THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN LEFT-WING INTEREST IN FOLKSONG.

The article presents information about roots of the U.S. Left-Wing interest in folksong. The conscious interest, use and manipulation of folklore materials for political purposes is nothing new. The origins of folklore study itself are deeply rooted in the romantic nationalism of 19th century Europe, in a movement which saw politically-suppressed peoples collect their folksongs and tales. They did so in an effort to establish a cultural heritage which would serve as ideological props in the struggle for political independence. More recently, nations from every part of the political spectrum to name but a few-have employed folklore as a stabilizing, unifying and sometimes repressive tool in maintaining their respective regimes and ideologies. In the U.S., no a priori stress was put on folklore materials by any political group or protest movement until the 1930s, when the left wing, spearheaded by the Communist Party, discovered intrinsic working-class values in folksongs and other folklore genres. The subsequent influence of the left in popularizing folksong was, for a number of years, so great that its effects are felt to this day and have even reached into the academic profession.'