This issue comes one month later than anticipated. We hope it will reach the right people, i.e. active folklorists and scholars in the neighbouring fields interested in the international training of researchers in contemporary folklore. Since the imminent summer may be a dead period on the bulletin boards of many institutions, we would like you to ask yourself: Am I going to apply? Regardless of the answer, may we ask you to disseminate the application form to persons you think might profit from participation in the FFSS.
Tradition and Renewal will be in the focus of the theoretical deliberations and practical exercises of the Second FFSS. The idea is to bridge the gap between past and present, between folklore forms that turned historical and present applications of traditions. With much better theoretical knowledge and technical apparatus than ever before, it should be possible for folklorists to plan new strategies of research which would, at least partly, still concentrate on texts, or on the creation of a good folklore document, but which would also reach beyond the text to the elusive problems of actual meaning, interpretation and the productive processing of folklore. Under this umbrella it is possible to look into the actual research problems of the participants and provide for an exchange of experience.
The Summer School itself is in the process of tradition and renewal. The idea of the folklore process and the Unesco recommendation for the safeguarding of folklore still constitute the point of departure but the lectures by well-known folklorists will not attempt to cover all possible aspects. The lectures will be fewer in number and they will approach concrete problems relevant to the group work and fieldwork exercises. The time for group work has increased, so as to allow for more individual guidance and the formation of different lines of interest among the groups. For this reason, the preparations cannot be completed before we know who will be on the course.
At the first FFSS in August 1991 we were able to support most participants with travel grants. The second FFSS in August 1993 will be financed under rather severe economic conditions. That is why a 400 USD participation fee has been introduced (it covers less than half of the board and lodging cost in Turku). This being the case, one of the surest ways to get accepted for the course is to start seeking funds early in your own country for the trip to Finland. Those who cannot find national or private support may take the risk of applying for a travel grant from the organisers at a later date. As yet it is not possible to give any promises, but our Committee will work hard to secure from Unesco and other sources some support for participants from certain parts of Europe and the developing countries.
Lauri Honko
(FFN 4, May 1992: 1)