Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality

BYU Studies Quarterly Volume Issue Article 4-1-1959 Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality Austin E Fife Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Recommended Citation Fife, Austin E (1959) "Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol : Iss , Article Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol1/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive For more information, please contact scholarsarchive@byu.edu, ellen_amatangelo@byu.edu Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality folk elements formation mormon personality AUSTIN sir hilary E FIFE benzig felt tenzig achievement unique sense mount everest reached 29000 foot height yet sensed smallness same time must face earth immensity man frailty before them cosmos spread my own feelings dissimilar student 1I arrived utah state university 1I climbed mount logan valley summit daybreak I1 looked back upon 1I behold shrouded darkness emerged sun east wyoming rising beyond ranges like great beacon inviting me pilot my course toward lands then aware darkness rising sun I1 unilluminated recesses cache valley came largely inbeacon sun derived my own soul europe like humanistic tradition viting brightness plotted faithful pilot quarter century since then I1 1I circum navigated beacon until circumnavigated my course make landing once valley whence globe 1I came rewards hazards filled flight 1I am sure compared my presence here welcome own land return prophet prodigal son audience expects folklorist entertain typically sing grandma songs quaint proverbs used tell stories fox sing brer rabbit should speak culture structure formation personality seems presumptuous however realm somewhat folklore vast ordinarily prethrow light sumed diligence pursued culture ignored disciplines upon many areas dr fife chairman american folklore society parsons college served modem modern language department iowa musee mus nus fellow Popu laires under mufeee national des arts et traditions populaires fulbright program Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1959 vice president BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol 1, Iss [1959], Art BRIGHAM YOUNG folklore university STUDIES scitoo much neglected ence what see our lives much taken fail granted deeper implications folklorist takes view what much truth itself man view important fact truth definition myth I1 hope you keep myth your minds throughout word lecture used mean many ways many things serious misunderstandings might arise recall you fail particular meaning myth zs mans view give reality fact myth then area folkinterests lorist man view cosmos man comprehension life nature death life hereafter life before birth folklorist insists what important much scientific fact historic use man makes scientific fact historic here now nor does folklorist assume fact myth conperforce each flict word lore folklore means both belief knowledge these mutually exclusive folk definition somewhat folklore harder however leave you traditional view divided society two categories folk non folk simple learned aristocrat folklorist must take plebeian democratic view human beings before law equal intrinsic worth moreover folklorist recognizes people essentially folk behavior non folk in little behavior 1I myself try behave realms folklore french literature non folk 1I am strive seeks know specialist knowable expound maximum possible correspondence between fact fact these fields I1 might my view called scientist just get me talking autosports 1I am mobiles glaciers zoology folk come my pulse quickened appearance snake poisonous folk tradition I1 trained I1 react way reared snake cult cumberland gap 1I might take deadly reptiles https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol1/iss2/2 science commonplace Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality FOLK ELEMENTS behavior my neck wrap them caressingly myth selection us very large degree determined folk channels made via definition personality selectivity brings us born us lecture each basic subject matter organism whose genetic structure establishes certain certain limitations characteristics certain potentials person organism eventually beessence terms heredity comes formed gradually via experience used traditionally express environment dual source personality however importance exaggerated heredity may well term enstatic set viron ment inadequate vironment suggests living changing expericomplex conditions rather form ences common source spring each individual common mass whence particular unity these experiences spring myth system particular held common perviews culture reality individual little context sonality sona lity rigid unchanging selection myth personality sad moment evolving complex until thing added solidified individual myths nothing ed substracted them rigor mortis them yet substract even sadder state rigor personalitatis essence essay laughter derives henri bergeson comic science folklorist folklore commonplace assemble classify understand man commonstrives botanist assembles classifies reality just place views understands plants songs learned sung outside school commercialized mass church concert hall media rhymes proverbs sayings comparisons si milies school books learned professors metaphors symbols dramatics coach taught gestures signs school ananecdotes yarns stories art teacher houses derricks tho logies thologies MIA manuals print made designed rugs gates fences quilts factories skilled craftsmen drafting rooms mechanical engineering home economics specialists Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1959 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol 1, Iss [1959], Art BRIGHAM YOUNG university STUDIES state colleges departments finger rhymes jingles play use entertain children f rom d selection these each man forms