What is folklore?

What is folklore? At first the answer seems simple. Any third-grader will say that this is creativity, wisdom, knowledge of the people. More advanced kids even report that the term was first introduced in 1846 by William Thomson, implying under him any manifestations of the spiritual culture of the people.

However, everything is not so simple. For example, scholars of Great Britain understand this term as any manifestation of people's spirituality. They are sure that English folklore is not only verbal or song creation, but also folk handicrafts, dances, beliefs. In short, everything that is rich in the history of the nation, all its traditions. In other words, folklore in England is considered experience and knowledge, transmitted orally.

Russian scientists think differently. When asked what folklore is, they answer briefly: "Oral folk art". Only the verbal forms concern the Russian: riddles, jokes, fairy tales, epics, anecdotes, proverbs-sayings, epic works.

However, only folk art is not limited to them. Probably the most mysterious genre in all nationalities are conspiracies. They do not pass in school, and until recently even talk about this kind of creativity was not accepted. However, people have always sought to find out what awaits them in the future, change their destiny, attract money, bewitch a loved one. To do this, they came up with hundreds of verbal forms, accompanied by special acts - rituals. "Chur me!" - we pronounce in unfavorable situations, sometimes not knowing that by such a conspiracy we are frightening off an evil force.

Speaking of what folklore is, one can not ignore another layer - wedding poetry. Actually, the word "poetry" is not very appropriate here, because wedding ceremonies include a lot of proverbs, sayings, ritual songs, jokes. All these forms unite one thing - the desire to secure the future family, to prolong and strengthen the family, to achieve the location of higher forces. "Pain, Marya Irodovna, leave today, come yesterday," many generations have been talking like that. Some did this, believing in the success of the conspiracy. Others pronounced the spell out of habit or "just in case".

Proverbs, jokes, sayings of all countries bring together a form: compressed, but embodied the great folk wisdom, knowledge, experience gained over centuries. Pribautki besides these characteristics differ cheerful, sometimes kolkim, at times witty maintenance. However, there were other jokes. They were called "pesky fairy tales". The end of such jokes did not have, and it was this that made others laugh. "There lived a grandfather Yashka - a linen shirt. Do you like my fairy tale? You like it, and I like it. Was to myself ... ". These bothersome stories have been further developed, today they are familiar to any child as the game "Buy an elephant".

Parental allowances for children often did not have a coherent content. Their task is to reassure the baby, to draw his attention to sound phrases. "Ah, dudu, dudu, dudu, the crows are sitting on an oak tree," even today's moms babble to the babies, not knowing at times about what the people have known for a long time. The sound "y", simulating the sound of the wind, calms the children perfectly. This observation for hundreds of years passed from mouth to mouth, gaining various verbal forms.

Today there are other, relatively "young" genres: thieves, city, student folklore. These forms arose with the development of society. They have not yet been studied properly.

Arguing that such folklore (the expression "folk folklore" is redundant, it is a tautology), I want to note that the oral creativity of any nation is characterized by the same characteristics. This, first of all, anonymity, collectivity, variability, improvisation.

Folklore is a people's experience, wisdom and knowledge, embodied in certain forms and genres of oral works.