into the Sacred, by Peter Jan Margry. Nova Religio 1 February 2011; 14 (3): 128–129. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2011.14.3.128 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentNova Religio Search This content is only available via PDF. © 2011 by The Regents of the University of California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

This article addresses class-based moral judgments as a crucial aspect of both informal and consciously constructed kinds of culinary tourism in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Interview and survey data, as well as Internet travelogues, further reveal the development and negotiation of vernacular health moralities that influence the ways in which certain foods are culturally constructed to convey status.

Pauline : Puisque je suis l'ainee des chercheuses de cette troika--je suis arrivee seulement un an avant Diane Tye dans la discipline de l'ethnologie et dix-neuf ans avant Holly Everett, en commencant ma maitrise a Memorial en 1977 -, je veux partager mon premier souvenir de Peter Narriez en tant qu'enseignant. Kenny Goldstein, alors directeur du departement de folklore, enseignait le cours de base pour les etudiants gradues. Il nous expliqua qu'il ne comprenait pas ce qu'etait le structuralisme et que, donc, le theoricien du departement, Peter, allait venir en classe nous l'exposer. Je me souviens de la peur que nous inspirait la theorie et du sentiment d'admiration et de respect pour celui qui la comprenait. Sentiments que je percois souvent chez mes propres etudiants encore aujourd'hui. Et je me souviens que le cours de Peter fut ma premiere introduction a une position theorique qui a profondement influence mon propre travail (j'en suis parfois meme un peu genee : c'est tellement retro a present). Je me souviens egalement que Peter representait le meilleur exemple du genre de chercheur que l'on nous donnait en exemple : quelqu'un qui etait intellectuellement immerge dans la discipline, mais qui respectait egalement profondement les gens avec lesquels il travaillait et qui etait, en effet, un participant ainsi qu'un observateur de la culture traditionnelle. Je n'en avais pas conscience a l'epoque, mais les origines de Peter, son appartenance a un groupe ethnique marginalise aux Etats-Unis, a probablement ete une pierre de touche cruciale a sa profonde comprehension de l'economie politique de Terre-Neuve et de la culture canadienne. Il fut le premier parmi les professeurs qui enseignaient a Terre-Neuve lorsque j'etais etudiante a reconnaitre que j'etais devenue une collegue. C'est un plaisir et un privilege de faire partie du groupe qui lui offre ce modeste present. Diane: En tant qu'etudiante graduee, je fus egalement inspiree par la passion de Peter pour le folklore. Sa maitrise impressionnante des bases theoriques de la discipline a contribue a renforcer les assises de mon propre travail. C'etait un professeur tres pointilleux mais aussi tres genereux et si ce furent ses grandes exigences qui me firent aller de l'avant en tant qu'etudiante, c'est de sa gentillesse dont j'ai le plus fort souvenir en tant que collegue. A mon arrivee au departement de folklore en tant que professeure en 1995, je fus immediatement frappee par la generosite de Peter. Invariablement, c'etait Peter qui prenait la parole pour prendre la defense d'un etudiant qui avait besoin d'un peu plus d'aide et sa compassion modifia la tournure de plusieurs discussions entre professeurs. C'etait egalement un collegue tres genereux. Je me souviens precisement de sa reaction envers une directrice de departement nouvellement promue, inquiete quant a sa capacite a satisfaire aux exigences du poste pendant les trois annees qui allaient suivre. Les mots de reconfort de Peter furent immediats, meme si quelque peu surprenants venant de la part de ce fervent militant syndical, puisqu'il pariait au nom de ses collegues enseignants : >. J'ai pu tres vite voir comment ses gestes de gentillesse quotidiens changerent la vie des gens--certains d'entre eux n'avaient meme pas conscience qu'ils avaient beneficie de son aide--et combien ces gestes les ont enormement guides. Holly : A Memorial, au debut de chaque annee universitaire, le directeur du departement de folklore et le conseiller aux etudes superieures rencontrent les nouveaux etudiants gradues. L'annee ou j'ai commence ma maitrise, Peter occupait le poste de conseiller aux etudes. Notre rencontre commenca par quelques mots d'encouragement, que Peter formula devant une douzaine d'etudiants inquiets et impatients a la fois. Allons-nous reussir ? nous demandions-nous tous. Du moins, c'est ce que je me demandais. …

Reviewed Medium: book Year: 2006 Pages: 368 Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan ISBN: 978-1-4039-6888-3 (hard cover). Prices: $79.95 USD(hard cover).

