Folklore

Folklore (or lore) consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called folkloristics. The word "folklore" was first used by the English antiquarian William Thoms in a letter published in the London journal The Athenaeum in 1846.^[1] In usage, there is a continuum between folklore and mythology. Stith Thompson made a major attempt to index the motifs of both folklore and mythology, providing an outline into which new motifs can be placed, and scholars can keep track of all older motifs.
Folklore can be divided into four areas of study: artifact (such as voodoo dolls), describable and transmissible entity (oral tradition), culture, and behavior (rituals). These areas do not stand alone, however, as often a particular item or element may fit into more than one of these areas.^[2]

Contents 1 Oral tradition 2 Cultural 3 Rituals 4 Categories of folklore 4.1 Genres 4.2 Folk narratives 4.3 National or ethnic 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] Oral tradition

While folklore can contain religious or mythic elements, it equally concerns itself with the sometimes 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.^{[citation needed]} Thus, Roman religion is called "myth" by today's dominant religions. 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.^{[citation needed]}
Sometimes "folklore" is religious in nature, like the tales of the Welsh Mabinogion or those found in Icelandic skaldic poetry. Many of the tales in the Golden Legend of Jacob de Voragine also embody folklore elements in a Christian context, as well as the tales of Old Mr. Brennan^[who?]. Examples of such Christian mythology are the themes woven around Saint George or Saint Christopher. In this case, the term "folklore" is being used in a pejorative sense.
"Folktales" is a general term for different varieties of traditional narrative. The telling of stories appears to be a cultural universal, common to basic and complex societies alike. Even the forms folktales take are certainly similar from culture to culture, and comparative studies of themes and narrative ways have been successful in showing these relationships. Also it is considered to be an oral tale to be told for everybody.^{[clarification needed]}

Hansel and Gretel is a fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. The tale has been adapted to various media, most notably the opera Hänsel und Gretel (1893) by Engelbert Humperdinck and a stop-motion animated feature film based on the opera. Artwork by Arthur Rackham, 1909

On the other hand, folklore can be used to accurately describe a figurative narrative, which has no sacred or religious content. In the Jungian view, which is but one method of analysis, it may instead pertain to unconscious psychological patterns, instincts or archetypes of the mind. This may or may not have components of the fantastic (such as 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 folktale, "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 themes and 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 narratives common in the Western world include the urban legend. There are many forms of folklore that are so common, however, that most people do not realize they are folklore, such as riddles, children's rhymes and ghost stories, rumors (including conspiracy theories), 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. 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" (Such as Mayor, 2000).
Vladimir Propp's classic study Morphology of the Folktale (1928) became the basis of research into the structure of folklore texts. Propp discovered a uniform structure in Russian fairy tales. His book has been translated into English, Italian, Polish and other languages. The English translation was issued in USA in 1958, some 30 years after the publication of the original. It was met by approving reviews and significantly influenced later research on folklore and, more generally, structural semantics. Though his work was based on syntagmatic structure, it gave the scope to understand the structure of folktales, of which he discovered thirty one functions.^[3] Derrida's concept of archewriting does not obey the distinction between writing and speaking.^[4]

[edit] Cultural

Folklorist William Bascom states that folklore has many cultural aspects, such as allowing for escape from societal consequences. In addition, folklore can also serve to validate a culture (romantic nationalism), as well as transmit a culture's morals and values. Folklore can also be the root of many cultural types of music. Country, blues, and bluegrass all originate from American folklore. Examples of artists which have used folkloric themes in their music would be: Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jim Croce, and many others. Folklore can also be used to assert social pressures, or relieve them, for example in the case of humor and carnival.
In addition, folklorists study medical, supernatural, religious, and political belief systems as an essential, often unspoken, part of expressive culture.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Rituals

Many rituals can sometimes be considered folklore, whether formalized in a cultural or religious system (e.g. weddings, baptisms, harvest festivals) or practiced within a family or secular context. For example, in certain parts of the United States (as well as other countries) one places a knife, or a pair of scissors, under the mattress to "cut the birth pains" after giving birth. Additionally, children's counting-out games can be defined as behavioral folklore.^[5]

[edit] Categories of folklore

See also: Aarne–Thompson classification system

This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (July 2010)

[edit] Genres

Archetypes, stereotypes and stock characters. Ballad Blason Populaire Childlore Children's street culture Counting rhymes Costumbrismo Craft

Custom Epic poetry Factoids Festival Folk art Folk belief Folk magic Folk medicine

Folk narrative Folk play Folk poetry and rhyme Folk song Games Holiday lore and customs Idiom

Mythology Riddle Saying Superstition Taunts Weather lore Xerox lore

[edit] Folk narratives

Anecdote Fable Fairy tale

Ghost story Joke Legend

Maxim Proverb Myth

Parable Tall tale Urban legend

[edit] National or ethnic

Further information: List of mythologies

Americas Folklore of the United States Latin American folklore Brazilian folklore Caribbean folklore Colombian folklore Australian folklore East Asian Chinese folklore Japanese folklore Korean folklore

European folklore Alpine (Austrian and Swiss) folklore Czech folklore English folklore Estonian folklore Dutch folklore Finnish folklore French folklore German folklore Hungarian folklore Irish folklore Italian folklore Lithuanian folklore

European folklore Maltese folklore Montenegrin folklore Romanian folklore Scandinavian folklore Scottish folklore Slavic folklore Polish folklore Russian folklore Ukrainian folklore Spanish Folklore Swiss folklore Welsh folklore

Near Eastern Aggadah Arab folklore Iranian folklore Jewish folklore Turkish folklore South Asian Indian folklore Maldivian folklore Nepali Folklore Pakistani folklore Southeast Asian Philippine folklore Indonesian Folklore

