Dictionary of Meaning
<<Back
Please select a letter:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
0-9
Click here for Shopping
Folklore
*** Shopping-Tip: Folklore
'''Folklore''' is the body of
verbal expressive
culture, including
folktales tales,
legends,
oral history,
proverbs,
jokes,
superstition popular beliefs current among a particular population, comprising the
oral tradition of that culture,
subculture, or
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
Ethnography 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
Jacob de Voragine also embody folklore elements in a Christian context: examples of such
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) themes and
Motif (literature) motifs 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
narratives 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
riddles, children's
rhymes and
ghost stories,
rumors,
gossip, ethnic
stereotypes, 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 rhymes
**
Costumbrista
**
convention (norm) Custom
**
Folk play
**
Epic poetry
**
Festival
**
Folk speech
**
Folk art
**
Folk belief
**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
**
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
**
Chinese folklore
**
English folklore
**
Finnish folklore
**
German folklore
**
Indian folklore
**
Irish mythology Irish 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
See also
*
Applied folklore
*
Public folklore
*
Chinook wind#Chinooks and tall tales (folklore) Chinook wind, section ''Chinooks and tall tales''.
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
-
American Folklore Society
-
American Folklife Center
-
Western States Folklore Society
-
Folklore Studies Association of Canada
-
Indiana University's Folklore Program
-
Folklore Program at the University of California at Berkeley
-
Memorial University of Newfoundland's Folklore Program
-
Folklore Program at Western Kentucky University
-
Folklore Program at Utah State University
-
University of Oregon's Folklore Program
-
Folklore Program at the University of North Carolina
-
World Arts and Cultures Program of the University of California at Los Angeles
-
Folkstreams.net-video streaming films on American traditional culture and folklife
For further reading
-
Adrienne Mayor, "Bibliography of Classical Folklore Scholarship: Myths, Legends, and Popular Beliefs of Ancient Greece and Rome", from ''Folklore'' (April 2000)
Category:Folklore
ar:Ù?لكلور
bg:Фолклор
ca:Cultura popular
da:Folkeminde
de:Folklore
el:ΛαογÏ?αφία
et:Folkloor
es:Folclore
fr:Folklore
he:פולקלור
ja:æ°‘ä¿—å¦
mk:Фолклор
nl:Folklore
pt:Folclore
ru:Фольклор
fi:Kansanrunous
sk:Folklór
sv:Folklore
uk:Фольклор
zh:æ°‘ä¿—å¦
{{sisterlinkswp|Category:Folklore}}
{{commonscat|Folklore}}
{{Catmore}}
Category:Traditions
Category:Communication of falsehoods
Category:Literature
Category:Fiction
bg:КатегориÑ?:Фолклор
da:Kategori:Folkeminde
es:CategorÃa:Folclore
fr:Catégorie:Folklore
io:Category:Folkloro
ja:Category:æ°‘ä¿—å¦
nl:Categorie:Folklore
no:Kategori:Folkeminne
ru:КатегориÑ?:Фольклор
sv:Kategori:Folkminne
*** Shopping-Tip: Folklore
