The dilemma of representation in folklore studies: The case of Henry Truvillion and John Lomax

Recently, scholars have done much to describe the cultural beliefs and valu es that influenced the way John A. Lomax perceived African Americans; this study focuses on his relationship with Henry E. Truvillion, a railroad fore man, minister, and gifted singer who was recorded by Lomax in the 1930s and 1940s. Mullen suggests how Lomaxs attitudes toward race were influenced by nineteenth-century cultural assumptions about blacks, his emotional early childhood experiences, prevailing scholarly theories, and social and fieldw ork contacts. He also draws upon an examination of Lomaxs books, articles, and field notes, as well as interviews with Truvillions son Jesse Garfield Truvillion, to discuss the choices Lomax made in his public representation of the elder Truvillion. In the process, Mullen aims to highlight perceptua l gaps and cross-generational similaritiespositive and negativebetween toda ys folklorists and those of Lomaxs generation.