Key Folklore Theories

These key folklore theories help us understand how folklore shapes culture and identity. They connect to visual culture by revealing how stories, symbols, and performances influence our perceptions and experiences in society, highlighting the dynamic relationship between tradition and modernity.

1. Functionalism

   • Focuses on the role of folklore in maintaining social cohesion and stability.
   • Examines how folklore serves practical functions, such as education, socialization, and cultural identity.
   • Emphasizes the importance of tradition in reinforcing societal norms and values.

2. Structuralism

   • Analyzes the underlying structures that shape folklore, such as language, myths, and cultural symbols.
   • Investigates binary oppositions (e.g., good vs. evil) that help to organize human experience and understanding.
   • Highlights the relationships between different elements of folklore and their meanings within a cultural context.

3. Psychoanalytic theory

   • Explores the psychological dimensions of folklore, including unconscious desires and fears.
   • Examines how folklore reflects collective anxieties and cultural narratives through symbols and motifs.
   • Considers the role of folklore in personal and communal identity formation.

4. Performance theory

   • Investigates folklore as a dynamic, performative act rather than a static text.
   • Emphasizes the role of the audience and context in shaping the meaning of folklore.
   • Analyzes how performance can reinforce or challenge social norms and power dynamics.

5. Contextual approach

   • Focuses on the specific cultural, historical, and social contexts in which folklore is created and transmitted.
   • Examines how context influences the interpretation and significance of folklore.
   • Highlights the importance of situating folklore within broader cultural narratives and practices.

6. Marxist theory

   • Analyzes folklore in relation to class struggle, power dynamics, and economic conditions.
   • Explores how folklore can serve as a tool for resistance or a means of reinforcing dominant ideologies.
   • Investigates the role of folklore in shaping and reflecting social class identities.

7. Feminist theory

   • Examines the representation of gender in folklore and the ways it reflects or challenges patriarchal structures.
   • Analyzes women's roles as creators, transmitters, and subjects of folklore.
   • Investigates how folklore can empower or marginalize women and other gender identities.

8. Postmodernism

   • Questions the idea of a single, authoritative interpretation of folklore, emphasizing multiplicity and fragmentation.
   • Explores the interplay between folklore and popular culture, blurring the boundaries between high and low culture.
   • Analyzes how folklore can be recontextualized and reinterpreted in contemporary society.

9. Oral-formulaic theory

   • Investigates the techniques used in oral traditions, such as repetition and formulaic expressions.
   • Explores how these techniques aid memory and performance in storytelling.
   • Highlights the significance of oral transmission in preserving and evolving folklore.

10. Diffusionism

    • Examines how folklore spreads across cultures and regions through contact and exchange.
    • Analyzes the processes of adaptation and transformation that occur as folklore is transmitted.
    • Investigates the impact of globalization on the preservation and evolution of folklore traditions.