The Problem of "The Individual and Tradition" in the Works of J. Pentikkainen

Recently the well-known Finnish ethnologist, linguist, and folklorist J. Pentikkainen has published a series of works devoted to the study of the world-view of Marina Takalo (1890-1970), a remarkable bearer of traditional Karelian culture. (1) The results of almost a decade (1960-1969) of J. Pentikkainen's intensive work with Marina Takalo can without hesitation be called unique. Here, probably for the first time in world science, a single person's picture of the world, his cultural repertoire, the mechanism of acquisition, preservation, and transmission of traditional information, and his enculturation, socialization, and acculturation have been described exhaustively. The Finnish scholar's research also arouses special interest in view of the recent enthusiasm for mass polling techniques, and for statistical data on ethnosociology to be used in the study of ethnic processes. While it is unquestionably possible to use statistical material to gain an understanding of general trends in ethnocultural processes, many very essential characteristics of these processes simply cannot be discerned with the help of statistical methods. Undoubtedly, closer attention to the bearer of ethnic characteristics (not the statistical average.'), to the individual, may not only correct the existing bias, but can significantly enhance and enrich our views of the character of ethnocultural processes

Acculturation · Character (mathematics) · Enculturation · Enthusiasm · Epistemology · Ethnic group · Folklore · Folkloristics · Linguistics · Social science · Socialization · Sociology · Anthropology · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology