Gourt > Society > Folklore (103)
Folklore is the body of verbal expressive culture, including tales, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs current among a particular population, comprising the oral tradition of that culture, subculture, or group. The academic and usually ethnographic study of folklore is known as folkloristics.
History
The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological goals; only in the 20th century did ethnographers begin to attempt to record folklore without overt political goals. The Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm, collected orally transmitted German tales and published the first series as Kinder- und Hausmärchen ("Children's and Household Tales") in 1812.
The term was coined in 1846 by an Englishman, William Thoms, who wanted to use an Anglo-Saxon term for what was then called "popular antiquities." Johann Gottfried von Herder first advocated the deliberate recording and preservation of folklore to document the authentic spirit, tradition, and identity of the German people; the belief that there can be such authenticity is one of the tenets of the romantic nationalism which Herder developed. The definition most widely accepted by current scholars of the field is "artistic communication in small groups," coined by Dan Ben-Amos a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, and the term, and the associated field of study, now include non-verbal art forms and customary practices.
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Storytelling :: Performing Arts
Folklore :: Society and Culture
Alaska Gov. Palin To Resign
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:44:00 -0400
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was Republican Sen. John McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign, says she will resign from office July 26.
Gov. Ted Strickland On Ohio's Budget Impasse
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:45:00 -0400
Ohio is facing a $3.2 billion shortfall in its finances. Gov. Ted Strickland has proposed slots at racetracks and spending cuts, but has not been able to reach a deal with the Legislature. The state is operating on a temporary budget for the next few days.
Rare Copy Of Declaration Found In England
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:00:00 -0400
An original copy of the Declaration of Independence was recently discovered in the British National Archives. Edward Hampshire, the diplomatic and colonial specialist at the archives, talks with Melissa Block about the discovery of the 26th copy of the document.
The Talk of the Town
Lauren Collins: Track School
Lauren Collins Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:00 -0000
June marks the onset of what one Village resident refers to as “devil-baby season”--the time of the year when the temperature climbs and New Yorkers start doing crazy stuff. This year, the weather stayed cold, and damp. Things still got weird. On Long Island, a newborn was found . . .
James Surowiecki: Caveat Mortgagor
James Surowiecki Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:00 -0000
In 1937, the Massengill Company began selling a health product called Elixir Sulfanilamide, which contained one of the antibiotic sulfa drugs. Unfortunately, it also contained diethylene glycol, a solvent that happens to be deadly to humans. In a matter of months, the elixir killed more than a hundred consumers. The . . .
Hendrik Hertzberg: Stonewall Plus Forty
Hendrik Hertzberg Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:00 -0000
The most improbable of America’s mass movements for civil rights--improbable at the time, inevitable in retrospect--got its start at a most improbable hour in a most improbable place. The hour: two in the morning, forty years ago. The place: the sidewalk in front of the Stonewall Inn, a . . .
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress - Created by Congress in 1976 to preserve and present American Folklife, the Center incorporates the Archive of Folk Culture, established at the Library in 1928 as a repository for American Folk Music.
Meta Description: [ The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The American Folklife Center was created in 1976 by the U.S. Congress to "preserve and present" the great heritage of American folklife through programs of research, documentation, archival preservation, reference service, live performance,... ]
Archer Taylor - Wolfgang Mieder's biographical sketch of the University of California Professor of Folklore Archer Taylor, and his work as a paremiologist--collector of proberbs.
Archives of Folklore Discussion List - Hosts a complete month-by-month record of all the posts made to the discussion-list, from 1990 to the present.
At the Edge: The Cosmic Mill - Article by Alby Stone discussing the hand-mill as an image of the cosmos.
British Columbia Folklore Society - A definition and explanation of folklore, with examples.
Meta Description: [ What is folklore? An explanation by
the British Columbia Folklore Society, with examples. ]
D. L. Ashliman - Folklore researcher, providing extensive resources on Germanic myths, legends and sagas, and Indo-European folk and fairy tales.
Directory of Irish and Celtic Folklore - An A to Z of Irish Folkore, including seasonal celebrations, folktales, folk sayings, folk cures, leprechaun and fairy beliefs, and the origins of names.
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Ethnologies - English-French bilingual journal disseminating knowledge about activities concerning folklore and ethnology, in Canada and elsewhere.
Family Folklore: How to Collect Your Own Family Folklore - Guide produced to accompany the exhibition The Grand Generation: Memory, Mastery, Legacy organized by the Smithsonian Institution.
Folk Beliefs in Modern Japan - E-text of the book edited by Inoue Nobutaka, Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University.
Folklore: An Introduction - Contains definitions, basic categories, and listings of subjects studied by folkloristics.
Folklore: an Online Electronic Journal - English-language archives of an informative Baltic Folklore journal published by the Folk Belief and Media Group of the Estonian Literary Museum. Material about Estonian shamanism, urban legends, ethnomusicology, popular calendar data, and general folk belief.
Journal of Folklore Research - A peer-reviewed publication of the Folklore Institute at Indiana University, established in 1965.
Meta Description: [ The Journal of Folklore Research is a peer-reviewed publication of the Folklore Institute at Indiana University. Established in 1965, JFR is dedicated to promoting international scholarly dialogue about the worldÕs traditional creative and expressive forms. ]
Latin-American Folklore Resources Online - Lengthy links-page from UCLA provides access to information about folkloric Latin American festivals, food, games, music, religion, and folktales.
Lucky W Amulet Archive - Encyclopedic resource describing and illustrating folkloric talismans and lucky charms from around the world, including horseshoe, swastika, four-leaf clover, rabbit foot, raccoon penis bone, hamsa hand, John the Conqueror root, scarab beetle, and black cat bone.
Meta Description: [ content= ]
New York Folklore Society - Definitions of folklore and the related terms folklife and folk arts.
Meta Description: [ There are lots of definitions of folklore and the related terms folklife and folk arts. Here are some definitions and explanations collected by the New York Folklore Society. ]
Paganism in British Folk Customs by Bob Trubshaw - Article that contrasts the true remains of Pagan origins in the folk customs of England with those customs created or exaggerated through paganisation by Victorian romantic authors.
Pro Ethnologia - Journal of the Estonian National Museum, publishing short articles on ethnographical issues. Content in Estonian and English.
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage - Focuses on contemporary grassroots cultures. Festival information, recordings, events, and resources.
The Folklore of the Isle of Man - Myths, legends, superstitions, customs and proverbs, by A. W. Moore (1891), e-text from a Manx Note Book.
Meta Description: [ Index - Folklore of the Isle of Man, A.W.Moore 1891 ]
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The Hebridean Folklore Project - Run by volunteers to keep Scottish folklore alive and accessible, with the aim of relating Scottish culture around the world. Includes tales and photos.
Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland - Collected and arranged by Lady Augusta Gregory (1920), e-text from the Internet Sacred Text Archive.
Meta Description: [ Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland, by Lady Gregory, at sacred-texts.com ]
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