FOLK 1000 Lecture 3: Chapter 1: Qualities of Folklore

• School: Memorial University
• Department: Folklore
• Course: FOLK 1000
• Professor: Kari Sawden

Document Summary

Here is a quick exercise that illustrates eight qualities of folklore: the first three points help to describe the process by which folklore is transmitted, the last five illustrate qualities or characteristics of folk culture. This is characteristic of folklore; it is usually passed on in informal contexts (outside of formal or institutional settings like church and school) A folklorist is much more interested in the rhymes and games children play at recess than any they might learn in a structured class: think about how you learned to make the paper airplane. It is possible you learned from a book but more likely it was something you picked up either by watching or by following word of mouth instructions. Folklore is usually informally learned by example or by word of mouth. To give another example, students in folklore classes often report learning to bake by watching or helping their parents and/or grandparents.