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Show 146 Utah Historical Quarterly Continental Europe. But in place of the old symbols came the new, for without the language of symbol man cannot achieve communication with the world. 33 Central in this idea is the notion that folk expression, although seemingly highly structured and strictured, becomes a liberating force in the lives of people. In repetition, in the establishment and reestablishment of order, the universe becomes vibrant and fulfilling rather than limiting and oppressing. It is therefore somewhat disturbing that most of the work done in Utah in the recent past with Victorian housing focused almost exclusively on the mansion. These buildings were designed by professional architects and paid for by millionaires whose only relation with the area was exploitation of, rather than cohabitation with, the land and the region. The buildings symbolized only the power of money and greed, nothing of the human spirit, the need for symbolic repetition of forms. What the study of folklore, and perhaps folk material culture in particular, can do is solidify and explain our cultural roots, the symbols of our progenitors, as well as our own in-group, esoteric symbols. Thus 33 See Mircea Eliade, Myth and |New York: Harper and Row, 1975), p. 143. Reality |
