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Humanities
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Seen and Unseen: The Folklore of Secrecy
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Seen and Unseen: The Folklore of Secrecy

A special issue of Humanities (ISSN 2076-0787).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 20739

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jason Harris

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of English, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
Interests: theories of the literary fantastic; the Gothic; the Weird Tale; ghostlore and fairylore; nineteenth-century British literature; Scottish and Irish literature; science fiction; Fantasy and Horror literature; creative writing—fiction and screenplays; Contemporary literature; humor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The notion of what is seen but not well understood without esoteric knowledge—as well as what is unseen and only detectable and comprehended by the initiated few—informs various popular beliefs and narratives, including secret societies, lost cities, hidden treasures, elusive monsters, covert rituals, subliminal messages, mysteries of aliens, fairies, ghostly apparitions, and the veiled manifestations of the gods themselves! These legends, cryptic memes, cryptid claims, wonder tales, and beliefs of fantastical, magical, occult, and political intrigue have shaped visions of the ancient as well as the modern world.  We face today not only new vectors of so-called disinformation and potentially dangerous consequences of divergent and disruptive beliefs, but also vivid creations and traditions of speculative mystery, regardless, perhaps, of baleful or benign intent.

In the contemporary moment, it is not simply that visible hopes and anxieties of everyday life and divisive politics are driving the invention and proliferation of popular lore; we also have the role of a vital invisible world. Pervasive memes of apocalyptic spiritual forces, rising belief in ghosts, newsworthy regional legends (the release of Tamamo-no-Ma in Japan from the killing stone), and boosts to socio-political action because of supernatural belief (Huldufólk lore nurturing environmentalism in Iceland) stimulate and renew the living matrix of contemporary folklore of the unseen or the obscurely understood.

Please submit your articles exploring the ways that different communities are engaging folklorically with the concept of secrets, and how those secrets connect to meaningful layers of identity and experiential truth. Finished essays must be at least 5000 words and are due by 20 September 2023. Please send an abstract of no more than 500 words, together with a short bibliography of primary and critical texts, to Dr. Jason Harris at .

