Folklore

Origins• Impossible to trace origins – people began telling

stories as soon as spoken language emerged, thousands of years before writing developed

• The telling of stories is a cultural universal, common to all societies

• Telling effective and relevant stories was vital for those who wanted power to influence society (kings, priests, healers, etc)

• By being retold and accepted, tales were handed down and became central to a culture’s identity

General Attributes

• Traditionality – deals with ancient themes and customs

• Irrationality – often deals with supernatural

• Rurality – generally from communities that are close to nature

• Communality – created and shared together as a community; not private stories

• Universality – themes are common to the human condition

Common Types of Folklore

• Fairy tale – fictitious stories of ordinary people that often incorporate magic and use stark themes of good and evil to teach moral lessons (EX Hansel and Gretel)

• Fable – a short narrative making a moral point, often with anthropomorphized animals (EX The Ant and the Grasshopper)

Common Types of Folklore

• Legend – romantic adventure believed to be historically true, usually concerned with heroes and villains, great feats of courage and epic battles (EX King Arthur)

• Myth – typically ancient stories that depict figures of epic proportions, but contain supernatural, often religious elements and non-human creatures; often explain origins of things or of humanity (EX Prometheus stealing fire from the gods)

Functions

• Maintains the continuity of a culture

–Establishing group cohesion and group feeling

–Validates certain aspects of culture and justifies its rituals and institutions

–Teaches history and values of a people –transmitting wisdom between generations

–Teach why things are as they are

Functions

• Because the information transmitted in folklore is not transmitted as a fact or a single answer, but is open to listener interpretation, it helps develop flexibility of thinking

• By providing us with a sense of place, folklore helps to give our lives meaning

Common Motifs

• What common threads of meaning do you see in the following images, each from different cultures?

• What basic human emotions and experiences do they tap into?

• Why would cultures separated geographically and culturally focus on similar themes?

Minaksi Temple at MaduraiMithuna (loving couple) ivory carvingCa. 16th century

Mali and Burkina-FasoDogon peoplesAncestor coupleWood

Embracing CoupleTerracotta Precolumbian (700 – 900 CE)

Adam and EveSouth GermanyStone carving1520

American GothicGrant Wood, 1930

Common Motifs

• What common threads of meaning did you see in the images, each from different cultures?

• What basic human emotions and experiences do they tap into?

• Why would cultures separated geographically and culturally focus on similar themes?