Folklore
Professor: Dr.Elham Mohammadi
Presenter : Mansooreh Afshari
Table of contents
01
Introduction: What
is Folklore?
02
Folk drama
03
Folk songs
04
Folktale
Definition and Explanation of
Folklore:
The world “folk” means regional people, and
“lore” means story. Together, the word
evokes the tradition of storytelling, passed
down through generations among those of a
common group.
Folk drama
Folk drama originated in primitive rites of song and dance,
especially in connection with agricultural activities, which centered
on vegetational deities and goddesses of fertility. Some scholars
maintain that Greek tragedy developed from each rites, which
celebrated the life, death, and rebirth of the vegetational god
Dionysus.
Mummers' Plays are one of the oldest surviving features of the traditional
English Christmas. Mumming in England goes back for over a thousand years.
The plays are based loosely on the legend of St. George and the dragon. The
plays are intended to show the struggle between good and evil.
Dionysus: god of wine,
fertility, insanity
Dionysus Theatre
Medieval Mummers Plays
Folk songs
Folk music, like folklore, emerges out of the
cultures of everyday people. In fact, the two
concepts are so closely related that folk
music is often written about stories from
folklore.
Folk songs include love songs, Christmas
carols, work songs, sea chanties, religion
songs, drinking songs, children’s gamesongs, and many other types of lyrics, in
addition to the narrative song, or traditional
ballad.
Robert Burns collected and edited Scottish
folk songs, restored or rewrote them and
imitated them in his own lyrics.
Folk songs
Robert Burn’s poem (and song)
"Auld Lang Syne" is often sung at
Hogmanay (the last day of the
year), Other poems and songs of
Burns that remain well known
across the world today include
"A Red, Red Rose",” Green Grow
the Rash Rosees, O”
Folktale
The folktale, strictly defined, is a short narrative in prose of unknown authorship which has been transmitted orally.
The term, however, is often extended to include stories invented by a known author such as:
1.
2.
“The Three Bears” by Robert Southey
“George Washington” and “ The cherry Tree” by Parson Manson L. Weems
Folktales are found among peoples everywhere in the world. They include myths,fables,tales of heroes, and fairytales.
1. Some folklorists prefer to use the German term Märchen or "wonder tale" to refer to the genre rather than fairy
tale.
2. Many so-called “fairy tales” are not stories of fairies but various kinds of marvels. For example: “Snow white” and
“ jack and the Beanstalk”
Another type of folk tale, set joke or comic anecdote, is the most abundant and persistent of all.
Oral stories have turned up in Europe, Asia and Africa, and have been embodied in the narratives of many writers.
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales : "The Pardoner's Tale," one of the Canterbury Tales stories, is of Eastern origin.
Thanks for listening