view reality very large extent works cosmos folklorist relationship finds them quite subject matter traimportant dit ditional fit ional scientific humanistic discipline lit folklorist course recognizes importance work being done scientists theirs task ever make man myths correspond seeking nearly reality possible our myth systems get step confusion ranks chaos reality culture frustration similar chaos personality scientists wish reality seem destroy impose views cherished myths folklore error nor myth falsehood man believing animal must form view himself scientists cannot form reality him almust keep trying though communicate man findings our daily lives must each face situations solve problems nearly too complex require too immediate solution scientific method much use being true recourse make act faith depend upon intuitive decision follow impulse totality springs accumulated myths reached point where might venture make basic distinctions between cultural roles played folklorist scientist humanist please note however definition sake segregate them scholar worth salt bit three within him whichever prefers called scientist should destroyer myth purifies trying make reality correspond nearly must let man believe must give man knowledge may construct beliefs dependable humanist job commyth maker take mon place hand monplace scientific two holy wedlock join sensitive humanist must flexible elements acfind ways myth commo old new commodating old dating new remember myth science seniority via age seniority https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol1/iss2/2 Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality FOLK ELEMENTS seniority via plurality cannot hope acceptance build man scientist image may build scientists man image folklorist assembles classifies interprets myth since myth evolving changing thing just perjob sonality never finished sona lity must keep offering scientist rites data myth purification must keep redefining humanist essence contemporary chast chastened ened bride myth systems groom may lead chasteney establish new union thus man ever sought cosmos manner alone hope rapport maintain mormon myth system folklore via humanistic tradition twenty years 1I france re reexamining my mormon culture components examining 1I might thereby gain better view myself nearly steeped myself thirty years 1I language literature 1I felt culture central france western civilization stream both american mormon culture part 1I wrote doctoral dissertation media eval christian folklore mediaeval taught french language literature time 1I nearly twenty years during short vacations fife spent many long many mormon western towns talking folk hundreds culture commonplace elements interviews stories listened gathered songs reminiscences rerniniscenses recorded pioneer reminiscenses sayings beliefs jokes proverbs houses photographed barns gates fences made kodahay derricks chrome slides lovely quilts gathered rugs cosmetic recipes homespun medical trod ditchbanks interview farmers ditch banks planting killing hogs visited fights water crops ask them new mothers views hospitals courtship marriage pregnancy children rearing each little tidbit like crumb table crumbs discipline yet think made loaf I1 come Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1959 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol 1, Iss [1959], Art BRIGHAM YOUNG university STUDIES franklin idaho my informant looked me y you know inquiringl- man 1I almost I1 asked said married hendricks stocks I replied understandable hendricks my first well interview zeke johnson longcousin ogden I1 went arches national monutime superintendent bridges library congress ments I am doctor fife representing 1I am here relation zeke interrupted fife eh my jeanette fife why yes said 1I jeanette fife arm around my shoulder grandfather sister zeke put my father third jeanette fife well son said bonds established bekinsmen plural wife thus 1I gained entree another storehouse filled tween us mormon lore pleasures derived treasures our time interviews themselves great taken notes nor pubwell spent even lished results our findings I1 rather extensive background given folklore materials methods our particular commitment logical next question should concern folklore study made thereof application found our own culture what components mormormon myth system observed them church mon theology organized activities mormon people should revery outset among mormon folk tradition part mind you parcel peculiarities anglo american folk tradition despite mormon theology unique inherited mormon sociological experience I1 times felt mormon folk culture uniquely american exces sively actually exaggerate american areas cessively share common americans nearly qualities european heritage wilderness voluntary migration individuals family groups searching new hostile land life improved way said you look just like lands boast much light ailI re al dark night know bread toli toll want where poor men toil rich men dogs better fed https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol1/iss2/2 Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality FOLK ELEMENTS boast lands you ne er again you cross liberty wish see england make start plains your handcart these lines ballad handcart pioneers exnew almost universal view press immigrants basic formation world american persona lity clean break sonality fatherland mystical faith discovery land same things recur promise hundreds anecdotes almost every linguissongs tales racial group tic colonized our land together conalmost militant stitute idealized ethnocentrism sets our culture apart mankind tragically rest tiny world era fission little wonder apart isolationist feelings made us shun european entangle god spoke ments exalt our materialistic achievements language except yankee american high tariffs resistance foreign aid whole schema isolationist