Wild berries have long been integral to Newfoundlanders’ and Labradorians’ food stores. Berry picking remains an important late summer and early fall activity, combining traditional, geographical knowledge with material culture, foodways and custom. Berries may also be Newfoundland and Labrador’s most successful culinary tourism product to date, combining attributes of health, wilderness and resourcefulness. Whereas ethical and moral uncertainty or conviction precludes many tourists from trying seal products, and health concerns prevent the enjoyment of regional favorites such as fish and chips, berries offer visitors a window into local culture beyond reproach. Reifying the text and images of national and provincial tourist literature emphasizing the area’s “outdoor nature product,” the berries serve as an iconic image of a resourceful people intimately connected to a bountiful, welcoming wilderness.

In response to a number of recent discussions of death customs, including the selection and placement of funeral flowers and the erection and maintenance of roadside shrines (Drury 1994; Walter 1996; Monger 1997; Smith 1999), I would like to present a brief overview of similar traditions practised in central Texas. I completed a master's thesis in folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland in August 1998 on roadside crosses erected in memory of automobile accident victims, primarily those extant in the Austin area. [1] The thesis encompassed thirty-five memorial sites, most of which still stand. In addition, a number of new crosses have gone up in the metropolitan area since I completed my fieldwork in the spring of 1998. Roadside crosses adorn the roadways of many regions of the USA. In the south-western states, the roadside shrine tradition dates back to the early days of Spanish exploration and settlement in the Americas (see, for example, De Leon 1963, 417; Berlandier 1980, 284; Barrera 1991, 278). Syncretism between Catholic and native belief systems resulted in vigorous and unique shrine customs from Florida to California (Kozak and Lopez 1991; Griffith 1992; Edgette 1997; Owens 1997; Zimmerman 1997). Crosses erected along Texas roadways today reflect varying belief systems and aesthetics, ranging from traditional Catholic shrines topped by nichos (a small niche in which religious icons are placed), to crosses inscribed with quotations from popular cinema. [2] As I have stated, the bulk of my thesis explores the roadside cross memorials of Texas's capital city, Austin. Whereas roadside crosses in the USA have historically been, and in many cases continue to be, a rural phenomenon, the Austin metropolitan area's active roadside cross tradition is distinctly urban. Shrines are erected on busy street corners adjacent to megastores and fast food restaurants, in the medians of multilane roadways and freeways, and on private property. Such memorials incorporate any number of changing elements, including flowers (both fresh and artificial), toys, photographs, ceramic figurines, handwritten notes, religious objects (saint statuettes and pictures, rosaries), seasonal decorations such as Christmas ornaments or Easter eggs, and car parts collected from the wreckage of the inciting accident. Crosses are often, although not always, the centrepieces of these memorial assemblages. Scholars and other writers often comment upon Austin's unique character, as a liberal and progressive city in a generally conservative state (see, for example, Grider 1999). One county official whom I interviewed cited the city's comparatively radical attitudes as a reason for the plethora of roadside memorials, an expression of grief, affection and creativity to which Austin residents feel they have a right (Reed 1997). Furthermore, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) spokesperson John Hurt asserted that Austin's political status, as state capital, contributed to a hands-off attitude toward the memorials on the part of city, county and state officials who do not wish to upset or offend their constituencies (1997). Texas's cultural heritage is another contributing factor in the character of Austin area residents' expressive behaviour. For example, the state's religious composition historically includes a melding of Spanish Catholicism, aboriginal people's belief systems, and various Protestant denominations, perhaps most notably Southern Baptist (Ramos 1997, 486). In fact, a breakdown of Texas's population by religion reveals a marked split between Catholics and Baptists, manifesting itself in a north--south divide. The Austin metropolitan area, a part of Travis County, sits squarely on the figurative ideological border, with Catholics making up a slight majority (Ramos 1997, 488-9). Thus, Austin area memorials may be read as a manifestation not only of grief and affection for a loved one suddenly departed, but also as highly representative of the region's cultural syncretism, as my research demonstrates. …