Difference between revisions of "Folklore"

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'''Folklore''' is the body of verbal expressive culture, including [[folktales|tales]], [[legend]]s, [[oral history]], proverbs, jokes, [[superstition|popular belief]]s current among a particular population, comprising the [[oral tradition]] of that culture, [[subculture]], or [[group (sociology)|group]]. The academic and usually [[ethnology|ethnographic]] study of folklore is known as [[folkloristics]].

~~==History==~~

The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological goals; only in the 20th century did ethnographers begin to attempt to record folklore without overt political goals. The [[Brothers Grimm]], Wilhelm Grimm|Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm, collected orally transmitted German tales and published the first series as ''Kinder- und Hausmärchen'' ("Children's and Household Tales") in 1812.

The term was coined in 1846 by an Englishman, William Thoms, who wanted to use an [[Anglo-Saxon]] term for what was then called "popular antiquities." Johann Gottfried von Herder first advocated the deliberate recording and preservation of folklore to document the authentic spirit, tradition, and identity of the German people; the belief that there can be such authenticity is one of the tenets of the romantic nationalism which Herder developed. The definition most widely accepted by current scholars of the field is "artistic communication in small groups," coined by Dan Ben-Amos a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, and the term, and the associated field of study, now include non-verbal art forms and customary practices.

~~==The study of folklore==~~

While folklore can contain religious or mythic elements, it typically concerns itself with the mundane traditions of everyday life. Folklore frequently ties the practical and the esoteric into one narrative package. It has often been conflated with mythology, and vice versa, because it has been assumed that any figurative story that does not pertain to the dominant beliefs of the time is not of the same status as those dominant beliefs. Thus, [[Rome|Roman]] religion is called "myth" by [[Christianity|Christians]]. In that way, both myth and folklore have become catch-all terms for all figurative narratives which do not correspond with the dominant belief structure. Sometimes "folklore" is religious in nature, like the tales of the [[Wales|Welsh]] ''[[Mabinogion]]'' or those found in [[Iceland|Icelandic]] [[skaldic poetry]]. Many of the tales in the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' of [[Jacobus de Voragine|Jacob de Voragine]] also embody folklore elements in a Christian context: examples of such [[:Category:Christian mythology|Christian mythology]] are the themes woven round [[Saint George]] or [[Saint Christopher]]. In this case, the term "folklore" is being used in a pejorative sense. That is, while the tales of [[Odin]] the Wanderer have a religious value to the Norse who composed the stories, because it does not fit into a Christian configuration it is not considered "religious" by Christians who may instead refer to it as "folklore."

On the other hand, folklore can be used to accurately describe a figurative narrative, which has no sacred or religious content. In the [[Jungian psychology|Jungian]] view, which is but one method of analysis, it may instead pertain to unconscious psychological patterns, instincts or [[archetypes]] of the mind. This lore may or may not have components of the [[fantasy|fantastic]] (such as [[magic (paranormal)|magic]], ethereal beings or the personification of inanimate objects). These folktales may or may not emerge from a religious tradition, but nevertheless speak to deep psychological issues. The familiar folklore, "[[Hansel and Gretel]]," is an example of this fine line. The manifest purpose of the tale may primarily be one of mundane instruction regarding forest safety or secondarily a [[cautionary tale]] about the dangers of famine to large families, but its latent meaning may evoke a strong emotional response due to the widely-understood [[theme (literature)|theme]]s and [[Motif (literature)|motif]]s such as “The Terrible Mother”, “Death,” and “Atonement with the Father.” There can be both a moral and psychological scope to the work, as well as entertainment value, depending upon the nature of the teller, the style of the telling, the ages of the audience members, and the overall [[context]] of the [[performance]]. Folklorists generally resist universal interpretations of [[narrative]]s and, wherever possible, analyze [[oral]] versions of tellings in specific contexts, rather than print sources, which often show the work or bias of the [[writer]] or [[editor]].

Contemporary folklore common in the Western world includes the [[urban legend]] and the [[conspiracy theory]]. There are many forms of folklore that are so common, however, that most people do not consider them to be folklore, such as [[riddle]]s, children's [[rhymes]] and [[ghost stories]], [[rumor]]s, [[gossip]], ethnic [[stereotype]]s, and [[holiday]] customs and [[life-cycle rituals]]. [[UFO abduction]] narratives can be seen, in some sense, to refigure the tales of pre-Christian Europe, or even such tales in the [[Bible]] as the Ascent of Elijah to heaven. [[Adrienne Mayor]], in introducing a bibliography on the topic, noted that most modern folklorists are largely unaware of classical parallels and precedents, in materials that are only partly represented by the familiar designation ''[[Aesopica]]'': "Ancient Greek and Roman literature contains rich troves of folklore and popular beliefs, many of which have counterparts in modern contemporary legends" (Mayor, 2000).