political befew havior manifestations chip shoulder attitude toward lands gave us our birth activism another element american myth system mormons cormons maximized among Mormons lower middle class europeans much seldom feeling europe humble lot them why many immigrated here jove got here lot futility going american change simply you don t like what you what you where you something you you should god helps never say die where those help themselves put your shoulder wheel these way ideas expressed forms folk tradition many universal set colonize blandgroup america ing bluff ominous chasms monticello beyond colorado build kind side ramp down steep incline job detained them several weeks did amazed local indians knew colorado couldn t crossed simply coulden while point Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1959 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol 1, Iss [1959], Art BRIGHAM YOUNG building rallied ramp did university STUDIES confidence singing you ever hear tell spider climb wall tried guider just take may come handy time nine times tried hard ascend every time took fall climbing lighthearted kept right light hearted reached wall top you think sighing sitting you 11ll ever obtain you want cowards stand around crying t foolishly saying I working plodding laboring steep hill faith your heart never shrinking saying you want 1I see how far 1I myth system principle culture activism you differ maximization re read should reread thousand nights here fate fame fortune pleasures made sorrows him like moved whim human beings allah chess board chessboard earth many pawns 1I suppose preoccupied pioneering groups solution immediate economic problems first life certainly high priority among sustenance becomes almost cultural values people whatsoever hostility hunger poverty overpowering unknown land conspire threaten life itself hence domipractical materialism surprising indeed mornated our american culture growing years hazard although mon pioneering experience intensified rather well organized group techniques alleviating security material needs people gave them somewhat felt great american desert pioneers https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol1/iss2/2 Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality FOLK ELEMENTS imwestern pioneers knew hardship hunger want made pioneer imagination concerning print second value material things third generaobsessions tions our easy luxury still project our ance illusion cestors stors nourish wealth accumueven better off aclate our possessions correctives tually become burden rampant mormaterialism worldly aspects theology otherworldly delicacies monism these folk imagination correctives bringing us gone far enough yet frame mind where use our material around best interests wealth good life mormon tales examine amazing mass anecdotes rewards store those rewards faith note almost every instance keep involved aesthetic material rather spiritual cite following story nature example mormon boy scouts seated indian large group fashion around flames gave occamp fire light faces casional cas ional glimpses eager expectant famous san juan guide tellstoryteller zeke johnson ing them faith promoting story zeke tall figure unbent shadow wrangling seventy years prospecting cast circle boys across outer edge once upon time back two young fellers 49 black come through missouri name temple d made Cali fornie gild diggin californite californie salt lake way while them left either agreement take possession gold fields way whole outfit journey d stopped supplies salt lake replenish saw old bowery church folks gathering mormon black decides name listen go orson impressed meeting sermon delivered pratt decides right join then mormons cormons takes Mormons goes next morning personal things buddy tells off wagon salt lake going stay wouldnt t give friend protested black wouldn course Cali fornie alone californite californie go Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1959 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol 1, Iss [1959], Art BRIGHAM YOUNG 10 well you know mayor 1I university down STUDIES blanding I1 I1 conducted two funerals bishop 1I want funeral first tell you salt lake come brother black very same stayed back hundred descendants 49 1I never beautiful funeral where my life love deceased veneration showed gasn old man wasn t week before beggar horse town come died pack mule gasn folks him being cared cause wasn t take care him well I1 finds name mayor 1I come through god counrty very same temple temple Cali fornie californite back californie kept right 49 got going till didn dian t friend relative bunch cent us chipped 1I conducted funeral burying clothes got him gasn wasn t attended ever known him single person before both down mormon preoccupation concomitant american fine scholar what material wealth called makes health education recreation complex indelible mark forms our community activity mormon culture mormon commitments health education welfare programs substantial proportions recreation ever present amazing complexity young mormon may make commitments scores these leadership activities develop skills enjoy opportunities group cultural group dynamics exceed those america negative result since activity may deprived may thus opportunities contemplative feel less life read less think less posmight sible social commitments french great misfortunes man derive philosopher pascal once said remain alone room inability prestige books nor ought high among us should seeking incorporating aggressive our own emerge cultures among us great ideas materialsocial activists large extent yet should seek time may well come istic ways realms intellectuality ways channeling our activism https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol1/iss2/2 10 Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality FOLK ELEMENTS 11 rewarding beyond