Folklore comprises various traditions in art, literature, knowledge and practice that have been passed down from generation to generation. Each group of people share their common sense of identity, which serves to define them as a whole. Folk traditions include traditional, cultural, and agricultural practices that people believe in, the things that they normally do in their hometowns, the things they produce with their craft, and words or jargons unique to their common dialect. Folk traditions are generally not categorized but they are part of everyday life of people.
Folklore is of great important dimension of culture. The subject is vast and very complex, and its definition takes on various forms depending on the folklorist. For example, historian have varying definitions of history, and no two will exactly sound alike.
In defining folklore, folklorists believe that portions of it result from their work, interest, and their target audience. In addition, folklorists do not mind that the disagreement that may arise in any group of people with shared interests. They think that conflict is one effective method of learning in their respective fields.
As described, folklore can be defined in numerous ways. The following are some summary of definitions provided by some notable folklorists. When people analyze these definitions, people will recognize that folklorists do not usually confine folklore as something that is “old-fashioned,” “exotic,” “untrue,” or “dying out.” In this regard, people then should recognize that folklore is something that persists in the present and is constantly evolving part of people’s lives.
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BY MARTHA C. SIMS AND MARTINE STEPHENS
Folklore comprises many things and cannot be explicitly defined. This field includes what folklorists study and related discipline. It is many things and can be found in all kinds of places and various groups of people. Folklore is part of communication; may it be through verbal form or other means.
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BY DOROTHY NOYES
Folklore spans many cultures, identifying unmodern genres and practices within modern societies. Other definitions are based on epistemological, aesthetic, and technological binary oppositions.
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BY BARBO KLEIN
Folklore can be defined in four ways. In terms of vernacular expressive culture, it represents oral narration, rituals, and crafts. It can also be the academic study of such events. Folkloric events can also be associated with music, tourism, and fashion industries. Lastly, folklore may denote falsehood.
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BY MARY HUFFORD
Folklife is not obvious; it is embedded in various manners by which people discover and express themselves and how they fit in this world. It is mirrored in peoples’ names, ancestors, and cultural heroes. Folklife also includes the common tongue used only by children, codenames of operators, or specific jargons common among workmen.
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BY WILLIAM A. WILSON
Folklore connects people with their cultural heritage from the past. This discipline unveils interrelationships of various cultural expressions and is more concerned on the nature of being a human.
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BY JAN BRUNVARD
Folklore is unrecorded practices of people, especially the form and content of traditions and manner of communication amongst people. It is a discipline spanning knowledge, values, and attitudes, as well as feelings and beliefs of people passed on through word of mouth or by traditional examples.