توفيق كنعان : أحد رواد التراث الشعبي الفلسطيني 1882-1964

Abstract EN

An overview of the cultural and scholarly work of Dr.

Tawfiq Kan an is presented in this article, including the opening ceremony of the Tawfiq Kan’an (Ya Kaffi Ya Shaffi) exhibit held in Birzeit University on 30 October 1998.

Dr.

Kanaani then discusses the crucial role Dr.

Kan’an played in collecting and studying Palestinian folklore during one of the most critical periods in Palestinian history and folklore.

The author demonstrates how the study of folklore in Europe was tied to Europen liberation movements, while the study of Anthropology in Palestine was linked to European colonialism.

Furthermore, orientalists continuously associated Palestinian culture and way of life with ancient Jewish culture and heritage.

This association did not improve until william Allbright and Dr.

Kan an began to study Palestinian culture and heritage in the first three decades of the twentieth century.

The author concludes that the impetus for the immense amount of Palestinian heritage collected and studied by Dr.

Kan an was his love for that heritage and the people it represented.