Abstract

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.

When the ninth congress of SIEF takes place in Derry in 2008, the society celebrates its 80th anniversary. As an international scholarly society it has served as a catalyst for cooperation, exchange and debates. However, its long history has been strongly marked not only by national differences, but also by uncertainties and existential doubts – as to whether it comprises one or more disciplines, the relationship to general ethnology or anthropology, and whether it should cover thematically only Europe or the whole world. Even the name of the discipline has been a bone of contention. The article traces the motivation for international cooperation within the field(s) and discusses the problems of the unity of the discipline(s), its definition and delimitation, with a focus

on the postwar period.

Keywords

CIAP, SIEF, international scholarly cooperation, folklore, European ethnology

Publisher Notes

• This article was previously published by Museum Tusculanum Press.