Dr. Jason Harris
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Humanities is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 263 KiB  
Article
The Ordinary Looks behind the Horrifying Screams: The Secrecies of Border Spirits in 20th Century Finnish Belief Narratives
by Kari Korolainen
Humanities 2024, 13(2), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/h13020049 - 12 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1554
Abstract
This paper discusses the secrecies of border spirits within 20th century Finnish belief narratives. The aim is to explore how and in which contexts the imaginary aspects of border spirit narratives link to the idea of the “power of storytelling”. The following study [...] Read more.
This paper discusses the secrecies of border spirits within 20th century Finnish belief narratives. The aim is to explore how and in which contexts the imaginary aspects of border spirit narratives link to the idea of the “power of storytelling”. The following study touches on areas such as the suspension of the fantasy and sociopolitical aspects within the narratives. The folklore materials focus mainly on the Finnish heartland and partly on the national borders. Especially, narrative research methods were used to analyse what is heard and seen of the border spirits and what contexts these narratives involve. Moreover, the results touch on the dynamics of belief narratives without limiting them to the territorial aspects of borders. Hence, the study also explores interpretative bridges between folklore and border studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seen and Unseen: The Folklore of Secrecy)
12 pages, 264 KiB  
Article
The Secret Lives of Bouki: Louisiana’s Creolized Folkloresque
by Rich Paul Cooper
Humanities 2024, 13(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/h13010026 - 30 Jan 2024
Viewed by 2136
Abstract
This article historicizes the character of Bouki in the context of Creole Louisiana, showing how the story of Bouki has evolved to become the story of Kouri-Vini, Louisiana’s native and endangered Creole language. This historicization takes place in three distinct periods; those periods [...] Read more.
This article historicizes the character of Bouki in the context of Creole Louisiana, showing how the story of Bouki has evolved to become the story of Kouri-Vini, Louisiana’s native and endangered Creole language. This historicization takes place in three distinct periods; those periods are defined by their relation to Kouri-Vini. The first period aligns with the Antebellum period; the second aligns with the early 20th century; and the final coincides with the present day. Moving across these periods, Bouki finds himself demoted, at which point he enters the ‘creolized folkloresque.’ The folkloresque is a larger mosaic of folkloric forms detached from the material conditions of their production and available to popular culture; for the folkloresque to be creolized designates the same process but under vastly unequal social and material conditions. In short, Bouki enters the creolized folkloresque, becoming a folkoresque figure available to all who find themselves subject to creolized conditions. In the pre-American part of Louisiana’s history, creolized conditions included slavery and colonization; post-Americanization, linguistic discrimination plays an outsized role. Where such conditions persist in Louisiana, there Bouki can be found. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seen and Unseen: The Folklore of Secrecy)
21 pages, 2572 KiB  
Article
Rumpelstiltskin, Kung Fu Panda, Jacques Derrida, and Conspiracy Theory: The Role and Function of Secrecy in Conspiracy Narrative and Practice
by John Bodner
Humanities 2024, 13(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/h13010010 - 8 Jan 2024
Viewed by 3903
Abstract
The article argues that where secrecy and secrets are key aspects of conspiracy theory narratives and practice, the genealogies of the/a secret have not been well understood. We argue that two forms of the secret, one a premodern notion of the secret as [...] Read more.
The article argues that where secrecy and secrets are key aspects of conspiracy theory narratives and practice, the genealogies of the/a secret have not been well understood. We argue that two forms of the secret, one a premodern notion of the secret as truth and revelation, the other a post-Derridean non-secret, inform two distinct forms and functions of contemporary conspiracy practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seen and Unseen: The Folklore of Secrecy)
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15 pages, 253 KiB  
Article
The (Mostly) Unseen World of Cryptids: Legendary Monsters in North America
by David J. Puglia
Humanities 2024, 13(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/h13010001 - 19 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4497
Abstract
North America is steeped in legends of cryptids, (mostly) unseen creatures woven into the fabric of its folklore. From legends told by early explorers to contemporary legends told today, these enigmatic beings shape societal perceptions and reflect communal anxieties. Monsters have long fascinated [...] Read more.
North America is steeped in legends of cryptids, (mostly) unseen creatures woven into the fabric of its folklore. From legends told by early explorers to contemporary legends told today, these enigmatic beings shape societal perceptions and reflect communal anxieties. Monsters have long fascinated scholars, from ancient luminaries such as Pliny the Elder to modern researchers in “monster theory”. Plodding along diligently since before monster studies became a formalized thematic field, folklorists remain hot on the trail of these secretive creatures and their hidden cultural meanings. Through a conceptual exploration of North American cryptids, this essay seeks to bridge the gap between the unseen and the seen, spotlighting the significant role of legendary monsters in community narratives and urging a resurgence in their academic exploration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seen and Unseen: The Folklore of Secrecy)
21 pages, 337 KiB  
Article
“The Subtle Craft of the Devil”: Misogynistic Conspiracy Theories and the Secret Society of Pregnancy Cravings in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Vampirism
by Michael Grant Kellermeyer
Humanities 2023, 12(6), 143; https://doi.org/10.3390/h12060143 - 5 Dec 2023
Viewed by 2472
Abstract
This paper analyzes themes of male insecurities and distrust of the exclusive culture of female sexuality and reproduction in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Vampirism, one of the earliest psychologically sophisticated female vampires in Western literature. The doomed heroine, Aurelia, escapes a life [...] Read more.
This paper analyzes themes of male insecurities and distrust of the exclusive culture of female sexuality and reproduction in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Vampirism, one of the earliest psychologically sophisticated female vampires in Western literature. The doomed heroine, Aurelia, escapes a life of maternal abuse and sexual trauma by marrying the wealthy Count Hippolytus, but his attraction warps into suspicion when she becomes pregnant and loses her appetite for his food. Worried that losing her virginity has activated promiscuity inherited from her late mother, he begins following her and thinks he sees her conspiring with a coven of female ghouls who train her to satisfy her pregnancy cravings by feeding on a male corpse. Real or imagined, this vision confirms his suspicions and leads to their mutual destruction. In my analysis, I explore vampire literature’s early history, its place within Gothic literature, the prominent role of female vampires, their relationship to gender anxieties exacerbated by the Romantic Era’s subversive political movements, and the way in which Hoffmann’s cynical story operates as a misogynistic conspiracy theory aimed at the secret female space of reproduction, symbolized by Aurelia’s cannibalistic pregnancy cravings. As such, it contributes to the destructive folklore of social distrust. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seen and Unseen: The Folklore of Secrecy)
15 pages, 376 KiB  
Article
The Usually Invisible, Occasionally Visible, Spirits of the Dead in Early Twentieth-Century Sámi Folklore
by Thomas A. DuBois
Humanities 2023, 12(5), 94; https://doi.org/10.3390/h12050094 - 7 Sep 2023
Viewed by 2299
Abstract
Turn-of-twentieth-century Sámi concepts of spirits of the dead are presented along with accounts of those exceptional individuals able to see, hear, interact with, and sometimes control them, particularly persons termed noaideslágáš, i.e., skilled in noaidi arts. Examples and analysis are drawn from [...] Read more.
Turn-of-twentieth-century Sámi concepts of spirits of the dead are presented along with accounts of those exceptional individuals able to see, hear, interact with, and sometimes control them, particularly persons termed noaideslágáš, i.e., skilled in noaidi arts. Examples and analysis are drawn from the writings of Sámi author and scholar Johan Turi (1854–1936), contemporaneous accounts recorded by Norwegian folklorist Just Qvigstad (1853–1957), the fieldwork of Sámi legislator, educator, and folklore collector Isak Saba (1875–1921), and an 1886 anthology of Aanaar (Inari) Sámi folklore. Described with varying names and sometimes contradicting accounts, the spirits of the dead in Sámi culture during the early twentieth century could be used to protect or enhance the fortunes of the living, but could also play roles in situations of disease, misfortune, and interpersonal conflict. The various narratives recorded in the period reflect a complex fusion of Indigenous Sámi traditions with ideas stemming from various Christian denominations and the belief legends of non-Sámi neighbors in the Finnish, Norwegian, Russian and Swedish sides of Sápmi—the Sámi homeland. Spirits of the dead figure as potent, expectable, but sometimes unpredictable elements of daily life—beings that could help or harm, depending on how they were dealt with by those with whom they came in contact and those who could wield power over them, particularly noaiddit, Sámi ritual and healing specialists. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seen and Unseen: The Folklore of Secrecy)
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