Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer

Eduard Hoffmann- Krayer ( born December 5, 1864 in Basel, † November 28, 1936 ) was a Swiss folklorist and medievalist germanistischer.

Life and work

Eduard Hoffmann, son of a textile manufacturer, studied against the family tradition of philology in Basel, Leipzig and Berlin. In 1890 he received his PhD University of Basel in the subjects German, French, and Comparative Linguistics, and in 1891 he completed his habilitation at the University of Zurich. From 1896 to 1899 he was editor at the Swiss Idiotikon. In 1900, Hoffmann Associate Professor of Phonetics, Swiss dialects and folklore at the University of Basel. 1909-1936 he held here the full professorship of Germanic philology. 1896 Hoffmann initiated the Swiss Society of Ethnology. He wrote important works on the historical folklore; the essay " The folklore as a science " (1902 ) he also gained international attention.

Thinking

Hoffmann- Krayer was against the general concept of anonymous " folk soul". His most famous theory is that of the vulgus in populo. According to Hoffmann- Kayer is "people" of two parts: " populus " ( political- national) and " vulgus " (social civilization ). He stressed that the folklore was not intended to focus on the entire national life, but only to that which belonged to the vulgus in populo.

He disagreed with Hans Naumann's theory of " cultural decline " and the " primitive community culture," a two-layer theory, which assumes that significant manifestations cultural life would always created by the upper class and only taken from the lower layer.

In contrast, Hoffmann- Krayer saw differentiated societies organized as a mere exercise in social structure from top to bottom, and stressed the importance of the influence of individuals in the dissemination of culture.

Writings (selection )

• Festivals and customs of the Swiss people. Schulthess, Zurich 1913 Revision by Paul Geiger: Atlantis, Zurich 1940; Reprint: Olms, Heidelberg 1992, ISBN 3-283-00249-5