In order to develop this project, I decided to approach it from a creative and ethnographic standpoint. I wanted to incorporate the nuances of personality, culture, and rhetoric with the images and interviews I would ultimately conduct and I wanted to give a fuller expression to the breadth of Irish rhetoric and folklore.
Research Questions
To develop research questions and begin the long haul of this project I explored previous literature and scholarship and began to identify some main areas or questions that I wanted to explore and answer through this project.
What is defining and unique about Irish folklore and rhetoric?
What is the relationship between Irish rhetoric and folklore?
How are Irish folklore and rhetoric embodied?
Interviews
The initial concept for interviews was to find experts, professionals, and everyday people to interview about the presence of phronesis in Irish rhetoric and folklore. To begin, I had amassed a list of Irish studies, Irish Literature, and Irish scholars to interview, as well as authors of various books on Irish history, folklore, and wisdom. The criteria to select people for interviews in professional settings was impacted by the ability to contact or enter into correspondence with scholars and professionals.
As I began to explore the works of scholars from various fields I ultimately created a list of five or six scholars with whom I believed would be able to work with me or answer some of the questions that I had developed for professionals.
What is Phronesis?
What is so defining about Irish rhetoric and folklore?
What defines Irish practical wisdom?
How is Phronesis represented or practiced in Irish folklore?
What are some unique rhetorical concepts in Irish rhetoric?
Is Irish rhetoric more epideictic, forensic, or deliberative in nature?
What purposes does Irish rhetoric serve in everyday life?
How is Irish rhetoric practiced at present?
How do you think modern Irish oral traditions developed?
How does traditional folklore or storytelling relate to rhetoric?
How is practical wisdom represented and transmitted in Irish rhetoric?
How influential or important is Irish poetry and writing in the oral tradition?
What is the relationship between written Irish rhetoric and the oral tradition?
How impactful is the individual’s personality on Irish oral literature or Irish phronesis?
What place do Irish wit and sarcasm have in Irish rhetoric and oral traditions?
Where do you think research in Irish rhetoric and cultural practices is headed?
The main research aspects however focused more on the interviews that I wish to conduct with Irish family members who were immersed in Irish culture daily. To begin, I interviewed my Grandfather before I officially began Thesis hours which later helped to create a set of questions as my line of inquiry shifted and changed based on the information that I had unearthed through research and interviews. My initial interview with my Grandfather focused more on the everyday practical applications of folklore and storytelling.
Following his passing and a deeper analysis of the interview, and with Dr. Scott's help, I began to identify and see the presence of phronesis in the initial interview and research. Following my Grandfather's passing, I was blessed to reconnect with family members in Ireland and the rest of the project grew organically from these interactions. As such, I then began to create new questions for the family members I would ultimately interview during this project.
What do you define folklore as?
What kind of folklore or stories did you grow up with in Ireland?
What kind of superstitions or supernatural stories did you hear growing up?
What were your favorite, if any, Irish folklore stories that you grew up with?
What are/were your feelings or understandings of Irish folklore?
How common was it for those around you to reference certain stories in order to teach lessons?
How do you think Irish folklore has affected Irish culture?
What role does wisdom play in folklore?
To what extent is Irish folklore reflective of Irish culture?
What would you say is the practical wisdom of the Irish?
What is the purpose of practical wisdom?
Did you read stories or were they based on word of mouth?
Do you think that cultural stereotypes are reflected in Irish folklore and stories?
Do you think that Irish folklore has an impact on how people view the Irish and Irish culture?
What constitutes common knowledge or practical wisdom in Ireland?
What did you love most about growing up in Ireland?
How important do you think sharing practical wisdom is to Irish culture? Is it a regular part of our wider heritage?
What parts of Irish culture are most related to storytelling? (Be that dance, music, poetry, writing, etc.)
How did storytelling affect your perceptions of the world and your culture?
What do you think practical Irish wisdom looks like? How is it transmitted?
My Cousin Sean and Uncle Deser were more than accommodating in answering my extensive list of questions and helped me to explore phronesis in a deeper way than I would have previously thought possible.
AI Art
The methodology for creating AI art was based on my desire to show new interpretations of traditional Irish folklore and rhetoric. Although folklore primarily functions as oral literature through word of mouth, any interpretation or representation of traditional Irish stories or poetry was coupled with visuals to some degree.
In exploring AI art, I spent hours testing various generators and eventually settled on DALLE-3 for the preciseness of the images that it ultimately generated. In order to create the images that you see in the gallery and throughout this website, I had to create very specific prompts with specific details in order to yield the results that you see at present. For some images, it took me upwards of an hour and a half to perfect a specific prompt or yield the desired result.
The prompts in question typically revolved around the questions and subjects that I was researching, unless it was for an image like the one that you see above, which I created specifically for this one page.
In the case of phronesis and various Irish rhetorical concepts, I would include the definition of the word along with context and a desired outcome or artistic style. Each image could take anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes to generate with DALLE.
Images that I rejected, were ultimately rejected due to incomplete generation, inaccuracy, or for consistency in aesthetic and stylistic choices. The following is an example of an image and corresponding prompt.
The initial prompt was as follows: Create an image in AI art style that depicts the legendary Irish figure Finn McCool, surrounded by the Fianna, set against the picturesque Irish landscape.
Following the generation of the image one has the ability to review the description generated with the image and substitute or add any details to the prompt in order to create a desired image.
"Finn McCool, a central figure in Irish mythology, is known for his strength and wisdom. He stands tall and imposing, with the characteristic features of a legendary warrior: muscular build, flowing hair, and ancient Gaelic attire. Surrounding him are members of the Fianna, his loyal band of warriors, each displaying their unique warrior attire and weapons, showcasing a variety of ancient Irish weaponry like swords, spears, and shields. The background captures the breathtaking beauty of the Irish countryside, with rolling green hills, rocky cliffs, and ancient stone structures, embodying the mystic and wild spirit of Ireland. This scene not only pays homage to Finn McCool and the Fianna but also celebrates the rich tapestry of Irish mythology and the natural beauty of Ireland."
The process while arduous, yields beautiful images that celebrate the complexities of Irish folklore and practical wisdom.
Website and Gallery Creation
The website and gallery that you see here ultimately represent a living thesis. Although categorized as a non-thesis project, I desired to create a project that still presented the important qualities of a traditional thesis while still embodying Irish rhetoric and folklore, not just cataloging research and results.
The choice to create a website is a fluid one, one that was created in order to accommodate future research and collaboration as well as accessibility.
There is a story and embodiment of practical wisdom granted through the process of seeking out wisdom in order to orient oneself in the world and to move forward with right action. The stories and wisdom passed down to me by my family members, as well as fellow scholars, are part of the embodiment of phronesis and also represent an engagement and participation with Irish folklore.
The website was designed for easier navigation and the gallery was created using WIX as the hosting platform. Every aspect of the website that you see was designed from scratch and designed to tell and lead students and scholars through a story of exploration and research. The gallery itself was created in order to flow from one "collection" or "project" to another to help build off of the information and wisdom of the previously viewed collection.
The incorporation of music, proverbs, folklore, rhetorical concepts and embodiment, and personal artifacts serve as a window into what it looks like to live a life that is oriented through the practical wisdom of the Irish. The various parts of the gallery and photos are meant to convey the experience of engaging with Irish rhetoric on a daily basis.
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