Living Folklore: Introduction to the Study of People and their Traditions

1. Folklore

 CHAPTER 1 Folklore We know you have heard it before: “It’s just folklore.” We hear it when newscasters are announcing the report of a popular home remedy that does not really cure people (and may actually harm them). We hear it—or might even say it—when a friend is telling a story about the haunted house on the winding street in our neighborhood. People often call something “folklore” to dismiss the validity of the subject they have been discussing. To some people,the term“folklore”commonly suggests something is untrue, not real—it’s just a story or an old-fashioned belief.But that is a misconception. Some people come to folklore study expecting to learn only about quaint cultures from the past or contemporary cultures of those less educated, less fortunate, and less sophisticated than they are—primitive or simpler groups. That, too, is a misconception. In the following sections we will clear up misconceptions about folklore by considering what folklore is and isn’t.We will also look at genres and important concepts of text and context, and offer a short history of the study of folklore as a foundation for our own exploration. What is Folklore? A Working Definition Folklore is many things, and it’s almost impossible to define succinctly. It’s both what folklorists study and the name of the discipline they work within. LIVING FOLKLORE  Yes, folklore is folk songs and legends. It’s also quilts, Boy Scout badges, high school marching band initiations, jokes, chain letters, nicknames, holiday food . . . and many other things you might or might not expect. Folklore exists in cities, suburbs and rural villages, in families, work groups and dormitories. Folklore is present in many kinds of informal communication, whether verbal (oral and written texts), customary (behaviors, rituals) or material (physical objects). It involves values, traditions, ways of thinking and behaving. It’s about art. It’s about people and the way people learn. It helps us learn who we are and how to make meaning of the world around us. As we explore some attempts to define the field folklore, we want to ask you to expand your concept of folklore,or at least to let go of any preconceived ideas of what folklore means. One of the most useful ways we have found to clarify these distinctions is to talk about what folklore is not. Folklore is not necessarily untrue or old-fashioned. Have you ever eaten pan de muerto on the Day of the Dead? Sent an email chain letter to everyone in your address book? Carried a special object or worn a particular article of clothing to bring you luck? Made a wish before blowing out candles on your birthday cake? These are all examples of folklore. Some have been around for many generations; some are relatively new. Some are meaningful to large groups of people; some are relevant only to a few people.First,whether these examples are “true” or not isn’t relevant. In what way could a loaf of sweet bread be “true”? And it doesn’t have to be“true”that clothing will help someone win a race for a track star to wear the same shirt to every meet. Second, these examples are not possessed or performed only by simple, primitive people, nor are they quaint or old-fashioned. The fact that you recognize the above examples—or know other similar examples—illustrates that folklore is not simply the historical behaviors of other cultures; folklore is alive, developing and changing in our lifetimes. Every one of us experiences and shares folklore. Folklorists avoid the use of terminology such as “true,” “primitive,” or “simple”when they talk about folklore.These terms imply that folklore is“fake,” or exists only in old-fashioned, nonliterate cultures. For example, some might see quilts made by hand rather than by machine as “simple,” or might consider paintings and sculptures by poor, rural, unschooled artists as “primitive,” but these labels assume some hierarchical value related to formal education systems. When we don’t evaluate them by outside standards, we can see that these arts are simply creations of artists who have ideas and values they wish to express within (or about) their own group or community. Folklorists go“into the field” in contemporary societies to observe, record, and write about people and what  Folklore we do, what we believe, and how we...