our hopes said our commitment somewhat leaders culture education via official pronouncement inculcated church almost since inception saved man cannot kirtland ignorance both nauvoo truly startling experiments education made frontier viewed church especially few examples worthy educaenvironment presents startlingly tional programs moreover today appears mormons pursue educational prolarge percentage young cormons beyond reason grams beyond high school mormons beemphasis theology upon knowledge cormons lieve predominantly agricultural econolarge families inpopulation my cannot provide employment mormon population increased rate mormons creased hence utah chief export Mor mons young cormons crafts fill america let me use professions 1I think may personal example typical my granddozen children each either side reared parents men my father generation came maturity wrested still farm land wilderness mormons re first generation utah born cormons absorbed 160 acres land my father tilled carved sixteen acre parcels order stuck soil hold lis ten offspring farming Iils seek land same region two remained farming confines seven entered mormondom skilled employment far flung points ameriprofessions ca them education economic necessity thank heaven commitment theology church mormon commitment noted however education takes two rather well defined directions tomormon cosmology ward understanding little room left developed great detail varytowards professional competence view ing points rather specific goal permitting young mormon these goals constitutes concept earn living neither liberal education existed institu long time aesthetics Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1959 11 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol 1, Iss [1959], Art BRIGHAM YOUNG 12 university STUDIES western europe higher learning united states what liberal education called directed neither towards specific professional competence nor toward under derstanding standing cosmology single cultural group rather liberate mind man goal exposing great lines thought aspiration civilizations played guiding role man times eions tions places now near universal experience young people higher learning particularly gradpursuit uate school feel degree intellectual restlessness myths communities used parents instill respect family civic religious disciplines seem time loggerheads realities encountered intellectual social young adults economic life great spiritual intellectual crises bound occur neurotic reaction insofar varying degrees 1I crisis see particularly severe among young mor mons examine new systems conthought front them adult intellectual world end rejecting them wholly forms favor totality elements traditional way life second group becomes resentful rigid demanding idealisms inculcated youth go through life like men without country since too often stable new system values does come cast aside replace still another group liberalizes traditional mormon views reality encompass therein great systems belief common thought current western civilization since dawn hebraic helenic eras nearly large enough group mormon views vitality reality certainly capacity accommodating itself ever changing realities best continued where process see group among young leadership eager human values far flung corners earth bring them intellectual spheres spiritual our own inheritance fact may well complicated https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol1/iss2/2 12 Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality FOLK ELEMENTS 13 clear distinctions made among us berarely tween intuitive knowledge knowledge acquired via sensory should between abstract concrete terms perceptions hand apparent water jesus christ upper ditch evidence difference nature our savior first case kind hence knowledge possessed knows felt hand seen eyes heard senses tasted ear tongue mind recorded interpreted perceived second instance intuitional forces perception conceived simply subconscious synthesis work god low fglow man via energy experience low second stateintermediary holy spirit moreover abstract term our savior ment jesus christ crept since although done little quibbling somewhat water nature upper ditch decide what used meant term complex us here might accept savior statement yet even frame within reference our common mormon heritage 1I am sure assertion means what agree realities whenever abstract terms dantreated embar assing pitfalls mind embarassing ger embarrassing now young mormon scientist gets involved scimust learn graduate studies behaving does come entist knowledge must reject him via sensory perception must behave insistent ways acquiring scientific truth scientific method realm religion upon carrying faith then losing may great danger however absurd error attempt apply part scientific method life even realms simple scicolor buying new car choosing matter critical entific method relatively little value solved device apply must ultimately problem man oldest intellectual technique intuitive decision fallacies cavalier pronouncement upon having made come young scientists commit I1 feel constrained sensitive point namely equally dangerous Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1959 13 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol 1, Iss [1959], Art 14 BRIGHAM YOUNG university STUDIES decides taken young mormon step may well feels intuitions live uniquely via maturity come him spirit promptings spint nowhere mormon theology evidence saints should settle indecisions via problems make tuitive process emphasis upon knowledge presupposes mind constant our scientific frame large degree intuitive tradition sometimes almost seems sacred intended complex realms alone process watchdog rationality should always serve cormons use intuition few young mormons lambs intuition device retreat knowledge excessive dependence dwell upon accounts tedious length