Folklore Forum

From the Editor-in-Chief 

Dear Reader-

Undertaking a special issue in honor of Professor Roger Janelli was no small matter. It was daunting, needless to say cheeky, to attempt to provide scholarship that both illuminated issues vital to East Asia and that reflected well and well upon the work and approach of Janelli himself. We knew that our success hinged on just the right Guest Editor for the position. We were thrilled when Kyoim Yun agreed to come on board. A long-time mentee of Janelli and a Korean scholar in her own right, Kyoim brought personal and academic knowledge to bear upon this endeavor, investing of herself generously to help us construct an issue worthy of Roger Janelli. We thank her for her painstaking efforts.

And thank you, Professor Janelli.
It has been a pleasure.

Enjoy the issue.

Elizabeth A. Burbach
Editor-in-Chief
Folklore Forum

From the Guest Editor

This special issue of Folklore Forum is dedicated to Professor Roger L. Janelli, whose thirty-two years of distinguished scholarship and dedicated mentorship at Indiana University have deeply touched many students and scholars, green and ripened alike. When Curtis Ashton, then Editor-in-Chief of this journal, invited me in Fall 2006 to serve as guest editor for a Festschrift in Janelli’s honor, I gladly welcomed the invitation and was thankful to the current staff members for initiating the project. I approached this task as both a modest expression of my gratitude to Janelli and as an opportunity to draw the attention of fellow folklorists, ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, and other scholars to some of the latest interdisciplinary explorations of East Asia. Deciding which of the submissions should be published was a difficult process. Regretfully, we could not include all the work offered as a tribute to Dr. Janelli, although they reflected well the breadth and depth of his scholarship. (more…)