~~==Categories of folklore==~~

*[[Genres]]

**[[Ballad]]

**[[Blason Populaire]]

**[[Counting rhyme]]s

**[[Costumbrista]]

**[[convention (norm)|Custom]]

**[[Folk play]]

**[[Epic poetry]]

**[[Festival]]

**[[Folk speech]]

**[[Folk art]]

**[[Folk belief]]

**[[Folk magic]]

**Folk [[metaphor]]

**[[Folk poetry]] and [[rhyme]]

**Folk [[simile]]

**[[Folk song]]

**Folk tale

***[[Animal tale]]

***[[Fairy tale]]

***[[Jocular tale]]

**[[Games]]

**[[Holiday lore]] and customs

**[[Joke]]

**[[Legend]]

***[[Urban legend|Urban (or Contemporary) legend]]

**[[Material culture]]

**[[Mythology|Myth]]

**[[Memorate]]

**[[Proverb]]

**[[Riddle]]

**[[Superstition]] and [[popular belief]]

**[[Taunts]]

**[[Weather lore]]

**[[Xerox lore]]

*National or ethnic (see [[romantic nationalism]])

**[[African-American folklore]]

**[[Albanian folklore]]

**[[Arab folklore]]

**[[Paganism in the Eastern Alps|Austrian folklore]]

**[[American folklore]]

**[[Australian folklore]]

**[[Brazilian folklore]]

**[[Caribbean folklore]]

**[[Chinese folklore]]

**[[English folklore]]

**[[Finnish folklore]]

**[[German folklore]]

**[[Indian folklore]]

**[[Irish mythology|Irish folklore]]

**[[Italian folklore]]

**[[Jewish folklore]], which incorporates the [[Aggadah]]

**[[Japanese mythology|Japanese folklore]]

**[[Korean folklore]]

**[[Kosovar folklore]]

**[[Mexican folklore]]

**[[Native American folklore]]

**[[Olrig|Olrig folklore]]

**[[Pakistani folklore]]

**[[Philippine folklore]]

**[[Russian folklore]]

**[[Scandinavian folklore]]

**[[Scottish mythology|Scottish folklore]]

**[[Slavic folklore]]

**[[Swiss folklore]]

**[[Turkish folklore]]

**[[Laz folklore]]

**[[Latin American folklore]]

~~==See also==~~

*[[Applied folklore]]

*[[Public folklore]]

~~==Other usages==~~

In [[mathematics]] and some related disciplines, the term ''folklore'' is used to refer to any result in a field of study which is widely known by practitioners of that field, but considered too trivial or unoriginal to be worth publishing by itself in the research literature. Such results often have to wait for a new textbook on the subject, or a survey article, before they appear in print.

~~== External links: North America ==~~

~~{{commonscat}}~~

*[http://www.afsnet.org American Folklore Society]

*[http://www.loc.gov/folklife American Folklife Center]

*[http://www.westernfolklore.org/ Western States Folklore Society]

*[http://www.fl.ulaval.ca/celat/acef/ Folklore Studies Association of Canada]

*[http://www.indiana.edu/~folklore/ Indiana University's Folklore Program]

*[http://ls.berkeley.edu/dept/folklore/ Folklore Program at the University of California at Berkeley]

*[http://www.mun.ca/folklore Memorial University of Newfoundland's Folklore Program]

*[http://www.wku.edu/folkstudies/ Folklore Program at Western Kentucky University]

*[http://english.usu.edu/Document/index.asp?Parent=563 Folklore Program at Utah State University]

*[http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~flr/ University of Oregon's Folklore Program]

*[http://www.unc.edu/depts/folklore/ Folklore Program at the University of North Carolina]

*[http://www.wac.ucla.edu/degrees.php World Arts and Cultures Program of the University of California at Los Angeles]

*[http://www.folkstreams.net/ Folkstreams.net-video streaming films on American traditional culture and folklife]

*[http://www.ukrfolk.ca/ Ukrainian Folklore Centre, University of Alberta]

*[http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/uvp/ Ukrainian Traditional Folklore, University of Alberta]

*[http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/SEEFA/ Slavic and East European Folklore Association]

~~==For further reading==~~

*[http://www.worldagesarchive.com/Reference_Links/Myth_Bibliograpgy.htm Adrienne Mayor, "Bibliography of Classical Folklore Scholarship: Myths, Legends, and Popular Beliefs of Ancient Greece and Rome"], from ''Folklore'' (April 2000)

