Carmen Roy was an

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...

and folklorist who conducted a oral survey in the Gaspé Peninsula and served in many roles as curator and section director at Canada's National Museum in Ottawa in the late 1940s through to the 1980s.''Fonds Carmen Roy , Canadian Museum of History''. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://www.historymuseum.ca/collections/archive/3357513 Working with

Marius Barbeau Charles Marius Barbeau, (March 5, 1883 – February 27, 1969), also known as C. Marius Barbeau, or more commonly simply Marius Barbeau, was a Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthropology. A ...

and Luc Lacouciere, she helped build and modernize ethnographic practice in Canada and was considered an early leader in the field of folklore in the country. As an administrator at the National Museum she also helped foster the scholarship of collectors such as

Helen Creighton Mary Helen Creighton, CM (September 5, 1899 – December 12, 1989) was a prominent Canadian folklorist. She collected over 4,000 traditional songs, stories, and beliefs in a career that spanned several decades, and she published many books and ar ...

and

Edith Fowke Edith Fowke, ''(née'' Margaret Fulton; 30 April 1913 Lumsden, Saskatchewan – 28 Mar 1996 Toronto) was a Canadian folklorist.Nygaard King, Betty and Ruth Pincoe. Fowke was educated at the University of Saskatchewan. She hosted the CBC Radio ...

.McKay, I. (2009). ''Quest of the Folk: Antimodernism and Cultural Selection in Twentieth-Century Nova Scotia''. McGill-Queen’s Press - MQUP.

Early life and education

Roy grew up in Cap-Chat on the Gaspé Peninsula, where she published poetry under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"Mousse Des Bois."Bourdages, Jeannot. (2014). Barbeau, Roy et Deschênes: Trois générations de folkloristes. ''Magazine Gaspésie'', ''51''(2), 43–44. She would later attend Collège Marguerite-Bourgeoys in Montreal where she completed her baccalauréat en Lettres in 1942. She then went on to study French at the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...

. It was there in Quebec city where she encountered

in 1947 who sparked her interest in folklore. At his recommendation she secured a position at the

National Museum of Canada The national museums of Canada are the nine museums in Canada designated under the federal ''Museums Act'' and operated by the Government of Canada. The national museums are responsible for "preserving and promoting the heritage of Canada and all it ...

. With the help of scholarships, she would later complete a doctorate in ethnography at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in 1953, under the supervision of Marcel Griaule, her thesis titled "Littérature orale en Gaspesis." Her jury included Charles Bruneau and Henri-Irénée Marrou. Some speculate she was one of the first women from the peninsula to obtain a doctorate degree.

Career

As a specialist in French-Canadian and Acadian folklore, Roy worked as a curator at Canada's National Museum in Ottawa from 1948 to 1956. From 1948 to 1952 she coordinated a massive oral survey of the Gaspe Peninsula, collecting testimonies and data that would serve as the foundation of modern linguistic and ethnographic enquiry in the region for not only her own doctoral work, but other scholars working in linguistics and folklore studies. In 1957 when the National Museum established a folklore division, Roy became its director. In 1966 the Division of Anthropology was divided into an Ethnography and a Folklore Division, Roy became the director of the Folklore team. In 1970 the Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies was founded at the museum with Roy at its head. Although deeply passionate about the Gaspé and Maritime provinces, Roy applied herself to learning more about the Canadian West and encouraged collecting and study in more diverse communities. Under her direction, the Centre embraced federal policies of multiculturalism. By 1977 Roy held the position of Senior Scientist-Folk Culture at the now renamed National Museum of Man. She retired in 1984 but continued to work from the museum until 1992. Roy's approach to the research and study of folklore has been characterized as "more professional, bureaucratic attitude" in comparison to her contemporaries like Helen Creighton, and she advocated for folklore studies to be treated as an emerging discipline in the social sciences. In an interview in 1968 she characterized folklore as something that changes and is replaced and should be "studied with an eye to sociology and history." She implemented a multidisciplinary approach to folklore studies in her leadership roles at the Folklore Division and expanded the scope to reflect the demographic realities of Canadian society the foundations of the Canadian mosaic.

Selected publications

* Roy, Carmen. ''Saint-Pierre et Miquelon : une mission folklorique aux îles''. 1966 * Roy, Carmen. ''Les Acadiens de la rive nord du fleuve Saint-Laurent''. Ottawa: Queens Printer. 1963. * ''Collection de chansons recueillies à la Baie Sainte-Marie : par Carmen Roy et Maguy Andral au cours des années 1959 e t 1962''. * Roy, Carmen. ''Contes populaires gaspésiens''. Montreal: Fides. 1956. * Roy, Carmen. ''La pêche en Gaspésie (technologie et terminologie)''. Ottawa: 1956 * Roy, Carmen. ''Le géant Brigandin''. Montreal: Fides. 1956? * Roy, Carmen. ''La Littérature Orale en Gaspésie''. Ottawa: 1955.

Awards

* Folkloriste canadien ou canadienne de distinction, Folklore Studies Association of Canada (1982) * Public Service Award for 25 years of service (1979) * Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal , Médaille du jubilé de la Reine Elizabeth II (1977) * Médaille du Centenaire , Canadian Centennial Medal (1967)

References

External links

Archival fonds of Carmen Roy at the Canadian Museum of History

Digitized images and documents from Carmen Roy's archives available through the Canadian Museum of History

Archival fonds of Carmen Roy at the Musée de la Gaspésie

Correspondence with Helen Creighton available at Nova Scotia Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Carmen 1919 births 2006 deaths Folklorists of Canadian folklore Canadian folklorists People from Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine