Folklore

• 1. Origins And Terminology

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  In 1846, an Englishman named William Thoms published a letter in a journal called The Athenaeum. He proposed the word folklore to replace older phrases like popular antiquities or popular literature. This new term combined folk and lore, where lore meant instruction from Old English lār. Thoms wanted to document oral traditions of rural peasants who were often poor and illiterate. At that time, the concept of folk applied only to these specific rural groups. Modern definitions now include any social group with two or more people sharing common traits. These groups express their identity through distinctive traditions ranging from surfers to computer programmers. Folklore is no longer limited to old or obsolete items but continues to be created and transmitted today.

• 2. Academic Discipline History

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  Johann Gottfried von Herder wrote about oral traditions as organic processes grounded in local places during the 1770s. His ideas gained traction after German states faced invasion by Napoleonic France. Many Germans adopted his approach to systematize recorded folk traditions for nation building purposes. Smaller nations like Finland, Estonia, and Hungary enthusiastically embraced this process while seeking political independence. By the turn of the 20th century, American folklorists led by Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict chose to study Native American cultures differently than European scholars. They included the totality of customs and beliefs as folklore rather than just oral tales. The term folkloristics became widely used in the 1950s to distinguish academic study from the artifacts themselves. In January 1976, U.S. Congress passed the American Folklife Preservation Act to coincide with Bicentennial Celebration. This law marked a shift in national awareness regarding cultural diversity as a resource worthy of protection.

• 3. Verbal Tradition Genres

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  Antti Aarne published the first classification system for folktales in 1910. Stith Thompson later expanded this into what is now known as the Aarne, Thompson classification system. It remains the standard method for categorizing European folktales and other types of oral literature. Verbal lore includes words both written and oral that show repetitive patterns recognized by speakers and audiences. An example appears when someone says an elephant walks into a bar which instantly flags the following text as a joke. Another instance involves Old MacDonald Had a Farm where each performance differs in animals named or sounds made. These songs express cultural values like farms being important while teaching children about domesticated animals. Folklorists continue collecting verbal lore in both written and spoken forms despite earlier fears it would die out as populations became literate. Variations exist within genres making identification challenging yet essential for understanding traditional development.

• 4. Material Culture Artifacts

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  Prior to the Industrial Revolution everything in Europe was made by hand including tools and household items. Folklorists sought to identify these hand-crafted objects before production processes were lost to industrial manufacturing. Many crafts remain simple home maintenance tasks such as cooking sewing and carpentry today. Handmade objects are often regarded as prestigious because extra time and thought go into their creation. Folk art appears on hex signs painted on Pennsylvania Dutch barns or tin man sculptures made by metalworkers. Living museums developed beginning in Scandinavia at the end of the 19th century to preserve bulky artifacts. These open-air sites teach visitors how items were used through actors reenacting everyday lives from all social segments. Some locations even duplicate processing methods creating new objects that mimic earlier historic periods. Museums now function as part of a thriving heritage industry found throughout the world.

• 5. Customary Lore Performance

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  A custom can be a single gesture like thumbs down or a handshake between two people. It might also involve complex interactions seen during a child's birthday party with songs presents and games. Carnival in Cologne or Mardi Gras in New Orleans represent community festivals marking seasonal celebrations. The St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York demonstrates an ethnic group parading their separateness while encouraging others to show alliance. Economic groups have discovered these folk parades benefit business interests since crowds eat drink and spend money. Paradoxically events authenticate true community where business allies with varied social groups to promote collective interests. Walking under a ladder remains one symbol considered unlucky within many cultural contexts. Occupational groups maintain rich histories of customs related to life and work such as sailors or lumberjacks traditions. Ecclesiastical folklore includes modes of worship not sanctioned by established churches requiring considerable expertise to interpret adequately.

• 6. Childlore And Games

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  Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted Children's Games in 1560 showing five boys playing buck buck in the lower right corner. Iona and Peter Opie demonstrated pioneering research in their book Children's Games in Street and Playground regarding transmission methods. Early folklorists including Alice Gomme in Britain and William Wells Newell in the United States felt compelled to capture unstructured street activities before they disappeared. Comparisons between modern school playgrounds and Breugel's painting reveal similar activity levels today. Many games from the 1560s remain recognizable and comparable to modern variations still played now. Bouncing swinging rhythms encourage balance coordination development in infants and children. Verbal rhymes like Peter Piper picked increase both oral and aural acuity for young learners. Songs access different parts of the brain used to memorize series such as the Alphabet song. Physical games develop strength endurance while team negotiations rehearse social skills longer than gameplay itself.

• 7. Modern Electronic Folklore

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  The internet modifies folkloric processes without killing traditional expressive forms despite historic associations with anti-modernity. Jokes appear equally plentiful through electronic transmission as they do during face-to-face interactions. Fairy tale Snow White exists now in multiple media forms including television shows and video games for adults and children. Yeh et al published findings in 2023 suggesting user-generated content should be considered folklore especially within mental health communities. These narratives shared on YouTube educate and transmit culture much like traditional folklore does. They provide insight into consumers' experiences with antidepressants highlighting gaps in knowledge or obstacles to treatment seeking. UGC reflects dynamic recurring expressions functioning as modern methods of passing informal knowledge. Folklorists identify how electronic communications modify performance and transmission of artifacts across digital platforms.