Another Definition of Folklore

I am working on my annotated bibliography and have ran across yet another definition for folklore.

W.K. McNeil, in his book Southern Mountain Folksongs (1993) describes the definition of folklore as material that is passed on orally, informally, and becomes traditional; undergoes change over space and time, creating varients and versions; is anonymous in the sense that most bearers of folklore are not concerned with who the original creator was, or even that there was an original creator; and finally, usually is formulaic.

Oh, now I get it!

I did think this definition was pretty good, except with limiting folklore as being only oral. I thought it did a nice job putting a little description of a characteristic of tradition, by saying it changes over time. Maybe the author only included oral because the book is a collection of folksongs. This person seems to know a lot about folklore, so I'm sure they know what they are talking about. Maybe they were trying to make it easier for the reader.

I had heard, like many of my classmates, most of the urban legend tales as ghost stories during sleepovers or campouts. Speaking of ghost stories, when I was little my family had a "tradition" during the Labor Day holiday when we all got together to camp to walk in the dark to the cemetery on my Grandparent's farm. My uncle Phillip would claim to see the Bell Witch and beg her to leave us alone and not to hurt us. Then we would all gather around Mr. Miller's grave to hear Phillip tell his stories of the ghost. Another uncle or my dad would be waiting at the cemetery to make sounds that go along with the stories. I know it sounds like a weird family tradition, but I'll never forget those times. I don't think they were trying to teach us not to do something, like sneak out of the tent at night (although we didn't, most of the time we weren't brave enough to sleep in the tent after that) but just to scare us to death (and it did).

I know now the characteristics of urban legends and will be skeptical of stories I hear that involve a friend of a friend. It is still entertaining to hear them though and it will be interesting to see when my children start telling me the same urban legends I heard as a kid.

Well, off to study for the midterm. I can't believe that time is already here.

From the beginning...

I have to first admit that from the beginning of this folk studies class I have felt a bit intimidated due to my lack of background knowledge in folklore. I'll give my thoughts and reflections as a true novice, hang in there for me and please don't laugh.

Well, the first thing I thought I would get a handle on was how to define folklore. I found out that it's a very complicated term. I took from reading and class discussion that it's hard to actually rule anything out from being folklore. Everything seems to be! But the definition I liked the best and could hold on to was that folklore was "group knowledge" with the "group" being at least two people who have shared an experience. During discussion Dr. Antonsen answered a question that also helped put the term "group" into better perspective for me. If two people have heart attacks, they are not necessarily a "group" unless they have shared their experience with each other.

During the next class our discussion dipped into tradition. And before hand we were to think about whether we thought of tradition as a good thing. I think (remember I'm a novice) tradition is very important, it has been very meaningful in my life. I cherish family traditions and am determined to keep them alive and to pass them on to my children, but class discussion and reading made me think about something. I remember hearing that traditions are shaped by the needs and priorities of the people involved. I wonder if the things that are the most important to me about our family traditions are the same things that were the most important to the older generations? Will I alter that tradition as I continue with my children to have a different meaning as it started out? Does that make sense?

In our latest class meeting we talked about and read through fairytales. I am one of those people who had only known of the Disney versions of fairytales so it was very interesting to read the Grimm Brother's collection. I am also one of those people who never would have caught any of the sexual meanings in the stories. Very interesting. Anne Sexton really caught my attention. After finding out her background I was even more intrigued.

It's a Blog!

My first blog is born. I think I'm the last one in my Folklore Genres class but here I am. I have a lot of catching up to do, but I'll be back tomorrow to dive in.