~~<small>From Wikipedia, retrieved june 16 2006</small>~~

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Folklore''' is the body of verbal expressive culture, including [[folktales|tales]], [[legend]]s, [[oral history]], proverbs, jokes, [[superstition|popular belief]]s current among a particular population, comprising the [[oral tradition]] of that culture, [[subculture]], or [[group (sociology)|group]]. The academic and usually [[ethnology|ethnographic]] study of folklore is known as [[folkloristics]].
-==History==
-The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological goals; only in the 20th century did ethnographers begin to attempt to record folklore without overt political goals. The [[Brothers Grimm]], Wilhelm Grimm|Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm, collected orally transmitted German tales and published the first series as ''Kinder- und Hausmärchen'' ("Children's and Household Tales") in 1812.
-The term was coined in 1846 by an Englishman, William Thoms, who wanted to use an [[Anglo-Saxon]] term for what was then called "popular antiquities." Johann Gottfried von Herder first advocated the deliberate recording and preservation of folklore to document the authentic spirit, tradition, and identity of the German people; the belief that there can be such authenticity is one of the tenets of the romantic nationalism which Herder developed.  The definition most widely accepted by current scholars of the field is "artistic communication in small groups," coined by Dan Ben-Amos a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, and the term, and the associated field of study, now include non-verbal art forms and customary practices.
-==The study of folklore==
-While folklore can contain religious or mythic elements, it typically concerns itself with the mundane traditions of everyday life. Folklore frequently ties the practical and the esoteric into one narrative package. It has often been conflated with mythology, and vice versa, because it has been assumed that any figurative story that does not pertain to the dominant beliefs of the time is not of the same status as those dominant beliefs. Thus, [[Rome|Roman]] religion is called "myth" by [[Christianity|Christians]]. In that way, both myth and folklore have become catch-all terms for all figurative narratives which do not correspond with the dominant belief structure. Sometimes "folklore" is religious in nature, like the tales of the [[Wales|Welsh]] ''[[Mabinogion]]'' or those found in [[Iceland|Icelandic]] [[skaldic poetry]]. Many of the tales in the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' of [[Jacobus de Voragine|Jacob de Voragine]] also embody folklore elements in a Christian context: examples of such [[:Category:Christian mythology|Christian mythology]] are the themes woven round [[Saint George]] or [[Saint Christopher]]. In this case, the term "folklore" is being used in a pejorative sense. That is, while the tales of [[Odin]] the Wanderer have a religious value to the Norse who composed the stories, because it does not fit into a Christian configuration it is not considered "religious" by Christians who may instead refer to it as "folklore."
-On the other hand, folklore can be used to accurately describe a figurative narrative, which has no sacred or religious content. In the [[Jungian psychology|Jungian]] view, which is but one method of analysis, it may instead pertain to unconscious psychological patterns, instincts or [[archetypes]] of the mind. This lore may or may not have components of the [[fantasy|fantastic]] (such as [[magic (paranormal)|magic]], ethereal beings or the personification of inanimate objects). These folktales may or may not emerge from a religious tradition, but nevertheless speak to deep psychological issues. The familiar folklore, "[[Hansel and Gretel]]," is an example of this fine line. The manifest purpose of the tale may primarily be one of mundane instruction regarding forest safety or secondarily a [[cautionary tale]] about the dangers of famine to large families, but its latent meaning may evoke a strong emotional response due to the widely-understood  [[theme (literature)|theme]]s and [[Motif (literature)|motif]]s such as “The Terrible Mother”, “Death,” and “Atonement with the Father.” There can be both a moral and psychological scope to the work, as well as entertainment value, depending upon the nature of the teller, the style of the telling, the ages of the audience members, and the overall [[context]] of the [[performance]]. Folklorists generally resist universal interpretations of [[narrative]]s and, wherever possible, analyze [[oral]] versions of tellings in specific contexts, rather than print sources, which often show the work or bias of the [[writer]] or [[editor]].
