FOLKLORE Study Guide PDF

Folk - (by eminent folklorist Alan Dundes) to any group of people whatsoever who share at least one common factor: creates a sense of collective identity - central - (Robert Redfield) quality of society Lore - (A. Dundes) itemized list of genres [see Oring p. 2] - (W. W...

Folk - (by eminent folklorist Alan Dundes) to any group of people whatsoever who share at least one common factor: creates a sense of collective identity - central - (Robert Redfield) quality of society Lore - (A. Dundes) itemized list of genres [see Oring p. 2] - (W. W. Newell) anything which is transmitted over time without the use of writing Folklore - (1846, William John Thoms) popular antiquities (e.g. old artifacts, old tales, old songs, old customs) - designate materials believed to survive primarily among the rural peasantry and to reflect life in the distant past - survival or cultural leftovers - (W. W. Newell) oral tradition and belief handed down from generation to generation without the use of writing - “verbal art”: the aesthetic use of spoken words Study of Folklore - (Edward B. Tylor) historical science concerned with "the comparison and identification of the survivals of archaic beliefs and customs in the traditions of modern ages - Tylor’s researches were neither romantic nor nationalistic, instead they were concerned with the history and development of humankind as a whole Folklore in Eurupe focuses on etymology or ‘folk’ while North America emphasizes ‘lore’ Folklife - Volkskunde (German), folklivsforskning (Sweden) Oral Tradition - anything transmitted through unwritten channels Folklore continuum or Twin Laws of Folklore - traditional conservative ←→ dynamic changeable In early 1800s, jokes aren’t considered to be a part of folklore Volkslieder (folk songs) - believed to be essential for reinvigorating national literatures and saving these literatures from sterile intellectualism Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm - published works to document the poetic and spiritual character of the Germanic people (1812) American Folklore Society (1888) - William Wells Newell, the first editor of the Journal of American Folklore, instructed folklorists to collect the fast-vanishing remains of folklore in America, relics of English folklore, lore of French Canada and Mexico, lore of the Negroes, and the lore of Indian tribes Mythology - living systems of tales and beliefs of primitive peoples - contemporary (folklore - old) Riddle - a traditional verbal expression containing one or more descriptive elements, a pair of which may be in opposition to each other; the referent of the elements is to be guessed 6 traditional usage of riddles: 1. leisure time, as entertainment 2. as part of larger narrative 3. greeting formula 4. courting customs/situations  5. educational contexts 6. in traditional ritual dealing with initiation/death Proverb - traditional statement passed on in fixed form by oral transmission and assumed to convey some ethical or philosophical truth - usually employ rhyme and alliteration - often dipodic, broken in the middle, consists of two balanced parts - Wellerism: proverb with humor Jokes - outlets for emotional catharsis, enhancers of group identity, tools of social control, tools of social disruption Aggie Jokes - like ethnic jokes (including Newfie jokes), focus on a way of life that is perceived as the distinct and different Study of children's lore focuses between order and disorder, hierarchy/egalitarian (power) and equality, teases (friendly) and taunts (aggressive insults), on distinguishing male from female, dynamism and conservatism Antithetical - children’s folklore - be posed against an official order of meanings, uses, and processes - adopting the play frame in the folk performance, child’s primary antithetical strategy - 3 most common mechanisms: parody, nonsense, and secrecy Secret Languages - sometimes called "play languages" Rhyming acts as a conservative force Prevalent themes in children’s folklore: power, body Canon of Work Technique - body of informal knowledge used to get the job done - not a law or a written set of rules but a standard that workers themselves create and control - way to demonstrate that an employee “knows the ropes” Cultural Scene - recurrent social situation in which two or more people share some aspect of their cultural knowledge or folklore Occupational PENs - basis of oral interaction in an occupational group Narrative - another word for story; a medium for communicating experience - needs to relate Folk Narratives - (1) tend to exist in multiple versions, (2) reflects both the past as well as the present, (3) reflects both the individual and the community - (1) not necessarily ancient or even very old, (2) does not necessarily represent all that is good, beautiful, or noble in the world Personal Experience Narratives (PENs) - first person narrative based on a real incident in the life of the teller - loose form and structure - usually serve for (1) entertainment/amusement, (2) education (e.g., cautionary tales) Why are PENs retold? 1. considered exceptionally good 2. new audience 3. teller has forgotten that audience has heard it before! Myth - sacred and true (e.g. of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden) - concerned with ultimate realities, often set outside of historical time and frequently concern the actions of divine or semi-divine characters. Legend - focus on an episode which is presented as miraculous, uncanny, bizarre, or sometimes embarrassing - truth are negotiated Local Legends - attached to a particular time and place (a historical, geographical environment) Migratory Legends— more fixed, widespread and fictionalized form (less local detail) Folktale - related and received as a fiction or fantasy (e.g. "The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids") - logical sequence of events; single stranded - actions are often stereotyped and repetitive All folk narratives can be said to be governed by plot 4 backgrounds for the understanding of folk narrative: 1. Cultural context - encapsules the system of ideas, symbols, and behaviors of the group 2. Social context 3. Individual context 4. Comparative context General Notes: Customary Behavior - sociofact Emic vs. Etic - Insider vs. Outsider Monogenesis - all coming from the same place; one point of origin Polygenesis - many different point of origin Motifs - tale types FOAF (friend of a friend) - indicator of a legend Active bearer - storyteller Passive bearer - partner, knows the story but don’t casually tell Active and Passive repertoire Social Functions of Folklore ○ Entertainment ○ Validation of Culture ○ Emotional Engagement ○ Maintaining Conformity ○ Economic ○ Magico Religious ○ Education ○ Resistance/Protest/Subversions Contemporary Legend - provides opportunity for dialogue engaging with ideologies in an indirect manner (conversation) Why plan fieldwork? ○ Document ○ Preserve & Stimulate Interest  ○ Analysing Aspects of Human Behavior ○ Solving Problems Resources Needed ○ Time & Money ○ Equipment & Expertise Contemporary/Urban - an apocryphal (doubtful) contemporary story, told as true but incorporating traditional motif and usually attributed to a friend of a friend Ecotyping - inclusion of geographic detail Ostension - e.x. summoning Bloody Mary in a mirror, doing something for good luck Myth (true) ←—PEN—|—legend————→ folktale (not true) Memorate(pen with supernatural) Fabulate - PEN that seems to be on its way to be a legend; invented stories Liminal space - betwixt and between, where legends usually takes place Samhain Anecdote - a short, often amusing story about an event, usually involving a particular person: celebrities and local characters Esoteric vs. Exoteric - ideas about itself vs. about another Worldview - a set of presuppositions which we hold about the basic makeup of our world, enabling us to explain or interpret our experience Dialect - nonstandard word forms and word order Boontling - a language consisting of what seem to be nonsense words first invented by children in Boonville (northern California) in the late 1800s Midterm Sample Questions: Proverbs are verbal strategies for dealing with difficult/awkward situations How do riddles provide a folkloric model for intellectual activity? ○ It stimulate different parts of the brain for outside of the box thinking because they require critical thinking and problem-solving skills. They challenge individuals to analyze language, identify patterns, and use lateral thinking ○ Engaging with riddles helps individuals connect because riddles are often passed down through generations, encapsulating cultural values, beliefs, and collective knowledge. Example of antithetical children's or teenager's folklore ○ Cinderella Jump-Rope Rhyme - This jump-rope rhyme takes a well-known fairy tale character and uses her to explore taboo topics like kissing, pregnancy, and sexuality. The playful, nonsensical nature of the rhyme masks the deeper themes of sexuality, which children explore through parody and nonsense to mask the topics