What is Folklore?

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What is folklore?

Defining Folklore

One of the best known explanations of folklore is found in Alan Dundes' brief essay, "What Is Folklore?" Dundes disputes the notion that "folk" should be automatically identified with peasant or rural groups, or with people from the past. He argues that contemporary urban people also have folklore and suggests that rather than dying out, folklore is constantly being created and recreated to suit new situations (Dundes, 1965: 2).

Dundes asserts that "folk" can refer to "any group of people whatsoever who share at least one common factor. It does not matter what the linking factor is-it could be a common occupation, language, or religion-but what is important is that a group...have some traditions that it calls its own" (Dundes, 1965: 2).

Rather than offering a definition of folklore, Dundes provides a list of various types of folklore to demonstrate the large range of the field of study. His list includes the expected subjects of folktales, legends, myths, ballads, festivals, folk dance and song, but also offers examples of folklore that may not be as obvious, such as children's counting out rhymes, food recipes, house, barn and fence types, latrinalia (informal writings in public restrooms), as well as the sounds traditionally used to call specific animals. Dundes stresses that his list is not exhaustive, but merely a sampling of the subjects that folklore scholarship can address, and which merit study for the insight that they provide into specific cultures (Dundes, 1965: 3).

 

Genres of Folklore

 

Folklore as an Academic Discipline

Folklorists focus on the study of human creativity within specific cultural and social contexts, including how such expressions (i.e. stories, music, material culture and festivals) are linked to political, religious, ethnic, regional, and other forms of group identity.

 

Suggested Books and Articles about Folklore and Folk Groups

398.03 F719 SSHEL Stacks
Bauman, Richard (ed.). 1992. Folklore, Cultural Performances, and Popular Entertainments: A Communications-centered Handbook. New York: Oxford University Press.

398 D73FO Main Stacks
Dorson, Richard (ed.). 1972. Folklore and Folklife, An Introduction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

398 D91s SSHEL Stacks and Main Stacks
Dundes, Alan. 1965. The Study of Folklore. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

GR66 .D87 1980 Undergraduate Library
Dundes, Alan. 1980. "Who Are the Folk?" In Interpreting Folklore. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Online
Noyes, Dorothy. 1995. "Group." Journal of American Folklore . 108 (430): 449-478.

398 F7183 SSHEL Stacks
Oring. Elliott. 1986. Folk Groups and Folklore Genres: An Introduction. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press.

 

Websites Defining Folklore

Kentucky Folk Web 
Site dedicated to promoting Kentucky's culture, including festivals, exhibits, and other events. The site also provides curriculum guides and materials for teaching about traditional life and culture and information to link people to resources in or near their communities. Provides some very useful definitions of folklore, including those drawn from key folklorists.

New York Folklore Society 
Provides some useful definitions and examples of folklore in modern contexts drawing for folklore scholars and documentation of community folklore by public folklorists.