-Contemporary folklore common in the Western world includes the [[urban legend]] and the [[conspiracy theory]]. There are many forms of folklore that are so common, however, that most people do not consider them to be folklore, such as [[riddle]]s, children's [[rhymes]] and [[ghost stories]], [[rumor]]s, [[gossip]], ethnic [[stereotype]]s, and [[holiday]] customs and [[life-cycle rituals]].  [[UFO abduction]] narratives can be seen, in some sense, to refigure the tales of pre-Christian Europe, or even such tales in the [[Bible]] as the Ascent of Elijah to heaven. [[Adrienne Mayor]], in introducing a bibliography on the topic, noted that most modern folklorists are largely unaware of classical parallels and precedents, in materials that are only partly represented by the familiar designation ''[[Aesopica]]'': "Ancient Greek and Roman literature contains rich troves of folklore and popular beliefs, many of which have counterparts in modern contemporary legends" (Mayor, 2000).
-==Categories of folklore==
-*[[Genres]]
-**[[Ballad]]
-**[[Blason Populaire]]
-**[[Counting rhyme]]s
-**[[Costumbrista]]
-**[[convention (norm)|Custom]]
-**[[Folk play]]
-**[[Epic poetry]]
-**[[Festival]]
-**[[Folk speech]]
-**[[Folk art]]
-**[[Folk belief]]
-**[[Folk magic]]
-**Folk [[metaphor]]
-**[[Folk poetry]] and [[rhyme]]
-**Folk [[simile]]
-**[[Folk song]]
-**Folk tale
-***[[Animal tale]]
-***[[Fairy tale]]
-***[[Jocular tale]]
-**[[Games]]
-**[[Holiday lore]] and customs
-**[[Joke]]
-**[[Legend]]
-***[[Urban legend|Urban (or Contemporary) legend]]
-**[[Material culture]]
-**[[Mythology|Myth]]
-**[[Memorate]]
-**[[Proverb]]
-**[[Riddle]]
-**[[Superstition]] and [[popular belief]]
-**[[Taunts]]
-**[[Weather lore]]
-**[[Xerox lore]]
-*National or ethnic (see [[romantic nationalism]])
-**[[African-American folklore]]
-**[[Albanian folklore]]
-**[[Arab folklore]]
-**[[Paganism in the Eastern Alps|Austrian folklore]]
-**[[American folklore]]
-**[[Australian folklore]]
-**[[Brazilian folklore]]
-**[[Caribbean folklore]]
-**[[Chinese folklore]]
-**[[English folklore]]
-**[[Finnish folklore]]
-**[[German folklore]]
-**[[Indian folklore]]
-**[[Irish mythology|Irish folklore]]
-**[[Italian folklore]]
-**[[Jewish folklore]], which incorporates the [[Aggadah]]
-**[[Japanese mythology|Japanese folklore]]
-**[[Korean folklore]]
-**[[Kosovar folklore]]
-**[[Mexican folklore]]
-**[[Native American folklore]]
-**[[Olrig|Olrig folklore]]
-**[[Pakistani folklore]]
-**[[Philippine folklore]]
-**[[Russian folklore]]
-**[[Scandinavian folklore]]
-**[[Scottish mythology|Scottish folklore]]
-**[[Slavic folklore]]
-**[[Swiss folklore]]
-**[[Turkish folklore]]
-**[[Laz folklore]]
-**[[Latin American folklore]]
-==See also==
-*[[Applied folklore]]
-*[[Public folklore]]
-==Other usages==
-In [[mathematics]] and some related disciplines, the term ''folklore'' is used to refer to any result in a field of study which is widely known by practitioners of that field, but considered too trivial or unoriginal to be worth publishing by itself in the research literature.  Such results often have to wait for a new textbook on the subject, or a survey article, before they appear in print.
-== External links: North America ==
-{{commonscat}}
-*[http://www.afsnet.org American Folklore Society]
-*[http://www.loc.gov/folklife American Folklife Center]
-*[http://www.westernfolklore.org/ Western States Folklore Society]
-*[http://www.fl.ulaval.ca/celat/acef/ Folklore Studies Association of Canada]
-*[http://www.indiana.edu/~folklore/ Indiana University's Folklore Program]
-*[http://ls.berkeley.edu/dept/folklore/ Folklore Program at the University of California at Berkeley]
-*[http://www.mun.ca/folklore Memorial University of Newfoundland's Folklore Program]
-*[http://www.wku.edu/folkstudies/ Folklore Program at Western Kentucky University]
-*[http://english.usu.edu/Document/index.asp?Parent=563 Folklore Program at Utah State University]
-*[http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~flr/ University of Oregon's Folklore Program]
-*[http://www.unc.edu/depts/folklore/ Folklore Program at the University of North Carolina]
-*[http://www.wac.ucla.edu/degrees.php World Arts and Cultures Program of the University of California at Los Angeles]
-*[http://www.folkstreams.net/ Folkstreams.net-video streaming films on American traditional culture and folklife]
-*[http://www.ukrfolk.ca/ Ukrainian Folklore Centre, University of Alberta]
-*[http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/uvp/ Ukrainian Traditional Folklore, University of Alberta]
-*[http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/SEEFA/ Slavic and East European Folklore Association]
-==For further reading==
-*[http://www.worldagesarchive.com/Reference_Links/Myth_Bibliograpgy.htm Adrienne  Mayor, "Bibliography of Classical Folklore Scholarship: Myths, Legends, and Popular Beliefs of Ancient Greece and Rome"], from ''Folklore'' (April 2000)
-<small>From Wikipedia, retrieved june 16 2006</small>

Revision as of 03:40, 18 April 2007