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Folklore lets people escape from repressions imposed upon them by society. Folklore validates culture, justifying its rituals and institutions to those who perform and observe them. Folklore is a pedagogic device which reinforces morals and values and builds wit. Folklore is a means of applying social pressure and exercising social control.
Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) [1] is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, [ note 1 ] gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the academic study of traditional culture from the folklore artifacts themselves.
The Mangal-Kāvya tradition is an archetype of the synthesis between the Vedic and the popular folk culture of India. Lila Ray elaborates, "Indigenous myths and legends inherited from Indo-Aryan cultures began to blend and crystallise around popular deities and semi-mythological figures in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Native American cultures are rich in myths and legends that explain natural phenomena and the relationship between humans and the spirit world. According to Barre Toelken, feathers, beadwork, dance steps and music, the events in a story, the shape of a dwelling, or items of traditional food can be viewed as icons of cultural meaning.
Applied folklore is the branch of folkloristics concerned with the study and use of folklore and traditional cultural materials to address or solve real social problems. The term was coined in 1939 in a talk by folklorist Benjamin A. Botkin who, along with Alan Lomax, became the foremost proponent of this approach over the next thirty years.
Folklore has served as a vulcanizing agent to create a new form of literature that is unique to the Caribbean, a literature that includes the soul and spirit of a region and its people. [4] Many Caribbean societies have a history of colonialism, slavery, outside influences, and the struggles for independence. [5]
Long before "Twilight" put Jacob on the map, werewolves have been the subject of countless movies, books and monster tales.. In fact, much like ghosts, witches and vampires, the werewolf has been ...
African-American folklore was predominantly used for guidance and protection. Some say the folklore acts as a “secret language”. Folklore like “Wade in the Water”, “Down by the River”, and “Old Bill Rolling Pin”, were used to help people escaping enslavement alert each other to danger like dogs or people patrolling. [7]