Charlie Groth (Bucks County Community College)
As a nimble discipline trained to observe unofficial and emerging traditions, folkloristics is well poised to document and interpret the way people adapt to changes in the social and physical environment during the Covid19 global pandemic. Lewis Island in the Delaware River in Lambertville, New Jersey provides an apt case study for examining the disruption to sense of place, to a folk ethics of kindness, and to “elective belonging” (Savage, Bagnall, and Longhurst 2005). This paper explores this problematic phenomenon and the Lewis extended family’s attempts to mitigate the disruption for people who visit the island.
Part of 02-12 Folklore and the Environment, Thursday, October 13, 10:30 am–12:30 pm