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The Idea of Folklore-An Essay by Ben Amos

The document discusses the origins and early conceptions of the idea of folklore in Europe in the mid-19th century. Originally, folklore referred to old traditions, customs, festivals, stories, myths, legends, and proverbs that were seen as irrational and only belonging to peasant societies. Folklore was seen as having the key attributes of being traditional, irrational, and rural in nature. It was viewed as a natural expression of man in a pre-civilized state, closely connected to nature in villages and wilderness areas.

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310 views11 pages

The Idea of Folklore-An Essay by Ben Amos

The document discusses the origins and early conceptions of the idea of folklore in Europe in the mid-19th century. Originally, folklore referred to old traditions, customs, festivals, stories, myths, legends, and proverbs that were seen as irrational and only belonging to peasant societies. Folklore was seen as having the key attributes of being traditional, irrational, and rural in nature. It was viewed as a natural expression of man in a pre-civilized state, closely connected to nature in villages and wilderness areas.

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University of Pennsylvania

ScholarlyCommons
Department of Near Eastern Languages and
Departmental Papers (NELC)
Civilizations (NELC)

1983

The Idea of Folklore: An Essay


Dan Ben-Amos
University of Pennsylvania, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.upenn.edu/nelc_papers


Part of the Cultural History Commons, Folklore Commons, Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Commons, and the Oral History Commons

Recommended Citation (OVERRIDE)


Ben-Amos, D. (1983). "The Idea of Folklore: An Essay." In Ben-Ami, I. & Dan, J. (Eds.), Studies in Aggadah and Jewish Folklore, pp.
11-17. Jerusalem: Magnes Press.

This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. http://repository.upenn.edu/nelc_papers/50


For more information, please contact [email protected].
The Idea of Folklore: An Essay
Abstract
The concept of folklore emerged in Europe midway in the nineteenth century. Originally it connoted
tradition, ancient customs and surviving festivals, old ditties and dateless ballads, archaic myths, legends and
fables, and timeless tales and proverbs. As these narratives rarely stood the tests of common sense and
experience, folklore also implied irrationality: beliefs in ghosts and demons, fairies and goblins, sprites and
spirits; it referred to credence in omens, amulets, and talismans. From the perspective of the urbane literati,
who conceived the idea of folklore, these two attributes of traditionality and irrationality could pertain only to
peasant or primitive societies. Hence they attributed to folklore a third quality: rurality. The countryside and
the open space of wilderness was folklore's proper breeding ground. Man's close contact with nature in villages
and hunting bands was considered the ultimate source of his myth and poetry. As an outgrowth of the human
experience with nature, folklore itself was thought to be a natural expression of man before city, commerce,
civilization, and culture contaminated the purity of his life.

Disciplines
Cultural History | Folklore | Near and Middle Eastern Studies | Oral History

This book chapter is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/nelc_papers/50

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