Dr Jonathan Roper

BA (Keele), MA (Sheffield), PhD (Sheffield)

email : j.roper@shef.ac.uk

Dr Jonathan Roper

Much of my academic life has been spent here in Natcect, the only university centre for the study of folklore in England, where I am now an Honorary Research Fellow. One of my major research interests has been verbal charms. In the course of doctoral and post-doctoral work I have attempted to document English charm-types in the comparative context of their continental cognates and agnates.

This interest led to me organising a conference on charms and charming in Europe at the Warburg Institute in January 2003, and a second larger conference at the same location in September 2005.
A third conference was held in Hungary in May 2007 under the auspices of the ISFNR's committee on Charms, Charmers and Charming:
http://www.ut.ee/isfnr/index.php?p=special_committees&cm=2

Aside from charms, my research interests include:

  • Traditional non-narrative verbal genres;
  • Variation in traditional forms around the North Sea;
  • Dialect and dialectology in Sussex.

My recent and forthcoming publications include:

Monograph:

  • English Verbal Charms (Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2005).

Edited works:

  • Charms, Charmers and Charming [editor of and contributor to] (London: Palgrave,
    forthcoming 2008).
  • Charms and Charming in Europe [editor of and contributor to] (London: Palgrave,
    2004).

Articles:

  • ‘Sussex Glossarists and their Illustrative Quotations’
    Sussex Archaeological Collections, vol. 145 (2007), 181-194.
  • ‘Thoms and the Unachieved “Folk-Lore of England”’
    Folklore, vol. 118 (2007), 203-216.
  • ‘Personal and Place Names in English Verbal Charms’
    Il Nome del Testo, vol. 8 (2006), 65-75.
  • ‘Red in Estonian Popular Belief and Folk Costume’ (with Sue Barrett),
    Optics and Laser Technology, vol. 38, nos 4-6 (June-September 2006),
    454-457.
  • ‘England English parallels for Newfoundland English terms related to charming’
    Regional Language Studies, vol.18 (2005), 24-26.
photo

My fieldwork includes:

  • September 2006 lower north shore of Quebec, Canada
  • October 2004 Smith Island, Maryland, USA
  • July 2003 Saami settlements: Lovozero, Russian Federation, Karasjok and Kautokeino, Norway
  • Aug-Sept 2002 Western Newfoundland, south-east Labrador, eastern Quebec, Canada
  • June-July 2001 Western Newfoundland and the south-east coast of Labrador, Canada
  • October 2000 Watauga County, North Carolina, USA
  • May-June 2000 South-east coast of Labrador, and the south-west coast of Newfoundland, Canada
  • Summer 1999 Udmurt, Mari and Estonian settlements in Bashkortostan, Russian Federation
  • Summer 1998 Khanty villages near the river Kazym, Siberia
  • Summer 1996 Kurenurme area, Võrumaa, Estonia; Saatse parish, Setomaa, Estonia
  • Summer 1995 Saatse parish, Setomaa, Estonia
  • Summer 1994 Hiiumaa Island, Estonia

My professional memberships include:


23 October 07