Folklore: To Define or Not To Define? Why is This a Question?
Dr. Lynne S. McNeill explains what folklore is, and what folklorists do.
Where to Find Folklore
With the recent announcement about the weekly Twitter hashtag day hosting coming to a close, we though a list of folklore links from around the web might come in handy! We have #FolkloreThursday’s list of places to find folklore and related topics–on and offline–for your delectation!
Margaret Helen James: a forgotten feminist folklorist in Victorian East Anglia
British regional folklorists of the 19th century remain, in many cases, rather obscure figures. Margaret Helen James (1859–1938) deserves particular attention for using her writing about folklore to give a voice to ordinary women and critique a patriarchal society, but until 2017 James was completely forgotten.
What Is Folklore?
Who are the folk, and what is their lore? Humans have been making and sharing culture from the time we first looked up at the stars and told stories about them, sang a lullaby to a fussy child, or shared a recipe.
Folklore: As I Live and Breathe!
You cannot venture into the world of internet Folklore without stumbling on the constant squabbles over what folklore is “right” and which version of a story is “correct”, yet the funny thing is that the fact these arguments exist means that people are not grasping how complex Folklore is, nor understanding the forces that drive it.