In modern usage folklore is an academic discipline the subject matter of which comprises the sum total of traditionally derived and orally or imitatively transmitted literature material culture and custom of subcultures within predominantly literate and technologically advanced societies. Comparable study among wholly or mainly non-literate societies belongs to the discipline of ethnology and anthropology. In popular usage the term folklore is sometimes restricted to the oral literature tradition.
Folklore studies began in the early 19-th century. The first folklorists concentrated exclusively upon rural peasants, preferably uneducated. Their aim was to trace preserved archaic customs and beliefs to their remote origins in order to trace the mental history of mankind. In Germany Britain
Large collections of material were amassed in the course of these efforts. Inspired by the Grimm Brothers , whose first collection of fairy tales appeared in 1812 scholars all over Europe began recording and publishing oral literature of many genres: fairy tales and other types of folktales, ballads and other songs, oral epics, folk plays, riddles, proverbs etc. Similar work was undertaken for music dance and traditional arts and crafts; many archives and museums were founded.. Often the underlying impulse was nationalistic; since the folklore of a group reinforced its sense of ethnic identity, it figured prominently in many struggles for independence and national unity. As the scholarship of folklore developed an important advance was the classification of material for comparative analysis. Standards of identification were devised notably for ballads( by F. J. Child) and for the plots and component motives of folktales and myths( by Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson).
Using these Finnish scholars led by Kaarle Krohn, developed the ‘historical geographical’ method of research, in which every known variant of a particular tale, ballad, riddle was classified as to place and date of collection in order to study distribution patterns and reconstruct ‘original’ forms. This method more statistical and less speculative than that of the anthropological folklorists, dominated the field throughout the first half of the 20-th century.
After World War II new trends emerged particularly in the U.S.A.. Interest was no longer confined to rural communities, since it was recognized that cities too contained defineable groups whose characteristic arts, customs, and values markes their identity.
In the view of “contextual” and “performance” analysis in the late 20-th century a particular story, song, drama or custom constitute more than a mere instance to be recorded and compared with others of the same category. Rather each phenomenon is regarded as an event arising from the interaction between an individual and his social group, which fulfills some function and satisfies some need for both performer and audience. In this functionalist-social view such an event can be understood only within its total context, the performer’s biography and personality, his role in the community, his repertoire and artistry, the role of the audience and the occasion on which the performance occurs all contribute to its folklore meaning.
As it was mention above a number of genres can be found within the limits of folklore. They are various and very interesting. Among these genres we can mention myth, legend, epic, fairy and folk tales, ballad, riddles, anecdotes. We will speak about these genres separately.
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