Before one can begin
to study a particular text as folklore, one must determine what,
exactly, folklore is. Folklore is distinguished from other forms of
literary and oral tradition by six characteristics. Using several
texts as examples, we may explain and define these characteristics
to make a useful set of parameters for folklore. The Tuscan Veglia
(a gathering in rural Italy) and the stories of the ""Star
Husband"" and the ""Three Bears"" provide us with the examples we
need to define and explain these characteristics.
1 Folklore texts are designed by people to
achieve a particular end, probably in an unusual,
less-than-straightforward manner.
The Veglia may be
used to provide an example for this in each of its four
phases.
In its first phase,
the 'players' tell fairy tales to one another which describe and
encourage the proper process of maturation. The characters in these
stories, which are told by anyone in the group, become separated
from society only to go through a liminal period from which they
emerge as new members, reintegrated back into the community.
However, this reintegration is accompanied by a change of
status-usually newly married, the characters become mature and
productive members of society. Telling stories of this nature
allows for the society to reinforce its ideals of societal
inclusion to the maturing audience; children and young adults are
given a bit of encouragement through their difficult times between
a young dependent and a fully independent adult.
In the second phase,
the Veglia continues its indirect provision of wisdom to the
participants through its phases of formula tales and riddles, lyric
songs, and legends and ballads.
- formula tales
and riddles encourage values such as reciprocity and stimulates
mental activity;
- lyric songs
allow for men and women of courting age to interact on an
emotionally intimate level;
- legends and
ballads provide a warning to the young about the dangers they will
face as they age, preparing them for the future.
2 The stories and games in which the
villagers participate are intended to serve given, specific
purposes.
They are not random
assortments of characters that provide the listeners with nothing;
rather they are designed to teach people certain values and provide
them with particular village wisdom that cannot be accrued through
a straightforward lecture.
In order to
accomplish these goals, folklore represents its images in
stereotypical images.
In the Native
American tale of the "Star Husband", the desires of a young girl
are constantly represented by heaven and the stars in the night
sky. In retelling after retelling, that motif will not change. For
whatever it may say about human motivation, the image of the sky
continues to be an easy representation of the maturing girl's
desires. The girls in the story are looking for husbands and their
new, adult futures. They look to the sky and admire what they see
there; they crave it. If a storyteller were to alter that image,
the story would lose much of its ability to interact with the
listener. The tale would become nonsensical because people could
not identify with it.
3 Folklore can adapt to different
contexts, giving it meaning to a vastly different potential
audience.
The "Star Husband",
which contains certain unchanging facets, also has patterns of
alteration. In certain retellings, when the girls return to their
homes on Earth, the sky people come down and take some form of
revenge. This may be due to the frequent occurrence of conflict in
that society, or it may be reflective of something else;
regardless, the stories do alter so that they can make sense to a
new audience.
The European story
of the "Three Bears" has altered over time to be more sympathetic
toward Goldilocks. Our perspective does not include the
predilection to vengeance that would have been more common in the
story's original environment; therefore, the disturbing violence of
the bears, and the mischievousness of the thief have been reduced
as the principal character became human.
4 From within its own given context,
folklore is the product of a social act.
The Tuscan Veglia is
once again a prime example. As the winter months result in shorter
working days, the villagers gather in small, intimate groups with
their friends and family to share in the Veglia. Families invite
guests to come and join them for the event, which could last well
into the night. The stories within are not just thrown casually
about in the farm's fields or in the marketplace; instead they are
saved for the right social occasion.
The story of the
"Three Bears" has become integrated into a particular modern social
event: the bedtime story. The "Three Bears", and other stories like
it, are told by parents specifically to their children at specific
times. Bedtime stories provide a social environment for parents and
their young in contemporary times.
5 While these stories are reserved for
particular events and times, their meaning goes beyond that
particular moment and applies fully to daily
life.
Though it is a
special social occasion, the Veglia provides meaningful information
for people of all ages (though particularly the young) about how to
live in and interact with society. Its messages are intended to
give the participants the information necessary to live socially on
an everyday basis, not just on given, specified
evenings.
Similarly, the "Star
Husband" deals with the issues faced by young women in Native
American society. It deals with the real thoughts and feelings of a
maturing girl.
The "Three Bears"
teaches positive norms to listeners.
Through the avenue
of the folktale, useful, everyday knowledge is
disseminated.
These stories are
not escapist; they do not try to carry the listener away to some
imaginary world with no connection to the current environment.
Folklore is contextualized in that it applies to the surrounding
world.
6 Folklore is stimulated by moments of strong
conjunction or strong disjunction in
society.
Although the
telling, singing, etc. of folklore is relevant to the entire need
structure of the society, it is only during certain times (as has
been noted) that it occurs. When parents put their
children to sleep, a very intimate event occurs. When we fall
asleep we are at our most vulnerable, so humans only do so in the
presence of someone who makes them feel safe and loved. Having the
parent-child relationship is one of utmost emotional connection;
the presence of that connection encourages a storytelling
time.
For the Veglia, it
is when people come together for intimate moments that the stories
are told. Family and friends join each other in a very connected
and close manner. However, there are certain members of Tuscan
society who do not quite fit the mold that the Veglia represents.
Whether it is because they are unmarried, or unhappily so, or of
unpopular political ideas, these people are separated from society
and relegated to the escape of the tavern. In what Alessandro
Falassi labeled the counter-Veglia, these disjoined individuals
partake of their own social act; they tell tall-tales, sing ribald
songs, and parody the established norms of the village. Their own
folklore is the direct result of their separation from village
society. Folklore comes from these moments of powerful connection
with, or distance from others. The feelings of conjunction or
disjunction encourage the development and spread of folklore in a
reoccurring and reinforcing manner over time.
These six
characteristics enable scholars to distinguish folklore from other
texts. They give folklore its uniqueness and make discernible what
might otherwise remain in the realm of confusion. By understanding
these characteristics we are able to understand and analyze how
folklore has evolved over time, and how it affects human society by
distinguishing it in this manner.
In the modern
context of globalisation of popular culture it has been said that
the study of folklore promotes international peace and brotherhood
by contributing to the international, intercultural and
inter-religious understanding.
In recent times,
South Asia, in spite of basic unity of values, has diversity of
religions, ethnicities and cultures and is witness to communal
riots, political strifes, military conflicts and acrimonious
diplomacy, both historically. The world, on the other hand, is
moving towards globalisation- politically, economically and
technologically. The foundation of this globalisation, however,
will not be stable without a cultural understanding and social
tolerance. Folklore may provide a much needed arena for this to
occur. Reflecting this international perspective, at a recent
international gathering in Nepal, the themes of the sessions were;
folklore literature, performing arts; oral poetry, epics and
ballads; oral and written traditions, folklore gender and power;
folklore, cultural studies and folk practices; and folklore,
multiculturalism and expression of identity.
