Folklife
Folklife is an extension of, and often an alternate term for the subject of,
folklore. The term gained usage in the United States in the 1960s from its use by such folklore scholars as
Don Yoder and
Warren Roberts, who wished to recognize that the study of folklore goes beyond oral genres to include all aspects of everyday life including
material culture (
craft,
vernacular architecture, etc.). In Europe, especially Great Britain, Ireland and the Scandinavian countries, the study of folklife, called
European ethnology, manifests itself in
folk museums. In the United States, the term is often used in the title of research-based
folklife festivals presenting the full range of traditional culture including
music,
dance,
storytelling, crafts,
costume,
foodways,
holidays,
life-cycle rituals, and
occupational skills. Folklife also includes the study of
belief systems, including
folk religion,
folk medicine, and popular beliefs (the term preferred over "
superstitions" by
folklorists).
When the
American Folklife Center,
Library of Congress [
1], was created in 1976, the
United States Congress used the following definition:
"the term 'American 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" See Public Law 94-201 [
2]
Bronner, Simon, ed. (1985)
American Material Culture and Folklife: A Prologue and Dialogue. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press. Articles and dialogues on the current state of folklife studies (as of 1985) by material culture specialists and folklorists.
Bronner, Simon J., ed. (2006).
Encyclopedia of American Folklife, 4 vols. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Cicala, J. (2005) "Pathfinder: American Folklife Resources." Ann Arbor, MI: Internet Public Library, The School of Information, The University of Michigan. Retrieved December 17, 2005, from http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/48474. A current description of the print and electronic bibliographic sources of Folklife in America.
Dorson, Richard M., ed.(1972)
Folklore and Folklife: an Introduction. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Though dated, this collection of 25 essays by renowned American and European folklife specialists forms the basis of current folklife thinking.
Roberts, Warren E. (1990)
Viewpoints on Folklife: Looking at the Overlooked. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press. An anthology of seminal essays on folklife theory, folk crafts, folk art, and folk architecture.
Yoder, Don ed. (1976)
American Folklife. Austin: University of Texas. A collection of scholarly case studies covering a variety of folklife genres.
Yoder, Don (2001)
Discovering American Folklife: Essays on Folk Culture & the Pennsylvania Dutch. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. A collection of articles in which he outlines the major areas of research in the field.
