Indiana University Folklore Institute's Joy Unspeakable Project records, 1978-1984
A Guide to the Records at the Indiana University Archives
Finding aid prepared by Chad Edward
Buterbaugh
Summary Information
Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives
Creator
Indiana University, Bloomington.
Folklore Institute
TitleIndiana University Folklore Institute's
Joy Unspeakable Project records, 1978-1984
Collection No.
C595
Extent
0.6 cubic feet (2 boxes)
Language
Materials are in English
Abstract
Joy
Unspeakable
is a 1981 documentary that was produced by Indiana University
Folklore Institute researchers and film crews from IU’s Radio & Television
Services. Examining the spiritual lives of Pentecostals living in
Bloomington—especially women—the ethnographic film earned academic and public
accolades. It also represented an early success in the research career of Elaine
Lawless, an esteemed folklorist whose 1988 book
God's
Peculiar People: Women's Voice & Folk Tradition in a Pentecostal
Church
undertook a broader exploration of southern Indiana
Pentecostalism based partly on the materials gathered in this project.
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research. Advance notice required.
Administrative History
Joy Unspeakable is a 1981 documentary that was produced
by Indiana University Folklore Institute researchers and film crews from IU’s Radio
& Television Services. Examining the spiritual lives of Pentecostals living in
Bloomington—especially women—the ethnographic film earned academic and public
accolades. It also represented an early success in the research career of Elaine
Lawless, an esteemed folklorist whose 1988 book
God's
Peculiar People: Women's Voice & Folk Tradition in a Pentecostal
Church
undertook a broader exploration of southern Indiana
Pentecostalism based partly on the materials gathered in this project.
Ethnographic film is a genre that privileges the perspectives and experiences of
filmic subjects.
Joy Unspeakable reflects this by
allowing its subjects to explain, at length, their orientations toward
Pentecostalism, and by including long, uninterrupted scenes of worship meetings.
Voiceover narration is minimal. While folklorists do not claim sole proprietorship
of ethnographic film, they are particularly suited to produce it because of the
nature of their training. Ethnography is a typical research method in folklore
studies, though academic books and articles are its more common products.
Joy Unspeakable is among the most well-known
ethnographic films produced by folklorists. Along with Elizabeth "Betsy" Peterson,
Lawless used the film to increase awareness of the female experience in a religion
that is sometimes stereotyped as restricting women's freedoms. What is more, Lawless
and Peterson hosted numerous public screenings of the film—some of which included
people who appeared in it—as a way of fostering public dialogue about religious and
gender issues.
Arrangement
This collection is organized alphabetically into one series entitled, Joy Unspeakable Project Records, and contains financial
records, correspondence, and two audio cassettes
Scope and Content Note
This collection shows the aspects involved in the production
of the documentary,
Joy Unspeakable, from idea to release. The files
include information on project funding, financial records, scripting, distribution, and publicity, as
well as numerous pieces of correspondence shared among producers, funders, and
reviewers spanning from 1978 through 1984. The two audio cassettes in the collection contain a recorded interview from the
same time period.
-
Indexing Terms
-
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
IUCAT, the IU Libraries'
online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by
searching the catalog using these terms.
-
-
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Related Material
Additional records such as newsletters, annual reports, bulletins, and publications
may be accessed in the
Archives of Institutional Memory.
Archived web sites for the Folklore Institute may be included in
Archive-It.
Related photographs may be available in the
University Archives
Photographs Database
.
The full documentary may be streamed for free on
folkstreams.net.
Administrative Information
Acquisition InformationThe bulk of the collection is from accession 2010/065.
Additional materials were added to the collection from accession 2003/055 in 2017.
Usage RestrictionsCopyrights for records originating with Indiana University administrative units, departments, and other offices are held by
the Trustees of Indiana University. For more information, please contact the Indiana University Archives staff.
The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyrights for
non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility
for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials.
Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these
materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.
Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are made available for noncommercial educational
and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its
inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.
Preferred Citation
[Item], Indiana University Folklore Institute's Joy Unspeakable Project records, Collection C595, Indiana University Archives,
Bloomington.
ProvenanceTransferred from the Indiana University Folklore Institute, July 12, 2010.
Materials added from The Indiana University Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology Records, April 3, 2017.
Appraisal
Files listing telephone numbers and mailing addresses for project informants, as
well as files listing Social Security numbers, have been shredded. No files
describing the project's background or production have been removed.
Processing InformationProcessed by Chad Edward Buterbaugh.
Completed in 2015.
Finding aid and processing updated by Laura Bell.
Updated in 2017.
Container List
Series:
Box 1
Joy Unspeakable Project Records, 1978-1984
Budget information, 1980-1981,
undated
Budgets, Final, 1980
Correspondence, Community, 1978-1980,
Correspondence and Grant Proposal for
Joy
Unspeakable,
1979-1984
Correspondence, Music Copyright, 1981
Distribution, 1980-1982,
undated
Fundraising, 1979-1980,
undated
Grant, 1979-1981,
undated
Grant Budget Details, 1980
Interview with Mrs. Arthur,
undated
(2 audiocassette tapes)
Box 2
Mini-Grant, 1980
Production materials, 1980-1981,
undated
Publicity, 1979-1983,
undated
Script, undated
