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Definition: folktale from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

(1852) : a characteristically anonymous, timeless, and placeless tale circulated orally among a people


folktale

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
general term for any of numerous varieties of traditional narrative. The telling of stories appears to be a cultural universal, common to pre-industrial, ancient, and more modern and developed societies alike. Even the forms folktales take are demonstrably similar from culture to culture, and comparative studies of themes and narrative techniques have been successful in showing these relationships. Among the foremost folklorists of the 19th cent. were Oskar Dähnhardt in Germany, S. O. Addy in England, Paul Sébillot in France, and Y. M. Sokolov in Russia. Major 20th-century scholars in the field include Franz Boas, Richard Chase, Marie Campbell, and Stith Thompson. Folklorists make distinctions among the categories of folktales. Legends and traditions are narratives of an explanatory nature concerning creation and tribal beginnings, supernatural beings, and quasi-historical figures (e.g., King Arthur, Lady Godiva). These stories are related as fact and concern a specific time and place. …
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Full text Article folklore

From Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature
Although the term “folklore” did not appear until 1846 when British antiquarian William J. Thoms introduced it as a “good Saxon compound” to replace the Latinate term “popular antiquities,” American literature has always had a close affinity with traditional culture. Some American folklore…
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Full text Article folklore

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
the body of customs, legends, beliefs, and superstitions passed on by oral tradition. It includes folk dances , folk songs , folk medicine (the use of magical charms and herbs), and folktales (myths, rhymes, and proverbs). The study of folklore emerged significantly in the 19th cent., partly out of…
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Full text Article folklore

From Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology
The term ‘folklore’ means both a body of material and the academic discipline devoted to its study. Although the description of customs, verbal lore and, more rarely, material culture was not unknown even in medieval Europe, the idea of the systematic collection and analysis of such data emerged…
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Full text Article folklore

From Encyclopedia of American Literature Full text Article Volume 2
Washington Irving was the first American author to gain a literary reputation by exploiting the rich resources of American folklore, an amalgam of the preliterate legends, beliefs, and practices of a common people. In “Rip Van Winkle,” for example, he drew upon traditional German tales that would…
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Full text Article Folklore

From Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict Full text Article Contents by Subject Area
What is Folklore? Identifying Themes of Violence, Peace, and Conflict in Folklore Research The Dilemmas of Folklorists Regarding Research on Violence and Conflict Prospects for Future Research Further Reading Glossary Genre Traditionally, a system for collecting and classifying folklore material. In…
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Full text Article FOLKLORE

From Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity & Culture
The term ‘folklore’, coined in 1846 by the English archaeologist W. J. Thorns, combines the words folk (people) and lore (tradition) to indicate popular traditions and their study. To begin with, the study of folklore was limited to the songs and stories of oral traditions. However, it soon began to…
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Full text Article folklore

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Oral traditions and culture of a people, expressed in legends, riddles, songs, tales, and proverbs. The term was coined in 1846 by W J Thoms (1803–1885), but the founder of the systematic study of the subject was Jacob Grimm ; see also oral literature . The approach to folklore has varied greatly; …
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Full text Article folklore.

From The Oxford Companion to British History
Despite the presence of what might be described as folklorists avant le mot , such as William *Camden (1551–1623) and John *Aubrey (1626–97), folklore as a discipline really became established early in the 19th cent. Its immediate origins are in German scholarship, with the works of the brothers…
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Full text Article Folklore

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
Although most of us can easily name several stories, customs, songs or superstitions that we would describe as items of folklore, it is a term that is notoriously difficult to pin down to a definition that would be accepted by all the people with an interest in the field. Folklore is generally…
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Full text Article folklore

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Oral literature and popular tradition preserved among a people. It may take the form of fairy tale s, ballad s, epic s, proverb s, and riddle s. Studies of folklore began in the early 19th century and first focused on rural folk and others believed to be untouched by modern ways. Several aims can be…
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