Digital Folklore as Critical Heritage Production and Participation in Contemporary Norway

Project Information

DIGIFOLK

Grant agreement ID: 101019416

DOI

10.3030/101019416

Project terminated on 15 January 2024

EC signature date 22 March 2021

Start date 1 September 2021

End date 31 August 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 303 238,08

EU contribution

€ 303 238,08

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITETET I OSLO
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DIGIFOLK (Digital Folklore as Critical Heritage Production and Participation in Contemporary Norway)

Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2024-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

DIGIFOLK aimed to explore how heritage narratives about contemporary Norway represented in folklore archives, namely the Norwegian Folklore Archive (NFS), can be diversified through the integration of digital folklore. Digital folklore is everyday cultural expression performed on or using digital media - such as social media or technologies like emails and photocopiers - and is a more democratic or open form of heritage production. Examples of digital folklore include memes, hashtags, creepypasta and email chains. Digital folklore reflects a more diverse range of communities and individuals, as its performance/production is self-inclusive and not restricted by heritage gatekeepers. At the same time, there has been an increase in the digitisation of folklore and other heritage archives. This can increase public access, but digitisation raises questions of who is (not) represented in these archives, and who would be interested in such archives (particularly if they do not see themselves represented). Despite the recognition of several minorities in Norway (indigenous Sámi, historic minorities, recent immigrants, other under-represented groups), there has been little progress in how these are represented in heritage institutions such as folklore archives. DIGIFOLK thus explored the potentials for how digital folklore can be connected to the folklore archive to diversify heritage narratives and increase interest in, and participation with, the archive. This is both to engage wider groups of people with the folklore archive/heritage institutions, and to represent and more diverse, contemporary Norway. The objectives were to: Explore the relationship between the digital, folklore, and heritage; Investigate the role of social media in the transmission of pre-digital/analogue folklore and the creation of new folklore in Norway; Connect contemporary digital folklore to folklore in NFS to enhance the relevance of the collections to a diverse audience and reflect diverse communities; Understand digital folklore and access to folklore archives in relation to broader identity issues in Europe. DIGIFOLK concluded that digital folklore can highlight heritage and culture of communities in Norway, and in its analysis can create links to folklore archives that draw out important themes (e.g. oppression, dialect, recreation), which can in turn broaden engagement with the archive.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Work began with research on digital folklore/heritage, folklore archives and digitisation, and communities that make up Norway historically and today. This included literature reviews on published research, examining government data and classifications, and exploring contents and operation of NFS. I had training on R (programme for statistical computing and data visualisation), as I first intended to mine data from social media API sites using this programme. However, due to changes in the structure of API sites of target social media sites, and reflecting on the data I should collect, I changed my approach and created a new method. I applied this new method to make a more focused investigation of digital folklore produced predominantly on Reddit, as Reddit groups closely reflect how offline folk groups form, operate and interact. I focused my study on memes, as these are quick to identify, and comprise both textual and visual elements. I collected memes and their metadata (time/date, location, likes) and comments by capturing them as PDFs. I thematically categorised the memes and performed textual and visual analyses. I contextualised these memes to identify any broader social, cultural or political prompts for their creation, and undertook dialogical analysis on any comments associated with the memes, as this further reflected the social and cultural interactions of the online folk group. I explored the contents of the folklore archive to identify various themes to which the digital folklore could be connected, thus broadening the way the archive's contents are approached, and showing their relevance to contemporary communities and issues. As well as examining digital folklore and the archive specifically, I investigated the relationship between heritage institutions, folklore work and the public to understand the current state of how heritage institutions such as folklore archives engage, and have the potential to engage, with various publics. This also considered questions of representation: who is responsible for heritage institutions and folklore work, inclusion/exclusion, who is being targeted for participation in/engagement with heritage institutions, and what this means for broader questions of identity and heritage in Europe. The project was disseminated at various conferences, talks and workshops, and will also be published in academic articles and a public-facing publication. My work on digital folklore will also be presented at a conference that brings together both academics and non-academics.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

DIGIFOLK developed new ways of thinking and approaching folklore archives/heritage institutions that mostly contain historical materials and that may be limited in who is represented within them by a) taking a critical look at who is represented in the archive and how; b) querying how far digitisation can reach more, and diverse, individuals and communities; and c) connecting historical materials to contemporary digital folklore to find themes and items that may be of interest to new audiences. This was achieved by taking a critical and public folklore approach to heritage institutions.
My approach to integrating new digital folklore to old materials in NFS went beyond earlier work to connect the two, as, previously, this was with the aim to foster 'citizenship' and 'integration' into broader Norwegian society and culture. I took a critical approach to this, as I argue that folklore should be used and presented to celebrate diversity of culture and show its operations within various contexts, rather than as a tool to 'merge' people into a dominant culture. This approach therefore challenges ideas of integration which should not be at the expense of cultural diversity.
The project drew out two main themes that I focused on: Dark Heritage, which dealt with the historic and contemporary oppression of Sámi communities, and Foreigner Struggles, where immigrants grappled with Norwegian language and culture. These topics could, in turn, draw out topics of oppression, dialect, recreation, and food from the archives, which may then be better engaged with by a diverse public. These themes have not been extensively explored in relation to archived and digital folklore in Norway before, and the project was therefore able to examine significant social and cultural issues through new means and perspectives. This is particularly important as this was done through a lens that the public (those outside of academia and heritage institutions) can engage with: i.e. digital folklore.
My new method for collecting digital folklore on social media sites also goes beyond the state of the art, as it is more typical to mine for data using computational methods. My method draws on humanities skills adapted for work on digital culture. This has implications for researchers in this area, and can also be used in pedagogical settings, and by independent scholars who may not have access to programmes or training through academic institutions, but who are keen to explore digital culture using 'softer' skills.

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Presenting at the American Folklore Society 2024