PATHWAY OF FOLKLORE TRADITION
“People think of
folklore as old-fashioned and quaint … but actually, folklore makes you very
uncomfortable because it’s what you see to survive…” – Dr. David Patterson.
Story -telling is
an art. Passing a body of traditions and knowledge from one generation to the
next, generally or typically follows a story-telling method. These kinds of
stories inculcate certain values among those who listens it. During the early stages of manhood there were
lot of mysteries exist in and around the world. Most of the mysteries generated
on the basis of customs, practices and norms. The noticeable facts about these
stories are these usually passing orally, so it is a part of oral tradition.
And these stories are located in a particular place, activity and group of
people. Come to the point folklore.
Folklore means
stories and lessons that contain the traditions of a particular group or
culture. The term folklore is a combination two terms folk and lore. It is well-documented that the term was coined in 1846 by the Englishman William
Thomas.
The
term folk derived from a Germanic noun “folka” meaning “people”. Lore means all
traditions about a particular subject that have been accumulated over time. In
the past, folklore helped to explain the natural world, helped to articulate
fears or dreams, provided order to a society, providing understanding of a
culture’s values, beliefs, morals, provided entertainment. Folklore consists of
legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, and
customs that are the traditions of a culture. Transmission is a vital part of
the folklore process. Without communicating these beliefs and customs within
the group over space and time, they would become cultural shards relegated to
cultural archaeologists .
Hence folklore
is the traditions, customs, and stories that are passed down within a culture
orally that keeps the past alive, teaches moral lessons about human behavior,
reveals values of the society, shows characteristics of culture or geography.
“It
is a record of a society’s soul”