[edit] See also

Folklore portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Folklore

• Applied folklore
• Appropriation (music)
• Chinook wind
• Folk
• Folklife
• Folkloristics
• Intangible Cultural Heritage
• Petrosomatoglyph (image of parts of a human or animal body incised in rock)
• Signifying monkey

[edit] References

1. ^ Georges, Robert A., Michael Owens Jones, "Folkloristics: An Introduction," Indiana University Press, 1995.
2. ^ Georges, Robert A., Michael Owens Jones, "Folkloristics: An Introduction," pp.313 Indiana University Press, 1995.
3. ^ L. V. Propp, Morphology of the Folktale, Second Edition, revised and edited with a Preface of Louis A. Wagner, University of Texas Press, 1968.
4. ^ "Folklore: Searching for Logistics by Debaprasad Bandyopadhyay". SSRN. http://ssrn.com/abstract=2017735. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
5. ^ Kenneth S. Goldstein, "Strategy in Counting Out: An Ethnographic Folklore Field Study," in Elliott M. Avedon and Brian Sutton-Smith, eds., The Study of Games New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1971.

[edit] Further reading

• Adrienne Mayor, "Bibliography of Classical Folklore Scholarship: Myths, Legends, and Popular Beliefs of Ancient Greece and Rome", from Folklore (April 2000)
• Coffin, Tristram P.; Cohen, Hennig, (editors), Folklore in America; tales, songs, superstitions, proverbs, riddles, games, folk drama and folk festivals, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1966. Selections from the Journal of American folklore.

[edit] External links

• Meeting-place and knowledge bank for everyone whose ancestry hails from Sweden
• CIOFF: International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts
• Folktales from around the world
• Folklore Society
• "Folklore". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Folklore". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Slovak Folklore — folklore groups, videos, songs, history, news, events, festivals

v t e Fairies Related articles Changeling Classifications of fairies Fairy fort Fairy-locks Fairy path Fairy riding Fairy ring Fairy tale Hungry grass Royalty in folklore Áine Alberich Arawn Beira Bodb Derg Brigid Clíodhna The Dagda Donn Fairy Queen Finvarra Freyr & Yngvi Freyja Gwyn ap Nudd Gwythyr ap Greidawl Gyre-Carling/Nicnevin Manannán mac Lir Queen of Elphame Raja Jinn Peri Royalty in literature Belphoebe Caelia Elegast Erlking Gloriana Lurline Mab Oberon/Auberon Titania Fairylands in folklore Alfheim/Elphame Annwn Avalon & Afallach & Emain Ablach Brú na Bóinne Cnoc Meadha Cnoc na Teamhrach Fortunate Isles Hy Brasil Inis Vitrin Mag Mell Niðavellir Otherworld Rathcroghan Seelie Court Svartálfar and Svartálfaheimr Tír na nÓg Unseelie Court Fairies in culture Cottingley Fairies Faerieworlds Faery Wicca Fairy painting The Faerie Queene Tinker Bell Fairies in folklore Celtic folklore Alp Luachra Aos Sidhe Arkan Sonney Asrai Banshee Barghest Bean nighe Billy Blind Biróg Bluecap Bodach Boggart Bogle Brag Brownie Buggane Bugul Noz Caoineag Cat Sìth & Cù Sìth Ceffyl Dŵr Clurichaun Coblynau Cyhyraeth Drow Dullahan Each uisge Fear dearg Fear gorta Fenodyree Finfolk Fuath Gancanagh Ghillie Dhu Glaistig Glashtyn Green Man Grindylow Gwyllion Gwyn ap Nudd Habetrot Hedley Kow Hob Iannic-ann-ôd Jenny Greenteeth Joan the Wad Joint-eater Kelpie Killmoulis Knocker Knucker Korrigan Leanan sídhe Leprechaun Lubber fiend Merrow Mooinjer veggey Morgen Nain Rouge Nicnevin Nix Peg Powler Pixie Púca/Pwca & Bucca & Puck Redcap Selkie Seonaidh Shellycoat Sluagh Spriggan Tuatha Dé Danann Tylwyth Teg Water Horse Wirry-cow Yan-gant-y-tan European folklore Anjana Duende Duergar Dwarf Elf Enchanted Moura Gnome Goblin Gremlin Haltija Heinzelmännchen Hobgoblin Hödekin Huldra Imp Jack o' the bowl Kabouter Klabautermann Kobold Lorelei Mare Mermaid Melusine Näkki Ogre Radande Sprite/Water sprite Sylph Tomte/Jultomten Tooth fairy Troll Undine Wight Will-o'-the-wisp & Jack-o'-lantern Xana Fairy-like beings in folklore African folklore Abatwa Asanbosam Aziza Bultungin Jengu Kishi Mami Wata Obayifo Rompo Tikoloshe Yumboes Australasian folklore Bunyip Manaia Muldjewangk Patupaiarehe Taniwha Tipua Wondjina Yara-ma-yha-who Yowie American folklore Alux Curupira Encantado Ishigaq Jogah Menehune Nawao Nimerigar Pukwudgie Saci Squonk Asian folklore Apsara Diwata Kappa Kijimuna Kitsune Kodama Koro-pok-guru Mogwai Orang Bunian Puteri Peri Bake-danuki Tengu Tennin Yaksha Yakshini Yōkai Yōsei Romantic folklore Căpcăun Faun Iele Lares Penates Sânziană Spiriduş Squasc Vâlvă Vântoase Zână Zmeu Slavic folklore Bagiennik & Bannik Berehynia Domovoi Karzełek Kikimora Likho Polevik Psotnik Rusalka Vila Vodyanoy

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