Folklore guidelines
Folklore: noun
Traditional customs, tales, sayings, dances, or art forms preserved among a people.
An often supported notion, story, or saying that is widely circulated.
First known usage of the word: 1846 by William J. Thoms. A British antiquarian who desired a simple term in which to describe the manners, customs, observances, superstitions, ballads, and proverbs of various people and cultures.
Folklore refers to common tales which are retold with great frequency by a vast majority of people who are located within a specific area (village, city, state, etc.). These stories are most often passed down by word of mouth, rather than being written in books (although sometimes people write down collections of folklore in order to preserve the stories of a particular community). It is widely agreed upon that folklore has no set author – it just emerges from the culture and is carried forward by constant retelling.
Folklore allows people, in a unique way, to give meaning to their lives and their personal surroundings through story. Because every culture has different historical backgrounds and traditions, folklore has a different definition to each specific culture. But, as already noted above, folklore generally has no author, so it’s technically impossible to write true folklore stories. However, folklore and mythology do provide an endless source of inspiration for significant cultural stories to be created. True folk tales themselves though are born in the mysterious depths of human culture and history, and survive because they speak to something within us. The stories that are chosen to get passed on and survive time itself are the ones that resonate most with the human experience.
“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. Yes, folklore is folk songs and legends. But 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 in the world around us.”
Martha C. Sims and Martine Stephens. Living Folklore: An Introduction to the Study of People and their Traditions. Pp. 1-2. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2005.
THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF FOLKLORE:
Ballads: A ballad is a traditional poem or folk song that tells a story. It may describe a true love, a heroic adventures, a scandal, or a tragic death, to name just a few of the most common subjects. Historical examples of ballads date back to the Middle Ages.
Fairy Tales: Traditional stories, intended primarily for children, which recount human encounters with supernatural beings such as fairies, witches, ogres, and the like, often conveying a cautionary message. Many such tales were compiled by the Brothers Grimm in the 19th century.
Folk Art: As opposed to fine art—comprises a range of artistic productions and crafts. Examples of folk art include paintings, sculptures, quilts, pottery, and furniture created by ordinary, unschooled artists using traditional styles and methods, and often employing imagery or symbolism from local mythology.
Folk Dance: Any dance invented by the common people of a particular region or culture that has been handed down through tradition. Folk dances are usually performed at social gatherings by people who have learned the dances informally.
Folk Songs: Traditional songs, anonymously composed and handed down orally, about commonplace topics such as work, family, community, and everyday life. They may address social or political issues and they may take the form of ballads, love songs, or novelty songs.
Jokes: Humorous story or anecdote meant to provoke laughter through irony, wordplay, the thwarting of expectations, the juxtaposition of images, or other techniques.
Legends: A traditional historical tale or collection of related tales popularly regarded as true but usually containing a mixture of fact and fiction. They may explain an event or provide a moral lesson. Sometimes legends contain fantastical elements or embellishments that are highly improbably or outright false.
Myths: A traditional story, usually featuring gods and heroes, which purports to give a cosmic explanation of a natural phenomenon or cultural practice. Myths are part of a community's cultural fabric, conveying essential (if not literal) truth and influencing other stories and beliefs.
Riddles: A linguistic puzzle posed in the form of a question containing clues to its solution. It's a form of verbal play and popular with children.
Superstitions: An irrational belief (i.e., one held in spite of evidence to the contrary), usually involving supernatural forces and associated with rituals. A superstition may conflict with a person's religious beliefs, or lack thereof, while still exerting a powerful influence on them.
Urban Legends: An apocryphal story, often taking the form of a cautionary tale, which varies in the telling but is always told as true and attributed to a secondhand or third-hand ("friend of a friend") source. Today, many urban legends are spread anonymously on the internet.