A Game with or without Rules: 15th Congress of Société Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore (SIEF)

Abstract

The review of the 15th Congress of Société Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore (SIEF) distinguishes major trends in the development of anthropology, ethnology, and folklore which are characterized primarily by a bigger extent of interdisciplinarity, involvement of adjacent disciplines, politization, and socialization of the traditional spheres of scholarly interests. The SIEF Congress was meant to take place offline in Helsinki, Finland, June 19–24, 2021, but due to COVID-19 restrictions was transformed into an online event. Familiar SIEF Congress themes were grouped into 18 streams (Archives and Sources, Narratives, Food, Material Culture and Museums, etc.), and supplemented by emerging themes (Posthumanism, Intersectionality), with over 1000 papers in total. The panel organized by the SIEF working group Frankophone and the stream Mobility and Migration are discussed in detail. Many presentations covered COVID-19 Internet-memes—as well as folklore and the transformation of rituals over the course of the pandemic. The authors discuss positive and negative consequences of holding a big academic event online. Overall, a broadening of the geography of the participants is observed, which enlarges the scope of the traditions studied and correspondingly invites new problems for discussion.