📚Folklore and Visual Culture Unit 11 – Folklore in Modern Media

Key Concepts in Folklore

• Folklore encompasses traditional beliefs, customs, and stories passed down through generations within a community or culture
• Includes various forms such as myths, legends, folktales, proverbs, jokes, and superstitions
  • Myths often explain natural phenomena or cultural origins (creation stories, hero tales)
  • Legends typically involve extraordinary people or events set in the real world (King Arthur, Robin Hood)
• Transmission occurs primarily through oral tradition, but also through written and visual media
• Serves important cultural functions, including entertainment, education, and reinforcement of social norms and values
• Reflects the collective identity, values, and worldview of a particular group or society
• Adapts and evolves over time in response to changing cultural contexts and influences
• Provides insight into the hopes, fears, and aspirations of a community or culture

Evolution of Folklore in Media

• Folklore has traditionally been transmitted through oral storytelling, performance, and ritual
• Advent of print media allowed for wider dissemination and preservation of folkloric material
  • Chapbooks and broadsides popularized folktales and ballads in the 16th-19th centuries
  • Fairy tale collections by authors like the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen
• Emergence of film and television in the 20th century provided new platforms for adapting and reimagining folklore
• Mass media has played a significant role in shaping public perception and understanding of folklore
• Digital technologies and the internet have transformed the creation, circulation, and consumption of folklore in the 21st century
  • Social media platforms enable rapid sharing and remixing of folkloric content (memes, urban legends)
  • Online communities form around shared interests in specific folkloric genres or themes (creepypasta, fan fiction)

Traditional vs. Modern Folklore

• Traditional folklore is characterized by its historical depth, oral transmission, and connection to specific cultural contexts
  • Often associated with rural or pre-industrial societies
  • Reflects the values, beliefs, and experiences of a particular community or region
• Modern folklore encompasses new forms and expressions that emerge in contemporary urban and digital environments
  • Includes urban legends, conspiracy theories, and internet memes
  • Reflects the concerns, anxieties, and aspirations of modern society
• Both traditional and modern folklore serve similar cultural functions, such as entertainment, education, and social bonding
• Modern folklore often draws upon and adapts elements of traditional folklore, creating a continuum of cultural expression
• Distinctions between traditional and modern folklore can be blurred, as both are dynamic and responsive to changing cultural contexts

Analyzing Folklore in Visual Media

• Visual media, such as film and television, offer unique opportunities for adapting and interpreting folklore
• Analysis of folklore in visual media involves examining how traditional stories, characters, and motifs are represented and transformed
• Key aspects to consider include:
  • Narrative structure and plot elements
  • Characterization and archetypal roles
  • Visual and symbolic imagery
  • Cultural and historical context
• Adaptations may update or subvert traditional folkloric elements to reflect contemporary values and concerns
  • Feminist retellings of fairy tales challenge patriarchal norms and gender roles
  • Postcolonial adaptations critique and reclaim indigenous folklore from colonial appropriation
• Visual media can also generate new forms of folklore, such as fan communities and participatory culture around popular franchises (Star Wars, Harry Potter)

Case Studies: Folklore in Film and TV

• Disney's animated features have played a significant role in popularizing and adapting traditional fairy tales for modern audiences
  • Films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Cinderella (1950) established iconic visual representations of these stories
  • Recent adaptations, such as Frozen (2013) and Moana (2016), have sought to update and diversify the fairy tale canon
• Television series like Grimm (2011-2017) and Once Upon a Time (2011-2018) reimagine classic fairy tale characters and narratives in contemporary settings
• Supernatural horror films often draw upon folkloric themes of monsters, curses, and haunted places
  • The Blair Witch Project (1999) popularized the "found footage" genre and urban legend-style marketing
  • The Conjuring universe (2013-present) adapts real-life folklore and paranormal investigations
• Anthology series like The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) and Black Mirror (2011-present) explore modern anxieties and moral dilemmas through a folkloric lens

Digital Age and Internet Folklore

• The internet has become a primary platform for the creation, circulation, and evolution of folklore in the digital age
• Social media enables the rapid spread of urban legends, rumors, and misinformation
  • Creepypasta, such as Slender Man, blur the lines between fiction and reality
  • Fake news and conspiracy theories can have real-world consequences
• Memes function as a form of digital folklore, using humor and shared references to comment on cultural and political issues
  • Image macros, reaction GIFs, and viral videos are common formats
  • Memes can evolve and adapt quickly in response to current events and online trends
• Fan communities engage in folkloric practices of storytelling, art creation, and cosplay around popular media franchises
  • Fan fiction explores alternative narratives and relationships between characters
  • Fan theories speculate on hidden meanings and connections within a fictional universe
• Digital folklore reflects the participatory, remix culture of the internet, where users actively shape and contribute to the creation of meaning

Impact on Popular Culture

• Folklore has a significant influence on popular culture, shaping our collective imagination and cultural narratives
• Traditional folkloric characters, themes, and narratives are frequently adapted and reimagined in contemporary media
  • Superheroes often embody archetypal hero roles and mythic journeys
  • Vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural beings draw upon centuries of folkloric tradition
• Popular culture can also generate its own folklore, creating new legends, icons, and shared experiences
  • Urban legends about celebrities, such as the "Paul is Dead" rumor about Paul McCartney
  • Conspiracy theories surrounding historic events, like the Moon landing or JFK assassination
• Folklore in popular culture can reflect and shape social values, attitudes, and beliefs
  • Disney princesses have evolved to reflect changing gender roles and expectations
  • Science fiction often explores anxieties and hopes about technology and the future
• Popular culture can also commodify and appropriate folklore, raising questions of cultural ownership and authenticity

Critical Perspectives and Debates

• Folkloristics, the academic study of folklore, encompasses various theoretical approaches and methodologies
• Psychoanalytic interpretations, such as Freudian and Jungian analysis, examine the symbolic and unconscious meanings of folkloric texts
• Structuralist approaches, influenced by anthropologists like Claude Lévi-Strauss, seek to identify universal patterns and structures in folklore
• Feminist and queer theory critique the gender roles, power dynamics, and sexual politics embedded in traditional folklore
• Postcolonial and decolonial perspectives challenge the cultural appropriation and exoticization of indigenous folklore by dominant Western narratives
• Performance-centered approaches emphasize the importance of context, audience, and individual creativity in the enactment of folklore
• Digital folklore studies explore the ways in which technology and the internet are transforming the creation, transmission, and reception of folklore
• Debates in folklore studies include:
  • The definition and boundaries of what constitutes folklore
  • The relationship between folklore and popular culture
  • The ethics of cultural appropriation and representation
  • The impact of globalization and digital media on traditional folklore practices