Dr. Martin Lovelace

Martin Lovelace's areas of research and teaching are in oral literature, especially folktales, and ballad, with an emphasis on the relationship between these genres and social reality. Atlantic Canada is an ideal context for work on this theme, given the region’s long history of folklore collection, rich archival holdings, and its continuing opportunities to work with tradition-bearers.

In August 2014 he begins work on the project Fairy Tale Cultures and Media Today, a SSHRC-funded Partnership Development Grant led by Dr. Pauline Greenhill, University of Winnipeg. The "partners" include distinguished international scholars Jack Zipes, Cristina Bacchilega, and Sadanha Naithani, and the first meeting in Winnipeg is keenly anticipated.

Selected Works

2014 "Light in Darkness: Visualization in Ballad Performance and the Woodcuts of Douglas Percy Bliss," paper given at the 49th International Congress on Medieval Studies. May 8-11, University of Western Michigan, Kalamazoo.

2013 "'There's Sure to be a Row': Marriage, Lies, and Idealism in the Song Repertoire of Rita Young of St. Bride's, Newfoundland," paper given at the 43rd International Ballad Conference, October 13-19, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

"Immateria Medica: Charmers and Their Communities in Newfoundland," in Incantatio: An International Journal on Charms, Charmers and Charming, 1 (2011), 36-47. http://www.folklore.ee/incantatio

"Neighbours and Night Visits in the Song Repertoire of Clarence Blois," in Singing the Nations: Herder’s Legacy, eds. Dace Bula and Sigrid Rieuwerts. B.A.S.I.S. Ballads and Songs–International Studies 4. Trier, Germany: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, 2008, 251-260.

"'Tam Lin' in Newfoundland," in Ballad Mediations: Folksongs Recovered, Represented, and Reimagined, eds. Roger deV. Renwick and Sigrid Rieuwerts. B.A.S.I.S. Ballads and Songs–International Studies 2. Trier, Germany: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, 2006, 19-26.

“Unnatural Selection: Maud Karpeles’s Newfoundland Field Diaries,” in Folk Song Tradition,Revival, and Re-Creation. Eds. Ian Russell and David Atkinson. University of Aberdeen: The Elphinstone Institute, 2004, 284-298.

“Jack and His Masters: Real Worlds and Tale Worlds in Newfoundland Folktales,” Journal of Folklore Research 38: 1-2 (2001), 149-170.