Editing Folklore (section)

== Origin and development of folklore studies ==
{{main|Folklore_studies#History|l1=History of folklore studies}}

Folklore began to distinguish itself as an autonomous discipline during the period of romantic nationalism in Europe. A particular figure in this development was [[Johann Gottfried von Herder]], whose writings in the 1770s presented oral traditions as organic processes grounded in the locale. After the German states were invaded by [[Napoleonic France]], Herder's approach was adopted by many of his fellow Germans, who systematized the recorded folk traditions and used them in their process of [[nation building]]. This process was enthusiastically embraced by smaller nations, like Finland, Estonia, and Hungary, which were seeking political independence from their dominant neighbors.{{sfn|Noyes|2012|p=20}}

Folklore, as a field of study, further developed among 19th-century European scholars, who were contrasting [[tradition]] with the newly developing [[modernity]]. Its focus was the oral folklore of the rural peasant populations, which were considered as residues and survivals of the past that continued to exist within the lower strata of society.{{sfn|Noyes|2012|pages=15–16}} The "[[Kinder- und Hausmärchen]]" of the [[Brothers Grimm]] (first published 1812) is the best known but by no means only collection of verbal folklore of the European peasantry of that time. This interest in stories, sayings, and songs continued throughout the 19th century and aligned the fledgling discipline of folkloristics with literature and mythology. By the turn of the 20th century, the number and sophistication of folklore studies and folklorists had grown both in Europe and North America. Whereas [[European folklore|European folklorists]] remained focused on the oral folklore of the homogenous peasant populations in their regions, the American folklorists, led by [[Franz Boas]] and [[Ruth Benedict]], chose to consider [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] cultures in their research, and included the totality of their customs and beliefs as folklore. This distinction aligned American folkloristics with [[cultural anthropology]] and [[ethnology]], using the same techniques of data collection in their field research. This divided alliance of folkloristics between the [[humanities]] in Europe and the [[social sciences]] in America offers a wealth of theoretical vantage points and research tools to the field of folkloristics as a whole, even as it continues to be a point of discussion within the field itself.{{sfn|Zumwalt|Dundes|1988}}

The term ''folkloristics'', along with the alternative name ''folklore studies'',{{efn|The word ''folkloristics'' is favored by Alan Dundes, and used in the title of his publication {{harvnb|Dundes|1978}}; the term ''folklore studies'' is defined and used by [[Simon Bronner]], see {{harvnb|Bronner|1986|page=xi}}.}} became widely used in the 1950s to distinguish the academic study of traditional culture from the [[cultural artifacts|folklore artifacts]] themselves. When the American Folklife Preservation Act (Public Law 94-201) was passed by the U.S. Congress in January 1976,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/folklife/public_law.html |title=Public Law 94-201: The Creation of the American Folklife Center |website=American Folklife Center |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=8 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928191517/https://www.loc.gov/folklife/public_law.html |archive-date=28 September 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> to coincide with the [[United States Bicentennial|Bicentennial Celebration]], folkloristics in the United States came of age.

<blockquote>"…[Folklife] means the traditional expressive culture shared within the various groups in the United States: familial, ethnic, occupational, religious, regional; expressive culture includes a wide range of creative and symbolic forms such as custom, belief, technical skill, language, literature, art, architecture, music, play, dance, drama, ritual, pageantry, handicraft; these expressions are mainly learned orally, by imitation, or in performance, and are generally maintained without benefit of formal instruction or institutional direction." </blockquote>

Added to the extensive array of other legislation designed to protect the natural and [[cultural heritage]] of the United States, this law also marks a shift in national awareness. It gives voice to a growing understanding that cultural diversity is a national strength and a resource worthy of protection. Paradoxically, it is a unifying feature, not something that separates the citizens of a country. "We no longer view cultural difference as a problem to be solved, but as a tremendous opportunity. In the diversity of American folklife, we find a marketplace teeming with the exchange of traditional forms and cultural ideas, a rich resource for Americans".{{sfn|Hufford|1991}} This diversity is celebrated annually at the [[Smithsonian Folklife Festival]] and many other [[List of folk festivals|folklife fests]] around the country.

There are numerous other definitions. According to [[William Bascom]] major article on the topic, there are "four functions to folklore":{{sfn|Bascom|1954}}
* Folklore lets people escape from repressions imposed upon them by society.
* Folklore validates culture, justifying its rituals and institutions to those who perform and observe them.
* Folklore is a pedagogic device which reinforces morals and values and builds wit.
* Folklore is a means of applying [[social pressure]] and exercising [[social control]].