citing cases promptings upon intuition healings tings rewards punishments spirit answer prayer hea totality seem embarrassing even dwell upon faithful among us 1I feel constrained misexample moment repeated accounts appear suddenly found himself eloquent sionary foreign thus capable reexpounding gospel tongue markable persuasiveness confounding civil authorities learned spokesmen sects governments belief 1I am afraid effect too often making missionaries actually lazy very difficult rewarding task urlearning languages few them return gently need zion somewhat less very superficial views eloquent hosts culture causes people me serious problem utah eduponder what I1 think cational program our missionary system our commitment our genealogical research large proportion enters graduate schools young people greater need cultural group foreign language skills need either public our land yet meet programs otherwise wonder inadequate among here intuitive knowledge misapplication concept another worthy christian virtue applicadeprived us hard intellectual labor tion mormon trait another lively american cult https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol1/iss2/2 14 Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality FOLK ELEMENTS family amily among us family believed 15 takes unique characteristics indestructible unity eternal based upon patriarchal system encompassing ancestors posterity total productive great percentage work our culture committed energy constructing these patriarchal pyramids commitment our elders task 1I feel sure furnishes sense culusefulness find anywhere else old people ture america family country where alarming nevertheless cult farthest divorce family instabilipushed increasing alarming rate ty solve our complex possibility suggests itself broken families juvenile delingrowing problems need direct our energies somewhat quency individuals self fulfillment toward must inevitably constitute groups matter how devoted devofamily solidarity equally high ideal indeself fulfillment each human being tion individual gains notion pendent intellectual identity individual culture then integrity civic obligations fulfill family religious apt I1 am I1 once hopeful plight our culture ultimate young intellectual success liberal movements among us effect my folklore studies increase my respect our folk herilore satisfactory base Mormonia forms tage mormonia folk cultures science flights humanism pascal st roosts boosts aristotle peoples sturdy need wings thomas spread feel glued our feet weeks ago 1I climbed mount logan again couple early evening sunlight filled cache slanting rays warmth 1I saw west fields where 1I valley light red wing piping redwing spent many hours fishing later slo blackbirds marsh gas muddy scent sloshing slashing shing like good companions accomwater my shoes darwin voyage beagle my journeys pany me buffon bufton natural history bergson creative evolution button under given me tools thoreau walden cache valley Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1959 15 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol 1, Iss [1959], Art BRIGHAM YOUNG 16 university STUDIES stand man biological world 1I saw relationship fourth ward meeting house where grave responsibilities manhood inculcated via ritual preachment pretimes seemed almost too heavy cept bear me 1I I1 think learned take my social role seriously meeting house 1I heralded away france where whole new culture culture unfolded rich me 1I human come feel like thomas jefferson said century deux quarter earlier tout ie monde beux le slen sien pays ie everyone fren et puis la france sien fien fatherlands two fat herlands own france finally 1I saw utah state university where 1I went through my first rites myth purification process 1I survived painful surgical operation recovered nor essence my mormon view reality destroyed activist process 1I remain faith rewards those store strive 1I am materialist enough modest wealth my culture grateful bestowed upon me less tangible rewards enduring nature intellectuality realms aesthetics my particular kind caused me activism uncover I1 may still 1I ethnocentric way 1I treasure my heritage strived develop loyalties transcend encompassing my country world 1I live narrow realm folklore french civilization 1I may even become scientist seeking make my views these subjects correspond reality much possible accepting evidence comes senses 1I still solve I1 act my problems faith spontaneous conformity my myths 1I keep my muscles busy well my mind believing health two inseparable mind however comes first 1I am 1I keep committed cult family realms my being preeminently personal I1 likened purification my myths utah state university surgical operation complicated case hardy patient stubborn lasted three years 1I am beloved professors took turns wielding knife https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol1/iss2/2 16 Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality FOLK ELEMENTS grateful expertness opportunity surgery 17 summer thank them my young manhood I1 looked down upon cache valley few weeks ago 1I looked down darkness see shrouded gold old proverb perceive light upon darkness true seems where you find light Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1959 17 ... Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality FOLK ELEMENTS behavior my neck wrap them caressingly myth selection us very large degree determined folk channels made via definition...Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality folk elements formation mormon personality AUSTIN sir hilary E FIFE benzig felt tenzig achievement... https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol1/iss2/2 Fife: Folk Elements in the Formation of the Mormon Personality FOLK ELEMENTS boast lands you ne er again you cross liberty wish see england make start plains your handcart these lines ballad