__NOTOC__ William R. Bascom (May 23, 1912 – September 11, 1981) was an award-winning American

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

, and

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

director. He was a specialist in the art and culture of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

and the

African Diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...

, especially the

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Biography

Bascom completed his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, and earned his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in anthropology at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

under Melville J. Herskovits in 1939, which was based on research carried out amongst the

. Bascom was the first American anthropologist to carry out fieldwork among the Yoruba. Bascom taught at Northwestern,

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. During World War II, he joined the O.S.S. and together with

Ralph Bunche Ralph Johnson Bunche (; August 7, 1904 – December 9, 1971) was an American political scientist, diplomat, and leading actor in the mid-20th-century decolonization process and US civil rights movement, who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize f ...

co-authored an unsigned volume, ''A Pocket Guide to West Africa'' in 1943. Post-war, Bascom and his Cuban-born wife, Berta began research into practices of Yoruba origin - such as the

Shango Shango (Yoruba language: Ṣàngó, also known as Changó or Xangô in Latin America; and as Jakuta or Badé) is an Orisha, a deity in Yoruba religion. Genealogically speaking, Shango is a royal ancestor of the Yoruba as he was the third Alaafin ...

cult and Santeria - in Cuba and elsewhere. Berta was a lifelong co-worker with Bascom. In 1957 he left Northwestern University for the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

where he become the first director of the Lowie Museum of Anthropology, a post he held until his retirement in 1979. Bascom also helped in the creation of the Master's Degree programme at Berkeley in 1965. Several of Bascom's articles on

folkloristics Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

serve as texts in graduate courses in folklore: his essays were regularly anthologised during his career. Published posthumously, Bascom's ''African folktales in the New World'' (1992) has been credited with making important contributions to debates around "diffusion and independent invention".

Recognition

Bascom served as President of the

American Folklore Society The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the US-based professional association for folklorists, with members from the US, Canada, and around the world, which aims to encourage research, aid in disseminating that research, promote the responsible ...

between 1953 and 1954. His two Presidential Addresses were titled “Four Functions of Folklore” and "Verbal Art". His book ''Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa'' was awarded the Pitrè Prize.

Four functions of folklore

In a major article published in 1954, Bascom argued that folklore can serve four primary functions in a culture: * Folklore lets people escape from repressions imposed upon them by society e.g.: tall tales * Folklore validates culture, justifying its rituals and institutions to those who perform and observe them. * Folklore is a pedagogic device which reinforces morals and values and builds wit. e.g.: scary stories/moral lessons * Folklore is a means of applying

social pressure Peer pressure is the direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests, experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, and behavior. A g ...

and exercising social control. e.g.: the boy who cried wolf

Major works

* Bascom, William R. (1943). "The Relationship of Yoruba Folklore to Divining," ''The Journal of American Folklore'', ''56''(220), 127–131. https://doi.org/10.2307/535726 * Bascom, William R. (1943). ''The Sociological Role of the Yoruba Cult-Group.'' Menasha (Wis.): American Anthropological Association. . * Bascom, William R. (1947). ''Ponape: A Pacific Economy in Transition'' * Bascom, William R. (1954). "Four Functions of Folklore". ''The Journal of American Folklore''. 67 (266): 333–349. . .

JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...

536411. * Bascom, William R. (1955). "Urbanization Among the Yoruba," ''American Journal of Sociology.'' ''60''(5), 446–454. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2772532 * Bascom, William R. (1955). "Verbal Art," ''The Journal of American Folklore'', ''68''(269), 245–252. https://doi.org/10.2307/536902 * Bascom, William R.; Herskovits, Melville J (eds.) (1959). ''Continuity and Change in African Culture'' * Bascom, William R. (1964). "Folklore Research in Africa," ''The Journal of American Folklore'', ''77''(303), 12–31. https://doi.org/10.2307/538015 * Bascom, William R. (1965). "The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives". ''The Journal of American Folklore'', ''78''(307), 3–20. https://doi.org/10.2307/538099 * Bascom, William R. (1969). ''The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria.'' New York; Chicago: Holt Rinehart and Winston. . . * Bascom, William R. (1969). ''Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press. . * Bascom, William R. (1973). ''African Art in Cultural Perspective: An Introduction.'' New York: Norton. . . * Bascom, William R. (1973). "Folklore, Verbal Art, and Culture," ''The Journal of American Folklore'', ''86''(342), 374–381. https://doi.org/10.2307/539361 * Bascom, William R. (ed.) (1975). ''African Dilemma Tales.'' The Hague: Mouton. . . * Bascom, William R. (ed.) (1977). ''Frontiers of Folklore.'' Boulder, Colo.: Published by Westview Press for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C. . . * Bascom, William R. (1980). ''Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New World.'' Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Pr. . * Bascom, William R. (1992). ''African folktales in the New World''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. . .

References

Sources

* Robert Georges & Michael Owen Jones, ''Folkloristics: An Introduction,'' Indiana University Press, 1995, pp. 171–192. * Daniel Crowley and Alan Dundes, "Obituary: William Russel Bascom," ''Journal of American Folklore'' 95 (1982): 465–7.
Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology website - History page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bascom, William American folklorists American ethnologists American curators 1981 deaths 1912 births Anthropologists of the Yoruba University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Northwestern University alumni Academics of the University of Cambridge University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty People of the Office of Strategic Services 20th-century American anthropologists Presidents of the American Folklore Society